Clare at 7 months...and she's on the move

Our sweet baby Clare is 7 months today and creeping quickly toward that one year mark. I can't hardly believe it though I say that every month. She has grown more opinionated through the passing months. She is impatient especially when it comes to food. I can say with certainty at this point she loves Cheerios the most and the independence of feeding herself. She doesn't like to wait for someone else to do it. She cocks her head sweetly to the side when she is being silly. She is the noisiest in the morning and right after her bath before bed. She loves to scream, not out of anger, but just to feel and hear herself scream. Shes saying a lot of syllables like dadada, bababa, and mamama and occasionally something that sounds like a sentence that makes no sense at all. She's experimenting with language nonetheless. She loves loves loves her boys (that would be Daddy and Hayden.) She squeals in delight when she sees them or even hears their voices coming her way. And one day shy of 7 months she really got going on that crawling. She had been trying to and landing a crawl step occasionally for about the last week and a half. And yesterday she finally got the motion right. I would try and help her with the coordination of it much like I did with Hayden who would let me, but she would have none of that. She likes to do it herself. She follows Hayden as fast as she can now wherever he goes and wants to play with what he is playing with. Its a new experience for him too. That whole sharing thing with a sibling no less. It will be interesting trying to childproof with a toddler who is a whirling dervish of hazards for a newly crawling baby who is still very oral. I'm going to have my work cut out for me keeping a very close eye on both of them. I'm convinced she will be walking for a year because she will want to keep up with Hayden when he is outside no doubt. I at this point have to keep a tight hold on her as she tries to wiggle out of my arms at a park or somewhere he is running around. She is still our happy little girl and always a breath of fresh air. Seven months later we are so blessed to still call Clare ours.

A Big Boy and A Mobile Girl

So, here is baby girl Clare. She is mostly a happy little girl. She is now crawling a bit but is creative in how she gets around by rolling like a Team 6 Navy Seal, army crawling, face dives forward and now the ever classic crawl intermingled in there. If you turn your back on her, you will most likely find her under a piece of furniture.

Exhibit A: We have a thing for tables and sometimes brother Hayden even joins in the fun (though often forgets there is a table above him and hits his head.)

Exhibit B: We don't always like the positions we get ourselves into. (Yes, I know she is crying in this picture. But it was too humorous to pass up and I promptly saved her after it was taken.)

Hayden is going to preschool two days a week in the fall (small tear forming in the corner of my eye.) He's such a big boy and is so excited about going. I thought I would beat the rush on mini-backpacks and get him one for his carry-on for traveling this summer. When he has it on, he looks like such a boy. Lord knows he thinks he is all the time anyway. When I give him a kiss on the cheek he wipes it off and says "NO! Hayden big boy!" I tell him that even big boys can get kisses on the cheek from their mommies.

Hayden with a baseball in hand. Currently his favorite sport. He's contemplating life in this picture.

Hayden's version of a smile when I told him to look at the camera and smile. Well, we need to work on that one a little.

Take Me Out to a Ballgame

Last night we took our kids to their first baseball game. Our friends Kelli and Daniel were nice enough to share with us some tickets they had received through Daniel's work. It was a bit chilly for May 2nd (considering we'd seen snow that morning) but we decided to fare it anyway. It worked out because there was hardly anyone there so we got the no lines at concessions or bathrooms frill and didn't have worry about annoying people around us who weren't fans of the runaway toddler. For Hayden's part, he did really well. He even sat and really watched the game for an inning with his Daddy who was attempting to explain some of it to him. He got to hi-five the team mascot, Orbit. He couldn’t decide whether Orbit was a dog or a bear and really neither one of us can really tell either. And, whilst Hayden didn't get the full experience with the food, he did get some nacho cheese-less nachos. Our little Nacho Libre often asks for "chips." Chips is in quotations because he says it just like the character in the movie Nacho Libre. Rent it if you haven't seen it. Many quotable lines. Anyway, back to the original content of this entry. Overall we had a great time. In one of these pictures you will see Hayden snuggled up with Kelli. I think he was happiest at this point because, well, Kelli is his first crush. I kid you not. He asks for her all the time and cries for her when she leaves. He even woke up last night crying for her. That’s awesome for a 4am wake-up call, your two year old son crying for another woman. When he found out she was married and met her husband Daniel for the first time, he said to me "Mommy, who dis guy?" Needless to say, he was a little disappointed that he had some competition for her affections. So I think that Kelli was probably the cherry on top of the whole baseball game extravaganza for him. So add another first for Hayden...and we'll repeat it for Clare because while she was trash talking the other team with her babbles, I just don’t think she have even the tiniest recollection of this event.