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...