Nom Nom Nom

About a month ago, we very slowly started trying to get Claire to eat baby food. We were a little slow to get started because she had been having some....bathroom issues to put it a little delicately. We didn't want to cause her more problems so we decided to wait on the solids. But it started to seem like the kid just couldn't get enough to eat so we started her on some fruits. Feeding her was impossible. Everytime we'd get the spoon anywhere close to her all she wanted to do was grab it. I knew we needed to keep trying so that she could learn but it just seemed like it was so much work to even get the food TO her mouth so I was admittedly really lazy about it.

At Claire's doctor's appointment in December, he asked if we had been feeding her and I told him that we had a little bit but not too much. He encouraged us to keep going and said that soon she'd be eating three meals a day with us. So I climbed back up on the horse. And you know what? She is LOVING eating now. She sits in her Bumbo chair and is such a champ about it. She can't get the food in her mouth fast enough. It's like all of a sudden she realizes she loves food and doesn't want to grab the spoon anymore because that keeps it from getting in her mouth! She even loves eating that yucky, tasteless baby cereal!

She does not look like she is "loving it" here but, trust me, she is!

Now, she is already eating three meals a day and seems so satisfied and happy that I can't believe I gave up on it for so long. Plus, a lot of her bathroom issues have cleared up with her new eating habits. Win-Win! And now with these new teeth, I bet we'll be on to real solid food in no time!

Project Thursday: Week Five

Every Christmas I have the same dilemma. How am I going to hang my stockings? I kept thinking that one day I'd get those little stocking hanger doo-dads but they seem so big and like they'd interrupt any kind of mantle decorations I had going on. Plus, I never see any that I'm totally in love with and, let's face it, I'm just too cheap to spend $10 each or more! With us and the dogs, that'd be over $50 and that's if the dogs would share a hook! I always hate to ask Matt to put nails into things, especially for things that are not going to be permanent so last year we tried the Command hooks. I won't do that again. First of all, they aren't so cute. Even though they were clear, I still noticed them. Then at the end of the season when I took them off, it took the finish off the mantle! Now, our mantle is nothing fancy in the least but I really don't want to have to repaint or restain it because of some silly hooks for stockings!

Then I came up with an idea. I really don't even know how it came to me. But I thought, what if we put fancy knobs on the mantle. They'd be perfect for holding stockings and the rest of the year they'd be adorable and decorative and we could hang garlands and other things from it. Plus, it'd give me a perfect excuse to buy adorable half-price knobs from Hobby Lobby which I'm always looking for. The only problem was, I thought Matt would never go for it. Drilling holes into the mantle for something that may not even look great? Yeah, right. But when I ran the idea by him, he was actually really into it! I couldn't get to Hobby Lobby fast enough. And since I obviously couldn't settle on one type of knob, I chose six different knobs! And I think it looks fantastic! 

Please excuse the Christmas photos. I have more pictures coming.

    

     

It was a risk but I think it paid off. It really gives our plain-jane mantle something a little interesting. And I'm so proud that it's an idea I came up with all on my own - not from Pinterest! I'm not saying no one in the world has ever done this but I've never seen it! I'm feeling inspired and hope I have more risks-that-paid-off projects to share this year!

On the Move!

I am super excited to report that after all of Claire's hard work, she started to crawl last week! It was honestly like she just woke up one day and was like "oh yeah, I can do this. No sweat." So now she has added crawling to her repertoire and is crawling all over the place, all the time.

Now we just need to get her to stop waking up in the night and trying to crawl in her crib. And, oh yeah, her crib mattress is going to have to be lowered because the girl loves to pull up. I think we have another adventurer on our hands.

Are You There God? It's Me, Noah.

Those of you that know Noah personally, know that he is obsessed with gadgets. He loves all kinds of gadgets and cell phones are his favorites. If you give him a cell phone, he could probably sit occupied with that all day long. It's a secret weapon in waiting rooms and family occasions where we want him to be on the quiet side. But we don't let him use it too much at home when we are just sitting around. That doesn't stop him for asking for it.

When Noah wants to use Matt's phone he says "see birdies?" There's some generic version of Angry Birds on Matt's phone that Matt has let him watch in the past so he associates that with Matt's phone. So a few nights ago, Noah requested to see birdies and we relented. Then Matt had to take the phone from Noah so he could order a pizza. We promised that Noah could have the phone back after dinner if he behaved and ate well. Still, there were quite a few tears. Ok, there was a humongous fit that lasted into dinnertime. 

 We sat Noah down for dinnertime anyway and started to pray as we always do. We've been working on praying with Noah lately, trying to teach him how to talk to God, especially before meals and at bedtime. So before we could start our usual dinnertime prayer, Noah folded his little hands and we watched him intently. Then he said "Dear Jesus...See birdies." And we completely died laughing.

Bless Noah's little heart, he is nothing if not persistent.

Project Thursday: Week Four

Back at the beginning of my Project Thursday refresh, I mentioned that I tried to make presents for Claire and Noah for Christmas. One thing I really really wanted to make for Claire was some headbands. She has a few - one of which I even made - but she never wears them. I think a lot of that has to do with the colors and the hugely girlyness of most of her clothes. That's not a bad thing but I just thought she could use a few different options. When I found this guy on Etsy, I was in love and sadly, I can't even find the shop it belongs to anymore. So I set about making her one of her own.

I think it turned out fantastic! I made it a little big so she can wear it when her head gets a little larger too. And it is nice and soft and stretchy! And now I want one!

I think in this photo she is telling me "you can have mine." The girl doesn't love headpieces. But we'll get used to them.

I made her another one but it isn't the sturdiest and I'm just not in love with it. But I'm hoping to do more. It really was pretty easy so I have no excuse not to. I think the hardest part was picking out which designs I like best. There are so many cute options. Interested in seeing a few? Head over to my Pinterest pages and browse around and you are bound to see more than you ever hoped to see!

She's a Hard Working Lady

Our little Claire really is a hard-working baby. She would be completely happy to play on the floor all day - trying to crawl and move and keep up with big brother. I can see in her eyes how hard she is working and how much she wants to accomplish all these things. I know sometimes it's really frustrating for her but she doesn't give up!

Last week was a great week with lots of pay-offs for our little girl. She had all sorts of firsts! On Thursday, when she was helping me give Noah a bath, she grabbed onto the toilet (gross, I know but it's so cramped in there) and pulled herself right up. I was so proud of her! I let her spend the rest of Noah's bathtub pulling up on the side of the tub so she could watch all the things Noah was getting into. Since then, she's been enjoying  letting me hold her hands so she can practice standing and I've been encouraging her to pull up (against my better judgement, ha!)

A few days later, we were all in our room and Claire was rolling around on our bed. The next thing we knew, Claire was sitting up! All on our her own! She can sit up by herself, though not very sturdily, but she had never pulled herself right up to sitting like that! She's done it a time or two since then but not consistently. Still, that's pretty big for such a little girl!

But she hasn't stopped at just working on her physical abilities, she's also been working super hard on her sounds. And last week she finally said "mamamamamama" while I was feeding her. That seems like it's her new sound and it is so sweet to hear. I just love it! Dadadadada was pretty sweet but there's nothing like hearing your own name. 

So that's what she's been working on lately. Even as I type she's on the ground working on some more of her moves. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next! She's growing up so fast and it's exciting and sad at the same time.

A Case of the DaDas

Claire really has been growing and changing like crazy lately. We've been having a lot of fun little moments and conversations. She's definitely been babbling a lot in the last month. She also enjoys grinning with her whole body and squeezing my face and putting her mouth all over it.

Here she comes for me!

Lately, though, he babbles have been sounding a lot more likes words! And those words have been sounding a lot like "Da Da!" I know this thrills Matt to death and it does me too. She is very decisive about shouting "Da da DA!" too. It's pretty adorable and sweet. Can't wait to hear what she babbles next!