9 Months

Claire just had her 9 month well visit yesterday due to crazy scheduling, so technically, as I write this, she is just over 9.5 months.  Here are Claire Bear's stats:

Weight: 19lbs 10.8oz
Length: 27 inches

Jeff took Claire to her appointment, because I was getting over some not-so-awesome food poisoning. He is not a fan of these appointments due to the shots, but luckily, she was all caught up and didn't need any.  When the doc told him no shots were needed, I could hear his screams of relief all the way at home.  As far as her health, all checked out great.  She's hitting all milestones and is one healthy, curvy baby.

Here are some Claire updates:

Sleeping: We have come a long way since our millions of middle of the night wake-ups.  Yahooo!  Claire now sleeps from 6:00 p.m. to anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m.  When she wakes up, I feed her and 9 times of out 10, she goes back to sleep until 6:30 - 7:00 a.m. depending upon when she woke up.  She takes 2-3 naps a day that usually last 30 minutes.  Her last nap can be up to an hour or just over, but that doesn't always happen.  Sleeping as much as she does through the night, her half hour stretches are plenty to get her through the day.

Loves her lovie.  Check it out on her chest.

Eating: Rockstar.  She eats everything.  Newly added to her list are asparagus, olives and tomatoes.  Her favorite food is bread.  When I start breaking off pieces of bread for her (yes, just like I would for a duck) she yells and squeals with excitement.  I am a bread person myself, so I totally get where she is coming from.  She has learned to feed herself and that is super cute and quite convenient.  I can only give her a few pieces of bread at one time, otherwise, she'll put them ALL in her mouth at the same time.  Oh, Claire.

BREAD!!

Crawling: Hauls major baby tush in this department.  Started officially crawling at 9 months and 1 day.

...baby gates are being installed this weekend.

Now that Claire is crawling, she loves to play chase...and prefers being the chase-ee.  Listen carefully to Claire's laugh in these videos.  She has a great gut laugh!

Other tidbits: She loves the water and has enjoyed a handful of fun pool days this summer.  She loves to swing (although, not as much as Avery - that kid could, and still does, swing forever!).  She is great at copying sounds and movements.  She says "mama" when I get her out of the crib in the morning and at various times throughout the day when she wants me.  She does a very specific yell when trying to get Avery's attention ("aaaaAAAAA!!!!").  She loves her sippy cup of water during meals and immediately throws it on the floor as soon as she is done.  She loves being around other people, especially kids.  She does not care for getting her diaper changed or changing clothes.  She moves around and squirms and sometimes fusses, so it's all hands on deck and we usually end up singing her a song or making funny faces to get her to stay still and calm.  She is funny, chatty, lovable and just oh-so-sweet.  Our Claire.  (The video below is long, but worth a view.  It shows a lot of Claire's personality and just melts my heart.)

Even sick, she is a sweetheart.

Explores everything and anything.

FPT

It was very important to me to teach my kids a range of expressions.  I will pat myself on the back for this one, because we've nailed it.

Avery...

Claire...