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!)

How Sweet it is!!!!

The Howards went and had Claire's first professional photos taken Friday and they turned out beautiful. Unfortunately we pressed our luck with all of the diaperless shots... toward the end shoot Claire peed all over mommy and the photographer's floor. :) Daddy set the slideshow to music so check them out!

Here are some good pointers on taking care of newborns that our friend Liz shared with us. I'm too embarrassed to tell you which one's I've already committed. Needless to say, Daddy isn't allowed to take Claire grocery shopping anymore...

http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

Also, this past Wednesday marked Claire's 2nd week of life. We celebrated by taking her to the doctor and poking her with needles. She protested her 1st vaccination briefly, but still didn't wake up for it. She also gained a little more weight and is up to 9 lbs 4 oz and grew to 21 inches.

What a busy weekend!

Claire here again. What a busy weekend! Mommy and Daddy's friend Amanda stopped by on Friday (with my soon to be friend Anna). Then Aunt Elise and Cousin Tristan stayed the weekend and helped out. Aunt Elise brought me lots of books -- 'Fancy Nancy', 'Good Night Moon', 'Marshmallow', 'A Mouse Cookie First Library' and 'Mother Goose.' Tristan even changed the tire on Mommy's car. We played poker and as you can see, Mommy ran out of chips and put me on the table. Fortunately, Daddy won that hand. On Sunday, I met my new friend Ella for the first time after her Christening. She's really cool and very pretty. We're looking forward to lots of tea parties together. Daddy gave me a music lesson and I learned scales and arpeggios, then Grandma brought over dinner -- roast beef, asparagus, and homemade chocolate silk pie, mmmmmmm! (see special dedication poem at bottom of page).

Oh how I love you, chocolate silk pie.

You're made from scratch, and that's no lie.

Even the French think you're the most.

Ask Uncle Leo, and he'll boast

that he's never had anything quite like you.

How many pieces? Why I'll take two.