Eeek ... I have done a horrible job at updating this blog. I mean, I almost don't want to post a new entry because then I have to admit how long it has been since I last posted (over 5 months) and how much has happened since then that I really should have been posting about (Claire turned one, she started walking, etc. etc.), and when I think about all of that, I start getting overwhelmed. But, here I am, so here we go .... (I will try to keep this as short as I can, but y'all should know that doesn't really mean anything). Birthday
Super cute birthday banner made by an amazingly talented friend
So Claire turned one on May 16th. Two days prior to that (five days after the last blog post), Claire had an appointment with her pediatrician, who recommended that we remove dairy from her diet due to a suspected milk protein allergy. I am sure no one will be surprised to learn that I *slightly* freaked out about what to do for Claire's birthday cake (and birthday cupcakes at daycare) given this new development. Fortunately, my best friend (and the mother of Claire's best friend) stepped in and ordered vegan cupcakes and a smash cake from a local cupcake bakery. I am relatively sure that the Bear didn't even notice the difference ...
Birthday cupcakes with BFF
Posing with big brother at her birthday party
Claire had a great time at her party, and we were so happy that we were able to celebrate the Bear with so many family and friends.
Birthday outfit
Summer
Soooo many things happened over the summer that I don't even know where to start. I think it will be easiest to handle this via bullet points.
It seems like we had just gotten used to Claire crawling when she decided it was time for her to start walking. Once she sets her mind to something, that is it, and there is no turning back.
Walking to Dad at her birthday party.
Claire's bottom middle teeth were joined by two teeth on the tops - no, not her middle ones. Instead, Claire grew her "fangs" first, which, in my opinion, gave her the cutest smile EVER. (She has since grown her top middle teeth, along with two more teeth on the bottom, for a total of 8.)
I spent my first nights without Claire when Bo and I went to Vegas in June (Bo had already met that milestone the year before when he went to Chicago for his brother's bachelor party). Claire had a great time with both sets of grandparents, and I discovered that blackjack is a really great distraction. (Oops.)
We went on a cruise with Bo's parents, two of his brothers, and some family friends in July. Claire had an absolute blast - her favorite part was running around the ship with an adult trailing behind her.
Despite taking allergy medicine and being on an (almost 100%) dairy-free diet, Claire continued to have double ear infections. We were referred to an ENT in July, who confirmed that Claire needed ear tubes. Her surgery was on August 4th at CHKD, and, once again, Claire handled the whole thing like a champ (even though Momma and Daddy were more than slightly nervous). The difference the tubes have made is amazing. Claire has been ear infection-free - and we are keeping our fingers crossed that this continues, even though the tubes will not entirely prevent infections from occurring - and she has just been a happier camper overall.
Watching a movie before surgery
Claire moved up to the Toddler room at daycare at the beginning of September. It was a bit of a rough transition, but she now loves her new teachers as much as she does her old, and she is happy to walk into the room each morning.
First day of school
We took a mini-vacation to the Outer Banks with some friends at the beginning of September. The waves were a little rough, so I thought Claire would be hesitant to go into the water ... boy, was I wrong! I spent much of the first day at the beach running after Claire, who kept beelining for the ocean. :)
Claire also discovered her love of "Frozen." I am pretty sure we have watched the movie over 100 times, but it continues to mesmerize her.
Watching "Frozen."
There is so much more than happened, but I figure, as always, it is best to tell the story through pictures.
Tea party with Daddy
Enjoying a baseball game
Discovering her love of swings
Splashin' around with her BFF
14 months old!
Mmmmmm ... raspberry sorbet!
Bike ride
Summer visit with Uncle Sammy
Fun with the fountains at the Zoo
Daredevil
Fall
We have had a great fall so far. Claire continues to grow (too fast, if you ask me). She is talking more and more, both verbally and using sign language. Her favorite words are Momma, Dadda, cat, dog, juice, dance, and hot, while her favorite signs are baby, airplane, dog, hat, more, and please. Claire still loves all things "Frozen;" she has LOTS of Frozen figurines, a Frozen lunchbox, a Frozen coloring book, a Frozen toy bag ... you name it, we most likely have it. Bo's parents took her to see Frozen on Ice in September, and they said she enjoyed everything about it (except for intermission). She still loves goldfish and Doritos and strawberries, but has expanded her palate to include peas, corn, green beans, chicken nuggets, carrots, peaches, eggs, and edamame. Not the most diverse diet, but I do like how much she loves her vegetables.
One of the biggest things that has happened this fall was Claire's article in our local children's hospital magazine, "KidStuff." Back in May, my sister met someone from CHKD at a marketing event - Kati mentioned Claire and gave the woman a link to this blog. A couple of weeks later, I received a phone call from the woman asking if they could use portions of the blog in the magazine. I, of course, said yes, and we got to have a mini-family photo shoot in June. The magazine came out last Friday, and they did an amazing job, both with the photographs and with choosing what parts of the blog to use to tell Claire's story. I have not gotten my copy yet, but a friend was nice enough to share hers with me.
Finally, we hit the one year anniversary of Claire's surgery on October 16th. It is still hard to believe all that has happened since we first learned of Claire's omphalocele and that we are were we are today. We are incredibly blessed.
Okay, enough procrastinating ... time to do some real work. As always, I will end the post with some more Claire photos. I hope everyone is having a great fall, and I will try to post more often!
Oh. Hey there. Long time no, ummm, see read? Yup, I failed to post anything for the last two (three?) months, and I wish I could say it was because I am busy, but I can't. I mean, I am really busy (thankfully, because that means the Firm is still going strong), but that has nothing to do with why I haven't posted since I typically used this blog as a wonderful way to procrastinate doing my work. Unfortunately, yet not surprisingly, my procrastination tool slowly turned into something that I instead procrastinated about.
[Side Note: Okay, okay .... I know the sentence should really be "... turned into something about which I instead procrastinated," but I'm sticking with how I originally wrote it. Except for this explanation to let you know that I know the correct way. Which probably definitely makes me sound like a grammar snob, but really, I just want my sister to know that I understand the whole "no preposition at the end of a sentence" thing so she doesn't lower her opinion of me.]
See? More procrastination. And it's not like I have any reason to procrastinate writing this blog since it is about my very favorite subject in the whole entire world. I think the problem is that there is just so MUCH to write that I have a hard time compiling it down into something short enough that other people will (hopefully) want to read. I think I just need to dive right in ...
In my last post, I said that Claire was very close to crawling. I guess that was the motivation she needed, because only four days later, I walked into her daycare to find this:
If only she was still that slow ... alas, she is a force to be reckoned with and will speed off into the other room in the blink of an eye. One of her favorite games, aside from crawling laps through the living room, dining room, and front room, is to peer around doorways to play "peek a boo."
Fortunately, all that exercise tends to wear her out.
Claire isn't silly enough to allow us to actually become used to a thing before moving on to something new, so shortly after she started crawling, she also started pulling up on things - toys, legs, chairs, etc. - and using her toys with wheels as walkers (until she runs into a wall, at which point she will leave the scene of the accident and crawl off in pursuit of the next adventure).
Claire still loves playing with her BFF, so we were sad to learn that Claire would not be moving up to the next room at daycare with her this past week. However, given that the room is called the "Toddler Room" (while Claire cannot walk unassisted) and is for kids up to two years old, it is better for Claire to stay where she is for a little longer to keep her from being overwhelmed. She definitely enjoys being one of the older babies in her room, and she still gets to see her BFF at least once a week when the adults get together for our weekly Game of Thrones gathering. :)
Crab and Bear
Claire started taking swimming lessons at the YMCA in March. While she is not to keen on learning how to kick or move her arms in the water, she enjoys all the singing and splashing, and tolerates (much more than I expected!) being dunked.
Ready to dive in
Let's see, what else? We had a couple of holidays since I last wrote, and, as always, Claire dressed for the occasion.
Happy St. Paddy's Day!
The Bear makes a cute bunny.
And just because I was too busy lazy to put up a blog post each month doesn't mean that I forgot to take pictures of Claire on her 10 month and 11 month "birthdays."
10 months old
11 months old
Claire has been putting her teeth to good use, despite the fact that she still has only two. Her favorite foods are pickles, lemons, goldfish crackers, Cheerios, Doritos (yes, she is her mother's daughter), and mac 'n' cheese. She is now entering the stage where she wants to try to feed herself, which makes dinner time very slow (but pretty amusing at the same time).
Mmmmm, broccoli.
And apparently each little tooth that she has is a sweet tooth, because that child will chow down on desserts like there is no tomorrow.
C is for Claire. And for cookie ...
... and also for cake. For which Claire does not need utensils.
The last picture was from Claire's BFF's first birthday party, and it gives me high hopes for Claire's cake smash performance at her own party on the 17th.
Before I end this post with a photo dump (I mean, it's not like this whole post was one big photo dump or anything), I'll give y'all a quick update on the health front. First, and most importantly, Claire continues to do amazingly well since her closure surgery. She saw Dr. F again on May 6th, and he was very happy with her progress. Claire does still have a little gap between some of her abdominal muscles, but Dr. F expects those to get stronger and fill in as Claire grows and develops. The most important part is that she is hitting all of her milestones (including both gross and fine motor skills) despite getting off to a slow start. She will see him again on July 29th. Claire had another double ear infection since my last post, and this week Bo and I were afraid that she might have a third one, but fortunately, this was not the case. Instead, her pediatrician thinks Claire might have allergies, which could result in the ear infections. The plan is to treat the underlying cause (allergies) in the hopes that it prevents any future infections. Claire's 1-year-old appointment is May 19th, but we don't expect any surprises from that.
Okay, and now for the promised photo dump:
Getting ready for swim lessons
Hiking is hard work! (First Landing State Park)
Enjoying her first circus
Enjoying a book read by her awesome big brother
Matching cars (put together by Mom, blinged out by Dad)
Hi again. Bet you thought you were done with me, right? Sorry about that. (but not really) Anyway, as the title says, we are getting ready for Claire's first birthday on the 16th, even though we can barely grasp the fact that it has almost been a year since our sweet Claire Bear joined our family. It is hard for me to think back to this time last year ... back to when we were anticipating meeting Claire, while at the same time dreading all the "unknowns." We have said it before, but we can never say it enough ... we could not have done it without the love, support, prayers, good thoughts, EVERYTHING from our friends and family. Y'all are the best and we love you.
