Crawling Camera Attack

I'm trying a direct upload - comment so I know it works. Otherwise I'm off to YouTube and I'll try it that way!

Twirly Tongue Portrait

More photos from our AM playtime outside, click here

Swinging With Daddy!

Today Claire spent the day with us at a friend's shop and was soooo amazingly good. We took her to the park afterwards for some time on the swings (and for Mommy & Daddy to get some walking time in). I was so glad Claire managed to stay awake for the ride to the park. I've tried to get to there a few times this week and she falls asleep in the car, never wake a sleeping baby right? :-)

Claire also amazed us with her monkey strength. Just check out this kid swinging across the hand holds! Go baby go! Ok, maybe she had a little help :-)


Original photos and a few cute extras can be found in my online picasa album here. I've included the full size images of Claire on the monkey bars too! Enjoy!

Grassy Green Eyes

This close up of Claire is straight out of the camera - no touch ups or color adjustments. You've got to love that early morning sun, look how green her eyes are turning!

I went out this morning with the intention of capturing Claire at her newest trick - pulling up to a stand. It's not a great photo of her, but it gets the point across, she's standing! Claire has been pulling up consistently for about a week, I've been trying to catch a shot of her doing it, but it's getting hard to chase her around with the camera, she's so fast!

One Two "Buckle" My Shoe...

Claire invents her own song - one, two...EAT my shoe!

Gecko was dying for her to swing the shoe around so he could chase the laces.

Hen Party at Kim's House

Hooray! Today was Claire's first playdate! Kim organized a playgroup and Claire had a blast playing with the 9 month old twins next door. Also in attendance were some "big kids" - Lily, Nicholas and Giovannah (comment spelling corrections if you have 'em).

The twins and Claire have played together before, but today was the first time they really took notice of one another.

When I arrived, I put Claire in the play yard with Ryan and he just giggled and giggled. They cooed and smiled at each other...and then that fresh little boy stuck his hand in Claire's diaper. She promptly chomped on his ear to defend her virtue. We're keeping an eye on that kid ;-)


Three year old Giovannah loved the babies. She kept hugging the boys and Claire in her sweet three-year old way which meant lots of adult intervention was needed, but it was really cute how motherly she was with them. Nicholas (3) is a great big brother and super patient with Claire and thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifhe twins. He didn't seem to mind Lily dismantling and chewing his train set much either. Lily is the one in the photos showing off her belly button, she's turning 2 this October. Unfortunately missing from my photos are the kids all in the bathtub together. Claire and Nicholas seized this opportunity to monopolize the living room toys while the twins splashed away oblivious. Next to be dunked were Nicholas and Giovannah - hopefully Kim took some pictures and will and post a link to them (hint, hint Kim!).

Here's a link to all the photos - with all the kids I didn't take too many, but there are some really cute ones!

Lil' Miss Eyebrows

I don't know why but this goofy picture of Claire furrowing her eyebrows at the camera just makes me smile. I do wonder sometimes what she thinks about during the day, especially when we're outside.

Introducing...Solids!

Claire finally got her first taste of solids on May 5 - I know, I know...I have totally been slacking on the photo updates.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well here are some priceless ones of Claire getting her first taste of carrots and then bananas a few days later. Neither of them impressed her as you can see.

Things looked so promising at first too! Claire was mimicking our chewing motions and greedily eye-balling my plate for days. Dan was so excited to feed her, but Claire was much more interested in the spoon and container (go figure).

We even tried using our fingers to feed her since she was used to having those in her mouth. No dice. I'm assuming that eventually she'll eat (and walk, and grow some teeth...ect) so we're not pushing things too much.

Peaches seem to be a bit more her style though, at least she doesn't grimace! Here's a link to the full album and a slideshow featuring all the pictures is embedded below.

First Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!
We're celebrating my first today and here's a silly California picture to commemorate it!

Photos from Day Two in California

Day two started with sunscreen mohawks and the omelettes a la Dan.

Photos From Day One In California

After a great flight with Claire (much to the relief of the passengers around us) we arrived at the Catamaran Resort right on Mission Beach in San Diego. It was a GREAT place to stay and we even got a suite upgrade through travelocity. When we arrived we found 2 double beds, not the king we were expecting so they moved us up to the seventh floor to gorgeous suite with ocean views. WOW! You've got to love that "roaming gnome." Did I mention we had two balconies overlooking the ocean?

The next morning Claire got to sit in a restaurant high chair for the first time (she made eyes at all the other diners and surfer boys). Dan and I had the best french toast EVER. I had to photograph it...yum yum yum.

We spent the day lounging about the pool and exploring the hotel which had gorgeous grounds and a bunch of parrots around to entertain the guests. They were very chatty and we could hear the one parrot saying, "here kitty, kitty" from our balcony. Claire seemed to enjoy the birds, not nearly as much as her own pets.

Laurie and Alison came by to visit and swim with Claire who very much enjoyed each of her pool adventures. Swim diapers are the best inventions ever...we didn't get to truly test them out because Claire had saved that up for the plane (haha) but looking at how much her regular diaper swelled up I can't imagine it actually containing anything.

Dan cooked dinner with the groceries Claire and I picked up (her first grocery cart ride too!) and then we finally got to see National Treasure II on the gigantic flat screen TV in the master bedroom.

So that's day one of CA...I know, a WEEK later. I'll post pictures of the wedding tomorrow and the zoo on Sunday. I'm having some issues with the image uploader so I have to do it all manually. With Claire crawling (eeek!) there's not nearly enough time in the day anymore.

California Girls (and boy)

We're back from our wonderful weekend in San Diego and while we have HUNDREDS of pictures to share with our loyal blog fans, the vacation tornado swept through the house while we were gone so there is lots of cleaning to do first.

Here are a few pics to "wet" your appetite: