Mimic

Claudia has been so much fun lately. She has now learned how to mimic others. This is more impressive than it sounds. She can repeat sounds, so we like to yell out "ahh" back and forth while we're out shopping. One of her new motions is to shake her head left to right, so I can get her to mimic me. And, her grandma taught her how to play catch. You can roll a ball to her, she picks it up, sometimes mouths it, and then throws it. How neat!

Last week was Thanksgiving, so we got two days off work and we got to celebrate the day with the whole Olson family, hosted by my parents. We had amazing food and we (including Claudia) all gobbled up the turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and stuffing. Claudia pretty much eats everything. We now have her eating fruit, mostly canned fruit like pineapple, Mandarin oranges, applesauce, and pears. But she is definitely more of a savory than sweets girl, so she loves crackers, Cheerios, and cheese. We've discovered her love for grated cheddar cheese and cottage cheese, although they do make a mess. Oh, and sticky rice really makes a mess too. She now takes water (with assistance) from a sippy cup and a regular cup. With our extra time over the holiday weekend we finally set up Claudia's bedroom with a real changing table and her crib all in one place. And we did some preliminary work on baby proofing, although still no crawling. She can pivot around on her tummy though. We're hoping for some forward (or backward) movement by Christmas. Lastly, she's started snuggling a bit against my shoulder, with is very special for me because she's never been a snuggly baby.

Sporting some of her new winter clothes -- a jacket and bunny gloves.

Her first time in the grocery cart. She clung on to the rail tight; I was very proud of her.


Neely & Claudia playing on Thanksgiving.


By the fireplace. It's definitely winter in Seattle now.


Playing with her mini-Bennie babies in front of her bedroom. Nana has given me several dresses for Claudia so I've discovered tights and Claudia seems to like wearing them.


Mondays are always a big day for her at daycare, so she feel asleep at the dinner table.

Table food already

Shortly after my last post (when I mentioned that Claudia was eating cereal and strained vegetables), the daycare asked if they could start feeding her solid foods and we said "yes". Her daily progress report came home saying:

Breakfast: waffles and pineapple

Lunch: turkey sandwich, green beans, and Mandarin oranges

Snack: Cheerios and crackers

Wow, just like that and she's on table food! I know the experts say you're supposed to introduce one food at a time, but Claudia is on a roll and loves it so we're just going with the flow. At the daycare they smash up the food in tiny pieces, but she can handle a whole cracker. So far she has liked most things except fruit and her favorite has been turkey stuffing. They report that she is an excellent non-picky eater and has great finger dexterity for her age. Now if we could just get her working on some of her gross motor skills like crawling! But, she is making some progress. She can now roll from her back to tummy, and when she plays on her tummy she's starting to "swim" so she's getting the idea.

Our social life have been a bit limited lately because I'm still experiencing a flare of my ulcerative colitis, so I'm not always feeling my best. That combined with general exhaustion for both of us from working long hours at work and still being woken up at night by the baby is taking it's toll. We're just enjoying playing with Claudia, feeding her, and going to bed as early as we can so we can get up and do it all over again. :-)

Eating carrots.


Reading a book. She likes the board books with pictures of animals.


She's enjoying being on her tummy more.


Showing off her pony shirt and her koala booties.

Happy Halloween

Here are some of Claudia's new tricks: hitting two objects together, clasping her hands, smacking her lips, head banging people or her mirror, excitedly yelling "aah" at people especially babies and children, crying "ma ma" when she's unhappy, and eating lots more foods. She's eating oatmeal in the morning, crackers at daycare, and strained vegetables in the evenings. She continues to flutter her hands and arms a lot, but I think it's more to communicate than to balance because she sits up perfectly now. Her "da da" chatter and "aahs" in addition to her arm movements tend to increase the happier she is, so her mood is easy to read. Although, she's almost always happy except when she's sick. Which leads me to my next story, she got the another ear infection and a virus last week. It was awful. She had a fever between 101-103 and missed three days of daycare. It was stressful and hard for Glen & I because we were worried about her and just exhausted from taking care of her and juggling our work schedules. She would hardly sleep at all and there was lots of crying. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be the H1N1 flu because she never developed the dry cough and also we didn't get sick, so it must have been another variety that we were already immune to, thank goodness! It was bad timing because I did my first infusion of Remicade (to treat my ulcerative colitis) while she was right in the middle her illness, but I tolerated the treatment well and I have another one in 2 weeks.

We celebrated Claudia's first Halloween recently and she dressed up as a cheetah. My mom cooked us meat pie and chips "just for the fun of it" and we went trick or treating at a few houses. Claudia had her 6 month well child visit today (a little late because she's almost 7 months now) and she's in the 50th percentile for weight (16 pounds 4 oz) and 75th percentile for length (27 inches). We also got lucky and were able to get her the H1N1 vaccine today. Now I just need to track down one for myself. The hysteria over the vaccine is ridiculous. People are lining up for hours at pharmacies to get one and they're running out before most of the people can get it anyway.

Showing off one of her new tricks, clasping her hands.


Playing in her highchair waiting for dinner to be served.


Her cheetah costume for Halloween.


Showing off her winter gear -- wool hat and bunny mittens.


Just enough hair now that we can spike it up.


Our meat pie dinner.

Baptism

Claudia was baptized at our church on Sunday Oct. 25th. Most of the Olson side of the family was able to attend as well as a couple friends. Pastor Rich had all the kids in the congregation join in by splashing a little water on Claudia. She did superb during the whole process, never cried, and even sat quietly through the rest of the service. Afterward, we had a little get-together at our condo's clubhouse with coffee, lunch, and gifts! She is one spoiled little girl with all the people that love her.

In other happenings, we tried Claudia on oatmeal and she just gobbled it up. We couldn't get the food in fast enough and she grabbed the spoon to get it in faster. She also tried sucking on a biscuit and loved that too, so we will have to set up her highchair soon so we don't get food in the carpet. Claudia is such a big girl now that we've moved her to the real bathtub. Although she can sit up on her own, I'm bathing with her for now in case she takes a dive and also because she still likes to lay back resting her head on me so she can wildly kick her legs and splash the water. She is no longer having a bottle in the middle of the night (yay!) although I don't think we can claim that she is sleeping through the night. She did it for two nights, but is now waking up several times again. But since we know she doesn't need a bottle anymore, we just soothe her back to sleep or give her a binkie.

She's all about talking and playing these days. She babbles constantly and always wants a toy in her hand. We also have a Jumparoo for her now (see photo). Although Claudia pretty much likes everyone and everything, we've discovered one thing she does not like -- baseball hats. She cries when she gets near someone wearing one. Glen usually wears a hat when he goes out in the rain, so we're trying to get her over her fear. She doesn't cry with him now, but she gives him his sideways look, stops smiling, and just stares. Such a strange thing!

Hanging out in her baptism dress.


She got a winter hat for a gift, which kind of matched her dress.


In the big bathtub.


Lots of smiles in the morning when getting dressed for the day.


Trying out the Jumparoo.

6 months old and sitting up

Claudia turned 6 months old on Oct. 15th and we're a bit in denial and keep trying to squeeze her into her 3-6 month old clothes. She hasn't had her "well child" visit with the pediatrician yet, but since we've had some other appointments (another ear infection!) we know she is about 16 pounds. We're very excited to report that she is now sitting up all on her own. She loves her new independence, as do we. To keep her balance while sitting, she sort of flutters her fingers and arms. She continues to repeat "da da" and likes to talk to herself in the mirror. She also seems ready for food now because we have her eating rice cereal with a bit of success. She's not hooked yet, but she at least opens her mouth and sometimes swallows it. Of course, like her parents, she can't turn down Mexican food, so she eagerly eats refried beans! Since it's now autumn, we've had some cold mornings and have put a hat on her to walk to the car. It's so adorable because it reminds us of when she was a newborn. Claudia continues to enjoy daycare and has developed a favorite teacher. It's great to see her bond with one of her caretakers like this and it makes it easier to leave her every morning.

Glen & I have been doing a few fun things lately. He has been trying to get in a few last rounds of golf before it's too cold and dark. And we made one last weekend trip to Alta Lake for the season. We've had cool crisp sunny days and the leaves are all turning, so it's a fun time of year in Seattle. Claudia and I went to a "Harvest Festival" with the Martinkas and Claudia was too young to do much, but she got to see some farm animals and pet a bunny. Victoria got to pet a horse and decorate a pumpkin. Grandma has been doing lots of babysitting for us lately, which we appreciate. She covered for us on a daycare closure day and she also gave us a break one night so we could go out to dinner for our monthly "hot date". My ulcerative colitis has been flaring up a bit, so we're taking it easy lately because I need to get my rest.

Our cute 6 month old.


Such a big girl sitting up.


"da da" in the mirror.


Playing with mommy and TOYS!


Ready to go out on a cold day.

Da Da

I wanted to make a quick post to brag that Claudia said "da da" for the first time on Tuesday. Now we can't get her to stop; she's like a broken record. She's becoming quite the little talker lately. Also, she is super interested in toys now. We got some stacking cups that she likes to mouth and bang together. And she still has all her favorite soft toys to slobber all over.

She has been in a great mood all week, which makes us very happy because last week was rough. We thought she just had a cold, but it turns out she had an ear infection too. Luckily she responded quickly to the antibiotics and now everyone is happy and sleeping again.

Her legs go crazy on the changing table.


Always smiling when in the Bumbo!


She's almost sitting up on her own and she loves her toys.


She's figuring out how to just get one finger (or thumb) at a time in her mouth instead of putting the whole hand in there.


She's so good about amusing herself in her crib in the morning.

Fall has arrived

Fall has arrived, and with it, the cold and flu season. We've passed around a few more colds in our family lately, which is hard to deal with. Luckily nothing serious, but it's still hard to be run down all the time and to take off work to care for yourself or the baby. But fall also brings an important date, our anniversary! Glen & I celebrated #2 on September 29th. Over the weekend, my parents watched Claudia so that we could have a fun evening together. We went on a sunset sailboat trip from the Seattle waterfront that goes toward Bainbridge Island and then loops back. It was a relaxing and unique experience. Even though it was a little chilly out, the weather was perfect because there was a little wind and the sparse clouds in the sky made the views even better. After sailing, we went to dinner at the Pink Door in the market. Since my last post, we also went over to Alta Lake one weekend joined by my Auntie Pam and my mom, so Glen got to hang out with all the ladies. Lucky for him, Bruce & Luke were also over for the weekend, so he got to escape the estrogen party for one afternoon. Glen & I got to golf a whole round of 18 together one morning, which was a lot of fun. Our trip over was more eventful than usual because we missed the signs that said the bridge over the river was closed for emergency repairs, so we ended up taking an hour detour over this massive mountain. Scubi-blue (our car) got a workout and we saw several deer along the way because we were in the middle of nowhere.

Claudia continues to entertain us everyday with her antics. She still loves to kick her feet wildly, so laying on her back is one of her favorite places to be, especially on the changing table. We're working on her tummy time, but still just likes to quickly roll over so she can get on her back again. She is able to roll both ways now (left or right). She likes Peek-a-boo and we can often get a big belly laugh out of her. She also likes the song Old McDonald had a Farm. The animals that make her laugh the most are the duck (quack quack) and the bumblebee (buzz buzz). We've tried some more solid foods, but nothing has really taken, not even the mashed potatoes. Although, she did enjoy beans and guacamole one night at a Mexican restaurant. We're not exactly following the rule of only introducing one food at a time now are we.

We've put "sleep training" on the back burner for now. I keep hearing all these stories about babies sleeping through the night, but that's just not our baby. She is on a good schedule of sleeping 11-12 hours at night, but she still wakes up 1-2 times to eat. I've been following the advice of the author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (Marc Weissbluth) and he outlines a sleep pattern for 4-8 month old babies that looks exactly like Claudia with three daytime naps and two night awakenings. Also, even though the "cry it out" worked, I just don't have the heart to do it even for a few minutes when I have a sick baby, so I'd rather just get up and feed and comfort her.

A rare instance of Claudia enjoying tummy time.


Look at our big girl sitting up.


Sick with a stomach bug. Leaning forward in her stroller while Glen pushed her around the house made her feel better.


Sitting on the edge of the sailboat with the wind in our hair.


Seattle city skyline from the sailboat.

First Experiences

We had a good weekend filled with many first time experiences for Claudia. On Saturday we visited my friend Heidi and her 2-month old daughter Alli and they have a big friendly dog named Cabo, so Claudia met her first dog and loved him. She liked to pet and poke him and didn't mind getting licked. Then, that evening, she ate her first food! We've tried a few things, but she always spits them out, so this time we tried mashed potatoes from our own dinner and used a finger instead of a spoon and she took right to it. The swimming pool at our condo will be closing down soon because summer is ending, so I thought I'd give her one more opportunity to try the pool and surprisingly she liked it. I swam around with her in the water up to her chest. I didn't think she would like it, so I wasn't very prepared and just had her in a regular diaper and a onesie, but it all worked out.

Claudia is 5 months old today. She is working hard on trying to sit up unassisted. She loves the Bumbo, especially at daycare because then she can sit next to the bucket of toys and pull them all out. She is putting everything in her mouth these days and loves to slobber and suck her stuffed animals. Her favorite one is her lion and she gets to play with him every day on her ride to and from daycare. We are working on sleep, but it's still our weak point. We decided that she is old enough to "cry it out." We moved her crib into the nook off our living room and if she wakes up in the middle of the night because she wants to play, we quickly soothe her, and then just let her cry if she won't go back down. The first time we did it she cried for 20 minutes, but ever since then, it's about 5 minutes, so I think it's working. Unfortunately, she still wakes up once a night to eat, and then often a couple more times to try and interact with us. On a positive note, she does really well at going down at night and usually her bedtime is 8:30pm. She doesn't need a swaddle or binkie anymore at night, but sometimes I use them for naps.

First food, mashed potatoes!


Happy to play in her crib with a stuffed animal.


Always opening her mouth these days.


Holding her lion while in her carseat. She usually falls asleep on the way home in the afternoon.

First Cold

Claudia caught her first cold and I got my first one in a long while. I'm not sure if I can blame daycare though because some crud has been circulating. Claudia had gotten on a pretty good schedule of only waking up once at night to eat, but her illness got her all off and she got clingy and struggled to stay asleep. It was sad to see her feeling crummy and hard to deal with the fussiness and lack of sleep for Glen & I.

When she's feeling well, Claudia's newest thing is sticking her tongue out and playing with all the new noises she can make with her tongue, some slobber, and often a gooey finger in her mouth too. Sometimes it sounds like actual words, so it's fun to pretend to have a conversation with her, and other times it just sounds like tooting, so of course that's funny. We've tried her a few more food choices, but she still hasn't figured out swallowing and doesn't seem to like the taste either, so we will give that project a rest for now and work more on sleeping through the night!

Other than the daily chores that seem to fill our life lately, we've managed to squeeze in some activities. My PEPs group (moms & newborns) met up for a reunion party, which was fun. Glen & I have gone out to dinner a couple times thanks to my family (Aunt Neely and Grandpa & Grandma). Claudia is too wiggly now to happily sit through dinner at a restaurant, and we're on our new budget and eating at home most nights, so we really appreciate a special date night. And, my friend Lisa was in town on her way to relocate to Samoa with her husband and daughter Kayla, so it was great to see them and the Wu's put on a great party with excellent food.

Grumpy face on a sick girl.


Party with my PEPs group.


Lisa and her daughter Kayla.


Hanging out with Jenny.


She finally noticed the mobile, although it tends to excite her, not put her to sleep.


She gets a bath now almost every night.

August Events

We've had a busy few weeks. August 16th was my mom's 60th birthday, so we celebrated by being tourists in our own city -- we did the Underground Seattle Tour and lunch at Ivar's on Saturday. Then on Sunday (her actual birthday) we sneaked into the house and decked it out in Over the Hill decorations. We also went to friends' BBQs both Saturday and Sunday (it was an exhausting fun weekend). The next day, Glen golfed in the Edgar Martinez tournament at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge to support muscular dystrophy. It was a great cause to support his lab's research and a neat opportunity to play at a championship level course. Last week we got another chance to see a Sounders game and we took Claudia to her first game, along with our friend Ryan. And if all this wasn't fun enough, last weekend we all packed up at went to Alta Lake with Neely and the Martinkas.

Claudia had her 4-month appointment and her stats are: 14 pounds and 25 inches. She's right in the 50th percentile, although we can't believe how big she is getting. And she has such a personality now. She gets really excited when she sees us first thing in the morning or when we pick her up at daycare. She likes to flap her arms, kick her feet, and give us a big grin. Lately her arm flapping is very specific, her right arm does big loops and her left arm is out straight, so we call it her air guitar. On Claudia's "4 month birthday" we tried her on rice cereal without a lot of success, but we will keep trying because it's fun to see her spit it out. She has also started sticking her tongue out and experimenting with the noises she can make with it out. She's now forgotten how to roll over, but she likes to twist from her back onto her hip and lay sideways.

Neely & Gina posing with the wine, flowers, and decorations for my mom's big 60th.


Grabbing her socks.


Glen's shot right onto the green of #18. Notice the bleachers for all his fans! Okay, no fans yet, but those were for the Champions tour a few days later.



Glen & Edgar


Snuggled up with daddy at the Sounders game.