Feliz Navidad!

It has been a very big month for Claire. She took her first vacation, which took her to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We had a terrible time getting to Mexico (thanks to a 9 hour delay due to mechanical and pilot scheduling issues), but we made it and Claire was a real trooper for the trip.

We enjoyed some warm weather, and really enjoyed the opportunity to have time together as a family. The trip mostly involved keeping Claire on schedule for feedings and naps, but we managed to incorporate several really nice meals and trips to the pool into our routine. Claire's vocabulary of noises really took off while we were traveling...we think she really enjoyed all of the attention she got while we were traveling (both from us and from lots of strangers...she just draws people in with her big eyes and chubby cheeks), which led to a lot of "talking."

Claire proved to be a very easy going traveler, spending a fair amount of time sleeping in her stroller (the movement definitely helps put her to sleep). She enjoyed her trips to the pool, possibly because she was the center of attention more than because she enjoyed the water, but she certainly did not mind the water. Even a very brief trip into the ocean, which was hastened by some chilly water, did not bother her at all.

Anyhow, check out Claire's first swimming adventure:
And here she is enjoying a spoon at our favorite breakfast spot, Tacos and Beer, which was across the street from our hotel. Did we mention that we think she has started teething? She loves to suck on her fingers, and has almost mastered the art of grabbing things and bringing them to her mouth to chew on (as the photo demonstrates).And here is a shot of the sunset across the ocean from outside of our hotel room (note the cute greyhound dress from our friend Becky).
We took about a million pictures while in Mexico, so if you want to check out more, let us know and we can send you the link to our album...but we don't want to waste any more blog time getting to the real excitement: Christmas!!!!

Claire got lots of presents from her family. Most were learning toys, with some clothes thrown in as well. Needless to say, it was a very fun morning. Here is a shot of her observing her "laugh and learn" puppy, which her Great Aunt Sally, Great Uncle Gary, and Cousin Emma sent:
And here she models the "Feliz Navidad" reindeer hat she got in Mexico from her brand new high chair. She's not quite ready for the high chair for eating, but given that she is doing something new every day, we think she'll be ready soon (and she will enjoy being able to sit up high in the kitchen to observe activity there). After presents, and a couple of naps, we headed to Grandmother Karen's for Christmas dinner. Claire slept through dinner (which made for a really nice meal for the adults), and then decided to show off her growing vocabulary of noises, and demonstrate just how cute and sweet she can be. She had lots of fun playing peek-a-boo with Grandmother Karen and smiling at Grandpa Matt. The snow really started coming down as the evening wound down, and the trip home was an adventure in slow driving and leaving lots of stopping room. Claire didn't mind, since she loves sleeping in the car...the only problem she had was that her hat fell over her eyes when we walked in the door:Anyhow, our little girl continues to wow us with her charming personality and growing repertoire of activity. We really enjoyed our first Christmas with her and feel so fortunate to have her in our lives. We hope you enjoy our photos and that you had a great Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

Thanksgiving

First of all, this is a long blog entry, so if nothing else, be sure to check out all of the pictures.

Claire celebrated her first Thanksgiving two weeks ago...and she was the star of the show. She had lots of visitors, including her Grandmother Lana, her Uncle William, her Aunt Leana, and even a few of our greyhound friends (and yes, Vinnie had visitors over as well). It was quite the full house. After lunch, Grandmother Karen, Grandpa Matt, and Uncle Neal stopped by for dessert. It was quite the affair. Valerie and Lana spent the better part of two days preparing an unbelievable feast. Check out the spread (Claire being to the right of Leana in her rocker, so she's not in the picture):And here are a couple of cute shots of Claire with her Uncle William (who she met for the first time) and her Aunt Leana:
The day after Thanksgiving, we celebrated Lana's birthday with a fun walk around the neighborhood (we've had beautiful weather up until the past week), some quiet time at home, and a nice dinner out. Grandmother Lana can't wait to try out the web cam that Claire got her as a birthday present.

Speaking of presents, Claire got some fun stuff from just about all of her visitors, including some readers and spelling books from her Aunt Janet, and some nifty pajamas from her Aunt Leana. While she's not quite ready for the books, she was ready to model the pj's (using Vinnie as her stage): Have we mentioned what a good dog Vinnie is?

Another fun event was Claire's evening out with her parents and her Grandmothers. The purpose of the evening? One word: SANTA!Claire continues to be a sweet, happy baby, though she is changing so fast that she is keeping us on our toes. Her vocabulary of noises continues to expand, she can sit up for a few seconds at a time on her own and for several minutes if she has someone to hang on to. The worst part of Claire's day is when it is time for a nap...she seems concerned that she is going to miss something if she goes to sleep, so she can fuss quite a bit before finally settling down. She loves to try and engage us in conversation as part of her sleep resistance plan, which we fall for every time. She usually sneaks a smile or two in just to make sure she has your attention.

And with all of her changes, more and more of Claire's personality emerges. We are convinced that she will be a very inquisitive little girl...and we think there may even be some shenanigans in her future. Both of Claire's Grandmothers think she is just waiting to put her parents' wits to the test. And if you think we're getting ahead of ourselves, we have photographic evidence that she is making plans:

Giggles!!!

So it has been a very fun-filled few weeks. Claire got to travel on an airplane for the first time, and she proved to be an excellent traveler...she enjoyed taking in all of the new sights and sounds, and found the boarding process particularly fascinating (especially watching all the people walk past her). She did wonderfully during all of the take-offs and landings, either sleeping through them or just working on a pacifier. On every leg, at least one person on the plane could be heard remarking: "I can't believe there was a baby on the plane...what a good baby!" We couldn't agree more. It didn't hurt that mom had prepared for every possible contingency (if traveling with a baby, remember giant ziploc bags...they come in very handy for just about any situation).

So where did Claire go? She traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia (where dad grew up). And she got to meet her Aunt Leana for the very first time:


They definitely enjoyed one another, and apparently Aunt Leana now has a better understanding of why people ooh and ahh over babies. We're pretty sure they both made quite the impression on each other. About 10 days after returning home, Leana and Charles were chatting on the phone, when Claire got to briefly speak with her Aunt, and couldn't resist smiling up a storm.

Back to Claire's travels. The real question was how did she enjoy her travels? Well, check out this video, which captures her first conscious giggles on camera the evening of her return home (she gave her Grandmother Lana a few giggles in her sleep while in Blacksburg)--please try to overlook the silly noises that dad had to make to elicit the giggles, but any embarrassment is well worth it (the giggles start about 30-40 seconds into the clip...and she gives another good one about 1.5 minutes in):

We don't get giggles every day, but she continues to be a very happy baby (even though she got a little grumpy at the end of that video clip).

One "fun" side-effect of traveling is that the cats now think they are entitled to sleep in all of the baby beds whenever Claire is not in them. Fortunately, Claire and Walter seem to have come to an agreement when it comes to the changing table:


Overall, Claire is expanding her vocabulary quite a bit. It seems like every day that I come home from work, I hear a symphony of new noises. She also seems to notice her surroundings much more, and loves to take it all in. And she continues to grow like a champ. We don't have a recent weigh-in, but she is rapidly making many outfits too small.

Just for fun, here are a few more pictures of Claire with the pets, first Vinnie (who tried to lay down next to her, but kept getting kicked, so he shifted his head), then Walter keeps an eye on her during tummy time (notice that he no longer appears quite so large in comparison to previous photos).

Grandma, Part Deux!

So Claire's last couple of weeks have been very exciting. On the top of the list is getting to meet her Grandmother Lana for the first time. Lana and Claire hit it off instantly, as the following photos demonstrate: We aren't quite sure who enjoyed who more, but each enjoyed the time together. Grandma got to do lots of napping, burping, and bathing (and mom and dad enjoyed her numerous offers to change diapers).

Next on the list is Halloween. Claire got to dress up as a monkey and headed out to dad's old office to show off at their annual Halloween party. The costume was rather warm, and Claire quickly went to sleep once it was on, but we think she still had lots of fun:

Claire also enjoyed the outcome of the election...she received an Obama baby onesie at Valerie's baby shower, and we have to confess our shared support (living in a very conservative state leads one to hope for some balance, which isn't going to happen any time soon on the state level, so we'll take it from the national level). How happy was Claire, you ask? This happy:

And finally, Claire has continued her smiling ways, and mom and dad have figured out a few fun games that are great for eliciting big smiles...the best are a slight bonk on the nose accompanied by a loud "boop" noise and a nice belly rub after her evening bath. Even better, we managed to catch a few big smiles on camera:Claire has decided that she loves the mobile on her crib. We often catch her looking for it no matter what part of the living room we happen to be in. We think that we have even caught her trying to grab it and kick it when she is laying in her crib...though that may just be mom and dad attributing more cause and effect than she actually has figured out so far.

Other exciting things include a number of new noises, and Claire has definitely found her lungs (though she still rarely cries for too long). We haven't figured out what any of the new noises mean, but they are really cute. And Claire is looking forward to her first plane trip this week, where she will get to meet her aunt Leana for the first time. All in all, it has been a very fun couple of weeks, and Claire continues to amaze us daily.

Two months and smiling!

Claire celebrated her two month birthday this week with cake...well, at least mom and dad enjoyed a fun cake that mom made to celebrate the occasion:


Claire "celebrated" two days later with her two month check up. She was a very good baby, showing off one of her most impressive new tricks for the doctor: smiling! The smiles occur most frequently during outfit changes, so perhaps we have a fashion diva on our hands. We haven't quite figured out what else we are doing to make her smile, but we get them here and there, and we're pretty sure they are not gas related. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to capture any good ones on camera, so the rest of you will just have to come visit to witness one for yourself. Oh, and the doctor's appointment went well, with Claire weighing in at 11 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 23 inches. She was none too happy about her immunization shots, but the crying did not last very long, which was a big relief for mom and dad.

And yes, I did say that smiling was one of her new tricks. The others? Claire has discovered that her thumb is an excellent substitute for a pacifier. She doesn't always get her thumb, occasionally settling for a finger or the outside of her fist, but she is getting there. And it is adorable:

Her final new trick? Even better sleeping. And not just cute sleeping (like the final picture below, which followed a nice walk with Vinnie), but quality night time sleeping for extended periods of time. Six hours has become the expectation at night, with a couple of nights of 7-8 hours. Mom could not be more excited about the extra sleep!

8 Weeks

Claire just turned 8 weeks old, and she is doing all kinds of neat stuff. She is very alert and seems quite serious as she studies her surroundings. She is holding her head up for longer and longer (as one of the photos below demonstrates). She is gaining weight like a champ, having recently weighed in at 11.7 pounds (which includes her outfit and diaper, so she isn't quite that big). And the really great thing is that she has been sleeping for 5 and 6 hour stretches at night. She is usually pretty fussy late at night, but once she settles down, she is out for a good stretch, which has been great for everyone's sleep. She seems to enjoy listening to music, which often calms her when she gets fussy. We've also had two turning over events. She only seems able to do it on soft surfaces (like the couch and the bed), and not in her bassinet or play yard, which have firmer surfaces. But it is still quite the accomplishment.

Claire has been quite the adventurer lately. She has gone to the grocery store several times, she helped take Vinnie to the vet (Vinnie had a sprained ankle and we got some x-rays just to be safe), she's gone to the mall, and she has accompanied us to visit some friends for dinner. Grandmother Karen came over last Thursday for mom and dad's first outing together without Claire. We went to the first Real Salt Lake game in their new stadium, and Karen and Claire had a ball hanging out together...they had so much fun that we caught them napping together when we got home. Inquiries have been made about our next outing, as someone apparently really enjoyed hanging out with Claire (and we can certainly understand why).

And here are the photos to document everything. First, Claire shows off her neck strength and makes eyes at her mom. Then a quick smile for Grandpa when he isn't looking. Next we have photographic proof that Claire and Karen had way too much fun together, as they were caught napping. And finally, Claire shows off a pretty dress that Grandmother Lana sent her, and that Claire wore over to some friends' house for a social evening (needless to say, she was the center of attention).

Six Weeks Old!

Claire celebrated her six week birthday this Friday! It's funny how the time seems to have flown by in some regards, but how she seems to have been with us for much longer. We celebrated her birthday by hanging out at Grandmother Karen's house for the first time, watching the presidential debate with some friends, and hitting the post office to apply for a passport (Claire may want to leave the country depending on how intelligent the electorate proves to be...that and we're contemplating a trip to Mexico over the winter and want to be prepared).

Saturday was also very busy. We went up to Snowbird for Oktoberfest! Claire rode with dad in her Baby Bjorn, and was the most popular person there. Dad's favorite moment was when the 50-something bikers (who convincingly looked the part) quickly approached to ask about her age and to comment on her cuteness. Needless to say, it was not what dad thought they were going to say...the best part was hearing one of them comment on how he likes babies more than anything as they walked off. So much for stereotypes. We then came home to rest up for the Real Salt Lake game on TV...they won, so perhaps Claire's bad soccer karma has turned the corner.

Sunday saw a visit to the park for a walk with the greyhounds, which was much fun for all involved. Then Claire got to watch her Broncos lose, but her Redskins win. Needless to say, dad's plan to indoctrinate her with sports so that he has an extra vote in his pocket for TV decisions in the future is working perfectly!

Claire has decided to exercise her lungs more this week, which makes for some very sad cries, but she usually calms down after a few minutes. And she continues to grow like a champ...while at a friend's house, we pulled out the scale to get a weigh in...she came out at a whopping 8 1/2 pounds. She has definitely graduated to a larger size of clothing, which means some cute baby clothes are no longer an option, but there are plenty of new cute clothing options.

And now for the photos. First a cute baby yawn...probably worn out from playing on her floor gym (with lots of colorful toys). Then Claire gives musical conducting a try...or at least that's what we think it looks like she's doing (have we mentioned how she loves to wiggle her arms out of her swaddling?). Finally, Claire the drama queen shows that she has grown weary of the paparazzi (no more photos, please).

Busy weekend...

Valerie has been feeling much better the latter half of this week, and that has led to a very busy weekend for all. Friday involved a trip to Babies R Us for some more baby "essentials." We followed that up with a quick lunch, then Old Navy (very cute baby Halloween outfits) and Home Depot. After returning home, Claire had her first "real" bath now that her umbilical cord stump has finally disappeared. Saturday saw some serious housework, and then Claire's first live soccer game. She continues to be bad luck for Real Salt Lake (they lost), but she did very well in her Baby Bjorn carrier...she pretty much slept the whole time (even when dad stood up to yell at the referees). When we got home, Claire was a very hungry baby who ate and ate and ate some more...we've never seen her that hungry (but note, there were several spit up incidents, which made the whole thing much less cute). Then on Sunday, we went to walk with the greyhounds at the park. Fun, fun, fun.

And Claire's growth continues to astound all involved. She has outgrown several outfits, and everyone who sees her comments on how big she is getting. She is a full-fledged "two-hander" now (i.e., you need both hands to handle her).

And now for the photos. First off is Claire at work in one of the "essentials" we picked up while out shopping (a very fun newborn rocker that converts to a toddler chair). Then some bath time photos (who is that captivating person in the mirror? who turned out the lights?). Finally, after such a long weekend, some well deserved rest...and no, Vinnie did not seem to mind posing for this picture. Hope you enjoy.

Healing

We had a good week of rest following Valerie's surgery. Valerie had a doctor's appointment today, and all of her tests showed she is making good progress...she even got the ok to carry Claire again (there was a concern about her passing out before)...very exciting! We just returned from our first dinner out since Valerie's surgery, and all went well.

Claire is clearly growing. Her newborn outfits are beginning to get too small for her...mostly too short, but not too small around. Perhaps she will turn out to be long and lean? She continues to eat like a champ on a very regular basis.

And now for the fun part...a couple of photos from this week. First is a picture of Claire and Valerie reading the day before Valerie's surgery. Then we managed to capture a shot of Claire with a smile...and finally, Claire with Walter (he doesn't seem quite as big, right?).

Home again

As some of you know, Valerie gave us all a big scare yesterday. A golf ball sized piece of placenta had not detached during the after birth and caused significant bleeding yesterday afternoon. Valerie actually lost consciousness as we were being triaged at the ER, which got her a lot of necessary attention. After getting two IVs started, a sonogram diagnosed the problem and she was rushed to the operating room. To quote the ER doctor: "It is a good thing you came in when you did. This could have been very serious." From what I understand, Valerie could have easily bled to death. Her surgery was a "DNC," and I have no idea what that stands for, but it basically was a procedure to clear her uterus of anything that normally comes out during the after birth. While the condition is very serious, the surgery was very straightforward and only lasted 10-15 minutes (though she was in recovery for a good bit longer). We headed off to a hospital room, and over the course of the evening, color began to return to her face. She remained on an IV and managed to down a few Sprites. Her vital signs indicated that her body was handling the blood loss well (once the IVs were in at least), and she managed to get up on her own to use the restroom. She managed to get some good sleep overnight, and the nurses were nice enough to get a bassinet for Claire and a cot for me so that we could stay with Valerie. Our friends John and Christina came to stay with Valerie for a little while so that Claire and I could get some overnight supplies and make sure that Vinnie was taken care of. This morning Valerie was able to do a lap up and down the hall without any problems, which caused the doctor to give her the green light to go home. She has standing orders to take it very easy, but we are relieved to be home where we are much more comfortable and there aren't nurses checking vitals every hour. A very scary time, but she is on the recovery path.

Family resemblance

First, don't forget to check out our recent Claire update. Second, many thanks to (Great) Aunt Sissy for sending us some family photos to confirm our suspicion that Claire bears a strong resemblance to her Grandmother Lana. Check out these photos and you will be convinced.

Busy week!

This week was a little scary on the pet front...Vinnie came down with a mysterious illness, but gradually made a recovery over the course of the week much to our relief. The vet diagnosed it as an infection that he managed to fight off on his own, so we were glad that it wasn't related to his previously diagnosed heart condition. He is back to normal now, even though he gave us quite a scare.

Over the course of the week, Claire decided to spend more time awake. We think her vision is improving considerably. Her focus seems to be on things that are further and further away, and she always seems interested in what is going on around her. She has also decided that it is ok to lie around with her legs straightened...though she still manages to curl up into a ball a good bit.

We had a ton of fun this weekend with Claire. On Friday, we had a professional photographer come by to take some photos, which was actually quite exhausting, but now we're famous (sort of)...check out the photographer's blog for some really fancy Claire photos: http://www.greenapplephotography.blogspot.com/

Then we actually ventured out to dinner with our friends John and Christina...we chose a quiet restaurant near the house with limited seating so we didn't have to worry about a big crowd. Claire seemed to enjoy taking in the sites on the way to the car and for the first few minutes at the restaurant, and then conked out for a good nap.

Saturday was also full of excitement. Charles helped a friend move in the morning, and then came home to head out to the Avenues Street Fair. Claire loaded up into her sling, and we headed off with Vinnie in tow. We checked out a few booths with cute baby clothes and socialized with some friends at the greyhound adoption booth. Mom headed home and Charles stuck around with Vinnie to volunteer with the greyhound adoption folks for a couple of hours. We got in two soccer games in the evening, with Claire continuing to be bad luck for Real Salt Lake (though they managed a tie, so perhaps she is beginning to realize that her cheering is an important key to victory).

Then came a very full Sunday. We decided to let Claire experience her first greyhound walk in the park. On our way, Claire had her first trip to Starbucks where they were playing Willie Nelson (her first ex-utero Willie experience). And then we headed off to the walk. Of course, Claire was a big hit with all of our greyhound friends, even though she slept for most of the walk.

And the most exciting event of the week? Let's just say that Claire has good taste in clothing (yes, it says "my dad is cooler than your dad"...you know it's true).

Lazy weekend

We had an extremely lazy weekend. I wish we had something exciting to report, but Claire is highly focused on eating and sleeping (as she should be). She seems to vary her meals to somewhere between every 2-3 hours, though she did allow Valerie a solid three hours of sleep on Friday night by waiting 4 hours between the start of two feedings.

The most exciting news has been from our second newest addition, Bo. Bo came to live with us from Grandmother Lana's house last month and has been constantly chased into the basement by the other kitties. Although he has had moments of bravery (usually when the other cats are on the second floor), he has spent the past day and a half living on the kitty condo in the kitchen and escaping the chase by hanging out on the island. He has even been seen standing up to attempted chases by other cats. So hopefully he is feeling a little more at home. He still has no idea what to make of Vinnie, but at least he seems to be figuring out the other cats. And does Vinnie care? You be the judge:

Needless to say, he is taking all of the new additions in stride! And while it has not been the most exciting of weekends, here is a very cute picture. They seem pretty taken by each other, don't you think? I can't say that I blame them!

Slackers

So we were slackers and couldn't get on the blog last night. Apologies to any one wanting an update, but we were exhausted and needed to call it an early evening.

Yesterday and today have been good. Claire got a sponge bath yesterday, which was much fun. Let's just say warm water and no diaper make for an adventure. The baby tub was quite handy, even if it wasn't full of water! Claire also managed to lose most (but not quite all) of her umbilical chord stump (come on, you know that's exciting news). Some of our across the street neighbors stopped by with a cute outfit and some books for Claire, which was very sweet...but not as sweet as the cookies they brought, which were very tasty.

Today has been pretty uneventful, though we did go see the nurse practitioner for our 2 week appointment. Claire has put on a solid 3.5 ounces since Monday, now weighing in at 6 lbs. 3.5 ounces, which is very exciting. The nurse practitioner said that she looks wonderful and that it is clear that Claire has figured out how to eat! After our appointment, we went to the baby store and got Claire a sling so we can start going on longer walks (the stroller is just too bumpy).

Here are a couple of cute pictures...one of her bath and another of Oscar demanding attention from Valerie...surprisingly he actually fits on the Boppie pillow!

Another good day

It was another good day of eating and sleeping, with some good awake time observing toys. We have not had any breathing episodes (the monitor has gone off a few times, but always because the leads have fallen off, so all false alarms), and we feel that her weight gain is continuing (the newborn diapers are seeming smaller every day). Probably the most exciting event was dad's trip to the grocery store...not only did he manage to find everything on the grocery list, but he ran into two Real Salt Lake players (the local MLS soccer team to which we have season tickets)...it was exciting for dad anyway! Claire also had a short visit from her neighbor Lasero, who brought Valerie a bounty of fresh tomatoes from his garden.

Vinnie gave Claire's feet a few good sniffs this evening while dad was burping Claire, and then proceeded to confuse a baby rattle with a dog toy. The confusion was short lived, as Vinnie quickly realized that it was a rattle, and not a squeaky toy. We suspect this confusion over toys may continue.

While not the most exciting of days, mom and dad are observing lots of new things during Claire's awake time, though it is a little hard to put into words exactly how she moves her eyes and seems more alert and observant. We are also excited that her eating and weight gain are going so well. After all, we are still more than two weeks before her due date, so knowing that she has the outside world figured out is a big relief. And as I have just typed that it was not an exciting day, we just got our first giggle! Of course, by the time dad got the camcorder ready for follow-on giggling, Claire was sound asleep.

And now for the battle of the "little girls." Until very recently, Bella held that title, but she now has stiff competition from Claire as the following photo demonstrates! The second photo is a close up...which may help you appreciate how busy Claire has been with her hands (good luck getting a photo of her without a hand over her face).

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New trick

Claire has discovered that if she makes cute baby noises in the middle of the night, mom and dad jump up and give her attention. A very neat trick...fun for babies with the wonderful side effect of depriving everyone of sleep! She was also pretty demanding of food last night, so I think we are still on track with weight gain, but mom is paying a heavier toll on sleep deprivation as a result.

During the day, Claire got to watch her mobile (with lots of sharp contrasting colors that help her vision develop), and mom played with a fun turtle rattle while Claire watched with great interest. Dad came home from work a little early to show off the cool stuff his co-workers gave Claire, and Claire allowed everyone a short nap before dinner.

All in all, another good day. And while we are excited about her weight gain, we think a little perspective is in order. Claire still has a ways to go to catch up to Walter!

Big news...

What's big, you ask? Claire is! We had our first doctor's appointment today, and she weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs. That included the weight of her diaper, so she is probably a little below that, but she is in the neighborhood of her birth weight, which is very exciting. The doctor said that Claire was making good progress, and didn't have any concerns about her. She did ask if Claire was a breech baby because she always tries to curl her legs up, which is apparently common among breech babies. Every nurse who saw her for the first time asked the same thing...it is pretty funny. Check out the picture below for a demonstration.

There wasn't a lot of activity today...dad spent some time at work and mom tried to get some rest while the house cleaner paid us a much needed (and appreciated) visit. We did have a small flurry of visitors this evening as we were getting Claire ready for bed...their timing was quite perfect. Sumie and Aaron stopped by just to check out little Claire, and as they were leaving, Emily and Tigi were out for a walk and we invited them in. Vinnie was glad to see Tigi (for those who don't know, Tigi is a greyhound who lives around the corner). Tigi was pretty funny with her ears getting very perky every time Claire made a noise...we tried to capture a picture, but didn't have any luck. While our own pets have been oblivious to Claire, Tigi was most intrigued.

Sorry not to have more to report, but Claire is doing her job of eating and sleeping, which is all we can ask of her, even it is not terribly exciting. But she is still a little cutie, as the picture below clearly demonstrates!