Claire's blessing

Claire had her blessing in church on March 1st and lots of family came in town for it. John and Carin and their four kids came in from Florida, Lori and Wayne and their three children from Albany, Wendy and Dan and their two kids from Albany, Chris's parents from PA, and of course my parents who live here, were all there. It was the first time in a really long time that all of my brothers and sisters (with the exclusion of David who is in Australia) were all together. The weekend went way too fast, but we had a wonderful time together and it was so nice for everyone to meet, or see again, Claire.

Andrew and Claire

Brianna and Claire

Chris gave the blessing which was beautiful. Claire looked beautiful too, as she was dressed in my grandfather's christening dress which is over 100 years old. It is beautiful lace and fit Claire perfectly. I always thought the dress was very pretty, but after seeing it on Claire, it looked even more beautiful on her. I was really worried about her spitting up on it or fussing during the blessing, but thankfully, she was quiet, happy, and spit up free! Phew!



Claire continues to entertain and amaze us. We just love watching her grow and do new things. On Saturday, Chris and I bought Claire a crib mattress. We already had the crib set up. Claire is so long, that there really isn't much more room in the bassinet, and she kicks so vigorously, that I sometimes worry it isn't sturdy enough. So Saturday night, she had her first night in the crib and she did great! Yesterday when I went to get her up, I was surprised how much she moved, and this morning I was shocked! I laid her down in the middle of the bed, but when I went to get her this morning, she was turned 90 degrees and laying about where her feet originally were! Her feet were slightly through the bars! I have no idea how she moved like that. She has been scooting lately by putting her feet on the floor and pushing her body moving her head further away. How she moved toward her feet and 90 degrees I have yet to discover. She's a funny little active girl. She seemed pretty proud of herself though. She is so strong and can stand really well too. Of course, she still kicks like crazy just like she has been.

I was thrilled last Friday to get the first belly laugh out of Claire. Chris was working for a funeral, and Claire and I were waiting in the car. We were playing and I was pretending to eat her neck and was zurberting her belly, and she belly laughed, twice! I just wished Chris had heard it. I tried for more, but didn't get them until Sunday evening. I was doing the same thing and she was laughing a ton! She's been laughing some, but not the belly laughs! They are so fun. And this time, Chris got to hear them. It's the cutest thing ever! Now I just have to get it on video and I'll share.

Claire has been sucking her thumb a lot in the last few days. It's kind of nice, because if she's fussing, but tired, she'll find her thumb and sooth herself to sleep. It's the cutest thing. Also, I noticed that she only sucks her left thumb. Could that be a sign that she's a lefty like her daddy? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I wouldn't be surprised. She already has so many features like her daddy, so why not be a lefty too?


Speaking of Chris, I think he is quite smitten with Claire. It was a little overwhelming for him the first few weeks with her, but now that he's adjusted, he's realized why people like having babies around. He said the other day, "if every baby where like Claire, I could see having 7 or 8 of them!" We have talked about having 4-6, but 7-8? Let's not go crazy. This is a big improvement though, because when we first brought her home and were getting very little sleep, he thought it was hard to imagine having any more. Let's just hope that as he becomes more smitten with her, that number doesn't go up more!

Claire and her daddy, palling around

Some of the women in our ward threw a baby shower for me last Thursday! They wanted to do it before Claire came, but with the holidays and all, it didn't happen. I wasn't necessarily expecting one, so I was glad to just have one with them. There were about 8 people there, and we had a great time. They made crepes with strawberries, blackberries, bananas, custard, and fresh whipped cream to put inside. They were so yummy! Claire got lots of new clothes and some really fun books as well. I thought that was so nice of them to do. When people are so kind and thoughtful, it inspires me to be more like that toward others as well.

Our little Penn State fan