Pioneer Day 2014

We celebrated Pioneer day yesterday by first going to the Pioneer Day Parade in Ogden. 

Claire had a nice, shaded, front row seat in her stroller.  She loved watching all the floats and especially liked all of the high school marching bands.  This girl seriously loves music!  Rory loved all of the people around and tried to snuggle up to anyone that would pet her.
Here are a few pictures from the parade.  There were quite a few floats, but hardly any candy was thrown.  Bryce was especially disappointed about that.  My favorite float was the one in the last picture that had replicas of the old and new Ogden Temples.

Here are a few shots Bryce took of Claire & me hanging out during part of the parade.

Later in the day when it was super hot we decided to go to Pineview and go swimming.  Thanks to a recommendation from my friend we found the perfect baby-floatie for Claire!  While Bryce was blowing up her little tube, I worked on getting her in the water slowly so she would get used to it. When I first started putting more of her body in past her legs she didn't seem like she was going to like it.  She kind of pouted her bottom lip and whined like she was going to cry.  Bryce got done blowing up her tube so we just decided to go for it and put her all the way in.  She kind of gasped at the initial shock of the cold water, but after a couple seconds her body got used to the water and she loved it!  She was kicking her legs, splashing, and giggling the whole time.  We had so much fun!  Here's a little video and lots of pictures from Claire's first swim.

Rory loves the water too.  She made Bryce play fetch with her the whole time.  Bryce would throw sticks out into the water and Rory would swim out and get them and then swim all the way back with them hanging out of her mouth.  It was pretty funny to watch.  

While Bryce & Rory played fetch, Claire and I took a little break and warmed up on the beach.  After we finished swimming we went home for dinner and early bedtimes for all of us.  Bryce was taking the MCAT the next morning so he needed to go bed early, Claire was super tired from a long day, and ever since becoming a mom I never pass up the chance for an early bedtime ;).  We missed the fireworks (Claire hasn't seen them yet since she fell asleep early on the 4th too), but next year we promised we are going to make sure we take Claire to a really good firework show to make up for it!

Claire's First Crawling Attempt!

Apparently, since Claire is now 6 months old, she decided she is too grown up to just roll around on the floor and thought it was time she learned how to crawl.  Here's a little video of her first attempt.  Gosh, I can't believe she is this big already!

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 6 Months

Dear Claire,

Happy Half Birthday!  Today you turned 6 months old.  I feel like this is a really big milestone in babyhood.  You are growing so much and learning how to do so many new things.  You roll, wiggle, and scoot all over the place.  Lately, you have been pushing up on your knees, much to my dismay, I think you will be crawling sooner than later.  You aren't really doing too well with our deal of you not being allowed to grow anymore ;).  We have your doctor's appointment on Monday so I will have to update this afterwards with your height and weight.  
A few of your favorite things right now are your stuffed elephant, Rory, and the tags on blankets and stuffed animals. You love to suck on the tags and can find them on almost anything! You are starting to get really observant and pay attention to little details like buttons, zippers, and snaps on clothing and things.  You also love watching Rory now.  You've finally discovered we have a dog and you watch her all day long.  You love grabbing her fur and you get really excited whenever she comes up and licks you. 

You haven't cut any teeth yet, but your two front bottom ones are looking pretty close.  You love to gnaw on cold celery sticks and apple slices.  I have found that these work as the best teethers for you!  Although, mine and your dad's knuckles work pretty good too when we're in a pinch.

You aren't a huge fan of solids yet.  I try to get you to eat them 2-3 times a day.  Some days you'll eat really well, but most days after 4-5 bites you are done.  If I try to get you to eat more you just gag and get mad.  Hopefully you'll start liking them more eventually.  You have also started to show that you have a little bit of a temper (you probably got it from me).  You are always trying to swipe my phone or iPod and chew on them.  If you are successful at swiping it and get it in your mouth, when I take it away you get super mad at me and cry angrily.  At this age I find it pretty cute and it usually just makes me laugh.  In the future when you are older....I probably won't find it as funny. You love music. Anytime music plays you get excited and start kicking your legs and wiggling. Sometimes I put on Curious George for you to watch, and you LOVE the intro during the music. You get super excited every time I turn it on. I recorded a video of you watching it that's posted below.
You are just the sweetest baby.  You bring so much happiness into mine and your dad's lives.  We're so lucky you are ours.

I love you too much!

Love,

Mom

P.S. Today is Monday the 21st.  We went to the doctor and you got your 6 month shots.  You did pretty good.  You were a little more vocal and cried more than you have in the past.  You weigh 15 pounds 10 ounces, and are 26 1/2 inches long; 40 percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height.    

Claire's 6 Month Pictures

Claire turns 6 months old today! I took her 6 month pictures a few nights ago. Here are a few of my favorites! You can see the rest of the photos from the shoot on my photography blog here. Happy 6 month birthday Claire Olivia! I love you too much.  I'll be posting your letter in the next blog post when you take your next nap :).
Disclaimer: I know this black flower headband is HUGE.  I thought I'd take a few pictures with her wearing it and see if I liked it.  At first I hated it, but then when I was editing the pictures it kind of grew on me.  I'd probably never have her wear it in public, but it's cute for pictures ;). 

Catching the Last Few Rays of Sun

Last night after Claire was fed, bathed, and in her jammies we had a few extra minutes before bedtime so I grabbed my camera and we headed outside to catch the last few rays of sunshine.  It's not like this blog has too many pictures of Claire already ;)

I love her little dimpled baby hands.

It's pretty evident in these pictures that she LOVES being outside.

Homemade Apricot Baby Food

Since Claire will be turning 6 months old this Saturday I've slowly been increasing her intake of solids to 2-3 times a day. The only baby food I have bought so far are prunes, all the rest I have made myself. It is so easy to make and so much cheaper than buying it! I have made avocado, banana, sweet potatoes, green beans, and cherries. We have an apricot tree in our yard that is finally ripe, so I made some into baby food today.  I thought I'd post the recipe in case any other moms out there want to try their hand at homemade baby food. 

You can pretty much adapt this to any fruit/veggie just the cooking method and amount of time will differ.  
-Avocados & bananas you don't need to cook; just puree and freeze.  
-Sweet Potatoes bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes (until soft). Puree & freeze.
-Cherries bring to a boil in a pot on the stove with a little added water & simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Puree & freeze.
-Green Beans steam until tender.  Puree & freeze.

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Next rinse the apricots really well (I used 8 small apricots and it filled an ice cube tray full). After they are rinsed cut them in half and remove the pits.  Add 1/2-3/4 cups of water to a baking dish.Place the apricot halves in the pan with the skins facing down in the water. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 15 minutes (or until fruit is soft). Let the apricots cool for a few minutes and transfer them to food processor or blender. (You can remove the skins or keep them on. I kept them on since they are full of really good nutrients.) Puree fruit until it is desired consistency. After the fruit is pureed, spoon into ice cube trays. Place ice cube tray in freezer for several hours. After the fruit is frozen remove from tray and store in ziploc freezer bags.  And that's it!  Super easy, and it makes quite a bit of food.  I love that it is frozen so you can still make it when the fruit/veggie is in season even if your baby isn't quite ready for a certain food and use it later.  You can store it in the freezer for up to 6 months.  When you are ready to use it just grab a square out of the freezer and microwave for 30-45 seconds.