Rover?

Claire kindly requests that she be referred to by her given name, and not Rover...just because she can roll over (that's right, she can go from her tummy to her back with one swift move) doesn't mean we can start cracking jokes about dog tricks. Claire has become much more tolerant of tummy time, even taking the time to enjoy her surroundings and playing with toys. And the toys are what usually inspire a roll over (she turns her head to look up at a toy, resulting in an instant flop). Unfortunately, we have not been able to capture any good roll-over action shots on camera just yet.

And as exciting as it is that she has taken a huge developmental step by rolling herself over, there has been lots of other big news in the last few weeks. Probably next on the list is the beginning of solid foods. Take a look at one of her eating adventures:
Believe it or not, some of the food actually did make it into her mouth. We started her on rice cereal (mixed with breast milk), which went surprisingly well. She is still figuring the whole eating thing out...if the food goes in far enough, things are fine, but if she doesn't open her mouth very wide, the food usually winds up on her face. The first couple of attempts saw some very grumpy faces, but we think she was just trying to figure out what was going on because she has not fussed at all about the whole thing. She has graduated to steamed/pureed pears, and there is some butternut squash in her future. We have been pleasantly surprised by how easy it has been to work in a little solid food, and best of all, after a good "solid" snack, Claire tends to conk out for a nice, long nap.

Shortly after Claire started eating "real" food, she got a visit from Grandma Lana, which was lots of fun. Mom and dad were actually able to get a little stuff done around the house thanks to Grandma's babysitting efforts, and Claire enjoyed lots of play time with Grandma. She also enjoyed lots of fun new toys that Grandma brought with her.Speaking of fun, new stuff, Grandma also delivered some gifts from Great Aunt Jo. There has been lots of discussion of Claire's hair. Claire does have hair, though not a lot of it (but it is growing like crazy all of a sudden), so one of the gifts was a set of hair ribbons, which are really cute (and help prevent "boy" comments).
But wait, there's more. We now have confirmation that we are not crazy to think Claire is teething...in addition to insisting that everything she can grab be placed in her mouth (including several attempts to chew on Walter's tail), one of her bottom teeth has broken through. You can't really see it, but there is a very sharp little object that is hard to miss when she chomps down on your finger.

Overall, Claire is struggling to figure out whether she needs 2 or 3 naps during the day, but her struggle has not interfered with sleeping through the night, which is great. She is also able to hold herself in a sitting position for a few seconds. She managed to tolerate a high chair for about ten minutes last night at dinner with Grandpa Matt, which was a pleasant little surprise. Claire also loves playtime...she loves kisses and just about anything that involves a cheek pinch (and how can you resist those cheeks?). She also loves "airplane" (she even kicks her legs up to make sure she looks like an airplane when you raise her in the air), having her ribs tickled, and chewing on anything. She has no tolerance for her play-yard, probably because she can't see what is going on around her, but Oscar has decided that it is a good cat bed, so at least it is not going to waste. Needless to say, we all enjoy playtime.

And now, the gratuitous pet picture. Actually, this one is pretty cute...Claire occasionally spends a few minutes in the corner of the sofa, which is also a spot frequented by Vinnie. In apparent recognition of Claire's inability to move out of his way (which he insists that the adults do when he wants on the sofa), Vinnie jumped up at the end of the sofa and gently placed his head in her lap. How can you beat that?