One Year Old

Claudia turned 1 on April 15th! We are so proud of our baby girl for all she has accomplished in one short year. We are also proud of ourselves for all we have learned and the way we've grown to become loving and knowledgeable parents. The first year is such a life transition, but helped by a strong marriage, supportive families, and of course an easy tempered daughter, we made it! Her one year old statistics are 19 lbs 15 oz (25th percentile) and 29 1/4 inches (50th percentile).

We had a small celebration with just the three of us for Claudia's real birthday (Thursday), and then on Saturday my parents hosted a party for the extended family and some friends. The party went smoothly, the weather cooperated, and Claudia received some really great new toys. I will post photos from the party soon.

A purple cupcake for her birthday. She doesn't like to get very messy, but she eventually dug into the side to get at the cake part.


"All done."


Toy kitchen set from Mom & Dad.


She's learned how to hold her own bottle, but too bad we're in the process of weening her from it.


Day out with Mom in the sun wearing her Strawberry Shortcake hat.


I think we need to move the crib mattress down to the bottom because she's getting pretty good at pulling up.


Watching golf on TV with Daddy. I'm teasing. Actually, she had her immunizations today, so she was just really tired after daycare.

Snuggle Bug

Claudia has been so snugly and lovable lately. She likes to cuddle us, her blankets, and her stuffed animals, especially "wombat" and "kitty". She is crawling and climbing everywhere. She is really enjoying her new mobility and has switched from being totally exhausted in the evenings to not wanting to go to bed because there are so many fun things to do instead. When we walk with her holding her hands, I can tell her stability is getting better. She cracks us up with her antics. She started playing peek-a-boo by covering her eyes with her hands or pulling a blanket over her face. And she does what we call the "I Dream of Jeannie blink" where she blows out her nose, nods her head forward, and blinks her eyes. I have no idea where she picked that up or what it means, but it sure is cute! She is also showing her sense of humor and likes to pretend to give us a toy and then pull it away and laugh. She has this recent fondness for her binkie. She was down to using it just for naps and stressful or new situations for months now, but all of a sudden she thinks of it as her favorite toy. And they seem to be disappearing... I think she's hiding them. My little squirrel.

We all had a good Easter hosted by my parents. Claudia enjoyed putting plastic eggs in her basket and she got a pretty Easter dress from her Grandma. I naively thought cold & flu season was over because it was April, but Claudia got sick last week with coxsackievirus and another ear infection. At least she was mostly sick over the weekend so we didn't have to take time off work. Kids bounce back fast, but it's hard to see her so uncomfortable.

Our little baby is almost one... her birthday is in just a couple days. She already got her presents from Nana & Poppy and Great Nana. She is going to be one styling kid in the toddler room at daycare because she will have all the pretty dresses. Also, "wombat" was a popular addition to her stuffed animal collection. I personally thought all the bunnies she got were the cutest, but for some reason the big brown wombat rules!

"So big"


Snuggling wombat and climbing on daddy.


Taking a nap to rest up for all the excitement today...


In her big girl carseat for the first time heading to Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's.


Hunting for eggs.


And winding down.


My sick grumpy face girl. We're both on outfit number 2 or 3 for the day because of all the puking. She got lots of snuggles though.


I tried to cheer her up by taking her out for some fresh air at the park, but that didn't last long. At least I got her to a wear a hat for the first time.

Found her Knees

Just a few days after my last post, Claudia figured out how to use her knees and she's now properly crawling everywhere! She likes to crawl on carpet and butt scoot on hard floors. Her knees are red and calloused. The increased mobility has made her very exhausted by the end of the day. She's now going to bed at 7pm or earlier and sleeps straight through for 12 or 13 hours. She's down to one nap a day at daycare, but two with us on the weekends. And she's starting to ween from her bottle. She's down to 2 or 3 bottles a day and she's drinking whole milk and water from a sippy cup. She has become very fond of her blankets. We have three soft ones that are similar and she likes to give them snuggles if she finds one laying on the carpet and of course she holds one while sleeping. She has a 3rd tooth (on the top) and the one next to it is not far behind.

She has been with the same group of kids at daycare for about 8 months now and I'm seeing the beginning of friendships. There are two other baby girls that have a similar temperament (patient and fairly gentle) and those three are always sitting around each other and often sharing toys. Growing up with two sisters, I can appreciate the need for playmates, so I'm happy that daycare provides this opportunity for Claudia. At our center the babies move to the toddler room between 12 and 14 months. Claudia has reached most of the milestones required to move over, but I'm still hoping she can stay with the infants for a couple more months because she has really bonded with a couple of her teachers.

On her knees.


She has learned to point at things and she's mastered the "point and grunt". Notice the Mohawk hairstyle her teacher gave her.


Playing with a toy her friend Victoria gave her. She has good fine motor skills for her age.


Showing off more of the Mohawk.

On the move

Claudia has taken leaps forward with her mobility in the last two weeks. She can now sit up on her own from laying down and also switch between sitting and crawling with ease. She's getting up on her knees more to play, but she still crawls "commando style" by dragging her belly and actually prefers butt scooting. She loves to stand up (with help), walk (with help), and pull up on furniture (sometimes on her own). It's cute when she "walks" because she kind of stomps without much knee flexion. She's doing a lot of climbing especially at daycare because they have a few good baby jungle gyms. At home I've pulled out the Bobby pillow again because she likes to climb around on it, as well as in my lap. She has always been a back sleeper, but with her new found maneuverability, she's switched to her tummy, usually with her bottom in the air (so cute). Besides mobility, she's also comprehending more vocabulary. It's hard to tell exactly what she knows, but she knows her name and she can follow simple directions. For example, Glen taught her to hold a toy telephone up to her ear. Or I can tell her to "come here". And she has learned a new sound: la-da-la-da.

We went out to Alta Lake with grandpa & grandma this weekend. Claudia now gets her own meal at our dinner stop at El Sol. She gets a kids quesadilla. Claudia had fun playing with some of grandma's new toys and some old favorites like the nesting cups. It's crazy how much she loves those. Us adults got in some rounds of golf, started a new puzzle, and played Wii Fit Plus. The season is still early so the course was practically empty, which made for a speedy round. Claudia and I went on our usual walk to the lake and we also made a quick trip into the Chelan Walmart because we forgot to bring her warm sleeper. They only had one in her size, so she got a "quality" $3 Buzz Lightyear one. It did the job though and she was sure cute in it (see photo below).

Practicing standing.


Sleeping with her bottom up.


My little basket baby. As you can see, she still loves to make her razzing noise.


To infinity and beyond!

Early Spring

Late February and early March brought us some early spring weather. Sad for the ski season, but good for hanging out in the city! We had sunny weather reaching around 60 degrees, so we got out a lot. We took Claudia to a few parks and she enjoyed the swings.

Last week was a tough one because Claudia caught a parainfluenza virus and that turned into another ear infection and croup (an upper respiratory illness that's common in kids under 3). And poor timing, her second tooth started poking through during all of this. She missed an entire week of daycare and was feeling miserable. Thankfully Grandma watched her two of those days and Glen & I juggled our work schedules the rest of the week. Three people got puked on in the process (Grandma, me, and a nurse). The virus got passed on to me now and Glen is struggling with tree pollen allergies, so we're a sniffly bunch! But we didn't let our illnesses stop us from having fun. We went over to Alta Lake to escape the pollen and relax and recover. Glen was able to do some golfing and Claudia and I just enjoyed the sunshine.

Now that she has a few of her own, Claudia is fascinated by teeth. She likes to bite things with hers and touch mine. I get big giggles from her if I playfully bite her fingers. Her favorite toy lately is the Tupperware drawer. She is also very interested in the mechanics of books. She can spend a lot of time turning the pages on her board books and as a special treat, she sometimes gets her hands on one of my books or magazines.

First time by herself on the swing.


Weeee!


The cherry blossom trees starting to bloom in the Quad (UW campus).


Playing at Alta Lake, which was still frozen, but it was 63F degrees out (17C).


Playing under a shade tent on the deck at Alta.

10 months old and crawling

Claudia is officially crawling. She has decided on the "commando crawl" (all arms, dragging her legs behind her) and "butt scooting" as her preferred methods. She gets around pretty well and we now need to install cabinet locks (the garbage can is very exciting for some reason) and do some other baby proofing. Her classroom at daycare is so much fun for her because they have a tunnel to crawl through and lots of low shelves and other things to climb on. She also likes to interact with, and watch the other babies. It's cute to see them crawling up to each other to "say hi" or steal a toy. One sad thing is that Claudia now cries when Glen leaves her at daycare. They found a good solution though; they feed her breakfast right when she arrives and the food distracts her so that Glen can leave without tears. It is so adorable to see her at the tiny table in her tiny chair eating breakfast.

Glen & I celebrated a nice Valentine's Day by going out to dinner at Djan's (a Thai restaurant in Wallingford, our old stomping ground) while my mom & dad had Claudia for the night. We took Claudia to the zoo on Monday because it was a holiday (President's Day) where she got to ride on the carousal for the first time. She was mostly interested in people watching, but she did notice the animals occasionally too.

Claudia can now clearly say "mum", "dad", and "nan", although it's indiscriminate. I think she knows her name now because she usually turns toward me when I say it. She is very cute playing with her big stuffed bear. She yells greetings to him, bites his nose, and snuggles against him. I tried her on two new foods: strawberries and hard boiled egg. She loved the berries, but she was a little uncertain about the egg.

Caught playing in the Tupperware drawer.


Scooting towards mommy.


And she's here! Look carefully and you can see her tiny bottom tooth.


Trying out the carousal. She wasn't sure what to think.


Snuggling with me before bedtime.

Everything is so funny

Lately Claudia thinks everything is funny -- pulling off my glasses, trying to put her binkie in my mouth, grabbing my face and hair, or dropping a toy on the ground. It's so cute to see her laugh that I have a hard time not encouraging her behavior. Glen has taught her to put both hands in the air when he says "so big" and she is waving now. She's still experimenting with locomotion. She's doing mostly bum scooting, some belly and bottom twirling, and occasionally dragging herself forward with her arms. She can get up on all fours, but then she had no idea what to do next. It will be interesting to see what type of crawling she ends up doing.

She loves her blanket. She has a couple soft ones and she cuddles with them in her carseat and in her crib. She has also taken to sleeping on her side while cuddling her blanket. It's very cute; I wish I had a photo. Her favorite toy lately is her nesting cups. She can entertain herself for a long time putting the three containers together and then taking (throwing) them apart. Also, big news... she is finally getting a tooth. One of her bottom ones started to poke through.

We're having a mild winter, so Glen has been able to get out and play golf about every other weekend. He's also been playing a lot of darts with his friends. Soccer ended up being too much for me because my hips are still so loose from the pregnancy, so I'm doing a Pilates mat class on Tuesdays instead. My health issues with ulcerative colitis are getting better and I've been able to go off one of my medications (prednisone). Prednisone tends to make you gain weight, so I haven't made any serious attempt to loose my pregnancy weight. I was surprised when I went to the doctor for a check-up and learned that I'm back down to my pre-pregnancy weight! I certainly don't feel like I am -- I think pregnancy rearranges things. So my new goal is to tone up by keeping up with the Pilates.

Playing on the bed.


Stacking toys on the coffee table.


Pushing and throwing toys around on the floor.