6 Months!

We can apparently either do things or I can blog about them, but not both. Since September, we've been to Fresno x 2, the Grand Canyon, the Mid-Atlantic States, and D.C. plus all the normal life stuff that comes with teaching and three kids and church and community.

Rest assured that the third born is not under-photographed.

In the last month, Claire has popped her first tooth, now rolls from back to tummy, sits, uses her hands to manipulate toys. She is a happy, happy little baby, quick to smile at anyone who glances her way. She thinks her brothers' jumping is the funniest thing in the world. The dear child, after stopping during the craziness of Christmas, is back to sleeping through the night. 

If Elijah holds her, she no longer screams for baths and now loves to sit (held) in the tub. Her favorite part of school is recess where she watches the kids run back and forth. She's our most active and smallest child (16 lbs, 26 inches). As soon as she learned to roll, she started rolling all around the room and can do a little backward scoot. Slow and steady! Also our baldest child; for her passport, we decided her hair was brown. As Josiah observed, studying her veins, "It looks like someone drew on her head."

We think she's the best little baby!

September in part

September began with a trip to the beach friends for Labor Day:

Preschool started. Happy mornings with happy friends (5 three year olds, 2 five year olds, and baby). When the kids did their montessori-inspired work trays, I'm pretty sure they thought that Claire in her cradle was just another work station---practical life at its finest.

Kindergarten continues to go well. The space obsession continues. George Washington continues to be the super hero---he does everything. He even drives a van sometimes. Lunch and dinner time reading selections are mostly space oriented, and basically only nonfiction, although every once in awhile Josiah chooses a picture book story for me that's not Richard Scarry.

Elijah built the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity; Husband Hill
is represented by the lid in the background; Curiousity is on the floor,
having not yet reached Mars

And Claire is just adorable. She's grown from a scrawny newborn to chubby baby. She "fusses" for a couple hours in the evening, but is happy and calm all the rest of the time. She only wakes up once most nights, except for the occasional night where she likes to nurse for half the night straight. Josiah remarked, "Claire likes it when we smile at her, and we like it when Claire smiles at us."

She loves her mobile. She'll stare and talk to it for
20 minutes at a time.

August, Part 2

We went to a favorite beach, Corona del Mar:

 



Claire's bedroom:

 

The boys continue to play blocks daily:

The Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are on separate couches
to show that they landed on different parts of Mars

Part of their space museum: on the little table in the back are the Mars
Rovers, complete with block sign posts with info about them; at the end
of the table are space capsules and a space shuttle; not pictured are the rockets.
I was informed that many of them are models not the actual space crafts.

Both boys are such sweet big brothers! Elijah loves holding Claire and talking to her as does Josiah. Josiah told me, "All babies are so cute." He also thinks that Claire is (almost) always smiling--her awake, alert face is quite pleasant. They are both saddened when Claire isn't able to give them a hug and kiss at bedtime.

 

Girl diapers come with ruffles :)

 

And pictures of Claire! She's a really easy baby 21+ hours of the day. She's my first baby to have a consistent fussy period in the late afternoon/early evening--no screaming or even much crying, but does want to be held just right. Makes cooking dinner, feeding the boys, and washing dishes a bit tricky. She's a good nurser, sleeps for 5-6 hours straight at the start of the night, and when awake, looks quietly and alertly around. We think she's pretty fabulous!

 



 

 

Staring at her beloved black-and-white pictures taped to the
bottom of the shelf

How Claire likes to spend most of her time

Photo credit: Elijah

And we ended the month with an overnight visit with John:

Josiah's big accomplishment of the month (unpictured) was potty training. 85% done!  The firstborn got stories read while he sat, and the secondborn got the kindle (my standards are low when potty training with a newborn). He is not an easily incentivized child--he was turning down my bribes of marshmallows and chocolate chips. But he finally decided to do it!