Fall Festival

We had our fall festival at church on Wednesday night. It was a great time - the kids all had a blast dressing up in their costumes, and of course "Trunk-or-Treat" is always a big hit. I got to share the "Pumpkin Gospel" and I was so impressed as about thirty kids sat quietly and really listened to the whole thing.

With her three teeth, Claire can't be anything but a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. She looked adorable in the little outfit her Grankay got her.

Bouncy Seat

I walked into Claire's room yesterday and found that she had rediscovered the bouncy seat she used as an infant...

Love the Baby...

Here is Claire cruisin' around on her little walker toy...

Here are a couple of videos with Claire and her baby. She can say "baby" (well, more like "beh-bay") and one of her favorite games is to "love" her baby and then hand her off to someone else to love.

Fun Facts

Just a couple of updates...

• At 11 and a half months old, Claire's third tooth has finally popped through! The first of her top teeth made its appearance this week. We first noticed it when Claire made a biting motion and we heard the unmistakeable click of teeth!
  
• Claire colored for the first time on Wednesday! She actually used the crayons on paper instead of eating them! We were decorating a birthday card for our dear friend Amber, and Claire followed my lead and directed her beating of the crayons onto the paper, where she left her first artwork!
  
• She can now stand unassisted from a sitting position. I really think she can already walk but she just chooses not to. Who needs to learn how to walk when she can get everywhere by herself by crawling?? She does enjoy walking with her push-toy that her Papa and Nan got her.



• Claire has started waving in context. She has been able to wave for months, but she never would do it consistently at the right time. Now she waves at everybody - coming or going - as well as some inanimate objects.
  
• She continues to enjoy pretty much every food that we give her. I have struggled with giving her meat simply because it is so hard to chew and I just couldn't figure out how her two little teeth could handle it. Finally I had an idea...I took an organic, boneless skinless chicken breast (I wish we could all eat so well, but just Claire gets the organic chicken for now :) and ground it up in the food processor...mixed in some roasted red pepper and grated zucchini...and made meatballs! They are so easy to freeze and just pop out a couple at mealtime, and Claire can't get enough of them! She loves them!


• Claire is really starting to show understanding in conversation. She "talks" constantly and often points her finger and shakes it while she is talking. She understands and responds to words such as eat, mommy, daddy, baby, ball, piano, etc. We are working on language discovery cards and she can point to apple, banana, grapes, and elephant so far. She knows the sign language for eat, more, and all done, but her favorite by far is "more." She signs this one all the time...when asking for more food, or when she wants you to continue whatever it is that you are doing, or sometimes when she is just plain excited.
  
• One of Claire's favorite activities is simply pulling things out...of wheverever they are. I keep random objects in a gift bag in the living room...baby hangers in a little trash can...books on the shelf...crayons in a box...and every day, Claire just goes around the house pulling these and other things out and then moving on to the next thing.
  
• Finally, here are some pictures of Claire playing in the changing table that I was trying to clean out...

Autumn Beauty

The leaves are turning and the colors are glorious! I love fall! We just had to get out and see the beauty of God's creation this weekend.


Here is our big eleven-month old sitting on the rock wall...

Breathtaking view...What a mighty God we serve...

"Daddy Time"

I love watching Claire and Spencer because I love thinking about our heavenly Father and how He delights in us...how He disciplines us for our good...how He teaches us patiently...how He loves us...

And here is Claire just enjoying life!

Family Reunion

This past weekend we were able to attend a family reunion on my mom's side of the family. Though I didn't get pictures of the crowd that was there (we had a great time seeing relatives that we only get to see once a year), I did get some snapshots of more immediate family members.

It has been 8 weeks since we saw my niece Justice right after she was born. Claire was excited to see her beautiful cousin!


Claire wanted to play with Justice! We just need to work on the word "gentle" for next time :)



I caught her right in the middle of a sneeze!

What a beautiful little girl...

Here is Claire with her Papa...

My cousin Lindsy had a little girl, RaeLeigh, just 2 weeks before Claire was born last year. Here are Claire and RaeLeigh giving kisses!

The minute my brother walked into the room at the reunion, he said, "Hey Claire!" And she immediately reached for him and wouldn't let him go all day!

Claire loves her Uncle Bo!

Here are a few snapshots of my brother's sweet family. We love Jared, Bonnie, and Justice!!!

And here I am with my little girl! We missed Spencer but he was busy studying hard, and so he couldn't make it to the reunion.

Claire, Justice, and RaeLeigh with their mommies!

Here are a couple of the boys with their girls...

Like father, like son...

And of course I couldn't resist a few of Claire by herself in front of this beautiful red barn!