Fun New Toy

Last weekend we went to Elkton for a fun Halloween party hosted by Joe and Rheannan.  We stayed with Jon and Lisa that night where Claire got a new toy.  She got a Winnie the Pooh Theme walker!

Big smile in the new walker.  I think she looks more like me in this picture.

Claire had a lot of fun testing out the toys and the music.  Although, even though the box says it's for 4 months to 1 year, at 7 months Claire can't even touch the ground.  And she's a tall baby (75 percentile for length!)

Claire looks a bit miffed that her feet don't touch the ground.

Trying to get a smile out of her!

Mirrors are a fun toy.

Inspecting the walker cockpit.

What does this do?

When Claire pushes on the "hunny" pot it plays songs.  Fun songs like "Turkey in the Straw."  I need to relearn all the lyrics to these great folk tunes so I can sing along with Claire.

Pushing on the "hunny" pot.

Claire got to spend lots of time with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  I think it's so wonderful that Claire has so many grandparents that love her so much.

Kissing Great Grandma

Talking with Great Grandpa

It was a fun weekend!  I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Jane

Autumn Ruminations and Halloween costumes

Autumn has never been my favorite season.  In fact, it's always been my least favorite. Growing up in the Puget Sound area means the coming of autumn signals the end of the summer, dwindling daylight, and the beginning of the long dreary rainy season.  

Living in Central Oregon now for 2 years has given me a whole new perspective on autumn.  Central Oregon does fall in style and beauty.  It's something I've never experienced before.  It must be a combination of the cold desert nights and the sunny clear skies that create the perfect conditions for gorgeous fall foliage.

Crab apple, I think.

I recently took a mid-day walk and captured some of the stunning beauty of the trees changing color and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather we've been having.

Maple

Views like the one below bring a smile to my face.  I feel lucky to have this only a block from my workplace.

Aspens overlooking the Deschutes River

I have officially changed my mind on Autumn.  What a gorgeous time of year!

Aspen

Golden Aspen

Maples and Ponderosa pine

Maples and Ponderosa

This weekend we are driving to Elkton to visit family and see Joe and Rheannan's new place for a Halloween party.  I was fretting over what costume Claire could wear until Russell found this at Costco!

Little Bowser

Look at Little Bowser go!

I'm looking forward to the weekend!

I hope everyone is well.

Love, Jane

Bullets and Baby Jail

We did a bit more shopping for Claire this weekend.  We've been in need of a play-pen for a few weeks now.  Claire is getting more and more mobile and is also getting faster and faster on the floor.  She can crawl pretty efficiently now and before we know it, if we look away even for just a moment, she's getting in to something she shouldn't.  Shoes and electronics are her current favorites. In a matter of seconds she'll crawl her way over to the stereo and TV and immediately start putting cords in her mouth.  

So we went to Target and WalMart and in addition to the play pen we got a Baby Bullet.

There was a bit of confusion on our part regarding the Baby Bullet.  We actually thought it would be small enough to make single servings in the little containers.  It turns out it's not.  It's almost exactly the same size as the Magic Bullet we already have.  It's about 2 mm smaller in diameter making the parts not interchangeable.  I kind of feel like we got a bit ripped off here.  The major difference is in the blade.  It sticks out a bit farther on the Baby Bullet enabling it to puree more completely.  Once we realized it's actually just a repainted Magic Bullet we considered returning it.  In the end we decided to keep it.  I  did put it to good use this weekend and made several purees for Claire.

Mmmm.  ground pork!

Mom and Dad grew the most delicious looking winter squash this year so I baked it and pureed it for Claire.  I also made some spinach, sweet potato and pork.  I really like the idea of just grinding up what we are already eating to feed Claire.  She seems to like it better too.

Butternut and delicata courtesy of the Walner garden.

Baby bullet in action.  The faces are really rather cute.

In other food related news, my coworker picked a bunch of fresh chantrell mushrooms the other day.  I cleaned and dried them and then Russell and I put them in with some New York steaks that we got last weekend at a really good buy.  It was a feast fit for kings.  Absolutely delicious!

Fresh picked Oregon Chantrelles

Claire got to test out her new play-pen, which we jokingly call "Baby Jail."  She seems to like it.  She doesn't fuss too much while inside.  It's going to be perfect for travelling as well since it folds up nicely and has casters for rolling it around.  

Look how well Claire is sitting up now.  I just can't believe how quickly she's developing!

Doing time.

Looking at Daddy.

Sitting up!  Amazing!

We we lucky enough to have some absolutely fabulous sunny and warm weather this weekend so we put the play-pen outside to enjoy some fresh air.  It was so nice.  Too bad I know it's not going to last.

I hope everyone had an equally fantastic weekend.

Jane

Apple Eater

Ok, I'll admit it.  This photo below is completely staged.  Russell was eating an apple and Claire was very interested in it.  I had him put it up to her mouth where she immediately opened her mouth to take a bite.  It looked so cute I just had to capture this shot.

She's a long way from eating whole apples!

Apple eater

Fred Meyer was having a huge anniversary sale a few weeks ago so we took advantage of the fabulous prices and bought a few more sleepers for Claire.  The weather has turned colder, especially in the mornings, and even though Claire is a most committed nudist, a girl has to wear clothes sometimes!

Gotta wear clothes sometimes!

The shot below I took Thursday morning from our driveway.  I love sunrises and sunsets.  Our house has the most spectacular views of both.  I honestly believe Central Oregon has most beautiful sunrises and sunsets of anywhere I've ever lived.  Just amazing.

In case anyone is wondering, I'm almost done with the cardigan I've been feverishly working away on since before Claire was born.  The knitting and seaming is done, ends are woven in, and all that remains is hand sewing the petersham stabilizer and buttons.  I'm kind of scared of the buttonholes to be honest. I'm finally so happy with this sweater I just don't want to ruin it!

Excuse the blurry bathroom selfie.  I'm so happy it fits!

I hope everyone is well!

Love, Jane

Bastardino

Hello Family!

I had my eye on this cute Tokidoki Bastardino onesie long before I was even pregnant with Claire.  She's finally getting big enough for it and Russell put her in this outfit yesterday and captured these shots while I was at work.  What a cutie!

Reclining

Nap time with Daddy.

He also caught this cute one above of Claire sleeping in his arms after mid-morning bottle.  It's been a long time since she fell asleep in our arms like this.  She's such an alert and interested baby that typically she wants to be going all the time while we are around.  I think rather fondly to the days when I was still on maternity leave and I could just leisurely nurse Claire until she fell asleep like this in my arms.  Those truly are the joys of motherhood.

Hope everyone is well!

Jane

Learning to crawl

Claire is *almost* a crawling baby now.  It's so fun to watch her.  If she doesn't think about it too much she'll actually get a real crawl going for several feet.  In the shot below you can see she's focused on getting to Boone so she's not thinking too hard and just going for it.  Then, it's as if you can almost see her little brain stop and think, "Wait a minute!  What am I doing?" and then she'll splay her legs and arms and end up on her belly again.

Fun times!

I've just got to get that Dog!

Claire learns about buying in bulk

This weekend was a big shopping weekend that included our monthly trip to Costco to stock up the kitchen.  It was also the first time that we tried putting Claire in the front of the grocery cart.  She did great and didn't fuss the entire time.  I was really impressed and beaming with motherly pride.  Especially when we would walk by other parents with kids in their carts that were loud, fussy, and crawling all over the cart.  Claire would just look around with interest and awe.

Future bulk shopper.

We did a bunch of other errands that had us out and about for several hours.  Claire was just a doll.  She really is such a calm and easy baby.   When we got home and I went to get her from her car-seat I found her just fast asleep.  I just adore her sleeping face.

Worn out from tons of shopping

Claire has been really interested in the food we are eating, but she's still kind of having a hard time with solid foods.  She makes weird faces and ends up spitting most of the puree out.  We did find out that she loves chicken with chicken broth.  She ate nearly an entire jar.

Chicken with chicken broth was a hit!

 During our shopping outing we found a cute bear suit for Claire at WalMart.  For $19 I just couldn't resist!  It's warm and cozy and will be perfect for the upcoming cold and dry winter.

Bear suit for winter.

It was a fun weekend!

Changes

Something happens to a baby around 5 or 6 months old where the start to outgrow the infant look and start to look like the person they are going to become.  

I'm noticing it a lot when I look back at pictures of Claire from the first few days at home until now.  Her head seems so big to me now and her hair has thinned and lightened.  

I know everyone says time goes by fast and babies grow up quickly and it really is the truth.  

It's hard to believe how fast these changes are happening!

Jenny Jump Up!

Hello Everyone!

The weather has turned cold and dark.  By the time I get home from work the sun is already setting so it's getting harder to capture good pictures of Claire with natural light.  I'm hoping to rectify that this weekend with a little mini photo shoot.  I haven't done one of those in awhile and she's changing so fast

This is an older video from about a month ago when I first bought Claire the Jenny Jump Up.  I can't believe how different her hair looks!  It's thinned and lightened so much since this video was captured.

I keep inspecting her head and hair so closely to see if it's going to come in curly or straight.  It's nearly impossible to tell at this stage.  I'm hoping for curly or wavy.

Enjoy the video!

Love, Jane


Claire in the Jump-Up from Jane on Vimeo.

Sleeping Bag

This is an older picture, but I still get a kick out of it. It was really cold in the house one morning so Russell put Claire in her bunting for playtime on the floor. He sent this picture while I was at work.  I can't get over how cute she looks!

Eventually she'd played herself out and fell asleep on the floor in her warm cozy bunting.  I love this profile picture with only her little face peaking out.  Very sweet!

She fell asleep in her "sleeping bag." 

What I like to eat!

Now that Claire is starting to have more trunk stability and sitting up straighter, her doctor recommended starting solid foods.  We've been sort of attempting this for weeks now, but Claire seems to be a picky eater.  She's not really fond of the jarred baby foods and she doesn't really like the rice cereal.  Russell made her some pureed peaches and she wasn't really in to that either.  

*Sigh.*

The bulk of her diet at this point is still breast milk that I pump while at work and formula to supplement.  

We have had some success with a lot of the food we eat for dinner.  We set her on the table in her Bumbo seat and then feed her very small portions of whatever we're having for dinner.  She really likes cheese, pancakes, and pizza.  

Here's Claire in her Bumbo seat with a small smile while I try and feed her some solid food.

Also (because I know you are thinking it!) it's true, Claire is naked 80 percent of the time.  It just turns out to be a lot easier due to (1) blowouts and (2) up until recently it's been rather warm.  Russell doesn't like to hassle with all the outfits and I'm ok with that.

 In other news, I'm still soldiering on with my knitted cable cardigan that I've been working on since March.  I'm finally almost done with all the knitting and moving on to seaming the sides and under the sleeves.  This project has been a beast and my emotions have run the gamut while I've been knitting it.  So far, I'm very pleased with how it's turning out, but at times I get depressed thinking it'll never be done or if I do finally finish it, it won't fit well and I won't wear it.

Progress so far!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Jane

Reading with Daddy

Claire is just now getting more and more interested in the books Russell and I are reading to her.  She's loving the soft cloth books she got from Aunt Emily and Grandma Walner.  Here's Russell reading The 3 Little Pigs with Claire.

Sometimes she puts the book in her mouth!  Haha.  At this stage it seems everything goes in the mouth!

Once when Russell was reading to her, she took off scooting because Boone walked by.  She's very easily distracted.

Fun times!

Weekend Recap

It was a gorgeous weekend in Central Oregon!  Sunny, clear skies, and warm temperatures made it seem almost like summer had come back for a moment.

Saturday I did the Run or Dye race up in Redmond.  It was a fun 5K run where the chief purpose of running is to get splattered with multi-colored dye while you run.  It was about 30 degrees at the 9am start and absolutely bitter cold!  Claire and Russell were my most enthusiastic spectators.  Here's Claire with her cute handknit hat from Grandma Walner.  She doesn't really look too thrilled to be out in the cold.  I don't really blame her, but she sure was a good sport!

Here I am during the run getting spattered with dye at one of the color zones.

Here's a few post race shots showing the aftermath of all that colored dye.

The rest of the weekend we spent just leisurely hanging around the house.  Russell did some cooking and baking including making some really delicious cinnamon rolls from a Paula Deen recipe.  Oh my goodness, they were so delicious!  It could have something to do with the 3 sticks of butter and lord knows how many cups of sugar that were the main ingredients.  They were really quite easy to make too.  Store bought cinnamon rolls just don't compare.  Even Cinnabon.

That's about the highlights of the weekend.  I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves and the great weather.

I'll leave you with Claire being her usual super cute self!

With Love,
Jane