9 month pictures

At the beginning of December, we went back to the photographer to get Claire's 9 month pictures taken. The change from her 3 and 6 month photos is amazing. You can view more photos here. And don't worry, we purchased the copyright to these images so copy away.

Working on walking

Will she get teeth or will she be able to walk first?

Manna from heaven, part II

Uncle Larry didn't realize the reason behind using a high chair. It's to keep the dogs from eating people food. Is baby food exempt?

Merry Chistmas!!!

On Christmas eve, we went to the children's mass at church. My little girl was so well behaved. Last night I set up a motion detector camera by our Christmas tree and it captured this picture. So, to all you out there who don't believe in Santa Claus, you should think again.

Christmas was low keyed this year, with the attention falling on Claire, who could not stay awake long enough to open her presents. I am sure next year will be a different story.

Our friends Lonna and Joel (and kids) came over for Christmas, and Claire and Naomi (1 year and 1 day older than Claire) cautiously eyed each other, not quite sure to make of the other one - not quite willing to share toys. Claire hasn't spent much time with other kids. Starting in January, I have arranged Monday play dates with 2 kids Claire's age. I'll let you know how that goes.

Sadly, today, Grammy and Grampy are returning to Florida. Their final request was to feed Claire breakfast. We'll be traveling to Florida in 3 weeks to visit them. It will be interesting to see how much Claire has changed between now and then. But in the mean time, here are some photos of Claire's first Christmas.

Happy Hannukuah!!!

Last Sunday evening we celebrated Claire's first Hannukuah. Grampy lit the menorah and said the prayers. Claire watched intently, more interested in the lighter/candles. Then she got to open her first Hannukuah gift. It was a toy bear holding a dradle and it sang the dradle song. She was quite fanscinated by it. I like to learn about other religions, hence the links should you, dear reader, also share in such interests.

Tonight the rest of the crew arrives (Larry, Paul, Taya and Lola). Tomorrow we are going to Christmas children's mass at church. It coincides with her nap time (4pm), so we will see how she does.

Finally, I should note that Claire wasn't the only one who got a Hannukuah gift. Stay tune and and on Boxing Day (Dec. 26), I will reveal who else a got Hannukuah gift.

Family...

With the holiday season among us, it's a great time to be with family. Here is little Lynn. See any resemblance to the bear? To Lynn? Where did that blonde hair come from/go? Lynn's parents are here now, I haven't seen Claire since they arrived, except at 6am to change her diapers. I am not sure who is getting a bigger kick out of whom. Want to see more baby pictures, that are not of Claire?

Our Poor Dogs

Not only are they neglected, but now they have to deal with the bear chasing them around. OK, maybe chasing is an exaggeration, but look what Claire is starting to do toward the end of the video - with a little help. It's only a matter of time...

Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Ho ho ho!

As promised here is a picture of Santa, who was nice enough to come to our neighborhood early this year to take requests. I think it is safe to say that Claire has been a good girl, but I am not sure Santa understood her when she said, "babababababababa", after Santa asked her what she wanted.

More photos with St. Nick are here.

Quick update...

The Pediatrician tolds us today that Claire is perfect. Great. I just paid $15 to be told something I already knew. She weighed in at 18 -4 and is 28" tall. S0, she has grown almost a foot since she was born. No teeth yet. Tomorrow we visit with Santa, so check back to see how that went.

Until the next posting, keep some milk and cookies handy.

Oops!

It's that time of year

It is hard to believe the bear will be 9 months old on Saturday. She changes almost daily (including her PJs). Yesterday, for the first time, she waved (on purpose) to our neighbor Sandy. She has little problem pulling herself up to stand (but still holding on to something for balance). Today, her new car seat arrived via UPS. This can be used for kids up to 65 pounds so it should last us a few years. Of course, after 2 Ph.D.s tried for 30 minutes to install it, we gave up and called in our neighbor Edward to show us how to do it. He installed it in about 5 minutes - he has two children and is mechanically inclined. Anyway, the picture to the right is a reject from our Christmas card photos. You can see more rejects here, and see the one we picked when you check your mailbox in the next couple of weeks.

Until the next posting, make sure you check the mail...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I have a lot to be thankful for... it measures 52" diagonally. Seriously though, I know just how fortunate we are, not only for Claire, but for everything. We are blessed.


On Tuesday, we drove to Calhoun, GA to meet Grammy and Grampy at the outlet mall, so they could commence spoiling their granddaughter. The grandparents were driving down from Syracuse, NY for their annual soujourn to Florida.



Claire celebrated her first turkey day, by sitting at the adults' table, albeit in her high chair. It was your typical meal, but we had two turkeys. My neighbor Edward was deep frying a turkey (in the south, if it isn't boiled, it's deep fried) and said he would let me try a piece. I wasn't expecting a whole turkey Edward, but thanks, it was juicy. Claire even tried some sweet potato, squash and turnips.

Sadly, on Saturday, grammy and grampy discontinued their babysitting service and continued on their journey to Florida. I am certain Claire misses them, as she keeps asking where is the silly one, and I tell her that Grammy had to go. Today, Claire started making this new face, in which she scrunches up her nose and then tries to smile. You can see some recent pictures here and watch the video below.

Posting #100

Welcome to post #100. Time for a little reflection. On the first posting, I wrote that we were too busy for children and we traveled too much. We could barely get up before 9am. My have things changed. I simply could not imagine life without the bear. Sure, having a baby means big changes - not going out as much (when was the last time we went out for dinner - after 5pm?), not traveling as much (only had 3 international trips this year), needing to coordinate our schedules (thank you Google calendar), a lot less sleep (up by 6am everyday). But it also means more family time, being at home more, learning to enjoy simple things (like my TV). How different she used to look - 3 days old on the right.

Admittedly, at first my only concern/fear was making sure we raised Claire right (however that's defined). But as she gets older and reaches more milestones, I see that she has taught me a few things - enjoying down time, watching her world expand, the power of a smile, it's ok to wear pajamas all day, everything goes into the mouth.

At 8.5 months, 18+ lbs. and 26 inches, I figured we've gone through over 1,500 diapers, countless bottles of milk and many baths. Yes, Lynn has been the real hero, still faithfully pumping several times a day. I am sure at times, the special bond of breast feeding a baby seems to be not so special. But truth be told, we have definitely bonded as a family. Our favorite time is when we are just spending time together - doesn't matter what we are doing. I just love the picture on the left.

The next few months will bring more talking, teeth and perhaps walking. She is growing up fast. She is growing up happy. Thank you to everyone for sending your comments, and here's to the next 100 postings!

Life Without Daddy Is No Fun

well, mark is away this week. we were actually supposed to go with him to denver to see our friends steve, mary and zak and also to have a meeting for mango tree. for a variety of reasons, we decided it would be best if claire and i stayed at home. ultimately, it was a good thing as kayla ended up having emergency surgery today on her eye (2nd surgery in 6 weeks).
all i know is that we miss mark. claire has been delightful (she always is, though). she has been going to bed well before 6:30 everynight. and staying asleep until morning. that is except tonight and that is my fault. we had to go out and pick up kayla. anyway, back to the story.
mark is such an important part of our lives. he has the best smile - especially when it is trained on us! he makes us laugh. he makes us think. and, he makes us happy. so, when he isn't here the house is quieter, less fun, less comforting. we can't wait to see him tomorrow night.
safe travels daddy. we'll see you after only one more sleep!
love,
little bear and momma bear

New photos

I posted a couple of photos here from the last week. Nothing major to report, except that she weighs a ton and most of that weight is in her cheeks. Here she is crawling around. She is so fast these days.

Manna from heaven

Just a quick update. The dogs have discovered that if they hang out by the high chair, food will eventually fall their way. This is due largely to Claire's lack of hand-eye-mouth coordination. We give Claire Zwieback toast on occasion and it invariably winds up on the floor. The bear is eating the equivalent of her body weight each day. But seriously, even I am impressed about how much she eats, and how quickly. We are keeping Gerber and Diet Coke in business.

Finally congratulations to my friends Shane and Sara, who had a baby girl, Elizabeth, last night.

Until the next posting, keep your eyes toward heaven.

Misc. Vids

Other than Claire napping for only a total of 2 hours yesterday, we did pretty good. We skyped with Grandad in the morning and then Grammy and Grampy in the evening. Tonight, we are going to our neighbor's to watch some Hockey and drink beer - or at least I am. Here are a couple of videos of Claire crawling and Claire doing the raspberry - particularly fun when she has a mouth full of food.

Crawling

Raspberry

Giggle Virus

Fun with a baby

Three more recent developments. 1. Claire has caught a virus, known as the giggle virus. When she is not tired, she laughs and laughs and laughs. It's quite amusing. 2. She also mimics the sound made when you give someone a raspberry (make sure your sound is on). If you don't have sound, here is an explanation. The results are particularly interesting when she does it with a mouth full of food. 3. Claire has suddenly grown a lot of hair - a mullet no less.

A day of firsts...

Happy Halloween! Claire celebrated her first Halloween yesterday with the neighbors. We had a chili cook out in the cul-de-sac last night and Claire was there in her Mermaid outfit. Her is a picture of Claire with our neighbor Ann, who made the costume for Claire and sometimes babysits for us. Unfortunately for Claire, she could not stay awake until the older kids went trick or treating - so no candy for her. Speaking of candy, we had about 50 kids come to the house and Lynn bought enough candy for 500. So we are set for Halloween until 2015.

Another first for Claire, was she is starting to crawl - not doing the worm thing. Grammy and Grampy witnessed the event on Skype. Her world has suddenly increased in size and the dogs are not longer safe. She loves to "chase" Kayla around the media room. Claire is such a delight. We've upped her feedings of solid food to 3x a day. She loves chicken, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, bananas, watermelon, mango, rice, oats, barley, hops (oh wait, that's me). The only things she doesn't care for thus far is fresh avocado.

Another first, is we finally lost and then found the remote control. I was getting tired of watching the same channel every time (Discovery channel if you were wondering). It somehow worked its way into the laundry basket and since Lynn only does laundry on the weekends, it was a long week.

Finally, it looks like the grueling 3-day has caught up with Lynn. Her back is in a lot of pain and simple things like doing the laundry, washing the dishes, and vacuuming are difficult. I guess I will be pulling double duty this weekend. She is taking Tramadol for the pain - yes, the same medication we gave to Kayla when she had surgery. If you look at the pill bottle, it says on it, Patterson, Kayla - the dog.

Anyway, I have posted some new photos here. Enjoy.

Update on Lynn's walk

While this doesn't directly pertain to Claire, the idea is that it never will (breast cancer, that is). In case you didn't see Lynn's letter written after the 3 day walk, here it is.

Well, it's over. All those months of training paid off. My shins don't think so, but the rest of me feels fine (a little sore, maybe). The walk was, once again, amazing. The first day was less than ideal (understatement of the century). It poured the whole day; sometimes the rain was coming down sideways!; and temperatures never rose above 48 degrees. We ate in the rain, hopped over puddles, and thanked heavens it wasn't snowing! But, we didn't waiver in our commitment to fight against breast cancer. Luckily, we got to stay inside (in an empty office building- 3600 walkers and 300 crew members sleeping on the floor) that night. The next day was damp and cold, but hey, it wasn't raining! We hobbled along, sore and stiff, but determined. Mid-day, the clouds parted and we had lovely weather. I was so thrilled to see my neighbors - Kelli, Wendell, Zach and Alex - in downtown Duluth. They made the trek all the way from Canton for a 5 minute visit. That is dedication and I am so honored they traveled so far. Saturday was also Vanessa's, my teammate and good friend, birthday. We decided that instead of schlepping through the VERY muddy campsite that we would sleep at her house. It just happened to be 15 minutes from the start of the walk the next morning. We had a lovely dinner with Mark, Claire, Brian, Luke, Zak, and Caroline (V's family). After a hot shower and a wonderful night's rest, we got up and started again. We were still very sore (especially our feet!) but we knew we were near the end. We had a beautiful day on Sunday and walked through Buckhead, Midtown and finished at the World Congress Center. My friend Kimmy and her son Walker came out to meet us at one of the cheering stations as did Brian and Luke.

Two really inspiring things happened on this last leg (other than the REALLY good looking policemen who escorted us across the intersections!). First, there was a young woman who drove by a number of times and j ust said quietly out the window, "thank you." You could see her hair was just coming back after chemo. Tears welled up in our eyes and we looked at each other. Our pain was nothing compared to hers. We were happy to endure it for her. Then, as we were coming around a corner in downtown Atlanta, there were a few girls and their mothers handing out HOMEMADE cookies (can you imagine - baking 3600 cookies!) The girls gave us cookies while the moms handed us stickers. I read the sticker and started to cry. It said, "Today you inspired a child...thank you." As if we weren't emotionally raw already. Honestly, it was so beautiful. When we finally made it to the World Congress Center and entered the exhibit hall, we were overcome with emotion. Awaiting us were hundreds of walkers who were standing along our route just screaming and waving pom-poms congratulating us. As much as I was thrilled to be done, I was more overcome by the moment. I stood there in the midst of the cheering thinki ng about my girls. My beautiful girls. Past and present. My mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-aunt, great-grandmother. My daughter. I did this walk for them. Thank you all so much. To my teammates - for being motivators and a whole lot of fun. To everyone who sent me notes of encouragement - they meant so much, especially when my feet were aching or pain was shooting up my leg! To all my friends and family - for supporting me physically, emotionally, and financially. This is probably the last time I will walk in the 3 day. I could not have asked for a better experience - yes, even the rotten weather. It reminded me that the fight against breast cancer doesn't just happen on beautiful sunny days, but every day.

With love and gratitude, Lynn

Day 1

On Thursday night, Claire and I dropped Lynn off at the hotel, near the start of the 3 day meeting place. Overnight, the temperature dropped and it started to rain, which has not happened here in months.

On Friday, it rained all day and the temperature never got above 48F. Needless to say, Lynn was miserable. I spent the day battling with Claire's runny nose. She a little snot factory, who just loves having her nose wiped - not. Fortunately she slept for 11 hours last night. Her mobility is increasing exponentially. Not quite crawling, not quite worming. Don't turn your back on her. She is developing her own little personality though. She definitely will let you know when she wants something, or is done with something.

Back to mom, last night Lynn called and told me to find her a hotel for tonight (Sat.). I guess camping out in the cold and wet is not fun. She woke up this morning with shin splints. Ouch. Only 42 more miles to walk between today and tomorrow. I hope to have some pictures to post by Sunday. Send her an email if you get a chance.

Until the next posting, stay warm and dry.

Rambling on...

Rosy cheeks, runny nose, scratching at her ears. The signs are all there, but the teeth are not. She's not crawling yet either, but boy can she sure get around by simply worming. No more leaving her on the bed while you shower (just kidding). The bear loves Caesar and stops whatever she is doing when he enters the room. Have I mentioned that she is a happy baby.

And growing too. She is 7.5 months and is in 9-12 month clothes. Her gut is so big, we have trouble getting her pants up. Curiously, I have the same problem. This week we started teaching her sign language, for things like dog, cat, more, finished, mommy, milk, etc., however, her limited hand-eye coordination is a big stumbling block. She just keeps slapping her knee. I interpret this as her thinking it's funny, or her way of saying "whatever".

We got her 6 month photos back from the photographer and I have posted some of them here. Don't worry, we purchased the copyright to the images, so copy away. This weekend (Oct 24-26) it's me and the bear, as Lynn is walking in the 3-day, 60 mile Susan G. Komen, breast cancer walk. Lynn will have access to her email via her blackberry, so if you get a chance, send her an email to encourage her. 60 miles is a long way to walk in 3 days. Special thanks to everyone who donated to the cause.

Until the next posting...

Not much to report

The countdown is still on for crawling and teeth - not that we are anxious or anything. Lynn went to Phoenix this week and left me with the bear for 3 days. We have had a blast. I got her laughing so hard at dinner last night, I thought applesauce was going to come out of her nose. We are so lucky to have a happy baby.

Another feature inherited from Lynn... we discovered recently, while giving her a baby, that Claire has a single freckle on the underside of her left arm near her armpit. Who knew. That makes Claire's hair, eye color, freckle and overall beauty from mom, the rest is me - cranky when hungry, laughs only a REAL funny things, and, fill in the blank with your own wise crack(s).

Lynn is due back tonight around 8pm, so I need to discard the pizza boxes and diet coke cans, plus do some general clean up before then.

Until the next posting, don't laugh with food in your mouth.

Still counting down

There is not much news to report except we are still counting down to when Claire starts crawling and when she gets her first tooth. When the bear tries to crawl, she looks like she is doing the worm.While highly inefficient, she still gets around and you can't leave her unattended for a second. She is beginning to show signs of teething (rosy cheeks, excessive drool, chewing on things). The literature says that some babies teethe without having any signs of crankiness or sleeplessness - our fingers are crossed.

Claire's awareness of others and herself grows each day. Here she is kissing herself in the mirror. When she is not busy admiring herself, she definitely knows when I leave the room. I'll put her in her jumperoo and after a while she realizes she can't see me, she bounces up and down like a mad woman and yells. And when mom comes into the room, the bear is all smiles.

Until the next posting, keep the windex handy.

Home again

I am sure it was only a matter of time, but the bear finally had a meltdown on the airplane. We were flying back from Dallas, TX this morning (in first class no less) and Claire lost it for about 5 minutes. Lynn had to hold Claire as she paced around the galley. However, when you consider her sleep schedule was all out of wack, it is understandable.

We had another whirlwind weekend with the Riches in Dallas. Benjamin turned one and the twins Andrew and Caroline turned 5. We had 2 parties, with the twins' party being a pirate/mermaid theme. Our neighbor Ann sewed Claire a mermaid costume which was awesome. The bear had such a good time at the bounce house were the party was. A special thank you to Andrew and Caroline for taking good care of baby Claire.

So, we are home for the next while. You may have heard there is no gasoline in Atlanta. It's like 1973 all over again (for those of you old enough to remember). Lynn and I each have about half a tank left and we are staying put. We are supposed to get gas by mid October. The VP for Academic Affairs at our university said running out of gas is an acceptable excuse for students missing classes and faculty are to be accommodating.

The lack of gas does not mean Claire is not going places (good English, Mark). She continues to make strides (no pun intended) on the road to crawling. She has not quite figured out that she also has to move her arms - so we are safe for a while. But she has started sleeping with her bum in the air (legs tucked under). She is soooo cute.

Anyway, there are new photos posted here of our weekend in Dallas and Claire's crawling adventures in case you are interested.

Until the next posting, make sure the needle doesn't read empty.

Crawling Countdown

Our friend Nancy was over today working with Lynn on our foundation (http://www.mangotreefoundation.org/) and was teaching the bear how to crawl. The last thing we need is for Claire to be mobile. Our house is so not ready for a mobile baby. So this evening we go into Claire's room to get her up and we find this...

She's figuring out the hands and knees part (still a little unsteady) and once she figures out forward and reverse, we are in trouble.

Goodness me...

It's been over a week since the last posting! Apologies for not writing sooner. We took Claire in for her 6 month tune-up. 15 pounds 6 oz., and 26.5 inches and 4 immunizations - good for another 5,000 miles. Doesn't seem like much, but she is getting big for her car seat. We've upped the number of feedings of solid food to 2 (yes mom, she gets vegetables) and we are starting to pay the price in terms of the number of code browns (kabooms). Today alone 4 of them... and I got to change 3 of those.

Notwithstanding the stinky diapers, it has been an absolute joy to stay home with the bear. She is such a happy baby. And happy babies make their parents happy. On Thursday we are heading to Dallas, TX to visit the Riches and of course Benjamin (30 lbs at 1 year), the bear's future husband.

Other than that, not too much is new.

Until the next posting, "what can brown do for you?" takes on a whole new meaning.

Loose ends

Ok, first a couple of shout outs. To the ladies at Realty USA in CNY where uncle Larry works (sorry we didn't get there)  and to the folks at West Side Physcial Therapy where Suzanne, the world's best PT and fellow beer drinker, works. Thanks for your comments. The world's most beautiful baby (we are admittedly unbiased) will appreciate them when she is older.

The bear no longer has a fever, but is still quite congested. She threw up in the car on the way to the airport yesterday. We were worried about the flight home. Claire slept for the first half of the flight and then was awake for the remainder of the flight. We tried to feed her on the start of the decent into Atlanta, but she forcefully pushed the bottle away. About 10 minutes later she grabbed the bottle tried putting in her mouth. Lynn and I had a good laugh. She didn't cry at all on the flight and again several passengers commented on what a good baby she is. On the drive home, the bear threw up again, this time on Lynn's chest. I turned around in time to see it running down Lynn's shirt. 

Last night she slept ok, but you could hear the congestion. Her appetite is also down a little. Tomorrow is supposed to be her 6 month photo shoot, but we postponed it. So if you are wating for the photos, we may have to wait another week. Tuesday is the 6 month doctor's visit and we'll (ok Lynn will) be sure to ask the doctor lots of questions to get Claire better, because the bear is flying to Dallas to see Andrew and Caroline, and Claire's future husband, Benjamin "the bruiser" Rich  in a couple of weeks. It's a big birthday party weekend and Uncle Todd is coming from Alaska with crab legs - right Todd?

And being 6 months old means Claire only has 29.5 years to go until her first date. Hang in there Benjamin. Also, assuming she is potty trained by 3 years, i only have 2.5 more years of diaper changing.

Finally, the countdown to crawling has commenced. Once on her stomach, the bear can tuck her legs under and push up. The arms are still too weak to support her. I'm giving for 2 weeks until she starts crawling and baby gates go up around the house. 

I am still in awe over this child and ever so in love with her.  

Quick update

We are heading home today. Claire is getting better - about 60% back to normal. I'll let you know how the flight goes, as well as update you on our last couple of days in CNY sunshine capital. I posted some new photos too.

Sick baby

Claire's fever continued into day 4 and her congestion worsened. We called our pediatrician, who told us to go to an urgent care in Syracuse and have them do a CBC and urine analysis. We called our insurance company, who gave us the name of a couple of urgent care places near Grammy and Grampy's house. I called them to confirm they could help us and they said the could not run those tests on a baby, and that we would need to go to the pediatric emergency room at a local hospital. So we went to the hospital and i called our insurance company to tell them what we were doing. They said, unless the doctors atthe emergency room considered Claire's condition to be serious, that we would be on the hook for the full cost of the visit - even though we were following the directions of the urgent care recommended to us by our insurance company.

Note to the next president: FIX HEALTH CARE!!!

Anyway, we spent 6 hours in emergency for a blood test, urine test and x-rays. While the staff were kind, there was clearly no communication among the nurses, aids and doctors. "What do you mean no one told you the test results? They were completed 90 minutes ago." "You can be discharged as soon as the aid takes Claire's vitals. Oh, I didn't realize she [the aid] was just here to take her vitals". Here is a picture of the bear and I in the emergency room. She has a splint to keep an IV line in her arm. She was a champion.

Anyway, after 6 hours in the ER, the total bill was $81 - $75 copay and $6 for parking.

Claire was still congested last night and again this morning, but she did sleep finally. And she no longer has a temperature. I am hoping her congestion will disappear completely by Saturday, when we fly home.

Until the next posting, keep some tissues handy.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Saturday afternoon we headed for the airport, with three carry-ons and 2 suitcases! We are getting the hang of flying with the bear. We got on to the plane and Claire starts crying and crying. The tears are flowing. Boarding passengers are thinking, great, a crying baby. I am thinking this is pay back for the 4 previous flights with Claire that went so smoothly. But, Lynn worked her magic and before the boarding door was shut, the bear was hibernating. She slept for an hour and was awake for the last 30 minutes of the flight. Oh yeah, we were flying to Rochester, NY, on our way to Syracuse.

We had dinner on Saturday evening with our friends Mo and Tim and their son Jack. Mo and Lynn grew up together. Here are Jack and Claire posing.

We were going to Syracuse to celebrate Lynn's mom's 65th b-day. it was going to be a surprise. Lilllian however, decided to host a "debut" party for Claire at the same time and day as her surprised b-day party. They were about 20 of Lillian's friends over. We took a ton of photos with everyone and Claire, and needless to say, the bear was the hit of Lillian's party.

This morning, Claire work up early at 4:30am crying. She felt warm. we took her temperature and it was 101 F. We gave her some tylenol and fed her. She slept until 6am and then we took her temperature again it was 100.5 F. Her temperature almost returned to normal over the course of the day and she eagerly resumed eating "solid" food, or at least smearing it over her face. Anyway, it is now evening and the bear is back to her normal self. Hopefully she will sleep for 11-12 hours tonight.

Until the next posting, make sure you know if you are using a rectal or oral thermometer.

Mom's first night away

For the past 27 hours, it's been just the bear and me. Mom was organizing a one day workshop at Georgia Tech today and stayed downtown last night. I did n't have much luck feeding Claire solid food last night, but she did sleep for 12 hours last night. Today she has been an absolute angel, other than the poopie diaper. She has been rolling over (full 360) like crazy and she is starting to try to get herself on all fours. I guess crawling is only a matter of time.

What goes in, must come out...

The first week of "solid" food went well. Claire eagerly ate the rice cereal. However, a side effect was no kaboom. She tried hard and strained and grimaced, but nothing - Lynn can relate. So, we gave her a bit of diluted apple juice and the following morning, problem solved.


When we were in Maine at the end of July, Claire mastered rolling over on to her back and then on to her stomach. Well, she has since forgotten the latter part. She will often wake us up crying, because she is stuck on her stomach. Of course, as soon as I typed the last sentence she just rolled a 360. Lynn is at work today and I am Mr. Mom. I have to admit, I absolutely love it. She is such a happy baby. Sure she has off days, but overall, I am so grateful that Lynn and I are able to have at least one of us at home everyday - well most days. Today we are working on building her arm strength, which will help her start crawling. Is that a wise thing to do?


Yesterday, we moved on to pears and rice cereal. She loved it. She would lunge at the spoon and ate everything. And when the bowl was empty, she cried for more. By mixing pears with the rice cereal, she gets a full stomach and the kaboom issue is taken care of - 2 kabooms today! Genius!!

Last night was our neighbor Kristi's 30 b-day. In the past when the neighbors have partied at Nick and Kristi's, we were outside and the baby monitor would reach us from Claire's bedroom (about 250 feet). However, last night we were inside Nick and Kristi's house and the monitor didn't quite make it. So, we got a babysitter, Kelly. She lives down the street and had mentioned before she would babysit if we needed her. Claire went down for the night before Kelly came over, so we spent most of the orientation time showing her how to operate the TV and the PS3. We were at Nick and Kristi's for 3 hours. Babysitting cost us $25! When I babysat, it was $2/hour. Anyway, we were happy with her and will use her again.

There are no other milestones to report. So until the next posting, stay regular.

Day 2 of Food

Last night after getting solid food for the first time, the bear slept for 11 hours. I wish we could do the same. The result was she was a little off on her schedule. Her 9am nap - usually 2 hours - lasted 2.5 hours, but then she didn't take a usual nap at 5pm. It's now 7pm and she is finally settling down.

Earlier tonight, we gave her more rice cereal. She gobbled it down, but not before eyeing us suspiciously. Nevertheless, the results tonight were the same as last night's - more cereal ON bear, than IN bear.

Until the next posting, keep a towel handy

Food!!!

I made it back to Atlanta on Friday and Lynn and the Bear came to the airport to get me. It made the 10 hour flight worthwhile. I was left in charge of Claire today as Lynn went to work. I noticed that we (Claire and I) have the opposite hair growth pattern. She's all top and little sides, and I am the opposite. She has also taken notice of when we eat. She watches intently as we put food in our mouths. We gave her a little ice cream after dinner tonight and she ate it. So we decided to give her some "solid" food. Lynn mixed up a little rice cereal with breast milk and the outcome is shown below. Enjoy

Until the next posting, chew your food well.

and she's back!

our sweet little girl is back. full night sleep last night, 3 great naps today, and a cheery disposition. man, i love this kid! not sure what is going on with the teething as it didn't seem to bother her very much today. we played and skyped grandma (happy birthday!) and daddy and had friends come over for dinner (hi nick and kristi!).

if the camera battery hadn't died, i would have had more pictures to post. i will try again tomorrow. especially since claire decided her toes look quite tasty. she tried out this new trick today.

here's to hoping for another full night sleep! and only 3 more until daddy (mark) comes home!

okay, i take that back

there is something worse than awaking at 4am to a screaming baby who has rolled over onto her tummy. awaking at 2am and then again at 5am to a crying baby who is teething. poor claire is teething (or at least i think so) and she was up half the night just crying and moaning. baby oragel and tylenol work fairly well to take the edge off, but unfortunately they wear off before the next dosage can be administered.
all in all, though, claire is being very good and is overall cheerful. she loves to be outside and around other kids (the kids in the neighborhood like to make her laugh). yesterday, we spent about an hour on the floor just playing and laughing. she was laughing mostly at freddy the frog (thank you uncle paul and aunt taya) and her care bear (thanks kathryn and heather).
hope the rest of you, including mark (for now!), get some sleep :)...

from the field

i usually don't post here as this is really mark's blog. but i wanted to share with all of you (and mark, too) claire's most recent accomplishment. it may seem small to some of you, but at 4am there is nothing small about waking up to a screaming baby who managed to roll over onto her tummy and not be able to roll back. as mark noted, claire worked on rolling from her tummy to her back this week (thanks, lori!). she is quite proficient at it. but, what was more amazing was this morning when i went in to check on claire while she was napping and found this (see above). so, it now appears that claire can both roll over completely and also be okay sleeping on her side/tummy.

we miss daddy (a.k.a. mark) a lot and send him lots of love and prayers for a safe trip every day. we know we only have 6 more days until we get real hugs from him. we can hardly wait.

otherwise, things are going well (i labeled this entry "from the field" and although mark is out in the field doing fieldwork - yes, really that is the term - we are also "in the field" - that is, claire's field). our friends and neighbors have been checking in on us (the estes, the mcdermotts, the samsons, and the skibinskis from NY), feeding us (thanks, tinsleys), and mowing our lawn (thanks, robbie). claire did really well with two babysitters this week (thanks ann and lori!!) while i went in for departmental and school meetings. and, we spend quite a bit of time enjoying the sunshine and breezes on our front porch.

today, we are expecting the rich family to visit. talk about good friends - they are stopping in atlanta on the way home to dallas (driving). did i mention that they were coming from florida! not exactly on the way, but very very much appreciated. this will be the first time andrew, caroline and jason get to meet claire. benjamin and kim have already been to see her (see previous posts). we can hardly wait until they get here!

UPDATE: unforunately, the rich clan couldn't join us as they are sadly passing around a nasty stomach bug and decided it would be prudent to head home. while we are disappointed, we totally understand and send healthy vibes to everyone. we'll see them in september when we make our annual trek to dallas for birthday parties.

thanks for indulging me!

Have a seat...

Well, it's been awhile since the last post. I am still in southern Chile doing research (it's freezing cold). I am in a small town called Los Angeles, which is pretty remote, but still has internet. Thanks Al Gore. So, Lynn and I skype each other twice a day. I bought a webcam before I left. This screen capture of the bear, which is what I get to see, including the mysterious yellow stripe. But it's better than nothing.

I hear from Lynn that Claire is starting to learn to sit up, albeit i a tripod position. And she can now roll over completely. Plus Lynn thinks Claire has a tooth coming in. Darn it, at this rate she will be in college before I get home next week. I miss you bear (and you too mom).

Until the next posting, stay warm.

12 days

That's how long I am going to be out of town starting tonight. I am going to Chile to meet up with some colleagues and continue my work on studying deforestation in the foothills of the Andes. I would rather stay home and change diapers. I am afraid I will miss out on something that the bear does. Look, she is now holding her bottle, which takes a lot of coordination. I also feel bad for Lynn, who will be home alone. It is tiring to look after a baby. At least Kim and Jason and the kids will be coming to visit on their "way back to Dallas" - from Florida. So, if there is anyone in the ATL area who reads this blog, feel free to contact Lynn and bring her dinner (no onions or mushrooms or meat - fish and seafood is ok). I'll try to blog while I am away, but I will need to rely on Lynn for photos.

Until the next posting...

Little Brown Q-tip

Did you know the airport in Portland, ME provides rocking chairs for parents and their babies. I rocked Claire to sleep in one of them as numerous people stopped to first comment/inquire, "what a beautiful baby, how old is she?" and then to ask, "Is this her first flight?" To which I would reply, "thank you, she is 4 months old and this is her 4th flight." Once again the bear slept all the way (2.5 hours) back to Atlanta. I wish I could say the same for other babies and kids on the plane.

It's been a relatively plain week around here. Though I did decide that with the bear's hair coming in, she looks like a chubby brown q-tip - which is this week's nickname. Perhaps a hallowe'en costume in October. We do think the bear is going through another growth spurt as her sleeping and feeding patterns are all out of wack this week. Some of her 3-6 month pajamas are too small now. Today is her 5 month birthday. That's about all for now.

Until the next post, use a q-tip to clean your ears.

Cold water currents

After spending time with family this morning, we took a happy baby down to the beach. We wanted to dip her toes in the ocean. Admittedly the water was a little cool. I held Claire by the arms and let her "stand" on the sand. We made our way toward the water. The waves were quite small. Of course, when we got to the water a larger wave (8 inches in height) crested on us and Claire immediately pulled up and started to cry. Her dress and diaper got soaked. Not quite the introduction to the ocean we had hoped for. Next year, Claire will be walking and talking, so she can ease herself into the ocean.

Tomorrow we head home after 2 fun-filled weeks and 2 relatives-holding-me weeks in rainy Maine. It is hard to believe how fast the time has passed. We will be certain to catch our flight this time - as we are getting HD service installed on Saturady morning.

Until the next post, watch out for those rogue waves

Changes

Well, our first week in Maine was spent in the rain. The bear met most of her relatives on Lynn's side, including the 4 brothers, spouses and numerous cousins. Since she will not remember any of this, she had her picture taken a thousand times. I was nice for everyone to meet her finally. There was never a moment when someone didn't want to hold her - unless she went Kaboom. To the right is my new favorite picture, Grampy, Uncle Larry and the bear.

The bear is now talking a lot - something she got from Lynn. We are not sure what she is saying, but once she starts talking, she goes on and on. We went to Tacoma Lake for a family reunion last weekend. The drive was 1 hour and she talked for at least 45 minutes on the way up. Her other new trick is rolling over. We can't leave her alone anywhere, anytime. She'll be going to college soon.

I'll try to post some videos in the next few days. Until then, start saving for college!

Off to Maine

Sunday, July 20. What a long day. We are having the hardwoods floors in our house refinished, so we spent the morning and afternoon moving furniture and taping up appliances and 52” TVs so the dust wouldn’t get to them. Our house sitter was arriving at 5pm to take us to the airport for our flight to Maine. Lynn had taken care of most of the packing and we were more or less right on schedule. Around 4:30pm, the phone rings and it is Delta Airlines saying our flight had been changed from 8:20pm to 9:45pm. We specifically chose this flight because it is non-stop and we knew Claire would be sleeping. So the new flight time was not that big a deal. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and checked 5 pieces of baggage (car seat, pack and play, suitcase for each of the 3 of us). At security, Lynn left some baby sunblock and baby insect repellent in the diaper bag. Since these were $20 and we had time, Lynn decided to put them in her backpack and check it as our 6th piece of luggage.

After a leisurely dinner and a walk around the concourse, we headed for our gate. It is real interested to watch people watch Claire. Especially women, who have kids or are grandmothers. They smiles at her or comment how beautiful she is. Anyway, as we were walking to the gate, we stopped to double check the gate number and couldn’t find our flight. So we go to the original gate and ask what happened to our flight. “Oh, they moved it back to the original time. You missed it”.

Fortunately, the bear was sleeping through everything. We went to the service desk and they rebooked us on the first flight to Portland in the morning. Now, ordinarily, we would have simple driven home, but since we got a ride to the airport, we were stranded. Lynn asked for a hotel, which they gave us and they even threw in 2 toiletry bag for us. We asked for a baby bag – since we only had 2 diapers with us, but of course they didn’t have one, but the agent assured us repeatedly, that there was a drug store across the street from the hotel. Not wanting to take any chances, I ask to have Claire’s suitcase pulled, so we could have with us. At the baggage claim center, they scanned the baggage tag and told us, the suitcase was on the way to Maine. So that whole thing about removing your baggage from a flight it you fail to show is crap.
Anyway, we arrived at the Red Roof Inn along with 30 other passengers. Lynn quickly checked in and asked where the drugstore was. It was 2 exits down the interstate. So, the bear would have to make do – not make do do. Her first hotel adventure was at a place that made Motel 6 look luxurious. You know, the red neon sign outside your window, dimly lit room, 25 cent vibrating bed, bath towels that size of face cloths. Ok, there wasn’t a vibrating bed option. Claire was such a good little bear. She didn’t cry at all.

We got to the airport the next morning. There were several people in the gate area admiring her and told us how precious she was. Fortunately, these people sat near us, as Claire decided to whine and cry a little, before the flight took off. Luckily for us, she settled down at a few minutes – which seems like forever when it’s your kid – at slept for almost the whole flight (2.5 hours). Grandma and Grandpa met us at the airport and have been talking baby talk to the bear ever since. And yes, our luggage was at the airport waiting for us.

There is no wi-fi at the beach house, so I am not sure how often I can post to the blog. We’ll go find an unsecure hotspot today or tomorrow.

Ok, i found a Wi-Fi spot at McDonald's. There is so much news to share. the photo above is from Tacoma Lake, where the bear went swimming. More blogging to follow.

Latest developments

The bear continues to grow. At her last doctor's appointment she was 12 lbs, 13oz and 24.5 inches. That's over half a foot she's grown and more than double her birth weight. her nickname this week is Chunkerbell. Most of her weight gain is in her thighs. Some of the 3-6 month clothes are getting snug. This week she has discovered her mouth. Just about everything she gets in her hands ends up in her mouth. I am sure it is only a matter of time before she starts to get sick. She had 4 vaccinations at the last pediatrician's appointment and that made her sleepy for 2 days.

In addition to discovering her mouth, she has also discovered the TV - hey who couldn't miss it! Lynn and I are now extra careful to make sure we don't watch the TV when Claire is in the media room. A couple of times we found her to be transfixed to the TV. The American Academy of Pediatricians says this is a no-no. I guess we will have to read more to her. There is one book entitled Can you bark like a dog? that she loves. largely because there is a mirror in the book that she can see - the semi-circle at the top of the book.

The final big development of the week, her hair. Oh how i am jealous. After losing a fair bit of it, it is starting to fill in - tiny little brown hairs. The doctor thinks her eyes will remain blue. That surely spells trouble down the road.

On Sunday we are heading to Maine for our annual trip. I am not sure if we will have internet access, so i may not be posting for the last two weeks in July.

Until the next posting, don't overcook your lobster.

Addition to family...

A couple of days ago, we welcomed a new member into our family. It weighed in at 90 lbs. and is 52" when measured diagonally. Coincidentally, the day after we played Rock Band for the first time (see previous posting), our TV stopped working. As you can see, we can display photos of Claire at a larger than life scale, and she is still crystal clear - Rock Band looks pretty good too.

We did welcome a new real baby into the family this week. Lynn's cousin, Deedra had a baby girl on July 9. I guess after 4 Slosberg brothers, it's time for some girls and balance in the universe (the last 4 births: Tanner, Genevieve, Claire and Amelie).

This morning Claire and I went to Daddy Boot Camp (see my January 10 posting). This time I went to show expecting fathers how wonderful and easy it is to be father when you have a perfect baby. There were about 10 fathers (and their babies) and 10 expecting fathers there. The take away from the boot camp is: If mama's not happy, nobody's happy. I guess, that applies to pretty much everything.

Until then next posting, keep mama happy.

4 months and counting...

Yesterday the bear turned 4 months. It was also her Baptism (see photos here). We decided to have the baptism after mass (instead of during mass), but halfway through mass, Fr. Reyes asked Lynn, Claire and me to come to the front of the church and Fr. Reyes, took Claire and went around the church and introduced her to everyone. She didn't cry at all. After mass, Fr. Reyes invited the congregation to stick around for the baptism. About 20 people did. More importantly, Paul and Taya were there as Claire's godparents, and our good friends from Shelbyville, TN (John and Pam Mattox - and kids) were also there. Claire did not let out a peep when Fr. Reyes poured water on her head or when he annointed her with scented oil. Afterwards we all went out of lunch and then over to the pool, for an afternoon of relaxation. A special thank you to the Riches in Dallas, TX for sending us clothes and accessories for Claire's baptism.

Ok, let's back up a few days... Paul and Taya arrived on Tuesday night. They finally got to meet their niece. Our friends Tommy and Laura came over for dinner on July 2 and we made Sushi. Claire had breast milk. The next day we went shopping and I got a Playstation 3 for my birthday. Now before you give me a hard time, I got the PS3 for its blu-ray capabilities, not for games. Paul and Taya did buy me Rock Band though. We also picked up a keg of beer and a margarita machine, which we used for my party on July 5. Of course, we had to test it out on July 3, and invited the neighbors over (16 all together) for drinks. We hooked up the PS3 to our TV and played and sang until 3am, when I had to kick out the remaining neighbors (Wendall and Nick). Claire slept through all of our singing and playing.

On July 4, Nick decided to buy a guitar for Rock Band - even though he does not own the game. He claimed he wanted to play the bass guitar while someone else plays the lead guitar. That evening, the neighbors (the Tinsleys and the Samsons) bought fire works, which we set up outside. We provided the beer and margaritas. Paul held Claire during the fireworks and she didn't wake up during the festivities. One of neighbors went to Florida for the long weekend, so we got a video projector, stereo and my PS3 and hooked everything up in their driveway. We used the side of their house to play Rock Band. We wanted to crank up the volume, but some people just moved in a couple of houses up the road, and we thought it would be a rude welcoming to the neighborhood. Anyway, we played until 1am and then decided we would get serious about the game and challenge other neighborhoods in our subdivision to a Rock Band competition.

On July 5, Robbie got serious and bought his own Rock Band game (it was his birthday). That evening was my birthday party. We had about 50 people over to the house to put a dent in the keg and margaritas. Strangely, but greatly appreciated by us, the party ended by 11pm. There would be no Rock Band this night.

On July 6, the neighbors whose house we used to project Rock Band, came home. They saw the photos and videos of their house being used and the good time we had. So, they went out and bought Rock Band too. This just leaves the Samson (Wendall) without the game. I wonder how long it will take for Wendall to go buy the game.

It's now July 7 and Claire has had her fill of rock and roll music. I am not sure when our next practice is.

Until the next posting, keep playing your guitar...

Some new photos

I thought Grandpa would like to see some photos of his granddaughter.

I have posted some new photos here.

I created a new photo album here.

I update the blog later.

WOW!!!

One morning this week, we woke up and looked at Claire and saw this! She grew teeth! Sorry the photo is a little blurry (Lynn took it). Ok, she really doesn't have teeth. It's left over spit up. She continues to eat a lot and sleep almost as much. 10 hours last night. She can almost out sleep me.

I watched Claire for a couple of days last week while Lynn went into work. It's good bonding time for us. I love how she smiles at me and we have our little conversations. I sing A-B-C-D to her and she smiles and talks - though I can't understand her. I think she recognizes the melody, or she is thinking what I terrible singer I am (more on the latter later).

For those of you who are not aware, today is Canada Day. So as a dual citizen, Claire needs to celebrate this holiday. Hence the t-shirt from Roots (thanks Charlene and Carlos). We got invited to the Canadian Consulate in Atlanta (yes, we are bigshots) for lunch, but a prior commitment precluded us from attending.

In case you are wondering, the prior commitment was a planning meeting for teaching in Italy. Yes, the 3 of us are moving to Italy/Tuscany next year for 5 months (Aug-Dec). We will be staying in a small town called Montepulciano (it's on the map). We will teach from Aug to Nov. Afterwards, we are planning on heading to Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, etc., all the way down to Athens, Greece in time to return home for Christmas. Should be exciting.

July 1 is also an important day for another reason. Claire will finally meet Uncle Paul and Aunt Taya. They arrive tonight and Lynn and Claire are going to the airport to pick them up (I have a hockey game - part of my celebrating Canada Day). I am really looking forward to having them meet the Bear. Today, sadly, is also my last day in my 30s. Yes, tomorrow I turn the big 4-0 (when my dad was 40, I was 13!). Lynn is planning a party and in addition to a margarita/Daiquiri machine, keg o' beer, and plenty of friends, there will be a karoake machine. Fortunately, I sing better after a couple of beers, so I can sing ABCs to Claire and gauge her reaction.

Developmentally, the bear (or "Chubberella" this week) is progressing nicely. She has lept from the 3rd percentile to the 50th percentile for weight. She is almost able to roll over, which means we will have to be extra careful now and can't leave her alone on the diaper changing table. Her hair is started to thin and she has that bald spot on the back of her from lying on her back - she hates being on her stomach. She definitely has Lola Dely's nose. Her eyes are still blue.

Well, if there are any readers out there (other than the grandparents), I hope you heeded my warning about backing up your hard drive. I ended taking my hard drive to a repair/recovery shop. They quoted me $1400 to recover the data. I told them OK. Unfortunately, they were not able to recovery anything because the drive had suffered "severe physical damage". At least they didn't charge me. I am starting to ramble, so I will close here. Until the next posting, raise a glass for me and practice singing.

Another fine day

Last night the bear slept from 10pm to 6am. We were well rested too. This morning, we took Claire to get her passport photo taken (on the right - click to enlarge). Then it was off to the post office for our appointment to apply for a passport for the bear. It is the beginning step of her international travel adventure.

Ok, so we didn't really use this picture. Her hairdo was the result of a bath and then I dried her hair. And viola! It's hard to tell from the photo, but her nickname of the week is Chunk. Hi Chunk! Mom's milk must be so nutritious that she keeps adding chin after chin. It's getting harder and harder to find her neck.

Last month, the local county newspaper was holding a contest for the cutest baby in the county. Lynn decided Claire was beyond cute - she is beautiful - and that entering her would have been unfair to the other babies in the county. I wonder if mom would have really entered her in that contest???

Until the next post, keep your hairbrush handy...

Adventures of Super Bear

She is just learning to fly...

Sunday Morning

Well, the power went out last night, so my alarm didn't go off this morning and I missed going to church. So, we spent a leisurely morning in bed.

Something caused the bear and Kayla to sneeze.

Heed this warning!!!

Yesterday my hard drive died. This blog and accompanying photos on the Picasa website, are all that I have left from 1000s of photos and videos of Claire. Please, please, please take a moment and backup your files (because I know you don't) and then make backups regularly. You can get a cheap external hard drive for less than $200. Recovering data from a dead hard drive costs well over a $1000 if you have a professional do it - more than the price of the computer itself!

On the bright side, Claire is doing very well. She is almost 2 feet tall. In addition we can see that she is increasingly becoming more aware of her environment, focusing on things near her. Her favorite attention grabber is a video of Cat in the Hat, narrated by Uncle Larry. When she is not watching the video or sleeping, she usually has a big smile for mom and me.

Yesterday I was the lucky winner of the weekly diaper blow out, which Lynn and I refer to simpy as "Kaboom". Since she turned 3 months last week, she now sleeps in her own room, instead of the bassinette we had beside our bed. Now, in the middle of the night, all I hear is the hissing/humming of the baby monitor. Fortunately Lynn still hears Claire crying.

Until the next post, make sure you back up your hard drive.

A Conversation with the Bear (3 min.)

She is growing up so fast. I am lucky I can spend most days with her. As for our conversation, I agreed with her completely - except her not wanting to take a nap.

Following Posts

The next three posts/videos are events in a typical day with Claire and me. I never guessed being Mr. Mom could be so much fun (and tiring too). Enjoy.

Typical Day with Dad, part 3

My little girl

Typical Day with Dad, part 2

Our favorite activity.

Typical Day with Dad, part 1

I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Long, Chun-kay and Hungover

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in a week. Claire continues to grow, rapidly moving into 3-6 months clothe size. We have washed and put away a ton of 0-3 months clothes. Everyone says to enjoy her while she is small. It is so true. I can almost see her growing in front of my eyes. She loves to smile and bounce in my lap. Yesterday we went to have professional photos taken of Claire. She forgot that she loves to smile and the photographer and we spent most of the time making faces, singing and waving dolls in vain. We'll see how the photos turn out later this week.

Today, Lynn went to work and I looked after the bear. For a growing baby, she sure didn't sleep much - maybe 60 minutes for the whole day. It was a good day for bonding. We spent most of our time in a recliner and she smiled and smiled and smiled. At one point when I was feeding her, she could not decide between eating and smiling. The end result was milk all over her.

As for the hangover, Claire has one. No, not from drinking alcohol, but from drinking milk. A hangover is the part of your gut that hangs over your belt, or in her case her diaper. She is awesome - a perfect chun-kay bear.

I am not biased...

Ok, notwithstanding the fact she is my daughter, she is so darn cute. Don't you just want to babysit her?

Swimming

The other day we took Claire to the pool to go swimming for the first time. It's hard to tell whether or not she enjoyed it. Mom got to co-star and direct this clip documenting another first for the Bear. We also went swimming on Sunday at the hockey team's party and again on Monday. She'll be ready for Maine this summer.

Waking up the Bear...

After a long hibernation, some bears need time to wake up. Make sure your sound is on.

Famous Thumbs

Throughout history there have been famous thumbs, including: thumb 1, thumb 2, thumb 3, and thumb 4. Now I can add the bear's thumb to that list. Yes, this morning I caught her sucking her thumb for the first time. While I don't yet have a picture to document this, we can see she is growing more each day and starting to develop her own personality. I need to tell you she is simply a darling. I absolutely love spending time with her. Until the next post...

Life's Major Decisions

For those of you who know Lynn and I well, you know that our major life decisions, such as new job, house buying, having a kid, etc. are not left to chance. No, all of these are carefully planned out using the highly scientific decision making method known as roshambo. So, as we were taxi-ing down the runway this afternoon on our way back to Atlanta, we noticed that someone was really stinky in our aisle. A quick check revealed that while Lynn could have used more deodorant, someone's pink pants were actually quite brown from the knees up. Our decision this time... who was going to change the Bear? I lost at roshambo, and quickly said 2 out of 3, which to my surprise, Lynn agreed. I won round 2 to even the game and lost round 3, meaning I had to change the Bear.

After we leveled to our cruising altitude and the pilot had turned off the fasten seat-belt sign, I took Claire and her diaper bag to the rear bathroom. Now, we were on a CRJ-700, which is a small jet, meaning the bathrooms were large enough for a small child. Here I was with Claire lying on her changing pad which was on a couple of plane blankets, which was on the toilet lid - don't use plane blankets, bring your own. Off comes the Bear's pants and diapers and then her shirt. She was covered on the backside from her shoulder blades down to her knees. I went through a hundred wet wipes before I put a new clean outfit on her. And just as we are getting ready to leave the restroom, Claire spits up for good measure.


So, the Bear chooses a small airplane to have her first blow-out. Other than that, she slept for the rest of the trip and was a total angel. She got several compliments from other passengers about what a good traveller she is - these people never used the lavatory in the back of the plane. If you look back to my very first post, toward the end, I tell you what we want for a baby, when asked "boy or girl?". I think we got exactly what we wanted.

Why only 2.5 days?

For those of you who were wondering why we were in Syracuse and only spent 2.5 days, we were visiting Grandpa Len who had just been discharged from the hospital after surgery - he is fine. It was a quick visit and we look forward to spending more time in Central NY's sunshine capital in September. We are on the way home and will let you know how the Bear fared in coach class on the flight home.

77 days old...

We had a slew of guests come by the house yesterday (in Syracuse). I'd like to think they came by to wish Lynn and me a happy anniversary (number 9), but I know it was to see the bear. As dad says, Claire came to visit me and brought her parents with her. For the most part Claire was calm/quiet as all these "strangers" held her and oooo-ed and aaahhh-ed. She's developed this new trick, that we noticed. When you see her smiling, you better grab a burp cloth because something is on its way up. It's a great trick, especially when those not in the know think it's cute that Claire is smiling at them.

In addition to yesterday being our anniversary, Claire turned 77 days (11 weeks) old. Uncle Larry watched the bear as we went out for dinner with Suzanne. I know you are thinking, why did they go out with someone for their anniversary? We are in Syracuse for 2.5 days so we need to double up on activities. Tonight, in the spirit of multitasking, Lynn is going to talk to me, while I watch TV. Details at 11pm.

Sadly, tomorrow we are heading home. I hope Claire has another good flight. She has 3 more trips between now and September. Flying will be a piece of cake for her. I hope I haven't typed too soon. I will post more photos later. Until then...