And she's off...

By the 3rd week in July at a mere 6 1/2 months Claire officially crawled. Crawling as an amusement in itself didn't last long. It quickly became a method of getting somewhere to pull up. Our baby hulk is now pulling up by shear arm strength on anything (furniture, toys, people, shoes, appliances)! Check out this early video of her feats!

Along with her new found mobility came the inevitable bumps and bruises. My perfect little unscathed angel is now a rough and tumble kid. She's quite adventurous and is getting into everything. Jon and I really have to be on our toes! Fortunately her dismounts are improving, but not quite worthy of gold medals. "Eyes on the prize, Claire" ;-)

July

Claire had quite the momentous month in July. She turned six months and within days was saying "dada" and almost crawling. Check out her six month poses that were nearly impossible to take. She will not sit still!

In the middle of the month we had lots of fun with friends and family. The Dobson's had a cookout and Claire got to hang out with all the big kids. Jon got to be a kid too with a marathon session of RockBand with all the boys. We all got to congratulate the gals on baby #2's on the way (Annie, Tina, Joanna, and Beth).

Claire and Sofia hanging out

Sofia and mom Claudia

Brett Michaels eat your heart out.

Annie, Tina, Joanna & Beth - can't wait to meet the little ones!

The next weekend Claire got to finally meet some more family. Christi's cousin Dave and his family Beth and Berklie came to visit. We had fun at our favorite carousel at Glen Echo park. It was so hot that day we had planned to see an air-conditioned puppet show, but too many people had the same idea. The girls still enjoyed each other and the carousel, then we all cooled off at the Irish pub.

Berklie and her Ostrich!?

The weekend was also Claire's first time meeting cousin Clyde who flew in from Shreveport. We all had the opportunity to get some quality family time and celebrate birthdays. Dave celebrated his 32nd and Clyde had a special milestone - his 80th! In honor of his big day we took Clyde to "Clyde's" in Ashburn. We had a great lunch and he got a special treat that his cousin Dottie came down from Pittsburgh. They hadn't seen in each other in over 50 years!

Grandma introduces Claire to Clyde!

Dave's new threads

New pals Berklie and Claire

Claire has the perfect pinky for drinking tea from Berklie's tea set.

All dressed up but Berklie's pig tails didn't last long..

Clyde, Dottie, and Nancy

Beth, Linda, Don

Birthday boy Clyde and Dottie

Beth gives Claire hugs and smiles.

Cruisn'

We took a cruise to the Carribbean the first week of July and had a great time! We started out of Miami and stopped in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Martin, however, I think we enjoyed our ship Freedom of the Seas the most. That boat was so huge and had so many things to do. The food was great and we had a great time relaxing and taking part of all the activities. We saw a show, lost at bingo, Jon sang karaoke, enjoyed the pools, watched surfers (including Rick!) ride the "Flowrider", and ate our way from one end of the boat to the other! Claire did great and we really didn't have any problems with motion sickness. The room was a little tight to begin with, but add an infant and a pack n play, and it was impressive that we survived the week. It was so dark in the room that we all lost track of time and slept in really late. I love vacations! The only thing we didn't get too much of was sun. We were so busy we only got in our swimsuits a few times. I definitley think the Howards will cruise again! Check out our photos: