On the move...

Claire is crawling! As of yesterday, she can move both her knees and hands forward. It's shortly before her nine month birthday, and though I am excited that she's now a crawler, I'm thinking we're going to have to be a bit more on our toes! In the next few days and weeks, I'm sure she'll become a crawling expert. :)

A new favorite for 'unser kleines Maedel' is sharp cheddar cheese. She loves all finger foods, I think because she likes feeding herself. However, put a meat (chicken), veggie (asparagus), and cheese (bright orange sharp cheddar) on her tray and she goes straight for the bright orange!

I'll leave you with a picture for a laugh or two. We've started putting Claire to bed at 8ish this month because she got rid of her evening catnap and was just extremely tired in the morning...as seen here. Yes, she's asleep on the changing table. :)

Happy birthday, Aunt Lori!

Aunt Lori made the trip to see us all this weekend. If you asked her though, she was visiting to see her niece, and if you asked her again, she may have included her sister-in-law. She came down for a belated celebration of her birthday, which was March 25th. We went garage sale-ing on Saturday morning and got some cute summer clothes for Claire. We had a late lunch at Texas Roadhouse, her favorite restaurant, where she got to ride the saddle and have ice cream. Then we took a walk to the park yesterday evening where Claire and Aunt Lori swung together. Claire loves swinging! Daddy pushed her up high and she had a big grin on her face. :) Thanks for visiting, Aunt Lori!

Wet Diaper Girl, Wet Diaper Girl

Here's a lovely rendition of "Wet Diaper Girl," composed and sung by Daddy...

(not the best belly laugh, but Mommy grabbed the camera at the tail end of the song, and most of you don't ever get to see Claire laugh)

Ride, Ride, Ride, Hitchin' a Ride...

Since Matt and Lauren loved biking together as a couple, Mommy and Daddy were eager to get Claire biking with us as a family! We got a hand-me-down bike trailer, in excellent condition, from my cousins TJ and Lara. Of course we had to try it right away!

We tried it out Friday night. As you can see from the picture, I think we were both more excited than Claire. First Matt took it around the block for a test spin, then I did, then we strapped Claire in and went TWICE around the block. She was bored, or maybe just tired after a long day, but Matt thinks we need to give her a toy in there next time.

We're hoping to make great use of the bike trails in our city this summer! I'm so looking forward to summer with Claire. Maybe one of her buddies can even join us - there's room for two! (Consider that your invitation Annabelle, Norah, or Sage!)

In other news, we officially have a babysitter for next year! Our friend Sarah is having her third child in September and won't be watching Claire. The woman who gets to spend lots of time with our favorite girl is named Lisa; and we're excited because we've heard and thought nothing but wonderful things about her! She's a mom of four and will be watching two kids - Jack and Ellie, Claire, and another baby (cross your fingers that it's Sage!). We're convinced that finding Lisa was a "God thing" because of how everything fell into place. Thank you Lord! (One for example...we found her on craigslist of all places...which normally I would NOT recommend!)