Claire babble vid

Watch Claire babble:

babbling conversation

Jen mentioned that Claire began babbling earlier this week, and at first it seemed merely a curiosity to me. Jen would prompt her with a repetitive sounds like "ba-ba-ba" and Claire would make that sound for awhile herself. For some reason she wouldn't do it for me though, and anyway, it seemed actually less interesting than some of the other sounds she has made over the months. Claire has been sometimes more and sometimes less vocal on and off over the months, and I remember being impressed by her saying "ag-ba" a couple months ago, although that was a "random" sound. Her "interactive" or social sounds and expressions have been her smiles and laughs.

This week has so busy for me at work that I usually return home after baby bedtime. So most of my interactions with Claire have been in the morning, when she hasn't been too chatty. And groggy midnight feeds of course, where I've been sternly instructed to not play with her lest she become riled up and not go back to sleep easily. So weekends have become especially treasured as extended times I get to spend with my daughter. And this morning was especially great. She awoke about 6:30 and got progressively louder until and I staggered into her room about 6:45, then settled down immediately after I picked her up.

Claire looked up at me and moved her mouth silently, which she has been doing for several weeks. I said "ba-ba-ba" to her and she said it back to me, which was a first that she responded to my saying it. Hey, this seemed fun, so I said "ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da", both of which received appropriate responses. It came to me in a rush that I was having my first two-way conversation with my daughter, and it melted me with joy and pride. We then continued in the mellow morning routine of diaper, bottle, and her morning nap. Jen was "sleeping in" but I felt like telling someone about our "conversation" so I called my Mom. After catching up on pleasantries, I started to relate the little story about Claire "talking to me" but found myself choked up and unable to speak from emotion. This has happen to me several times before when telling stories about Claire. The events themselves are fairly commonplace, but as I begin to tell someone else, their significance hits me in light of Claire's early struggles as a preemie, and how all our expectations and hopes as new parents were challenged. I'll never forget the insensitive "bedside manner" that one of the neonatologist displayed to us while describing possible outcomes of Claires early, complicated arrival; and my indignant resolve to love our new daughter no matter what. All this to say that each of Claire's accomplishments has impressed me differently than I expect. All parents are pleased to see their children grow, but I often feel especially blessed as each passing milestone gives testimony to God's providence. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement.

Respite at last

Been using more cloth diapers lately and it's going well. I just ordered and recieved some waterproof fabric in the mail to make diaper covers with. I read something recently that said most babies use 6000 diapers before they are potty trained. Yikes! At 20 something cents each, that's a pile of cash! the biggest challenge is getting the laundry folded and put away so that I can find them whenI need them.
We had the respite care person come for the first time today. She stayed 4 hours while I worked on getting organized...I'm still dealing with the aftermath of getting some new kitchen cabinets. The woman who came is 50ish and from Belize she has 6 children and several grandchildren and also does respite for a family with twins. She sang a few bible choruses that I learned in my childhood to Claire.

The Babbling has Begun

Hurray! Clair has started saying "ma ma ma ma ba ba" etc.
It all started about 6:30 this morning. She was in her crib and I was pumping and we had a great conversation babbling back and forth.
The last two days have been unusual in that Claire has spent more time napping than usual and been unusually cranky right before each nap. I have been able to catch up of a few Z's... I especailly needed this today because I was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night. UGH!

Claire can do...

Claire loves standing now and is able to stand up straight and tall. She loves all the accolades we give her while standing too :). She also enjoys tummy time and will stay on her tummy for 10 mins or so. She can get up onto her elbows or hands from being flat on her bellly and when she is propped up on her elbows she can easily turn onto her back. She sometimes forgets this and tries to roll with her arms down and is thwarted. Claire has been reaching out for everything in sight and will roll and/or stretch her arm out to grasp whatever interests her. She is still fascinated by books and will pat the pages as I read to her. (Oops she got a tiny paper cut on her nuckle yesterday when I was reading a non-board book to her.) Yesterday she ate a whole 4 oz jar of apples and plums in one sitting. This is her largest non milk meal ever.

Claire had her well-baby visit on Thurs. She is now at 13 lbs. The Doctor is pleased with her rate of growth and healthiness. (She's gained more than 10 lbs since birth.) He said she can get allergy tests once she's a year old to see if there are foods that cause skin flare ups.

Out humidifier bit the dust so Mark got another one on the way home from work. It is totally silent which is nice.