Some birthday stuff

I'm still exhausted from yesterday with Claire's party and just hanging out with the family. So I will make this a shorter post and hopefully post pics from the party after a nice long restful night's sleep. (Thinking positive here. I'm getting to the point where I don't sleep well anymore. Probably a combination of large thing inside kicking me or getting hiccups in the middle of the night, Claire teething, my snoring, difficulty changing positions, and the dogs and cat are getting excited about spring. There is an awful lot to wake me in the middle of the night.)

I will share some news from Claire's one-year check up. I still can't believe she is really one. I do have a really hard time imagining my life without her though. I remember my life before her, but I wouldn't go back. She is just such a joy to me. (And so many other people seem to enjoy her too. She keeps the ladies in Relief Society entertained and busy.)

She had her one-year checkup on Thursday. She weighed in at 23 lbs, 7 oz. And was 30 1/2 inches tall. Both of those were in the 75th percentile. So was her head, though I forget the measurement. Her ear is all better, so any head shaking is the teething. She took a few days off but seems to be teething again. She bit Alann's finger pretty hard in Sacrament meeting today and he said he felt her bottom tooth push through more, which must be a relief to her. She doesn't really care for teethers. Mostly she chews on the lids to her sippy cups, which isn't great, or her fingers. If she wants to chew on her own fingers, I'm fine with that. I figure she will learn faster not to bite if she bites herself a few times first. (She isn't biting, but I assume she will got through that phase too.) She is otherwise doing "perfect". She still has her heart murmur, but still nothing to worry about. I can always tell when her chest is growing again, because she starts getting hiccups a lot. The doctor was impressed with how many signs she knows, and the fact that she means Dada when she says it. She said most babies at her age don't really mean specific people or things. They just kind of parrot. Since then, I have noticed more and more words coming out of her. Cup, dog, cat (or kit since we say kitty a lot) have all been heard recently. Of course, that may be wishful thinking on our parts. She also got a few shots and cried a little bit. The next day she was pretty cranky, but was better on Saturday for her party, so it worked out.

She is becoming more and more active. I didn't think it was possible. And she is so dang smart. We need to channel her energy as she gets older, that is for sure. Other year-old milestones include not using the high chair anymore, and turning the car seat around. She seems to enjoy the car seat being forward now. The first few rides she looked a little confused, maybe horrified, but she has adjusted. If nothing else, she should enjoy the fact that she can stretch her legs out. She was starting to get a little cramped. We can't use the high chair anymore because she just doesn't eat if she is in it. She eats better sitting in a booster seat at the table with us. It makes life a little more difficult because I can't really set her down and walk away, but she is learning to use utensils too, so I guess it is all a part of growing up.

I am starting to get a little more excited about the baby, though whether it is excitement to almost be done being pregnant or excitement to have another baby I'm not sure. I enjoy holding new babies, which I have the pleasure of doing now and then, but then I look at Claire and realize I really like all the things she can do for herself as well. So that is where I stand. A little excited. And a little sad. A friend of ours who was also expecting had some serious trouble and lost their baby. She was due a month before me. Which again makes me grateful to be young and healthy and have good healthy babies (so far. You can only tell so much before they are born.) But I am still choosing my main pregnancy worry to be that we will have surprise twins. That is at least mostly silly, and wouldn't be too terrible if it happened.