Isn't that just the cutest little peacock you have ever seen? Halloween is definitely Ari's favorite holiday so I told him that he could pick whatever costume he wanted for Claire... we have to have a little fun while we actually have control... and this is what he found. Strong work hubby!! We headed down to Lexington to spend Halloween with Sarah and Brian since they were hosting a party and we didn't plan on taking Claire door to door. Ari was one proud papa showing Claire off to all the trick or treaters. Remarkably... I don't know why I say that, Claire has been amazingly tolerant of all her parents stunts... she loved the outfit. She didn't try to take of the cap or her little booties. She just crawled all over the place like it was a normal day. Ari and I eventually changed into our costumes: bacon (Boca of course) and eggs. I actually don't have a picture of that; hopefully someone will send one. Our peacock was a hit at the beginning of the party and then pooped out at bedtime. I also pooped out just as the party was really getting going. I did get to enjoy all the food Sarah and Holly worked so hard to prepare, though, before I called it quits. In the morning, Claire was all smiles and we realized why she has been having some rough nights... 3 teeth are coming in! Just in time, I was getting ready to google "baby dentures!" We went to brunch at Alfalfa, home of the awesome chocolate chip pancakes, and discovered that Claire loves grits and oranges. I guess we better mover south!! After watching the morning football games we packed the car and headed home. What a great weekend!! ***Please note as you view the slideshow; no candy was actually eaten by our little bear, it was a prop only!***.JPG)
So by now, if you have kept up with our blog at all, you realize that Ari and I really love Vegas. We used to be that couple that ran around casino to casino having fun and playing just about every game, scoffing at people pushing strollers down Las Vegas Boulevard. Then last week we became those people! In a fit of madness we thought, why not pack up our 10 month-old and our au pair and head to Vegas? It turns out that it wasn't the craziest idea we have ever had. The plane ride caused me the most anxiety, I certainly didn't want to be the mother of the screaming baby on the flight. We tested out the benedryl as a back up plan the day before and didn't have an adverse reaction, but we didn't need it. Claire's first two flights (I know, a layover was not my most brilliant plan) were pretty easy. The surrounding passengers couldn't believe how good she was. We rented a condo with a full kitchen just a block off the strip which made caring for Claire easy. The vacation was certainly high yield: Ari had conference for 3 days, his parents came into town, our friends Dennis and Davette were in town, and we managed to squeeze in a show and some gambling. I would say the highlights for this trip included the party Ari's parents threw to introduce Claire to some friends and family. It was so good to see Gerald and Burton whom we haven't seen since our wedding. Seriously, two trips to Grants Pass in a year? Certainly Cinci has more culture!! Catching up with our friends Dennis and Davette who surprised us with news that a little one is on the way also topped the list. Note, that I am not saying winning big! I am also not saying the Penn and Teller show; boy was that disappointing. Regardless, we had a great time and Claire was just as good on the return flights as she was on the first two. 
Uh oh, this one is a late entry!! Our pretty peanut is now 10 months old!! Amazing things have happened over the last month. Now instead of just babbling syllables things are becoming more distinct, mama and dada seem to be words instead of just run-ons. Her favorite thing to do now is to feed herself. Cheerios, in particular, are her absolute favorite but she will also eat baby puffs and crackers as well as kiwis. She also loves to gnaw on apple cores after we have eaten an apple. She uses a sippy when she feels like it; the skill is there but the novelty is intermittent. She crawls fast! Holy moly, you can't hardly blink and she is off. She also pulls to stand on everything. Her personality is also starting to shine. When she sees her favorite toys and books she squeals with glee and if she doesn't want something she huffs and puffs with pursed lips. She just gets more fun every day!
This past Thursday I actually got to go out for an adult evening!! The female faculty and fellows try to have a ladies night on occassion and this time picked the Cincinnati Zoo Brew. It is a really cool event because your ticket price goes toward research to save endangered animals and then food and in the case Samuel Adams provide food and beer. The animals are also on display with a number of them in the crowd to pet and then some that have special evening shows. For the zoo brew they fed the polar bears frozen watermelons and the manatees played "football." They also have three similar wine tasting events in the summer. The weather was not ideal (cold and a little drizzly) but that didn't stop us from having a great time! Most of the beers were good... NOT the blackberry, though... and the best part of the food was a belgian waffle. A waffle? Yep, it was sweet and savory and delicious without any syrup. I will definitely be taking the family to Findley Market so we can all enjoy them. All in all the company was what made the evening. 
So here is the streaming thought process I had this afternoon.... What should I do? Clean up the kitchen? No. Clean up Claire's toys? Na. Laundry? Definitely not. Put Claire in her first tutu? Bingo!!
Since Claire was so small when we started feeding her solid (okay, semi-solid) food, we just fed her in her Bumbo chair. What people did before the Bumbo, I have no idea. She tolerated that just fine until about a month ago when she became a squirmy worm and spends most of her time trying to get out of the Bumbo and grab a toy. So now we often feed her in her high chair, which she enjoys. It is also nice because we can put finger foods on the tray for her (the Bumbo tray just does not hold up to her 9 month-old strength) and give her a sippy cup to practice with. Last week, however, I boldly asked for a high chair at a restaurant so she could sit up at the table with us. She loved it!! She ate great and really seemed to enjoy the vantage point. Where did my little baby go? She seems to have been replaced by an almost toddler!!
After a week of rain, we woke up today to some beautiful fall weather. I can't complain with a partly sunny day at about 65 degrees! Of course, I mainly enjoyed it on the way to work. I did, however, sneak home for lunch and found Ari and Claire just finishing a walk and starting a photo shoot. Daddy certainly does like to take pictures of our little cutie. He even dressed her in some adorable warm clothes. If you click on the title of the blog you will be linked to quite a few pictures... I didn't want to edit any of them out!!
This last weekend was the Cincinnati Children's Medical Center's Cancer Survivor Picnic. It was held at the zoo, which was a great venue. I cannot stress enough how perfect the timing was. Recently, quite a few (and isn't one alone too many?) of our patients have lost their battles with cancer or after bone marrow transplantation. My heart has literally been hurting for weeks and poor Ari and Claire have witnessed many tears. So on an absolutely beautiful Saturday afternoon, we all went to the zoo to be reminded why we fight this battle every day. I saw some of my patients that are already finished with the therapy running around and acting like kids; no signs of their surgeries or previous chemotherapy. It was so awesome. Claire and Ari of course had a good time... they always do when they are together! 
Time flies when you are having fun... also, as it turns out, when you work 80 hours a week but lets talk about happier things. Claire is officially nine months-old. Our little angel has blessed our lives for 3/4 of a year already! This month she has really changed. She finally babbles, not just nonsense but repetitive syllables. She has never been all that vocal and Ari and I have worried our fair share that our little preemie might be behind; have no fear, she is not! Her favorite things to say are "da da da da da" and "ya ya ya ya." "Mama" does come out when she is tired or upset; I can certainly handle that. Certainly she does not associate her ramblings with objects just yet but it is a major step forward. She also has developed a pincer grasp (she can pick things up using her pointer finger and thumb). She still is not a big fan of being on her tummy and moves mostly in circles and backwards. She does, however, pull herself up to stand on anything she can. I am thinking she may just skip crawling and be the shortest baby to ever walk. Ha! She continues to be a performer; just tonight she was banging away on her toy piano and looking up to wait for her applause. We are so blessed to have her and so many other things to applaud for.
I know you are going to find this hard to believe, but last weekend Ari and I were both off! The weather was beautiful so we decided to picnic in Ault Park. When I say picnic, I actually mean pick up sandwhiches from Potbelly and bring Claire's food. The lack of effort on my part didn't spoil our day. We ate, enjoyed the sun and each other. We also got a few great pictures of our little bear.
Another leak?! Yep, that's right. We replaced 80% of our plumbing in Milwaukee due to frozen pipes then started with leak after leak in this house. It is enough to make us swear off buying old houses... maybe. Though our 112 year-old beauty is a true gem, the leaking is really getting us down. This time is even worse because the cracked drain pipe is ruining our beautiful built-in. It looks like we'll be replacing about a twenty foot section of pipe. Until that happens, though, two of our bathrooms and our washer/drier are out of commission. So check out the pics below of Claire and daddy helping fold laundry at the laudromat. We can make lemonade out of these lemons!!
The first weekend in August we had a big Wesleyan reunion at our house. We are so fortunate that all of Ari's college friends have remained a tight group and to encourage this to continue we invited everyone, their spouses, and children to spend the weekend at our house. Let me tell you when I say spend the weekend at our house I literally mean that there were 19 people staying with us from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Now I know why we have such a big house; it was perfect!! Friday night was pretty low key with everyone arriving and we all sat around catching up and eating pizza. Saturday, I made a big breakfast and then we all went outside to play. We had badmitton and volleyball set up. Then there was the first annual cornhole tournament. The couples were all split up and we had a double elimination tournament. I am proud to report that Ari and Sarah Beth took the title with Nate and I coming in second. All the while kids were running around and having a great time. Then we grilled out for dinner. Soon it was time to put the kids to bed and each little family took up one room in our house and were all cozy on air mattresses. The adults stayed up drinking beer and catching up but didn't make it long; we certainly aren't as young as we used to be. Sunday morning I made a big brunch; we took a group photo and then one by one the families left. It was an awesome experience and we are looking forward to making it an annual event. A big thank you to Sara, Tom, Conner, Dan, Amber, Jason, Jen, Jakob, Josh, Addison, Beth, Andi, Alex, Evan, Amanda, Nate, Preston, Jenny, and Karen for making the trip to Cincinnati!
Grandma and Grandpa Leib, please skip this entry!! One of the exciting things that has happened in the last month is that Claire has become a true carnivore. We introduced her to both chicken and turkey and she loves them! Thank goodness because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Ari and I had decided even before we were married that our kids would eat meat until they chose not to. I am proud of him for keeping his promise and not crying when our little bear ate meat just like bears do!!
The good news is our computer is up and running... seems we had a nasty Thai virus... the bad news is that it is already way past my bedtime and I just can't stay up any longer for more updates. I did want to put a quick pic up, though, to show you how big Claire is getting and to tell you that we will catch you up on the month's events soon!
The other day when Claire and I were playing in her room, I decided to take a few pictures. She was rollin' all over the place to get to her favorite toys. I think the funniest pictures of her are those in her defeated pose: head down into the rug because she just can't get to what she wants. The best part is this only lasts a minute and then she is up playing again.
I am absolutely amazed to say that our little bear is 7 months-old! Just the other day I was starting to put together a photo album of her photos and I couldn't even remember what it felt like to hold her when she was brand new and only 3 pounds. Now the only evidence of her preemie days is that she is smaller than other babies her age. She has made amazing strides in the last month. She now sits independently; don't get me wrong, toppling over still happens. She is able to reach for toys, though and come back to a sitting position. She transfers objects between her hands regularly and uses her hands together to manage to lift more complicated toys. She babbles and makes the most adorable expressions when she talks to you. But her laugh is really my favorite. What is even better, is that when I laugh she starts to laugh as if she knows that if I am laughing something must really be funny and she doesn't want to be left out. She is really into making noise and banging her toys on surfaces. She also still seems to be a lefty. Crawling doesn't seem that far away either... she gets on her hands and knees and seems to really want to be able to move but for now we are limited to rolling. We have plenty of drool but no teeth yet... hopefully soon! Regardless, she is a complete delight and we just can't wait to see what she will do tomorrow.
It has been a bit tough to catch Claire smiling on camera recently. She is such a joyful little thing that when she smiles she is usually giggling and throwing her head back or wriggling with glee. I have MANY blurry photos of Claire smiling; I am guessing you may not be interested in seeing those. Anyway, here are a few I captured that aren't blurry.
This blog entry is officially dedicated to my sister who says she is tired of reading blog entries about Claire eating... too bad lady! She clearly doesn't understand how much fun meal times with a baby are. Our little Claire Bear loves to eat and play with her spoon. Since I am a bit more type A (shocking I know) than Ari, I tend to keep a tighter reign on her but these are pictures of Claire set loose with her spoon and some prunes... yuck! She enjoyed every second of it!
I can't believe our not so little peanut is 6 months old! I think it really hit me yesterday when I was consulting on a brand new baby and she was all floppy and sleepy and making all those new baby sounds. Claire has come such a long way from her 3 pound preemie beginnings. She now weighs in at a whopping 12 pounds, 2 ounces. She is rolling front to back and desperately trying to roll back to front. She sits with very little support. She loves to eat and if you put food on her spoon she will take it from you and put it in her mouth. She absolutely loves to laugh and will start laughing just because I am laughing. She continues to have the most wonderful temperament; always full of smiles and crying only when she is over tired. Everyday she is such a joy; I just can't believe she is ours.
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Last week... yep, I am catching up!... we had a visit from our Fairy Godberry (residency nickname). Sarah came in to town and we were glad that she could join Ari, Claire, and I for dinner. She was super thoughtful and overly generous as fairies often are and brought Claire some adorable outfits and shoes. We then headed off to Tellers were we had a good meal but absolutely slow/terrible service. On the bright side it gave us time to catch up since we haven't seen Sarah since she got married. We had a great visit and Claire can't wait to see her Fairy Godberry again... and who knows maybe there will be a little fairy in the works sometime soon!
After our long afternoon at the zoo, we decided to go to the Reds game with Dad and Lily. The Reds were playing the cubs and since dad and Lily are misinformed they happen to be Cubs fans. With Claire and I Cardinals fans and Ari a White Sox fan, that made for some interesting dynamics. Oh, if you are readiing this honey Claire is also a White Sox fan... unless they are playing the Cardinals in which case Cardinals win! Anyway, going to the game gave us an opportunity to put Claire in her little Cards cheerleading outfit which is adorable. She sat through the game like an angel; ate like it was no big deal and mostly people watched. They people around us couldn't believe how well she did. She briefly cried for a minute when the fireworks went off but otherwise was perfect. She made it though 11 innings! That's our little baseball fan!!
Two weeks ago when Dad and Lily were in town we went to the zoo. Now Claire has been to the zoo many time, I am sure she doesn't remember them because we have always had her in the stroller and she falls right to sleep. This time we decided to put her forward facing in the baby bjorn. Wow! What a difference! Claire loved watching all the animals and the people and stayed awake the whole time. She was such a good sport even eating there. I wonder what animal will become her favorite.
I am not quite sure who is having more fun experimenting with food, me or Claire. I have had a blast reading about what foods to introduce when and making Claire's baby food myself. She has enjoyed gobbling up sweet potatoes, apples, and bananas. Peas were definitely not popular; the fake gagging was especially dramatic (hopefully not a sign of things to come). Green beans were not popular but no where near as bad as peas. We are definitely going to have to feed her in her bumbo chair for a while... she is WAY too petite for her high chair. A special thank you and apology to Ari because I begged for us to go out and buy it and for him to put it together only to realize we are probably months from being able to use it (see the pictures). This week we have acorn squash and carrots on the docket; I am betting both will be popular.
Memorial Day we were back in the pool, this time playing with our friend Eva. Our med school friends Brent and Nahid have a beautiful 1 1/2 yo that really enjoyed sharing Claire's pool and her toys. We had a great time grilling out then little Eva decided to crawl all over our screened in porch and got SO dirty that we put her back in the pool (in our front yard) and gave her a white trash bath. She screamed the whole time, poor thing! She went to sleep great, though, and we were able to stay up and watch a movie. We are really going to miss them when they move to North Carolina.
Since I have gone back to work, I have been joking with the chief fellows that they should never give me two days off in a row because every time I get the entire weekend off I enjoy playing mommy so much that I don't want to go back to work. So you can just imagine how I felt after 3 days off for the Memorial Day weekend! I was in full mommy mode and lovin' it. Here are some pictures I took while Claire and I were playing.
Look at that grin, can you tell our girl likes sweet potatoes? So after weeks of chowing down on rice cereal, we made the big leap to sweet potatoes and boy does Claire love them. She grins the entire time she is eating them! It must seem so much more exciting than rice cereal. What I can tell you is that it definitely is more of a mess. Claire gets really into her solids and loves to suck on her fingers while she eats then the food goes where her fingers go... clothes, bumbo chair, hair, you name it! It is worth it to see that grin, though!! We love our sweet potato princess!
Can you believe our peanut is five months old already? We can't! Claire has made so many strides this month. She is constantly vocalizing and her giggling is infectious. She continues to be a great eater; she is now getting cereal twice a day and just started veggies... I will blog more about that later. She grasps well and shakes her rings and keys and puts everything in her mouth. She actually even transferred her keys from one hand to the other a few days ago. Her head and trunk control is getting better every day and she can sit with just a little support. When she is on her tummy she will bring her legs up like she wants to move but isn't quite there yet. She also doesn't get up in the middle of the night to eat anymore! She is just such a joy and she continues to have a wonderful temperment. Happy 5 months big girl!!
We call Claire our little doll baby because we both enjoy dressing her up and she tolerates us doing just about anything to her: making her dance is one of our favorites. So these pictures are when Ari dressed her the other day... he has great fashion sense doesn't he? I swear Claire does smile... she just doesn't do it on command for the camera!
For those of you who keep up with our blog routinely, I want to send out my apologies for the lack of updates. Transitioning back to being a fellow and being a mom on top of that has been overwhelming to say the least. I love my job but it is intense and the hours are long, leaving me little time to cuddle my precious baby. As you can imagine, I would rather cuddle than blog. I am off this weekend and promise to do our blog justice. Here are a few photos to keep your interest until then. They were taken a few weeks ago... just wait until you see how big she is now!
Does that look like a happy 4 month old or what? Grammy got Claire all dressed up for her big day which corresponded to Grammy's ___ birthday. You know I won't tell how old she is and it is even harder to guess now that she has her new hair do. Anyway, Miss Claire has had quite a month. She is now sitting in her bumbo chair regularly and has really good truncal strength. She loves to coo and smile and at times seems to try to mimic what we are doing with our mouths. This is especially apparent at dinner time as she sits with us smacking her lips and drooling... our pediatrician says no food yet because she was so early. She intermittently swats at toys you hold in front of her and help you hold her paci and bottle. She continues to have the most lovely temperament; she rarely cries. She is still waking one or two times to eat at night, which I don't mind since I spend so little time with her during the day. Happy 4 months Claire Bear!
While Claire is certainly too young to pick her favorite toys, it is quite obvious that she prefers some over others. She definitely loves "Moosie" the colorful moose, "Gracie" the pink giraffe that rattles, her ring toy that is super colorful and makes that fun crunching sound, and "Ting Ting" who plays a French song. While I was at work the other day, Ari had fun posing Claire with all of her toys. I call this picture "Claire's Menagerie."
Just look at that face! I spent quite a while trying to coax a smile out of Miss Claire on her 3 month birthday, but she just wasn't having it! Claire continues to brighten our lives everyday. Things we have noticed this month is that she is much more interactive. Her smiles are no longer random, if you talk to her or tickle her she will reward you with a goofy little grin, unless of course you are trying to capture one on film. She is also starting to use her voice and coo more than more throaty sounds. She is also using her hands more purposefully and holding her nuk in or holding your hand while you feed her. Her neck strength continues to improve and she has been working on her push ups during tummy time. One other thing that we are loving is that she is sleeping much better at night (most nights!). She wakes only once to eat and then goes right back to sleep. Thankfully, she also sleeps through mommy's pager going off! Happy 3 month birthday Claire Bear!
Before I went back to work last Friday, Claire, Marine and I did a lot of playin'. Not only did we read stories, play with toys and have tummy time but we also went to the zoo and on walks. Now while Marine and I enjoyed the walks and the zoo, Claire slept right through them! Every time she is in her car seat or stroller, she totally passes out... now that I am thinking of it, we should probably put her in her car seat at night so daddy and I can get a reprieve from the late night awakenings! Nah! I just spent every moment I could taking in being a mommy before it was back to work. Just look at that face and you can imagine how hard it would be to leave it! 
Last weekend Sarah, my medical school roommate, and her boyfriend Brian came up from Lexington to meet Claire. They came up in Sarah's new Toyota Venza, which I have to say is one sweet ride. It even has a camera to show what is behind you! After stuffing our faces with Dewey's Pizza, Sarah showed us her pictures of a recent trip to Paris and London with our friend Holly. Thank goodness Marine was here to make sure she was pronouncing things correctly! Brian totally passed out on the sofa while the girls were gabbing, Ari was at work. Sarah said he would be hard to wake but I have never seen anyone sleep so soundly. We could have had a marching band in our family room and he wouldn't have woken up! The next morning Sarah and I made breakfast while Brian got a chance to hold Claire. Ari finally woke up and entertained everyone with ER stories. Too soon Ari had to head back to work and Sarah and Brian had to leave so they could make it back in time to see the UK basketball game.
Sorry for the lack of updates, our lives have been a bit crazy... but I will get to that in a bit. As you can imagine, having a new baby at home is like having a magnet for everyone you love. It has been so fabulous to have our house full of loved ones coming to see Claire... and Ari and I. My mom has already been here four times! Thank goodness, too. I am not sure what we would have done without her support through Claire's hospitalization and the holidays. She also has gotten us organized, painted Claire's room and our master bath, as well as sewed drapes for Claire and our au pair's room. She also did about a year's worth of our ironing (I hate ironing!). Now I know that as a mother I should be aiming to be the best mom I can be, but how can I ever compete with that? Oh, I didn't even mention the numerous errands she ran as well as cooking and serving delicious meals. I wish she would move in! I love you mom!! I digress... so mom was here cuddlin' Claire and of course taking care of us. Then Jenn came in to town so she could meet baby Claire before jetting of to Australia. It is so funny to watch her and my mom interact, its like my mom has two Jen's. The visits were full of cuddling, cuddling, and more cuddling... but check out the picture of Jenn reading to Claire, it is too cute. Also too cute are the outfits that Jenn and her parents gave to Claire!
After a fun trip to Jungle Jim's, a six acre grocery store... I am not exagerating, it was time for Jenn to go just in time for us to pick up Marine, our au pair. It was like greeting our long lost French relative. She is so cute and gracious. She loves everything we cook for her; she says everything is "delicious." Of course she is trying to teach me to say that in a very cool French way, but I just can't get it. Ari has definitely caught on to more French than me!
