Another Great Week...

Clare had a very fun weekend! Nana and Pop-Pop were in visiting for the weekend and we went lots of fun places. On Saturday, we headed down to Ocean City to visit with Clare's Great Aunt Anna Marie, Great Uncle Mark and her cousins Juliana and Jessica. It was so much fun! We hung out on the beach all day and went to the boardwalk for dinner. Clare had very yummy funnel cake, boardwalk pizza and salt water taffy. Pizza was the winner, by far. You can't cut up the crust fast enough for her. She's a little eating machine. On Sunday, we had Great Great (to Clare at least) Aunt Andrea's surprise 70th birthday party. Clare was of course adorable. Afterwards we went into the city to China Town for fantastic Chinese food. Clare was a huge fan. Loved the wonton wrappers. Egg rolls, not so much. But she thought the Clare sized cups were so much fun.
It was a great weekend!

Clare does have some exciting news. She is cutting her first tooth. I'm fairly certain it's to help her eat more pizza, but she has a small bump coming in on the bottom row. Prior to cutting her first tooth, she would let us see in her mouth. Now, she fights us to look inside. I'm hoping this is why we've spent the last 3 weeks (give or take a few days) needing a midnight or 3 am bottle. Clare slept through the night fairly young (8 weeks) so I'm less than amused at 3 am to be up.

Chris and I also added another addition to the Miller family: A mini van! I am a little sad at the responses I received last week when I called to tell people. Apparently, minivans are not cool. What kinda crap is that? It's the coolest. Chris of course continues to refer to it as the "Cadillac of Minivans", a movie reference I do not get (per usual). We thought everyone would be thrilled to be seen riding in our minivan. Yet everyone we told laughed at us. Minivans are not amazing? I missed this memo. I've wanted a minivan my whole life! It was really nice to be able to have room for 8 people to go places. With company in town all summer and us always traveling back and forth to Ohio (and Hilton Head this summer:) it will be nice to have extra room to spread out. Chris was a little sad to see his SUV go, but even he enjoys driving the minivan.

So all and all a great week here in the Miller household! Hope everyone had a great weekend and I'll be sure to post Clare's pics from her 9 month photo's on here soon (I pick them up tomorrow:)!

Congrats to the Johnson's!

Congrats to the Johnson Family on their new arrival!
We can't wait to meet your little bundle of joy!
Hugs, The Millers!

Long Post to Follow:

I know, I know. I've been very behind on the blog thing lately. With it being summer and all, it's tough to be motivated to be inside. Although, I do hate the sun, so I'm not quite sure how much sunscreen one person can wear. Clearly not enough, because my back is totally burnt. If you've been able to avoid my calls about this burn, you should consider yourself fortunate. We are now in the "peel" stage of the burn. Yummy.
Clare had a great week last week. Grandma and Grandpa Richardson were here for a WHOLE week! Grandpa Kevin helped us re-do the upstairs bathroom. He and Chris tiled the entire surround and it looks great! I will post pictures. Very exciting stuff. Grandma Dawn and I wanted to get out of dodge while the boys were working upstairs, so we escaped to the shore. It was a great day (minus the moron who forgot to put sunscreen on her back). The best part is that the baby and I share our 80 SPF:) Clare is such a water girl! She loved the shore. She thought the waves were so much fun, she was screaming at them the entire time. She wanted to eat the sand and all and all just had so much fun. We went down and visited Steph at her family's place in Stone Harbor and Clare was very excited to see her. Steph's cousin has a great pool that is heated (Beth-you'll appreciate this: She waits until her husband leaves and turns up the pool heater. She almost was caught yesterday because she left in on all night and it was up to 91 degrees. The air outside was cool, so it was pouring steam) really well, so her cousin Lee took Clare swimming. She loved it! She was splashing her hands in the water and trying to dive head first right in! Very cute stuff. It does totally burn me for the fall. I had sort hoped that if she hated the water, we could wait on swim lessons.
* I assumed that Chris, being an Aquatics Director, would be the one to take her to swim lessons. I hate the water. I didn't want a multi-head shower, because I need the water to come from one source at all times so I can block it. I shower with my eyes closed. I don't put my face in the pool. I assumed wrong. I have to take her to swim lessons. Chris's facility doesn't keep the pool warm enough for little kids. Boo doesn't begin to decribe my crabiness at this. So, this fall Clare and I will be in swim lessons. Awesome.*
So, Clare=loves water. On Tuesday it was off to the mall to avoid the boys, where I was on a mission for a dress for her 9 month pictures. Clare's favorite store? The jewelry store. I was fighting to death at gymboree to make it through the stroller jungle, so my Mom took Clare around the mall. She was very excitied by the jewelry. Sat right up and paid attention in that store. FYI, I'm blaming her Nana. Just sayin'. Wednesday we visited Aunt Ginny for a really great lunch. On Thursday Clare had her nine month pictures. Super cute. They'll be in the 30th, so I'll be sure to scan and post soon. We went back to Target and Chris met us there on his lunch break. Mr. Lighting Designer wound up re-lighting the shoot. Super fun. The poor girl working there was excited by the advice, which only encourages him. The pictures are so cute, that Target asked me to sign a release to use them:) So, it was confirmed by a non-family member that my kid is pretty cute. Friday, Grandma and Grandpa headed back down to the shore with out Lobster Back Mommy and Clare to enjoy a few more hours on the beach before heading back to land-locked Ohio. Clare was very sad to see them leave. So sad in fact, that about 2 hours before they left, she woke up and flipped out. I mean, flipped out. We still have no idea what the problem was. It did result in Chris and I both getting up after about 30 minutes of her fighting Chris to death not to sleep. He had changed her, feed her, changed her pj's after he spilled milk on them, rocked her, etc. She was not going for it. She was really upset. When I came in, she yelled some more. I do think she recognizes "unfriendly Mommy" so she gave in when I was so cheerful with rocking her. I think she knows a lost cause when she sees one.
In her list of accomplishments for this week: Clare can stand on her own now for quite awhile. She just lets go of things and hangs out for a bit. She can also (thanks again Grandma:) climb an entire flight of stairs. She has started saying DaDa. All fun stuff:)
So, Chris is sleeping in this morning on his first Father's Day. Clare is playing in Baby jail. I'll add pictures before I post.
'

Update

Clare is our little chunky-monkey! She is a whopping 18lbs, 8 oz, which is the 43% percentile. She is only 26.5 inches long, so that's in the 12%. She had her 9 month appointment today and was super excited until the shot part. She thought the nurse was fantastic. So much so, that the nurse wound up carrying her to the scale for her weight check and back again. I'm not sure if it was the all of the cool toys the nurse was wearing or just someone fun in general. Clare was less than amused at the end when the nurse came back with a shot. Clare knew right away this was going no where good and through a fit before she stuck the needle in. The nurse was the recipient of a very unfriendly face. Clare makes the same facial expressions towards people that I do. Amusing now, probably not so much when I'm on the receiving end. All in all, a good visit. She is above average in the majority of her benchmarks!
There is one benchmark that she did fail. The question was: Does she get excited when you say the words bye-bye. Well, she does not get excited, because we don't use that phrase. The nurse and Pedi mentioned it. I had to explain we don't say that because we have 200lbs of dog that go crazy when they hear that expression, so Clare never really hears bye-bye. So, sadly Bean and Babby have already cost Clare an A+ at her 9 month check-up.
In other news, Chris and Clare had a great weekend with out me. They baby proofed some of the house. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow or Friday. Overall, they did just fine for 4 days together and the house did not burn down. Becky and I had a great time on our "road" trip from Philly to Austin. Although I was always fairly sure I would never like to move to Arkansas, it was confirmed with this trip. Texas was pretty though. I was very hung up on how skinny the cows were. I really thought cows were much fatter. Like ginormously fat was my expectation. So all and all, we had a great week!
I'll post pics before the end of the week. Clare and I are both very tired from today's appointment. It may be nap time....

Hope the house doesn't burn down....

Well, I'm off to Texas with Becky tomorrow bright and early. Chris and Clare are all set for some Daddy time. I'm sure it will be a wild party at our house this weekend. Unlike college with beer bottles and left over pizza on the floor, I'm sure it will be baby bottles, gerber food jars and puffs. Let's hope the house is still standing!
In other news, our poor kitty Tiger has to be put to sleep tonight. He has a very aggressive form of cancer and it can't wait for me to return home on Monday. He was the best cat and we'll miss him.

Note to self

Dear Current April,

Now, dear, I hate to say it. But really. I did tell you so. Several months ago, when Clare started to make progress towards crawling (at that point she could only roll to her next destination) I warned you to baby proof. I made it very clear that this would be the ideal time. However, you scoffed at me. Tsk, Tsk. You are such a procrastinator. Always have been.
Now look at the mess you are in. Clare can crawl. Anywhere she wants. She can cruise (walking anywhere she can hold on to). She finds items on the floor you weren't even aware existed. The wad of gum in cheek on Thursday she was chewing? That was a piece of newspaper she had torn off at her diaper change. The dime she tried desperately to pick up this afternoon under the couch? Tasty. The wire that runs to the sub woofer? Delicious.
But did you heed my advice? No. You have "worked" with children for years. You are an expert. Well, have fun running around after her. FYI-she may have only managed one step on Friday, but that is only the beginning. She will make it upstairs, soon. She will climb baby jail. She is stubborn (and just whose fault it that?). So, continue your daily exercise of chasing after her, instead of realizing that your current design scheme will simply not work with small children.

Below is a starting list of things that should be fixed, ASAP:

1. Metal side tables with sharp corners and glass tops...really? Are you stupid? Whether she cracks her head open on the edge first or slams a toy down and breaks the glass first is unseen, but, again, are your serious?
2. Ummm, wine glasses, hanging upside down, eye level in a wine bar? Self explanatory.
3. Steps (see the aforementioned issue).
4. Wires, everywhere. Daddy's surround sound is soon to be destroyed.
5. Silk blinds? Fantastic new purchase. Did you miss the memo that you have a child?
6. New area rugs? See above.
7. Tablecloths are just a means for her to get items she can not reach. Her joy in pulling them off the table (and thus the breakable items on the table with it) towards her (as she has already demonstrated) is one of her favorite pastimes. Is cleaning it up one of yours?
8. Dog hair in places you could not even fathom give her immense fun in finding. Learn to sweep under things. Like couch cushions.
9. She will eat the dog food if Abby continues to bury in her blankets. (*Hint: don't let Abby hide them in her blankets)
10. Yes, dripping bottles upside down and all over the new rug is fun. Thanks for asking her. She will continue to do so, unless you take it away.

Please note that many of the items above where taken from her to-do list for tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Your Common Sense, which you must have left at the hospital when you gave birth.

Baby Ballerina Barres

Clare is a cruiser! Chris has, ummm, "creative" uses for baby products. For example, I was recently at Target and purchased Walking Wings (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2668286). The other morning, Chris used the Walking Wings to lift Clare onto Serena's back and allow Clare to hold onto Serena and "ride" Serena like a pony. Delightful. Yesterday morning I came down to see Chris sitting on the couch, with a broom stuck between 2 cushions. The handle of the broom was shoved into baby jail, with a crafty pin in the hole at the top of the handle, to prevent the handle from slipping out. On the ballerina barre was Clare, holding on, both of them very engrossed in Kung Fu Panda. So, being creative (Chris, not me) he purchased 2 fancy dollar store mops and they now run like parallel bars through the baby jail. While this wonderful product is very Klassy with a capital K, it did provide Clare with the necessary tools to show off that she is clearly a genius. She can now pull herself up from any position, cruise all around the room (even letting go of items to take steps with out assistance towards other items) and somehow as also managed to crawl (forward). Although, I'm not sure how the barre helped the last one.
So, in one day, Chris managed to teach Clare more than I have in 8 months. I was less than amused. He said he can't wait for when he's alone with her for 4 days next week. I can only imagine.....