Claire is ONE

It happened.  

Claire turned 1 last month... on June 13th...at 3:05pm

I took this when when she woke up the morning of her birthday.  What a cutie.

We were staying with the Walkers while we were house hunting. (They are saints...truly.)

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on her birthday, but we had great company to celebrate with us.  Afton, Halle and Nora are the Walker's girls, and they were incredible to have around during the 3 weeks we were living in their basement.  And on Claire's birthday, they were so so sweet, making it a big deal right along with me.  

I got some balloons and had a little shoot in their beautiful backyard.

My little punkin

I love her.

I am so thankful for her.

Of course I made a cake

And she knew exactly what to do with it.  

Gifts for a 1 year old are so easy.  She was happy just with the paper wrapping.

1 Year Progress Report:

Furniture walking her way around the room, but not yet walking one her own.  Instead, she has seriously perfected her crawl.  She can scoot around on her hands and knees so FAST!

She drinks a good 6-7oz of milk from a bottle when she wakes up and another bottle when she's going to bed.  She loves her milk, and as soon as the bottle is in her sights, she whines and stretches her arm as far out toward the bottle as possible.  She will eat anything I put in front of her, but I can only put 2 or 3 bites on her tray at a time, otherwise eating time turns into art/finger painting/making a huge mess time.  She eats everything we eat, and had been off of baby food for about 2 months now.  YAY! Her favorites are broccoli, banana, blueberries, yogurt and beans.  

She has the happiest, sweetest and cheerful disposition.  Truly, she is smiling all the time.  The only time she is not smiling, she is doing the opposite.  She is really good at reading Emily's forthcoming actions, and when she sees Emily coming near her to snatch a away the toy she is playing with, she starts screaming and fake crying to protect her territory and get my attention.  She can turn on and off the fake crying so fast.  

She loves music and as soon as she hears a melody or beat, her body starts reacting.  She has great rhythm.  

She likes making noises.  She clicks her tongue, breathes in and out heavily through her nose, gasps fr air through her mouth...anything she can do to make a new noise.  

We have recently started brushing her teeth, and like everything else, she loves it.  She is so accepting of whatever we introduce to her.  (She transitioned from breast milk to formula/bottle like a dream...and then from formula to cow's milk.)  She sees the toothbrush and starts laughing while she opens her mouth.  It is really funny and cute.  

I absolutely love our precious little Bear.  Thinking back to that first day I spent with her, snuggled up in the hospital bed together, I knew she was a sweet spirit.  Even her labor and delivery was a beautiful and calm experience, which completely fits her personality.  I am so grateful that she is mine!