January Happenings

Claire has had so much going on these last few weeks!  She can now wave and clap her hands with just vocal prompts from us.  It's very cute.  She seems to really enjoy showing off for an audience and will often do something (like shake a rattle) and then look to someone for praise and approval.

She still loves playing in the childcare at church while I'm teaching.  The teachers say that she just stays so busy the whole time.  One minute she'll be in one place and the next minute she'll be across the room, exploring everything!  While I was at MOPS this week, Claire was moved up into the room with other crawlers and young walkers.  They get a snack in this room, and she had some goldfish crackers for the first time.  According to the teachers, she not only enjoyed eating her goldfish, but she went around and finished everyone else's goldfish after they left the table!  I wish I could have witnessed this.  No question that she likes to eat!

Speaking of eating, we're working on trying new finger foods.  Recently, we've tried sliced cooked squash, sliced cooked zucchini, banana, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumber, Gerber meat sticks (she DID NOT like these at all), hard boiled egg whites, shredded cheese, and bread.  Most of the time, more ends up on her than in her, but it's fun to see her working and learning how to feed herself.

Claire is still wearing size 12 month clothes (though she's getting too tall for some) and size 3 diapers.  She usually naps for one hour in the morning around 10:00, one hour in the afternoon around 1:30, and about 30 minutes around 4:30.  Bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:00 and she usually wakes up around 7:30.

She still enjoys her toys--especially her activity table and "Mr. Starman"--but she usually perfers to play with something that is not a toy.  She is so fascinated by new things and just turns them over and over in her hands.  She LOVES bathtime and now will crawl to the bathroom in the evening without us even mentioning what we are going to do.  We make an effort to read with her every day, but most of the time she would much rather be up and about. 

Here is Claire playing at her activity table

Here is a picture and video from lunch the other day.  It was her first time trying the watermelon and cantelopue pieces and she ended up a big, sticky mess!