Learning to Cut

I've been trying to teach Claire how to cut with scissors for about a month but it's taking some time. She just now can do the open/shut motion with them. I guess I should've started closer to 2 because according to this she should already be cutting through paper, not just snipping at it. I used to watch Jon and Kate before they got divorced. I remember on there that she was having issues teaching the kids to cut and had waited too long to intro scissors. Our neighbor Christopher just turned 2 in November and can cut up paper like a madman! I watched him yesterday and we did some crafts. He was cutting up a storm!!!

One thing that Claire has really gotten good at in the past month since I've really started doing crafts with her is squeezing the glue out of the bottle, which is another good fine-motor skill. She finally learned because I got some glitter-glue paint thingys that were each in their own tiny little bottle so she figured out the hang of squeezing and dragging out the glue from the tiny bottles and now can do the big one. I'm planning on trying to make some Valentines with her for family. :) Hopefully they don't just end up in the trash on the other end though...I mean...crafts and crap are awfully close.

BANGS! After

Well here is an after shot of behind, but it looks pretty messy since she likes to put blanket over her head all the time to pretend she is a princess. And yes, she is wearing a purple fleece sweatshirt and a dress jumper that sort of clashes. I unfortunately didn't capture the snowflake pants which also completely clash, but hey...SHE CAN DRESS HERSELF!!! And she is very adamant about doing so. So on days when we DON'T leave the house...I don't care what she wears, although she is on a huge dress kick since princesses wear dresses.
AND! Here are her bangs. Nevermind the half-eaten orange hanging out of her mouth...this was the best shot I got since she doesn't like to hold still ;) Considering she was still pretty much bald last year at this point, I'm just happy she has any hair at all, but I'm not looking forward to combing it out. She hates it getting combed, and it being so fine doesn't help.

Cinderella BANGS! before.

Claire got another little hair cut over our Christmas stay at my parents house. See how the sides and area around the ears gets really long faster than the rest? So my mom did maybe five or six mini-snips around her ears and trimmed her some tiny bangs. I mentioned something to my mom about cutting Claire's hair and my mom said we should get her bangs out of her eyes. It's kind of hilarious because she had about 2 tiny strands that were like *maybe* on her eyebrows, but I love bangs on little girls and since her Cinderella doll has bangs, she wanted bangs too...so bangs she shall have. So here is the before:
And we also trimmed (and by we I mean my mom trimmed while I held Claire) the back area just a tiny bit. You can't really even tell, but it evened it up just a little. I think it actually looks fuller since it doesn't get all thin towards the ends like baby hairs tend to do.

SO for the AFTER PICTURES you'll have to wait till tomorrow. My camera is downstairs and I don't feel like getting it tonight ;) Me.lazy=true.

Scared of Santa

Apparently kids either love or hate Santa. Can you guys which one Claire was?

Yeah, she was screaming and would not let go of me to save her life. So I thought I could sit next to him and get a shot. This is one of the better ones. :) I'm not overly concerned. I think it's pretty funny actually. I might be more concerned if she willingly sits on the laps of strange smiling men...

Swimming in Chicago

We stayed the night in Chicago the day after Christmas and enjoyed the pool at the hotel. I got to try out my maternity/nursing swim suit! Ack! I *HATE* suits that don't have racerbacks. It must be my years from HS swimming.
Claire had an absolute blast of course swimming with everyone.

I have more pictures but they are all blurry or the lens from the camera is foggy from being in the freezing cold car so I think this is the best shot.

Breastfeeding Quote

I understand that issues arise and it's not always a "choice" but here is an interesting quote about breastfeeding:

People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and
formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing
between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils
available. ~Chele Marmet

Making Christmas Cookies with Oma

Group Photos Xmas 2009

BabyWise Warnings

Wow. BabyWise has been shown to be bad before, and I can't stress this enough: YOU CANNOT SCHEDULE A BREASTFED BABY. WELL...you can, but it will lead to problems and probably early weaning, before a year. Check out this INSANE article about parents actually buying this crap: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990301&slug=2946922 I just can't believe anybody would actually follow ANY ADVICE that recommends scheduled feedings or expects a baby to sleep thought the night before 3 months. DO THEY WANT THEIR BABIES TO BECOME DETACHED?

WHAT THE HECK? Or a better question is...why are these parents so intent on buying into this crap that they need to "teach their baby highchair manners." INSANE! Babies drop stuff off of highchairs because they are learning about gravity, not because they are sinners. Wow. That's all I can say after reading that article and the crazy stuff it suggests. WOW WOW WOW! Some people are just that stupid to buy into sleep-training and scheduled feedings...who would let their baby cry for 3 hours!!! That is just child abuse. How can one detach themselves so much from loving their baby?

Size What?

Claire trying to pet Daisy, but Daisy runs away!
Claire telling Daisy all about her Princesses. We don't need a dog. We can just go visit my parents. It makes the dog thing that much more fun for her. Have I mentioned that I hate dogs? Well I do. They are dirty, stinky, and smelly. They track in mud, dirt, etc. and leave hair everywhere. Ugh.

Well here is Claire telling Daisy about her Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

And here is Claire trying to walk in some shoes that she stole from by the back door at my parents house. They are either a size 13 or 15 depending on whose they are. It's kind of funny because they are like the length of her entire leg.

She had to shuffle in them. It was pretty hilarious watching her!

Merry Christmas 2009

We went up to my parents house for Christmas. Here is Holly handing Claire a candy cane.
So if my mom finds any candy cane spots on the nice white carpet, it's Holly's fault! :)

Claire posing by my mom's Christmas tree. Check out my photos on facebook for more Christmas pictures, too, of our celebration with just Claire, Mommy and Daddy. You can see how barren our Christmas tree is in comparison.

Christmas Centerpiece

Claire "playing" the piano. What is cute about this one, is that it looks like she is reading the sheet music!

Finally...no longer just banging...it actually sounds half-way tolerable!

Showing her slip!

Yes, she was trying to eat the candy canes. They were real, but still wrapped:

She is totally trying to figure out how to eat the candy canes. She loves peppermint!

She was in love with the Nativity set and barn. My dad made this years ago, and I remember playing with it. She kept saying the whole way home: "Oma had 3 baby Jesus! One to touch! One in window! One under tree!"

Her other favorite! Oma's Christmas village!!!

She was saying "CHOO-CHOO!" You can totally see her lips saying it!

She kept saying, "Only touch with one finger!!!" since that's what my mom told her she could do. And she obeyed!!!

There were lots of other things to do and play with at Oma and Opas! She also loves riding on this rocking horse!

FAKE SMILE!

Mom Quotes

A couple neat quotes about Moms that I stumbled on today:

"The world is full of women blindsided by the unceasing demands of motherhood, still flabbergasted by how a job can be terrific and torturous." Anna Quindlen, O Magazine, May 2003

"The most important thing she'd learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."Jill Churchill

We Know Better, So Do Better

I just can't believe doctors still do circumcisions. I can't believe parents think that their baby slept through it or it didn't hurt or they won't remember it. Good blog post with included videos about circumcision here.

Breastfeeding (and extended Breastfeeding!) is Nature's Health Plan

A couple of great blog posts appeared today. This one shows some video clips about how nursing is normal. It shows pictures of moms nursing in public as well as some great breastfeeding quotes.

And this post shows possibly the most famous breastfed baby in the world. Initially I was shy about nursing in public too, particularly church...but then I read on some forum that "Jesus was breastfed" which helped me get over that fear...and there is no better way to keep a baby or toddler quiet during the sermon than nursing!!! ;)

Dusty

I was washing Claire's hair tonight. She wanted to know why I was washing it. I said it was dirty. She asks, "My hair got dusty in it?"