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.