Longer than Expected

Our bathroom project is getting extended into the middle of next week, so for now more time with Nana and Papa. They love having Claire here, mom and dad on the other hand, not so much :-)

Claire had some exciting firsts this past week. She dropped her 10:30pm feeding, so she is going to bed around 7:30pm and waking up between 6:30-7:00am. We are hoping this is not just a fluke at Nana and Papa's and will continue when we get home. Claire is also not using a pacifier during bedtime or naptime. She still occasionally uses it during the day for fussy periods. We reduced her pacifier use for a few reasons, during the night Claire would loose her pacifier and fuss until it was replaced. Cory and I would take turns in the night doing 're-plugs'. This was not great for our sleep or Claire's since she was not able to re-soothe herself back to sleep without it. Also, Claire's daycare prefers children not use a pacifier and limits pacifier use to their crib. I thought there was no way Claire would go to bed without one. To our surprise she fussed for a minute or two and then went to sleep without it and stopped waking in the middle of the night wanting her pacifier back. Maybe when potty training rolls around we may need to plan another visit to Nana and Papa's so this magic can continue.

Please, can I have some more:

Dixie Cups

Claire loves Dixie Cups, they keep her very entertained especially during dinnertime.
Thanks for the idea Dex.

Video of Claire Eating

Rice cereal with Bananas from CMB1936 on Vimeo.

We are Bananas for Bananas

Cory did some research on feeding babies rice cereal and found a few suggestions to try rice cereal with bananas. The sweeter taste can be more appetizing for babies. Well we found a winner, Claire loves rice cereal with bananas. She cooed through the feeding, opened her mouth for more, and finished a whole ounce (a first!). We'll have a video posted tomorrow.

It's fun to watch Nana tear paper:
But it's even more fun when Claire gets to rip paper:

Banana rice cereal is tasty!

Update from Nana & Papa's

Day 3 at Nana & Papa's and of course we are being spoiled! Claire is still eating rice cereal with mixed results. We give her cereal in the morning and the evening; sometimes she is receptive and other times she lets us know "nice try, this is not happening".

Nana, Claire, and I have been busy with shopping trips to Kohl's, Target, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Claire is an excellent little shopper. This afternoon we tried out the kiddie pool to cool off from the heat.

Papa carrying Claire in the carrier:
Papa letting Claire play with things that are not mom and dad approved:
Trying out her high-chair:
Playing in the kiddie pool:

The Start of a New Bathroom

This week Claire and Mom are staying with Nana and Papa in Buffalo, while Claire gets a new bathroom (I say Claire, since she cannot take showers yet, we are having a tub put in for her). While they are away I will be updating the progress of the bathroom. We are doing a complete gut (we meaning the people WE hired) and starting from scratch.

The Before:

After Day One:

Hopefully every-day's progress is this fast, but tearing down is much easier than putting up.

Since I know that you actually read the blog for Claire, here are some cute photos from the weekend:
'Now rotate 43* counterclockwise and it should unhook'
'I'm in Mommy's Chair'
'This is MY Monkey, you have your own'
'What you got over there? Maybe I want that Monkey Also...'
Mom as furniture.
'If I try hard enough, I can get the entire block in my mouth'
'Look into my eyes....you will buy me a new tub'

Rice Cereal

Claire had her first taste of rice cereal on Friday. I think the pictures tell the whole story on how it went.

All ready to go in her highchair:
First spoonful:
What the heck is this...
More on her face then in her mouth:

Rice Cereal Take 2, Saturday:

They are really going to try this again:
Trying out a different spoon:
Nice try with the new spoon, I still don't like it:
Moved Claire to infant seat to see if that helped:
Hey this spoon is fun to chew on:
Our second attempt was a definite improvement. Claire needs more practice to get the hang of eating with a spoon. Claire had another first this weekend, on Saturday morning we found her sleeping on her stomach in her crib. Much to our surprise there was no screaming, which usually accompanies Claire's tummy time.