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.