Panther Pride

Can you believe that win over Kansas?!? We delayed our dinner plans so that we could watch the end of the game. I'm so proud of UNI! If only we were still in college, we could take part in all the celebration in Cedar Falls. We actually let Claire watch part of the game on TV - a big deal if you know that we don't let her watch any TV. ;) To dinner, we all wore purple, though I couldn't wear any of my UNI shirts that Matt loves because we had to dress up a little more than t-shirts. We got a picture, but it's on Julie and Dusty's camera, so it may make a debut later.

(Unrelated to the Panthers victory: To celebrate Laura's birthday, we ate at a Japanese hibachi grill and Claire's eyes grew so wide with the fire in front of us. Watching our griller Eddi work his grill magic was interesting to her. She also got sprayed with Saki. Did Eddi not realize that I had a baby in my arms?!? Does that make us bad parents? Also, Matt was very proud of himself because he ate a cucumber - only because Eddi threw it into his mouth though.)

Spring Break

Claire does like avacados! :)

"There's none left?...give me that and I'll find some somewhere!"

A couple weeks ago...Onkel Alex entertaining Claire!

"This guy is funny! Even though it's late and I'm tired, I don't need that paci...

I can't even smile big with it in!"

Grandma is teaching Claire early -

"You want me to pose?!? But I'm in the middle of playing here, c'mon!"

(Grandma and Grandpa were in Hawaii on Spring Break,

but since they missed out I added a picture from a couple weeks ago.)

She does like Mommy's food -

"Let me get ahold of what Mommy's eating...it looks much more appetizing than

that mush they try to get me to eat!"

Since we've had the whole week off (Claire and I) for Spring Break, I promised Matt I'd find time to post on our blog...it's Saturday and I'm finally getting to it!

Spring Break has been simple and wonderful. It makes me look forward to summer with our little girl so much! I've been thanking God for each day and trying to enjoy each day and not look forward to the summer too much, though. :)

Our friends Kristin and Derek came to visit last weekend from Madison, WI. We loved that they were able to make the drive to visit and spend some quality time with us! Kristin is one of those friends who I know I'll never lose touch with because she's so good about calling, visiting, and making sure we're updated on each others' lives. She's also the friend who I'm able to pick right back up with most, which is awesome! Right now she's busy getting her Master's at UW-Madison and I'm trying to convince her that she and I should start a school together someday - she'll be the principal. ;) Anyway, we did a lot of shopping trying to find her an appropriate interview suit (for a new teaching job and principal job in the future) and weren't exactly successful, but it was fun trying. We also went out to a new restaurant. The food was tasty, but we weren't totally impressed overall. Amber and Ross watched Claire...thanks guys! It's fun to see Claire and Sage start to interact a bit more. Give them a few more months and it will be too cute, I'm sure!

(Random note: As I type this blog (on our new laptop, which allows me to be in the family room with my two favorite people), Claire has successfully moved totally off her blanket and around on the floor several times. Matt keeps moving her back, and she's not actually crawling, but she just manages to move herself around lots.)

Claire and I started off the work week at Omi and Opa's house. We spent lots of time just hanging out with them and Onkel Alex. Aunt Lori, Great Grandma and Grandpa, Jaclyn, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Patty made some time for us, too. :) Opa especially liked playing with Claire when he could get her out of Omi's arms. They read books together and really loved pulling on Charlie's ears and petting his soft fur.

Since we've been back at home, our days have been uneventful. Just lots of playing, singing, and reading. We did take a long walk and go to the park on Thursday with the beautiful mid-60s that we had (not going to mention that today it's cold with about five inches of new snow on the ground) and went on the swings and slide! She liked the swing, but wasn't sure what to think of sliding. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture.

Claire is starting to eat three meals a day now, too. She's not a big fan of baby food, which I'm not sure about considering each family gathering pretty much revolves around food around here. She makes an exception by being very interested in whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating. She'll catch on soon enough I'm sure...maybe it's just a texture thing and she doesn't like purees. ;) Matt did feed her a breakfast of rice cereal, mashed bananas, and cheerios this morning though. She's starting to get the pincer grasp and feed herself cheerios...it's so fun to see her development!

Tonight it's Taki for Japanese food - where they cook on the grill in front of you, and tomorrow church with Schwartz's. Then, back to the grind Monday. Thanks for reading! :)

Our Little Diver

The three of us embarked on our first vacation. Central Florida in February - you'd think 70's, but we only got upper 50's. Despite the weather, we had a great time getting away for a few days. Thank you Rob and Chris for hosting us!

Highlights included manatees, sea turtles, and dolphins at the Mote Aquarium - did you know that sea turtles are reptiles? We also toured the Ringling Brothers mansion, where there is an amazing model circus layout and enjoyed fabulous food at a little place in the village area of Siesta Key.

Claire was a trooper! She did a great job taking in all the sights from our Moby baby carrier. She even took naps in there with just her little legs sticking out. You'll have to ask Matt about the time he sprinted to the car because she was tired and without her pacifier...and about how he got completely soaked with hard rain because he gave up his coat so Claire wouldn't get wet. What a great dad! :)

A New Game

Last week, when I was home on my snow days from school (2), Claire was sitting on my lap while I ate lunch. I gave her a something or other to play with...can't remember now, but I remember I would not have given it to her had I not been right there (i.e. not a baby toy). She was studying it and it dropped out of her hand onto the floor. I picked it up for her (do you see where this is going?) and gave it back a couple times. Well, then I noticed that she started 'dropping' it more frequently. Being the good mom and teacher that I am, I kept picking it up for her.

Lesson: Cause and Effect.

Objective: My daughter will understand that when she drops an object, mommy will give it back to her.

Plan:
1. Claire drops toy.
2. Mommy picks it up and gives it back.
3. Repeat step 1.
4. Repeat step 2.
5. Repeat step 1.
6. Repeat step 2.
7. etc.

Assessment:
Observation...it's coming next...

So Claire was helping me check my email today. She was sitting in my lap and I gave her a blue dolphin to play with. She immediately dropped it and I picked it up. Well, she kept dropping it time and time again, without breaks to actually play with it (and I know she's a baby, but her hand-eye coordination isn't THAT bad), and I kept picking it up for her. I even noticed her sneaking a couple of glances down at the floor when she dropped it.

I think she passed her first lesson in cause and effect! Now, if she only knew that I am still behind my hands when we're playing peek-a-boo! :)

Super Dad to the rescue!

"I kind of feel like a hero," exclaimed Matt, surprised at himself. Here's the story:

Matt and I were working on sleeping skills with Claire, and we let it go a bit too far. Everyone I've talked to and all the books say that you just have to let your little one "cry it out" to learn how to fall asleep on their own. Well, Claire is not a 'bad sleeper.' Usually we just swaddled her and if she was sleepy, put her down, replaced her pacifier if it fell out, and let her fall asleep on her own.

We began to question ourselves when she woke up in the night a few times, not hungry, but just to be cuddled back to sleep. So we tried the "Ferberizer" method (I think that's the name, Ferber thought this up.) of letting her "cry it out." It's five minutes of crying and one minute of reassuring, then leaving, followed by five minutes of crying...you get the picture. Well, Claire didn't like this, and she got MAAAAAAAAD! We tried this for forty whole minutes, which one would think would be enough time for a little girl to get the hint that we're not picking her up. Well after that much time had passed, we finally did pick her up, cuddled her, rocked her, shushed her, etc., but she was so mad none of this even helped. Miss Claire is a STUBBORN little girl!!! (Hmmm, two first born parents who are the same way...wonder where she got that?) I'm thinking a trait like being strong-willed must be innate in the nature vs. nurture debate. Anyway, finally nursing helped a little, enough to calm her down so that we were able to help her back to sleep eventually. To sum it up...Claire won this battle.

So back to Super Dad. We've decided that "Ferberizing" isn't for us, after all each child is different; and so we are reverting to our old method. However, since this war a few days ago, she's been extra touchy going to sleep. (How long will she remember what happened?) I was trying and trying to get her calmed down for bed and was having no luck at all. In walks Super Dad, who takes over and has her down and asleep in no time. Matt walks out and says to me after a few minutes of Claire sleeping, "I kind of feel like a hero."

And he is. And there will be plenty more opportunities for him to prove it over the coming years I'm sure. :)

Thanksgiving

We obviously have so much to be thankful for, especially this year! We are so blessed to have Claire in our lives and to have been entrusted with raising this precious little girl.




We had a nice Thanksgiving with Brenda's side on the Sunday before. Claire loves seeing Amber and Amber loves playing with Claire!




We needed a picture of grandma and grandpa on the blog, so here we go! :)




"These are the kittens that grandma got me shortly after I was born. Grandpa even started letting them in the house once in a while." -Claire at age 4




Thanksgiving Day in the pretty dress Mommy got Claire! We had a great time in Minneapolis at Robyn and David's. We were pretty happy to get to spend this Thanksgiving with Tante Christine, Opa, and the rest of our family and friends.




The 11 pound chicken I made!! Doesn't it look like it's right out of the pages of a cooking magazine? Just call me Giada! (I'm pretty proud!)

I heart flannel.

Pre-Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday evening, was spent with Mark's side of the family for Jordan's birthday. It was fun getting together with everyone as we don't get to see them too much. Claire loves her great grandpa and was intrigued by his flannel shirt. She studied it for quite some time and reached out to touch it. Thank you grandpa for wearing such interesting clothes. :)




Clearly interested in our feet now, too. Don't tell Omi, but the "no-slip" socks she got just for Claire over-promise with that claim. We still really appreciate the thought! :)




Even Tyler and Carter played with Claire a bit. Carter really liked her, I think! Jordan stayed clear but was a good sport by running out and getting diapers, etc. from the car. Thanks Jordan!