6 Months

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.

A Visit From Fairy Godberry

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!

Claire's First Baseball Game

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!!

Awake at the Zoo

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.

Playing with Our Food

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.

Swimming (Part deux)

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.

Please Take a Moment

I usually try to keep the blog upbeat, so bear with me as I get a little serious. Recently a close friend of mine lost her nephew to complications of congenital heart disease and I have also been a part of the deaths of two hematology oncology patients here at Children's. Could you all just take a moment out of your day today to pray/reflect on the poor children who leave us to soon and the families that are left to grieve for them? Children are such little miracles, rejoice in those that are happy and healthy as well. Thanks.