Great Aunt Charlene

Last week Claire and I drove out to Colorado for the funeral of my Great Aunt Charlene, she was almost 71 and died on Easter morning. It was quite a shock to all of the family, we were all really close to her. She made the most beautiful blankets and I was fortunate enough to have one that she made for Claire. While we were in Colorado we got to see my other relatives Don and Melba from Stockton California. They sing at their retirement community in Yuma when they go for the winter so we begged them to sing some hymns to Claire. She absolutely loves music so you can imagine how impressed she was that she got her own little concert. She was in awe.

Now for the actual road trip portion of the trip, well it was awful, Claire hates to be in the car that long so you can imagine what an 8 hour trip will do to a poor kid. Overall she did ok but she had her moments. On the way home we were 95 miles from Lincoln and I finally had to stop because she was scratching at her legs in frustration, we pulled into a hotel and I let her crawl around the lobby. Poor Claire.

The "Swing"

We bought Claire a swing thinking she would just love it since she enjoys being outside so much, well to our dismay she screamed and wiggled and wanted out right away. I was determined to get her to like it so each day we went outside and I would put her in the swing, she would scream for a bit then I would take her out. Even the neighbor could hear her and knew that she was being put in the "swing".

Well my hard work finally paid off and she loves her swing. I give you proof...

Happy Easter

Music N More Class

Claire and I are going to a music class once a week during the month of April. Claire's best friend Heather and her mom Jenn are going with us too. Claire loves to sing and dance so this class is perfect, both girls really love it. The class basically teaches children rhythm using instruments, stories, and music. They are also taught to stop playing when the music stops or the teacher tells them to. There are 2 twin boys and an older girl from Russia in our class. The teacher is from Moscow, Russia as well.

After class we take them to the play center and stroll them around in the cars, we get exercise and they have so much fun. I didn't have my camera for her first class last week but here are some after today's class. Heather's Grandma drove up from Cheyenne and got to watch the girls too.

Gimme That

So since our March 23rd post informing all 4 of you who read this blog that Claire had gotten a tooth, she has sprung 3 more! We have 4 now, I know I am amazed too. Her fourth one just came through today. All in all she has done really well except for some occasional fussiness, drooling and putting everything in her mouth.

In this picture her teeth are not why she is upset, rather she is pissed because I won't let her play with the camera.

So what else can I tell you? What do you 4 avid readers want to see?

Shhhh Baby is Sleeping

P.S. Happy 32nd Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa Hein!

Spring Break Visit

Grandma Hein and Aunt Karen Hein came to visit us over their Spring Break. We had so much fun, we went shopping at the Old Market in Omaha and toured the Morrill Hall Museum in Lincoln which has one of the world's largest mammoth skeletons. We also saw a show at the planetarium called, "Extreme Weather on the Plains". Grandma Weyer, and Aunt Becky came over for dinner one night too.

P.S. Claire's bottom right tooth just broke through last night, now we have two baby!

Sydney Bean had surgery

Sydney, the daughter of my really, really good friends had surgery on March 20th. Her spinal cord was tethered and they had to do surgery to correct the problem. Luckily they found the problem sooner rather than later as it can create numerous problems. Sydney did really well and is home from Children's hospital and back to school. Get well soon Sydney!

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From left: Sydney, Claire and Aubrey

Houston, we have a tooth

I thought this day would never come, Claire's first little tooth has broken through the skin. It came as quite a surprise as I don't recall extreme fussiness or any other symptoms. Last Saturday night I stuck my finger in her mouth to fish for a foreign object she had eaten off the floor and felt it. It is her upper left tooth which I thought was strange, aren't they supposed to get their bottom teeth first?

So this week she has been waking up every night around 3AM, maybe she is getting another one??

I look like my Grandpa

We get mixed responses as to who Claire looks like, does she look like me or Matt or who? Personally, I think she looks a lot like her Grandpa. Check out this photo!

So here is Claire's first ever poll, tell us what you think.

Who do you think Claire looks like?
	Kellie
	Matt
	Grandpa Hein
	Other
Free polls from Pollhost.com

9 Month Check Up

First things first: Percentiles. Claire is still in the 5th percentile for her head, her head doesn't seem small to me but I guess it's hard to tell since I see her all the time. She is in the 15th percentile for her weight, and 90th percentile for her height. Our pediatrician thought she would stay this way from now on, her words "she's a lucky girl, long and lean!" She is still not a big eater but we were given the go ahead to give her less formula and more food. She said to give her more fats to help with her brain development by adding it to her foods, she recommended butter, gravy and velveeta. YUM!!

Here are the latest stats:

Weight: 16 pounds, 6.5 ounces
Height: 28.75 inches
Head Circumference: 41.7 cm

Going to the Park

On Sunday Matt and I took Claire to the park, unfortunately the swings were not out yet but she did get a ride on the merry-go-round and the frog spring rider thing. The wind decided to pick up so our fun was short lived, luckily we live just down the street from the park. Isn't her hat cute (thanks Katie Bug)!

Had to share

Don't have much to post, but how cute is she???

Happy Birthday to me

Today is my 28th birthday, since I am still under 30 I can tell you my age. I can't believe that I am this old, it seems like I just turned 21.

Matt and Claire took me out to dinner and Claire was great as usual, she loves going out. This year I got gifts from Claire and Matt, Claire bought me a red Kitchenaid utensil and she signed a card just from her, it was really sweet. Thank you Matt for making my birthday so special.

Happy Valentines Day....

Claire is now shaking her head no-no, she obviously doesn't know that it means no to shake your head back and forth. It is the cutest thing ever. Of couse I am a new mother and I think everything is the cutest thing.

She does something new everyday so you better check back because you know it'll be reported on this barely read blog... Oh and Happy Valentines Day!

Look at my house!

Today Matt's family came over for lunch and to exchange our Christmas presents, this year was kind of busy for all of us but we finally got together. Art, Peggy and Robert bought Claire a really neat house, it does all kinds of things...too many to post. Anyways thanks for the great gift you guys! Claire plays with it every day.

No Tooth Yet?

What is going on, shouldn't our daughter have a tooth yet? She has been teething since 4 months so maybe soon?

But some better news, Claire has made us very proud parents as she can finally say "Da Da" and "Ma Ma". It is so cute.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Today is my niece Katie's birthday. She is very special to me and I just wanted to post a picture of her and Claire. When I talk to her on the phone the first thing she always asks is, "How is Baby Claire?"

So Happy Birthday little Katie Bug, wish we could be there to celebrate with you. We love you and thank God you were born!

Bye-Bye

On Saturday we had some "Severe Weather", it was raining and we had thunder and lightning. I guess some lightning hit behind our house and since I was taking a nap (Claire had been up three times the night before), I did not hear the whole house shake. Anyways I thought it was strange to have that kind of weather in January.

Aunt Becky came over to see Claire today too. When Becky was leaving, she hid out in the front bushes and was playing peek-a-boo with Claire at the window. She was trying to get her to wave bye-bye which she will do on occasion. You can't see in the photo but she was laughing really hard!

Little Monkey

Claire is climbing on everything as you can see, her new bumper pad (thanks Gma Hein) is a great climbing tool. We hope she doesn't decide to climb over any time soon because the crib is as low as it will go...

She likes to play monster, we say "I'm gonna get you" and she crawls as fast as she can and laughs the whole way.