Claire is 9 Months Old!

I cannot believe my baby is only 3 short months away from being a year old. With Claire, I have definitely learned that babies will do things at their own pace - every baby is different.

For example, when Grace was 9 months old, she was crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, etc. Claire? Not so much....



Claire....

• has finally started moving in other ways besides rolling across the floor. She is pulling up to all fours but will get frustrated and end up pulling herself, army-crawl style, after whatever she wants.



• is just starting to get the desire to move vertically. If you are sitting on the floor with her, she'll start pulling to her knees using you as a ladder.



• is a great eater and sleeper. She loves her baby food and will soon start more table food.



• I haven't given her much table food yet, because she only has 1 tooth! Ha! They are supposed to come in in pairs, I thought? The tops ones are right at the surface and that other bottom will hopefully pop up soon :)



• loves clapping and saying and waving "hi". Her favorite song is "If You Are Happy and You Know It".



• weighs 20 pounds 14 oz (80%), is 28 inches long (70%), and her head is 46 cm (90%). She is very similar to Grace at the same age although Grace was 1 pound lighter.



• is doing more things with big sis. They eat all their meals together. They bathe together. And they play together. Grace is still bad about taking what Claire has and this really sets Claire off. She screams so loud, tears and all.

Grace's Art Camp and 1st Official Cracked Bone

Grace has been in art camp all week at the Art Museum here in Corpus. It was designed for ages 2-3 and moms (and baby sisters) participated as well.











She formed and painted clay. She made a body double. She did collage. Plus lots of dancing, games and imaginative play. And we can't forget her favorite part...snack time. She asked for this as soon as we'd walk in the door.

A few weeks ago, Grace fell on a carpeted surface and immediately wanted to take a nap. When she woke up, she was holding her hand up on her collar and was a bit more whiney than usual. The next day, we noticed she was still holding her hand up at her collar and although not her usual, spunky self, didn't skip too much of a beat. Now almost 2 weeks later, we learn that she cracked her clavicle when she fell. At this point, there isn't much we can do. We just need to try to keep her from falling and being such a crazy, little one.

The New Park

The girls got a new playground or "park" as Grace calls it.

I think Steve and I are the ones getting in more activity since Grace wants to swing 24/7.

Claire, on the other hand, likes to sleep out there.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

and being in a crib was definitely a good thing.

Sunday morning, Grace climbed out of her crib. I'm surprised it has taken this long, honestly. After climbing out several times during her nap that afternoon, we decided to make her bed into a toddler bed. Since then, nap times and bed times have been horrible. Another mom once told me to wait as long as I could and now I see why. But with her safety in mind, toddler bed it is!



Oh how I miss the days of worrying about rocking her too much.

Happy Independence Day!!

We had such a good weekend! Despite a rainy, boring week for the girls, we managed to have a fun, filled weekend.

We spent Saturday night at the Ringling Brothers circus. Although I am sure it was their "B" circus, it was certainly entertaining. Grace loved the elephants the best. Actually, she probably loved the sno cone, hot dog, nachos, smore stick, and Sprite better.

Today we woke up and hit the beach. Hurricane Alex stirred up a ton of seaweed. It didn't bother Grace at all. It was Claire's first trip to the beach and she loved it as well. Sand too. She was sitting in my lap on the edge and grabbing sand by the fistful and putting it in her mouth. Yuck! I had to hold both hands to keep her from doing it.


Food and cooking filled the rest of our day. We had hot dogs and baked beans for lunch. I saw a recipe for smore sticks like Grace had at the circus. I tweaked it a bit for July 4th by tinting the chocolate blue and sprinkling red sugar on top. They were so good and festive! For dinner, we enjoyed grilled kabobs and corn with fruit pizza for dessert.

Happy 4th of July!!