Single Parent

We've been very busy here at the Bowlby house.  We are very happy to have Troy back from covering Hurricane Irene.  I did not enjoy being a single parent.  I don't think it would have been that bad if Claire didn't have such a bad reaction to her shots.  Claire and I managed to keep ourselves busy by attending a playgroup for new moms with babies, a Pampered Chef party and baptism class.  The highlight of the weekend though was a visit from Grandma and Granddad Rice and cousin Isabella. 

 Group shot at our playgroup, I am on the left side in the blue shirt. 

Pictures of Isabella and Claire coming soon. . .

Goodbye old friend

 Troy was tired Friday night after working a 14 hour day and left Claire's Wubbanub out where Jack could reach it.  We were awoken early Saturday night to the sound of Claire's best friend being shredded limb from limb.  If you're wondering where the pacifier portion is, let's just say Troy found it at the dog park 2 days later. 

 These were their last 2 pictures together.

And these were their 1st 2 pictures three months ago.

Luckily Amazon.com has free 2 day shipping.  This time we thought we'd try the colorful caterpillar.  We still miss the puppy though, maybe for the next holiday. . .

Rough day :(

Claire's shots didn't sit so well with her this time.  She was up most of last night and has been super cranky today.  I feel bad because she is usually such a happy baby.  We went to the drug store and bought Claire her first bottle of acetaminophen and bought me a big bag of M&M's.  I'm hoping the medicine helps her to be more comfortable and sleep.  It took 45 minutes of walking around rocking her to get her to sleep tonight (it usually takes 5). 

 These are pictures from Saturday night when Claire got to attend her first sorority party.  She did great and of course everyone thought she was cute :)  She was not in the mood for pictures she wanted to play.

Food is funny!

Claire got the chance to try food from a spoon last night.  It feels like such a big step.  I remember when she was on iv fluids, then a feeding tube and then she finally learned to drink from a bottle.

First bite of food EVER!!!

Growing growing growing

Today was Claire's 6 month check up, 6 months can you believe it.  The doctor is very pleased with her development and we don't have to go back until she is 9 months old in November (except to get her flu shot).  And wait for it. . . my baby is 10 pounds!!!!!!!  Claire did really well with her shots.  She was so tired she fell asleep on the table waiting for the nurse.  Let's just say she was not very pleased when she woke up to the needle stick, but calmed down as soon as her mommy gave her a hug. 

10.2 oz   22 inches long

Thank you

Thank you grandma and granddad Rice for my new big girl chair.  As you can see from my big smile, I LOVE it!

Squacky

We get bored. . .

and go get our picture taken!

http://www.SearsPhotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=eaaf5303-8a12-4bad-89f5-e7f4b77c7154

I'm cute and I know it!

 Hello

 I got a new birthday shirt.  It's 12 month,s so it's probably not going to fit me until my adjusted birthday, but it was cute and a dollar.

 I also got a new hairbow, and you know how happy that makes me!!!

7 hours

Claire slept for 7 hours straight Saturday night, which far exceeded her previous record of 5 hours.  Most nights it's closer to 3 and a half or 4 hours between feedings.  It's not so bad now that we only have 2 overnight feeding, we each just take one.  When it was really hard was when she ate EVERY 3 hours all night no matter how tired she was.  Those were some loooong nights.  We really can't complain though because she's always gone right back to sleep after her night bottles.  Now the exception to this is her 6am bottle.  This is her daddy bottle and she expects to come lay in bed between her mommy and daddy.  She looks very cute smiling and looking back and forth between us kicking.  Of course after about 10 minutes she kicks herself right back to sleep until daddy leaves for work around 9am. 

 Our room is very crowded!

Unfortunately that 7 hour stretch was not a long term thing.  The past few nights have only had 2 and 3 hour stretches between bottles. 

Mood Swings

 Boy does this girl have mood swings!

That was fun!

 Look I can pull up my shirt!

 While I have it, I might as well see how it tastes!

Wow that was fun, but. . .

now I'm tired and need my bottle!

 I'm not getting any milk. . .

 Ahhh thanks Mom!

Color change

 We're very curious to see what color Claire's eyes are going to be.  First they were gray, then blue, now a greenish grey.  The eye doctor said they can change colors for the first year, so I guess we have another 6 months for the color to be determined.  

It's not mommy, but it works

 Claire's favorite position for sleeping is definatly on her mommy.  Luckily, if she's really tired the boppy will work. 

Bye Bye

Bye Bye newborn clothes.

 I loved wearing you, but I am a big girl now.

 I wear 0-3 month clothes and am VERY happy about it.  I saw the doctor Tuesday and found out  I weigh 9lbs 10oz.  My chin is broken out because I keep drooling and the saliva is getting trapped under my paci.  Mommy put some vaseline on it and it is getting much better. 

 Gotta go, time to poop!

New Hairbow

After we had our pictures taken Saturday night we ventured into the mall.  We found a lady selling hairbows and of course Claire had to have one. 

 Look how happy she is about her new purple flower bow.

 Claire likes to stare at Jack.

 Wow, he's tall!

Isn't Jack handsome!

Oh and Claire got a $2.99 tutu as well.  It's a little big now, but will look very good in a few months.

Rough day

It's been a rough Monday here at the Bowlby house.  We got up early for the air conditioning man and of course he was 3 hours late so that messed up Claire's nap schedule.  Then Claire pooped all over her clothes.  So I did a load of laundry.   The second the washer buzzed to tell me it was done, Jack decided to puke all over the carpet, which meant more laundry.  Well the day can only get better from here.  Claire is finally taking a nice nap in her bouncy seat and it's Moe's Monday ($5 burrito, chips and a drink special, we started going when I was pregnant and it was Claire's favorite food!). 

  These 2 pictures are from April and May, look how big the red dress was on Claire. 

This is Claire in August, what a difference a few months makes!  It's a newborn dress and I am now having to pack it up along with the rest of her newborn clothes.  I remember when newborn clothes looked soooo big, and now they look sooo small.  I can't believe my baby will be 6 months old in less than 2 weeks!