Parenthood

Again, my apologies for being so awful about updating. I may as well start each blog entry with that same apology, because I just don't see it getting any better :)

So, Claire is 8 months old and I was thinking the other day about the difference 8 months has made. In the first couple months, we were so clueless. Completely dependent on baby books, friends who have babies, and google. One time, I literally googled "What to do with a newborn all day".

Now, I'm not saying we're pros or anything, but it really is amazing that after just a few months, you kinda figure out what to do with this tiny human. Even though I just said to Russell, "Um, are we supposed to brush her teeth??", overall, I feel like we're doing pretty well. ( Sidenote: are we supposed to brush those 2 tiny teeth? )

It also doesn't hurt that Claire is a pretty easy baby. She eats anything you give her and loves the bottle (more than the boob, little tear). She goes to sleep around 5:45 each night and sleeps all the way until 6:30 the next morning. She'll sit (or rather, roll around the living room) and occupy herself for quite awhile. She's really happy most of the time.

I was also thinking about all the ways having a baby changes your marriage. Like today, Russell and I are standing in the living room in front of Claire, who is in her exersaucer. Some craptastic baby song is playing in the background and we are BOTH dancing for her. Like.....DANCING. And Russell says, "So, this is a thing we do now." Yup. This is a thing we do now. Lemme tell you - when you're holding hands under the bar with the cute guy who works in the next classroom, you don't picture someday dancing to "Where to Hide My Shushy-Byes" in your living room. :)

Baby stats:

How old is Claire?: 35 weeks

How Claire is eating: She eats all the things. She might make a face at the first couple bites, but by the time the cup is empty, she's yelling for more. So far we've had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, applesauce, and bananas.

How Claire is sleeping: Like a BOSS. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

How much weight I've lost: Well......here's the thing. First I went back to work. Then, Halloween happened. Then, Thanksgiving happened. Now, Christmas is happening. So I'm still stuck at 43/48 pounds lost. I started plotting my weight on a piece of graph paper in our bathroom. I drew a line from what I weigh now to my goal. The little dots that represent my weight are currently not going in the same direction as that line. I blame math.

This was mid-sneeze :)

How Russell's doing: Russell is doing great! First of all, if you haven't seen him, he's a very skinny fella now. For Christmas, he's asking Santa for pants that fit. We both ran (well, he ran. I "ran") a 5K on Thanksgiving and he achieved a personal best.

Milestones this month: Claire sits up without any assistance, even in the bathtub (although we don't leave her there, of course). She babbles and screams ALL the time, although no words yet. Her favorite toys are her little blue piano, a squeaky elephant she chews on, and a rattle my Aunt Susan gave her. She was baptized at our church, Powell Presbyterian, and she didn't scream at all when she got sprinkled. Success!!