Milestones

I meant to post something about a very important milestone Claire hit recently, but time got away from me, and then we went to PEI which required an entry, and it was just never done: Claire rolled onto her belly for the first time all by herself on August 9th, possibly as part of a celebration of turning four months!

Unfortunately, neither Neal nor I witnessed this wonderful event. Neal was out in the garage, and I plopped Claire down on her mats on the living room floor, surrounded by her toys while I ran downstairs to transfer her laundry from the washing machine to the dryer. I heard her start crying, and I called up that I’d be back in a second. I turned on the dryer, ran up the stairs… and came to a full stop as my brain caught up with what I was seeing. I had definitely placed her on her back – she hates being on her belly so much that I would never put her in that position and then leave the room. And all of a sudden she was on her belly!

She had come close to doing this a number of times. Neal and I would try to coax her with toys, but it never worked. This time, she decided she wanted a toy that was just out of her reach and managed to figure out rolling.

She hasn’t rolled from her back onto her belly since, despite our attempts to get her to do so. She did, however, roll from her belly onto her back last night, and this time I was sitting right next to her, so I got to see it.

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Claire had her 4-month appointment yesterday, which means she was given two more needles. Suffice it to say, she did not enjoy that very much. Her bad mood, however, started even before the doctor went to get the needles. As soon as the doctor took her, she started screaming bloody murder. I explained that Claire has started “making strange” lately; if anyone other than Neal or I take her, she freaks out, until she has had time to get used to the person. The doctor said, “Already? Wow!” so I asked when babies normally start doing that.

At NINE MONTHS. Yo, my baby is 5 months ahead of schedule!

She also continues to be a giant, measuring at 26.5 inches, which puts her in the 99th percentile. Anyone who has met me knows how ridiculous that seems, seeing as how I’m 5’2″. Neal is of average height. My grandfather and great-uncle on my father’s side, though, were quite tall, so perhaps Claire got those genes. Or, she’s doing all of her growing now and will suddenly stop. She also now weighs 14 lbs, 13 oz, which may explain why my back, shoulders, arms, knees and ankles are so sore much of the time, particularly when I get up in the morning!

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My parents called me on Thursday and surprised me with a question: would it be all right if they came down on Monday? Um, yeah!

They’re leaving their place on Sunday, staying at a motel in New Brunswick that night, and then will drive the rest of the way the next day. The last time I saw them was two years ago when they came down for our wedding, so it will definitely be nice to visit with them! And of course, they have not yet met Claire, and I know they’re dying to do so.

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That’s about all that’s been going on around here. Since we’re going to have house-guests for the next week-and-a-half, I don’t imagine I’ll have time to pop in here too much, but you never know. If Claire accomplishes some other amazing feat, though, I’ll definitely make the effort!