March/April Happenings

I know, I know. It's been *eons* since we last blogged. I guess we can blame it on Christi going back to work and finding very little spare time these days! Well a lot has happened this past month...

• This past weekend we went to Glen Echo park in MD and Claire got to enjoy her first carousel ride!
  
  
  
• Claire ate her first real food! (If you consider the shredded cardboard they call "rice cereal" real food) Daddy heard the doctor give the go ahead and couldn't wait to try it. He bought her pears not knowing that's after she gets rice cereal and the veggies first. So we also pressed our luck and gave her some carrots too. She seemed to do okay for her first tasting, but as to be expected she spit more out than she actually took in.

• Claire met the Easter Bunny for the first time. Pictures didn't turn out that great and the bunny seemed a little creepy, but oh well!
  
  
• Claire wore her first pair of shoes. In preparation for starting daycare we got Claire used to foot coverings and she didn't seem to mind at all.
  
  
  


• We all went down to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms. Rather than fight the weekend rush we went down at 4pm on a Wednesday. The tidal basin was close to peak bloom and gorgeous. We took so many pictures that Claire was soooo over it. :) We also took some pictures of her in front of the cherry tree in our backyard.

• Christi started back to work on 3/31 and it was like she never left. Total insanity is the Orbital way!

• Claire started daycare and loves it. Her British teacher miss Louisa is awesome and does so many projects with them. She's planted grass seed, made Earth Day granola bars, painted, made dinosaur fossils..you name it! She loves looking at all the other kids. She's still the champion sleeper, but when she's awake she's having fun.

• Claire rolled over on 4/7!!! It was like she knew that she was almost three months old and did it right on cue. Mommy put her on the playmat, turned around to grab something, and voila she was on her tummy! Unfortunately she still doesn't like being on her tummy and doesn't always know how to roll back over, so most of the time she screams until we rescue her. As a result of her newfound mobility she has decided that she prefers to sleep on her left side. No more "back to sleep" for miss Claire, it's straight to her side. Now she has worn a bald spot on the side of her head to match the huge one in the back.
  
  

  
  



• Claire turned 3 months old. Besides her worn bald spots, she's losing more of her hair. Hopefully it comes back soon! She's also getting very good at grabbing things and can bring her hands together. We bought her a jumperoo this month and she loves to bounce around in it. She's still a little small in it, but she's learning to spin around in the seat and play with the toys.
  

• Claire went to her first picnic. Jon's pals the Hurley's and their friends Vicki and Danny all joined us for a lovely afternoon cookout at Algonkian park.
  


• We visited Gunpowder Falls State Park near Baltimore. Not much to see there so we stopped at Fort McHenry and the Inner Harbour on our way back so the trip wasn't a total bust. Nothing like being a speed tourist!

• Claire got her first pair of sunglasses. In preparation for our family Carribean cruise with Grandma, Papa, and the Billings in early July, Grandma bought her the cutest sunglasses. She is so cool in them!

• Claire had her 4 month doctor visit at just the right time. She got her first cold and eye infection last week. Poor thing has bad sniffles and we keep torturing her with that big blue bulb! She's starting to feel a little better, but she gave mommy her cold. Otherwise the doctor said she is doing great and meeting all her milestones. She weighed in at 14lbs 6oz and 24 3/4 inches long. She's around 75th percentile in her all her stats. She also got her round of 4 month shots this trip..ouch! The doctor also told us to start introducing solids in the next couple months. Which leads to the next event...
  

• Lordy Lordy Jon turned 40! On March 19th we did a simple celebration of just the two of us and dinner at Bennihana. At least that's all he can remember since he over the hill and senile. Just kidding! To keep him young Christi gave him the steering wheel console for his XBox360!

• So that's what's up with the Howards. We're looking forward to our first Mother's Day next weekend. Here's a happy Mother's Day wish to all our new and soon-to-be mommy friends!

Deep in the Heart

The Howards headed to Dallas last week to visit Christi's family and had a great time! Claire did great on her first plane ride. She didn't get too fussy on the way up or down, she just decided to have a diaper worthy of a wardrobe malfunction. The funniest sight to see was the tag-team diaper change in the back of the plane!

Let's get this baby off the ground!

On Friday we finally gave Jon a drive-by tour of downtown Dallas which included lunch at the downtown El Fenix Mexican restaurant, pictures in front of the Convention Center with the longhorns sculptures, and a drive by the grassy knoll.


That night everyone gathered at Aunt Nancy's house for dinner and "Claire time". She was such a trooper and was so well behaved the whole weekend. She loved meeting all of the family!

The next day we went bowling with all the kids and Uncle Chris met up for a quick visit. We also got our second dose of Mexican food at a local El Fenix. Jon filled up on 5 tamales this time! Then we took a drive out to the country to Uncle Pat and Aunt Jane's for dinner. Pat did an awesome job smoking some chickens in his barrel smoker.

To round out our eating tour of Texas, we went to lunch at the new Harbour development on Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall. They had lots of fun shops including a tobacco store called En Fuego. Jon decided to play a joke on Christi by purchasing a mini cigar and giving it to Claire to play with. Let's just say she wasn't amused. That night Aunt Nancy made a wonderful home cooked Sunday dinner. Claire got some great quality time with Nana that night and the pictures turned out so cute.

In all, the whirlwind weekend was a success. Claire (and Jon & Christi) had a wonderful visit with everyone and enjoyed the taste of nice warm weather. Good thing we got our flight out just before the major storm grounded all flights the next day!

Here's a slide show of all the pictures we took. Enjoy!

Playdates & Potpourri

Sorry it's been so long since we've blogged..but here we go. The last few weeks have been tons of fun with Claire. We've had a few playdates and Claire was even awake for most of them. First we had a big group playdate with some of mommy's friends from VT and all of their older kids at Darcy and Rodney's beautiful home. Claire can't wait until she's big enough to run around with all of them. Rodney is a professional photographer and took lots of great shots that afternoon. Check a couple of them out!

Then we had a playdate with Claudia and Darren's new baby Sofia. She is just 3 weeks younger than Claire, but is oh so teeny! They had fun holding hands and arm wrestling. Christi and Claudia had fun swapping mommy battle scars!

We also had another playdate this past week with Ella and Erika. Ella was very intrigued by Claire's crying and why those sounds were coming from someone/thing other than her. Ella has become so cute and smiley!

Claire also had new visitors this month. Mommy's friends Kim and Trissie came to meet her. She can't wait to meet Trissie's baby Teagan in a few weeks! We hosted Trissie's baby shower this weekend and it was a great time. Teagan is set with all of her new gear!

Claire also had lunch with Grandma and Granny this week. She always loves to see them. See how cute she looks when Granny pinches her cheeks!

Claire turned 2 months old today. She is getting cuter by the day (at least that's what mommy and daddy think!) She has really started to smile and interact with us. She's also starting to roll onto her side and is pushing up during tummy time. She scoots with her feet on the changing table, so we have to start being careful she doesn't scoot away when we aren't looking. She also picked up a new trick from her friend Ella...sucking her thumb. Hopefully she doesn't do it for as long as mommy did as a kid. Breaking the habit is hard for a 3rd grader! We had her 2 month doctor's appointment this past week and Claire is a whopping 12 lbs 7 ounces and 23.5 inches long. That's 90th percentile for our little chubbs, but the rolls and cheeks are so cute! She got her next round of vaccinations and was a little cranky for a day afterwards but is feeling better now.

Next week the Howards travel to Dallas to visit Christi's family. We are looking forward to Claire's first airplane ride (sort of?!) and getting to meet new relatives. We are also going to try and show Jon a little of the city. He's been there 4 or 5 times now and still hasn't seen downtown! We'll post pictures when we get back.

Daddy's Mini-Me

Everyday our little Claire bear is looking more and more like Daddy. Here's a few pictures to prove the point!

Claire next to a picture of Daddy as a baby.

They even nap alike!

Claire turns 6 weeks old this week and we are amazed how much she is growing and changing every day. Besides being more awake and alert these days, she has recently started sticking out her tongue and drooling more. She also made her first real smile (meaning she was awake and not smiling in her dreams) for mommy this week. We are trying to get her to do it again for daddy and we are close. She has started to coo and "talk" at her mobile and it almost sounds like she is saying "Hi" (or at least that's what mommy thinks). Her baby language also includes "a-ghee" which cousin Berklie also did as a baby. As nice as her new vocabulary is, she still mostly just grunts and squeaks. Daddy will be starting her french lessons very soon though!

Family Fun

This past weekend Claire got to meet more relatives! Aunt Megan and cousins Jed and Olive came down from New Jersey for the weekend. Olive brought Claire her first baby doll and it even came with its own baby carrier. Funny thing the doll was actually bigger than Claire! Then cousin Ben, uncle Bill and Granny came over for dinner and Claire time Saturday night. We topped the weekend off with a trip to Grandma and Papa's house Sunday.

How many Howards can you fit on a couch? :)

Claire is learning from Papa how to "rest your eyes".

Grandma attempts to soothe a fussy Claire, but at least she's awake!

This week Claire also got a visit from mommy's friend Bonnie (aka Aunt Bons). She also received her first piece of official mail. (Daddy thought it was a milestone worthy of photos).

10-4 Good Buddy!

Claire turned 4 weeks old today and had another checkup at the doctor. Our little chubbs weighed in at 10 lbs 4 oz and is now 21.5 inches long. Luckily this visit didn't require any unpleasant shots, but she still didn't seem to happy to be there!

Here's a picture of Claire in her chair posing for her one month photo!

Claire also had lots of visitors recently. Mommy's friends Meredith, Christiana and Jon, and Lori came by to meet her. Also, Daddy's friends the Hurley family stopped by to say hello!

Super Bowl Sunday was a squeaky clean fun day for little Claire. Now that her belly button has healed, Daddy was able to give her a bath in her tub. She normally screams at bath time with Mommy, but Daddy has the gentle touch that kept her happy. Afterwards the Howards went to watch the big game at Sandra's. Claire got to hang out with her pal Ella, but of course slept through all of the game. Despite her newborn tendencies toward narcolepcy, we are starting to get a few more awake moments during the day. Hopefully soon we can start getting her to sleep through the night! (wishful thinking Mommy!)