Claire while I was gone!

You guys have got to go over to my SIL's blog to see pics of what Claire was up to last weekend while Kyle, Audrey, Carson, and Kerrigan were visiting. There's a pic of Claire sleeping that is hilarious! Conked out in the middle of the living room, shoes and jacket still on, back at almost 90 degree angle on this huge pillow. That's Daddy's philosophy for ya: Play hard and then pass out wherever you lay still for a minute. I think he's snoring on the couch fully clothed right now!

The day after shots...

Claire and I had our most traumatic experience since birth Friday: her first set of shots. It was positively awful. As I'm sure my fellow mothers know, I had to hold my child's arms down while she screamed with pain and betrayal. I do not look forward to her 8wks appointment. When we got home, I gave her some baby Tylenol, and she was fussy until she conked out for two and a half hours, an unusually long nap for the morning.



But I did get to hear how healthy Claire is! She weighs in at 12lbs 4 oz, and is 23 inches long! That puts her in the 75th percentile for height and weight, which is normal for breastfed babies, her doctor said. She's gained 4lbs 10 oz and 3 inches since birth. Everything else, except for her blocked tear duct, looked great!



Jay actually had to deal with Claire's fussiness all alone for a good part of the day. As it was a rainy day, Jay didn't miss much work while he stayed home with Claire to let me go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! I need to think about it a little before I say it was the best film of the series, but it was certainly awesome!

She speaks!

This clip is a bit long; it took Claire a minute to get tuned up. You'll hear me say that I've never heard her coo that long before, but since I filmed this on Sunday, she's started doing this everyday! It's amazing what changes and advances each day brings!

Hope everyone has a safe, fun Fourth of July! We'll probably have a soggy one down here. Lake Texoma is expected to go over the emergency spillway by Friday, the first time since 1990!

Other family news is that Ranger has miraculously recovered from what the vet said was a terminal case of mouth cancer! That's right, this dog just won't die. He's eaten a 2-lb bag of Halloween chocolate, been shot, and now been diagnosed with cancer, but he's as healthy a dad gum dog we've ever seen. When Jay first called the vet to ask about Ranger's condition--he was not eating because of a huge lump on the side of his mouth, beside his teeth--they said he probably had some sort of infection because of a bug bite. But then when Jay took him in, they immediately said it was cancer and there was nothing they could do. Because Ranger couldn't eat dry food, Jay bought him some gourmet last meals--canned dog food--and spoon-fed him for a few days, thinking each meal might be his last. However, after about four days of this treatment, Ranger bounced back, seemingly overnight. No sore, and his energy was back. Now we've got two dogs who are addicted to canned dog food. It's a miracle!

Mommy and Daddy's Quality Time

Here are a couple pics of how Mommy and Daddy spend our quality time with Claire: Jay is doing her exercises with her, and I'm reading a book to her.

She is getting really good at holding her head up and kicking her legs. Sometimes it really does seem like she's supporting herself for a second or two, and we're just helping her balance.

Her new favorite thing to do is to lay on an activity mat. Paula at my work brought one her grandsons used to use for Claire to lay on in my office, and she was so enthralled with it that I remembered I had one of those at home, too! We set it up last night, and she gazes up and kicks her legs and coos away at the little toys hanging down. I've got a great video of this, but Google is not wanting to accept it!!