Here’s our next set of photos from this summer. We’ve included lots of pictures of the girls together, including Juliet eating her first solid food, both of them sharing a ride in a swing, some fun at the beach and in the swimming pool, plus a shot of Claire trying on Stu’s sneakers. Click on the below picture of Juliet’s first bites (with Claire in the background showing exactly how to spread food all over the face) for a slideshow.
Grandma Judy visited us for five days last week. Among other things, Judy joined us for Juliet’s 4-month checkup. At 25.5″, Juliet is at the 91st percentile in height (compared to 70th percentile at 2-months) and a quarter-inch taller than Claire was at 4 months, so it looks like we’ve got another Amazon on our hands. At 14 lbs, 4 oz, she’s in the 66th percentile in weight down slightly from 67th last time and exactly even with where Claire was at that age. Other highlights included Claire and Juliet enjoying long walks with grandma (including three over the course of just one day), early presents for Claire’s second birthday, the two girls sitting together on their “potties” looking out at the backyard, and a barbeque dinner where Claire ate mostly ketchup. Click on the photo below for a slideshow.
A few weekends ago we headed up to Sonoma with our friends John and Deanna for a relaxing weekend at the the house of a friend of theirs in the warm sun of the wine country. With three kids under two, we didn’t get much wine tasting in but did still have some fun. Highlights included Claire learning to slide down the stairs on her bottom, Deanna making homemade cinnamon rolls (much to Claire’s fascination), and some sunbathing. Also included are some pictures of Claire and me at her swimming lesson, Juliet lounging around the house, and Claire cooking in her new red play kitchen. Click on the photo below for a slideshow.
So far we have managed to avoid nipple confusion with Juliet, although Claire seems to have developed “apple confusion,” a condition in which all fruits are called “apple”. Click on the triangle play button below for a video demonstration:
[flickrvideo]http://www.flickr.com/photos/22311334@N00/3361575827/[/flickrvideo]
In this food-themed post, we’ve also got a quick slideshow of Claire enjoying another of her favorites, guacamole:
Grandma Judy left yesterday after two-and-a-half weeks of visiting with Juliet and Claire. She was an incredible help, changing endless diapers, singing, strollering, chauffeuring Claire to daycare, delivering highly nutritious lattes to the nursing mother, helping introduce Juliet to our local shopping mall, stickering with Claire, and doing dishes every few minutes. 
Click on the photo below for a slideshow which includes Claire in her Valentine’s Day sweater at her Saturday morning KinderGym class, lots of pictures from around the house (including a rare artistic/linguistic shot of alphabet pasta), and finally Juliet’s first bath which was an impressive team effort involving three generations of bathing beauties: Judy, Katherine and Claire.
Claire is gradually learning to use a spoon. Very gradually. See video below!
[flickrvideo]http://www.flickr.com/photos/22311334@N00/2956832451[/flickrvideo]
For some reason, when Katherine left town she felt the need to give me a detailed list of foods to feed Claire (it might have something to do with my comment a few months ago that I thought Cheerios contain all the nutrients a growing baby needs). It’s a good snapshot of what Claire eats now so I thought I’d share:
| Protein Chicken Meatballs Cheese Yogurt Tofu Cottage cheese Black beans Garbanzo beans Edamame Eggs Avocado |
Carbs Ravioli Alphabet pasta Cheerios Waffles Crumpets Macaroni & cheese Bread Pancakes Potatoes |
Fruits/Veggies Bananas Blueberries Applesauce Strawberries Peas Corn Broccoli florets Snacks Cheese sticks Animal crackers Cheddar bunnies Dried bananas Dried strawberries |
Of course I also have a few pictures to share, a mix of breakfast one morning and visiting the park yesterday. Click on the photo below of Claire enjoying the swing for a slideshow.
Claire is energetically eating solid food now and “finger food” has become her preferred meal. Click on the triangle play button below for a video of a recent dinner.
Of course we’ve also got some pictures, including hiking with Grandma Judy on a recent visit, doing the laundry together, and visiting the gardens at Filoli with friends. Click on the photo below for a slideshow.
My parents came for a great six-day visit on their way to Seattle. Highlights included Claire and her Poppa going for long walks around the block in our new stroller, Claire sitting in a high chair for the first time during dinner out at P.F. Chang’s, decorating our mantle for Christmas, knocking off about 20 projects around the house, cooking our first prime rib with Mom’s help, a return visit to the Asian Art Museum, and finally buying lots of electronic gadgets both at Fry’s Electronics in Palo Alto and at the Stanford Mall. We’re off to Phoenix tomorrow for Christmas with Katherine’s family.
Click on either of the photos below for a slideshow.
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Claire had her first overnight trip last weekend as we headed up to Lake Tahoe to rent a house for a few days of drinking in the mountain air at 6,800 feet, relaxing by the lake, gazing at the fabulous scenery, and sampling the local cuisine for tapas, Mexican, pizza, lake-side views, and even healthy breakfasts. Claire seemed quite content during the four hour drives there and back, enjoyed her makeshift bathtub (see photos), and slept as well as she does at home (including naps in the sizable walk-in closet off our bedroom). Katherine and I had fun mountain biking and trail running, swimming in the lake, and road biking. Aside from a surprisingly easy to fix mishap involving a bicycle, a roof rack, and an overhead garage door, everything went perfectly. Click on the photo below for a slide show.
