Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Steve has been working a lot of hours lately, so Claire and I decided to visit him at work and take him out to dinner. Here's a picture of Claire sitting in the simulator cockpit with her daddy:

(Disclaimer: Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day was officially Thursday, April 22nd. And technically, Claire is too young to participate. It just made a good title for today's post.)

Swimmin'

We went swimming today. Claire is very coordinated and is kicking and using her arms. She loves going underwater. Here are some blurry pics, as she's constantly in motion.

Eleven Months

WOW! She's eleven-months-old today! It's been a busy month of trying new things, meeting new people, traveling. For her eleven-month birthday, Claire received a new high chair and a portable DVD player for the Jeep (which will come in really handy during our move next month).

Showing off in her new high chair

Claire got to spend quite a bit of time with family this month. We went to Washington and Oregon to see her daddy's family.

And last night, Uncle Adam, who is in town working on a project for a client, came over to hang out and eat some pizza. We had a great time! Three cheers for Uncle Adam!!!

We also spent quite a bit of time with our friends this month. Claire enjoyed her first picnic with Micah and Kathy. Parker (14-months-old) and his mommy came over to play one afternoon. Antonio, Melissa and Avianna (8-months-old) came over for dessert one evening.

Claire babbles a lot. She has also started "singing" with music. She really tries to match the notes even though what she's saying makes no sense. She has started saying Mommy and Daddy, although she still says Mama and Dada most of the time. She says MiMi (the name my mom goes by) and PopPop (the name my dad goes by). She also says "nana" a lot. I'm not sure what it means since she says it at odd times; but it's a word, and we're counting it!

Claire has three new teeth on top. Her gums have been more sensitive than when the lower ones came in; but she's not fussy, and she hasn't had any other teething issues.

She can now stand alone, climb onto the furniture (the ottoman is her favorite), and she can walk while pushing her toy or while holding our fingers. She jumped from her crib one afternoon. She landed on her giant Minnie Mouse and had no injuries - not even a bruise. But it did scare her pretty badly. We lowered the crib to the lowest level, so that will not happen again any time soon.

Claire loves to pretend. She loves to "give" you something. Then she'll pretend to take something from your hand and eat it. This game can last for long periods of time and can be quite funny, especially to her. (She's probably imagining that I'm sharing more of my chocolate Easter eggs with her.)

Claire still refuses to eat eggs. (I don't blame her as I've never liked them either.) Mashed potatoes are another thing she despises. We did, however, get her totally hooked on Granny Wines' homemade macaroni and cheese while we were visiting her in Washington. This is no surprise, as it's totally delicious; and we all love it. However, Claire still refuses all other pasta. Claire also tried Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies while we were at Granny's house. She loves those too! And Claire has started drinking whole milk. She's not the hugest fan yet, but she will tolerate it in small amounts. We gotta start somewhere!

Claire is still very small. According to our pediatritian, most babies have a huge growth spurt between 9 and 12 months. Claire still has one more month to hit this growth spurt. We'll see. As of now, she's wearing a lot of the clothes she wore last summer, as most of her 3-6 month dresses still fit. Some of them are a little short, but most of them still work. The pants and shorts are all too small though. Claire's 6-9 month clothes fit, but the 12 month sizes are still big on her.

As previously mentioned, we are moving at the end of May to Memphis, TN. Steve has accepted a promotion and is moving into management with the same airline. This will be a great opportunity for Steve, and we are looking forward to some new adventures. Graceland, here we come!

Claire is the happiest, sweetest baby. She loves music and loves to dance. She loves Minnie Mouse. She loves people. She is simply amazing, and we are so blessed to be her parents. And all of this because God is the kindest person I know!

Happy 11 months, Sweets!

The Great Northwest

We spent Wednesday through Saturday of this past week in Washington and Oregon visiting Steve's family.

We have discovered that Claire loves dogs. On this trip she met Chocolate (Grandpa LeRoy's miniature schnauzer), Beau (Grandpa O's dog) and Andi (Aunt Nicole's pomeranian). Claire was in Heaven! She squeals with excitement and scares the dogs silly. Fortunately, they were all very patient with her.

Claire squealing at Chocolate

spending time with Grandpa LeRoy

Grandpa and Grandma O

(Beau didn't make the pictures. Sorry, Beau.)

Claire loves playing with her Aunt Kasey and Aunt Dawn. Knocking over the stacking cups was an endless source of fun.

Aunt Dawn and Aunt Kasey got up early on Friday and came over to Grandma's to feed Claire her breakfast before they had to go to school.

Claire meeting Aunt Nicole's dog, Andi

Claire loves Andi

Grandma Robin brought presents, and Claire got to celebrate her first birthday early!

Grandma Robin, Grandpa D'Wayne, Aunt Emily and Uncle John gave Claire an adorable outfit that includes a pink skirt with big white polka dots and a soft book with little stuffed animals. Claire has been carrying around the little stuffed animals everywhere she goes.

We went to Mangia Pizza for dinner. It was de-lish!

Pictured from left to right: Claire's mommy, Aunt Kalei, Aunt Nicole, Aunt Emily, Grandma Robin, Claire's Daddy and Claire

Claire enjoying some time with her Grandma Robin (Aunt Emily in the background)

Then we were off to Aunt Lori and Uncle Clay's for some more birthday fun! Claire loves opening presents, one tiny piece of paper at a time.

This is so exciting!

Aunt Lori and Uncle Clay gave Claire a beautiful quilt, a book with a music player and discs and a picture frame.

Somehow I failed to get pictures of Grandpa and Grandma Wines (especially since we spent the majority of our time at their house), Gramps (who came over twice to spend time with Claire) and Uncle Clay. Sorry, all.

Claire learned to climb stairs at Granny and Grandpa Wines' house. It was a little scary at first, but she was very fast once she got going. We got it on video. She is just too cute!

Thanks for a great time! We'll see everyone again in August!

Happy Easter!

Breakfast with Daddy

Getting ready for church
Checking out her Easter basket

Fun times!

The Easter Bunny visited the Nortons! Claire obviously received the Minnies, and the book is from MiMi and PopPop. The planter is my Easter basket, and Steve got an airplane basket.

a better look at Claire's Easter surprises

Claire was so excited to see her Minnies! We captured the moment on video. We might try to get that loaded later in the week.

Claire and Mommy reading "An Easter Carol"

Mommy received some Dove truffle eggs from the Easter Bunny. Claire insisted on tasting them.

She REALLY likes them!

We had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus! Hope you did too! Happy Easter!

Texas Bluebonnets

Yesterday evening we went on a picnic with some of our friends. We got some great pictures in the bluebonnet field.

Our friends, Kathy, Micah and Baby Micah (in the oven - due July 31st)

our picnic spot

Claire loves picnicing!!!

It was a perfect evening with good friends, good weather and good food.