Well, I Declaire...

that the little miss is 9 months old (pretend it's September 2nd).

(for all you Vegasers, this photo is courtesy of Ms. Marylin (Holler) Kelley who happens to now be in my ward!)

I won't even say that I can't believe it, because really, 9 months ago sounds like 9 months ago. I will say though that this special addition to our family has filled our home with lots and lots of joy. The first word that pops into mind when I think of Claire is...

HAPPY!

swinging with Daddy

She really is a good natured gal and will give pretty much anybody a smile.

I'm definitely behind this time around, but every 3 months during the first year, I like to write down a few things about my little ladies:

• When I go in to get her out of bed in the morning she's just sitting up looking around the room waiting patiently. When I pick her up she kicks her legs frantically and squeals with excitement.


• On the other hand, when I put her down for a nap and she doesn't think she's ready, she usually doesn't cry but just protests by kicking the back of her crib repeatedly...and loudly. So rebellious.


• She has such a cute baby buddha belly, chubba bubba thighs, and round little cheeks. An old lady just stopped me today at the store and told me that I had a little "Anne Geddes baby". And that cute chub is quite deceiving as she is actually a little squirt only weighing in at 15 lbs 10 oz. (10th %).





• She's a "hippie" (as Tom likes to call her). Her favorite spot in the whole wide world is my left hip. She could sit there all day and be happy. Reese was your average clingy to mommy baby, but this girl....wowsers! I have a whole new understanding of the phrase "attached at the hip".


• Her next favorite place to be is in the bathtub.

I love her pose as she is waiting ever so patiently for the water to fill up.

• She's been pretty passive up to this point. She gets poked in the eyes, bonked on the head, pushed around against her will... ...and has always been a good sport about it. Lately though she's learned how to hold her own a little better. She's been "yelling" at Reese when she takes something from her. It's funny.

• She just got her first bottom little teeth at 8 1/2 months. The nursing gods were kind to me this time around!

• Her face in this picture says it all...

  she's crawling and pulling herself up which means T-R-O-U-B-L-E. She's been army crawling for about 6 weeks and just started knee crawling about 2 weeks ago. She's all over the place and up onto EVERYTHING! When I tell her "no", she looks back at me with a big smile then continues. She already knows how to use her cute smile. Sneaky lady.
  
  pulling down all the toilet paper off the roll
  
  
She's orange. She likes her fruits and veggies so much that she has a definite orangeish tint to her skin. My milk is really drying up (same thing at the same time with Reese), so we're having to supplement with formula. This wouldn't be a problem other than the fact that she WILL NOT drink from a bottle or sippy cup. We've had to mix her formula/water into all her food and thicken it with oatmeal. Now who's sneaky?

It's been a good 9 months and we're excited for the Big #1 that's right around the corner!