Happy St. Patrick's Day! Claire experienced her first St. Patty's party this weekend at the Denver Press Club, hosted by our friends Jeanne & Jeff Laws. It reminded me of all the years spent at Ken's Tavern on the South Side of Chicago for the St. Patrick's Day Parades. Claire was a good sport. It was really loud and she slept right through the bagpipes and the Irish dancing. After a quick cat nap, she woke up and started to get a little overwhelmed by all the attention. Lately, when new people approach her, she gets a little upset. She juts out her lower lip in the most heartwrenching little pout before launching into a full-throttle cry. Once we saw "the look" we figured she'd had enough and got out of there. We're feeling lucky that we have such a cool baby. Cheers!

Almost Four Months Old!

We've had a great month. Went to Steamboat and had a great time with Grandma Tish, Leslie & family and then returned for a visit with Uncle George. Afterwards, Grandma Pat spontaneously flew out for a quick visit.

Claire is getting big. She has been laughing sporadically and putting her hands, bib, toys, etc. into her mouth constantly. As you can see from the pictures, she always has her left hand near her face. Could she be left-handed like Grandma Pat?

We're starting to get a better sense of her personality: determined, social, definite, talkative. She is a fun girl. She loves getting out and about and is very portable. She's been rolling over more frequently lately (tummy to back). She hates tummy time so she is always very, very determined to get onto her back. She loves looking at herself in mirrors and always greets herself with a funny, coy, side smile. She's a crack up and she's almost 4 months old.

We're having a lot of fun and hope you are also! Happy soon-to-be spring!

My Kind of Town

Well, it has been awhile. And, a lot of fun stuff has happened. A few weeks ago we all flew to Chicago as part of Claire's World Tour '08 where she met all the Aunts, cousins, friends. She was a rockstar for the flight and earned her wings by sleeping the entire time. We bought a box of ear plugs for the entire plane just in case, but we didn't have to use them.

Then, she met Grandpa and Nana Carol the next week and we had a fun visit with them both. Yesterday, she turned 3 months old! That is an exciting milestone because she is getting bigger and is a ton of fun. She smiles and talks and is grabbing everything.

Last week Bruce returned to Detroit for business so it was a chick fest here and things went pretty smoothly. Tonight, Claire is gearing up to meet Grandma Alves who arrives soon, and Leslie, Andy, Erin and Fletcher will be here as well. Next stop: Steamboat for some winter fun and a visit with the cousins. That's about it for us; hope you are all doing well.

Read All About It! or All Quiet on the Western Front

Unbelievable. Since the day Claire Prior was born, she has not liked to sleep. This girl is awake! She wakes up about every three hours during the night and takes little fifteen minute cat naps throughout the day. In fact, last Monday night, after feeding her, I starting the bedtime routine at 8:00. She didn't fall asleep until 11:00. Then she was up at 1:00 and then again from 4:45-7:45 (by which time I wanted to shoot myself). I thought she would sleep all day yesterday. No such luck. She had a few quick cat naps and slept for about 1 hour total (I think she was excited that it was Super Tuesday).

We went to Colorado's caucus until about 8:30 p.m. and she was still wide awake, smiling, talking, kibitzing. Finally, last night at about 11:30 (after a few meltdowns on everyone's part and Bruce's uttering of one important word: Ferber) she fell asleep and slept until 6:00 a.m. in her cosleeper (in other words, not in our bed)! At 6:00 a.m. she started stirring and I gave her the pacifier and she was back asleep until 7:30! Then, I nursed her for about 15 minutes and she fell back asleep. I'm stunned. She's asleep right now and it is a wonderful thing. I think she's making up for all the sleep she hasn't gotten in the past eleven weeks. Obviously, I would love it if this was her new thing, but even if it's just a fluke, I am thrilled. I'm happier than if today were my birthday and Christmas and Halloween.

Vaccination Day

Claire Smiles for Uncle Tim!

Happy New Year!