Claire - 10 Months

Claire, you are 10 months old! You are going through such a cute phase right now! Your fun-loving personality reveals itself more and more each day and you bring such joy to me and your Daddy. 

You were 22 lbs when I took you to the doctor a few weeks ago when you were sick. You're wearing some 6-12 month and some 12-18 month clothes. We've moved up to size 4 diapers. 

Here's what else you're up to these days:

- You love to dance! If you're standing at your little activity table and it plays a song, you dance. If you're standing in front of the TV and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog song comes on, you dance. If I'm trying to get you to wind down for a nap and you're not having it, you dance. It's absolutely adorable! You crack us up on a daily basis!

- You're talking more and more. You say dog and duck now unprompted if you see one. I feel like you're in a period of rapid cognitive development. It's really neat watching you learn and understand more and more everyday. 

- You love to eat! No food is safe when you're around. Whenever you see us eating something, you will smack you lips and start cruising the ottoman to get over to us. It is hilarious! You're getting to try all kinds of table foods and you seem to like most everything. Like any good Texas girl, you love tortillas and queso! I'm looking forward to introducing you to the food extravaganza that is Thanksgiving later this week!

- You're still nursing! Mercifully, you've stopped biting. Thanks for that, kid. When you're hungry and getting ready to nurse, you say "nuh nuh nuh nuh" and sometimes you smack your lips for emphasis. 

- You have 8 teeth! The other day I thought your upper canine teeth might be getting ready to come through, but now I'm not sure. If they are, it is very early for that. I'm thinking not, because you've been very happy the last week or so. It's nice to have a little break from teething. 

- A couple weeks ago you had two of the worst nights of sleep we've ever experienced back-to-back. Since then, I think you may have turned a corner in the right direction. I'm afraid to say too much for fear of jinxing the whole thing. You're not really sleeping through the night or anything, but you've become more snuggly and willing to sleep lately. We could definitely get used to this, so keep it up, baby girl! 

- You wave to people a lot. You've also started doing this really funny gesture where you hold your arm out to someone, bend your wrist, and offer your hand like you want them to kiss it. I have no idea where this came from, but it's pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen.

- You had a virus earlier this month. Fever, lots of dirty diapers, and a rash. I'm glad you're feeling better now! 

- YOU ARE SUCH A WIGGLE WORM! I have never seen anything like it. Every diaper/clothing change is a wrestling match. If I buckle you onto your changing pad, you can flip over and crawl out of the belt. Holding you is a serious arm workout because you are so active. It's crazy! Some days I get to the end of the day and feel like I have been wrestling all day long! We think you're going to be an athlete, quite possibly a gymnast.

- You took a first step on Friday night! You were playing/pulling Daddy's hair and then you just let go and took a step over to your activity table. I'm very sad because I missed it I was in the kitchen. :(  We don't think you even realized you did it and haven't been able to get you to do it again, but I bet you'll be walking more soon.

Current nicknames: Clairebear, C-Bear, Tootie, Tootie-bird, Clarabelle

Favorite toys: your activity table, pumpkin pillow, picnic basket, Goldilocks & the Three Bears set, bouncy balls. You adore your stuffed pig Hammy and sleep with him every night. You also love ripping up catalogs and taking all the DVDs out of the cabinet - oy!

Claire Campbell, you are our beautiful, strong girl. I'm very proud of you! This first Thanksgiving with you is so special - I am so very thankful for you and your Daddy. You two are my world. I can't wait to celebrate your first Christmas next month! 

Love,
Mama

Claire's First Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween! We've always been big Halloween people, but having a baby took things to whole different level. 

 We took Claire to the pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago. They had so many gorgeous pumpkins of all shapes and sizes! Claire wore the pumpkin corduroy jumper I bought for her last year right after I found out she was a girl. So special to see her finally wearing it! When we were taking pictures, people kept stopping and walking over to see our little pumpkin...she was quite the star! Yes, I know that's bragging, but what's the old saying? It ain't bragging if it's true?!?

I think Claire was a little overwhelmed by all the pumpkins and people. She was very serious and wouldn't really smile much. I think she enjoyed it though!

Luckily, smiling wasn't an issue on Halloween itself... :)

Claire was a pumpkin for Halloween! Her costume was so cute! My mom and I tried it on her a few weeks ago and she threw a little fit, so I was worried she might fuss on the big day, but she actually didn't mind at all. She even kept the hat on! She looked so precious! 

We went to my parent's house for pizza, pumpkin cookies, and a little trick or treating with Gracie (aka Minnie Mouse)! The girls were so cute together. After awhile, we came back home to pass out candy to our neighborhood trick or treaters. Several families in our neighborhood throw this big Halloween block party every year. They block off the street, rent bouncy houses, play music, and serve food. It's really neat! Every Halloween our neighborhood sounds like a club! We thought about walking over there with Claire but she was tired and we thought it might overwhelm her a bit. Next year for sure!! Our little pumpkin got to Facetime with her Gigi and Poppy and then went to bed! 

Getting a good picture of both of them was impossible!

 Sweet cousins

Tired pumpkin

We also got Boo'd! Have you heard of this tradition? One morning earlier this week there was a cute container full of candy and Halloween-themed treats on our porch. It's called Boo'ing, and once you've been boo'd, you're supposed to Boo two other people. Just another reason I love our little neighborhood!

Claire's first Halloween was so great! It's so special having a child for all of these holidays. It's something I always dreamed about and I'm enjoying every minute!