2nd Place

This weekend Josh participated in the Benicia Education Foundation Run for Education. This organization supports the schools in Benicia, the district my mom works in. This was a family event, my mom volunteered with the Foundation to hand out goodie bags, my dad, grandma, Claire and I were the groupies and Josh ran in the race.

Claire is developing an early taste for Cliff bars, at least for the packaging. Josh got second place in his age division. Go Josh! We were getting ready to leave and he went to check his official time, they told him to stick around because he would be getting a medal. Not bad for a race he entered on Wednesday.

Happy 1st Blogiversary

I can't believe I missed this milestone. The Smithpunkinpatch blog is one year old! This year has brought many adventures and the promise of many more to come. Thanks to all of you that read our blog and join in our lives with us.

Happy 1st blogiversary.

Claire and Friends

We had a playdate on Friday with some of my friends from high school and their children and babies on the way. We were called "The Crew" in high school, I've decided to call our kids "The Mini Crew". Its been so fun to journey though this season of life with these women.

Unfortunately Claire was a crab from no nap and teething so I didn't get many pictures of all the babies.

Here's Davis, he and Claire are a week a part but he totally has in when it comes to the hair department. He also choose Mia (pictured below) as his prom date because she didn't pull his hair like Claire did. I tried to tell him it was just because Claire was jealous but he didn't believe me.

The lovely Miss Mia, every the lady and modeling a darling striped dress. I also didn't get photos of Tanya's boys because they can walk and are therefore much more difficult to photograph.

Being a Grown Up

Last night Josh and I had a date. If you want to get super technical about it, I guess it wasn't a date because Claire was there but to me, it was a date. We've decided to finish our back patio, make it into a useable space so as the weather warms up, its a place our family wants to hang out (more on that in another post). After a late afternoon stroll through Orchard nursery, Josh and I decided to make the most of the gorgeous evening (it was like 74 degrees at 5:30 at night) beautiful and the lovely town (we were in Lafayette). We had dinner at a restaurant, Pizza Antica, that I've been eyeing ever since I read the review of it in Diablo magazine.

As we lounged on the patio sipping cherry limeades Josh turned to me and said "I feel like an adult again tonight." I quite agree with him. We've been saving our money for upcoming trips, home renovations, and let's face it to pay our mortgage so its been a long time since we enjoyed an evening out. God bless our daughter, she was an angel, completely content gnawing on her teether while relaxing in her stroller and serenading the rest of the patio. After a delicious dinner (Josh rates the pizza a seven - crust was too thin for his Chicago deep dish pizza taste, I'd give it an 8, I like fancy pizza) we strolled up and down Mt. Diablo Blvd enjoying the weather, the evening and most of all each other.

Pictures from the weekend

I love daffodils...

Claire giving out some Lola love.

Oh yes, that is Claire in Giants gear!

Yeah...check out that serious drool.

This is what Claire does during tummy time...she puts her arms behind her and rolls around on her belly. Silly girl.

Lola, loving the weather and being near Josh.

Family portrait sans mom.

Rolling

I find myself continually amazed at how I am moved by Claire's little (and big) developments. Today Claire rolled over..we've been watching in expectation for months. Today she didn't disappoint. She rolled back to tummy (the harder way). She was looking at me nonchalantly and then I realized what she'd done and got all excited and she just smiled her gummy, drooly grin. My excited voice triggered Lola and she came running thinking it was play time and started jumping all over me. So, now we've got a roller.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Around the house

5 months old!

Claire is 5 months old as of Friday. Its unbelieveable to us. She's growing like crazy and is losing her little baby looks. She drools up a storm and there are some white spots on her gums that look like they could be teeth coming in. Then again they could be my imagination as well. How am I supposed to know?

One development that has made me a little sad, it looks like Claire has inherited eczema. I noticed a little patch of funny skin on her shoulder about a week ago and thought perhaps it was just dry skin (though somewhere in the back of my head my experience as a child with eczema was telling me different). Then I thought, maybe ringworm but it doesn't bear any resemblence to ring worm other than being circular in nature. After a discussion with the advice nurse and a consult over the phone with a pediatrician, we have concluded that's probably what it is (eczema). This shouldn't come as a surprise, eczema runs rampant in my family. I had prayed that she would escape this gene of mine. Until the doctor definitively diagnosis it as such, I'll pray that its just some funky skin irritation. I guess we'll find out at her next check up. Until then, I'll lotion her arm away.

Notice Claire's hand in this picture. She likes to "pet" Lola by running her hand up and down Lola's fur.
In another note, Claire still shows no desire to roll over but she doesn't scream and hardly cries when doing tummy time now (YAY!). She does resemble a seal a bit when on her tummy as she doesn't like to use her arms or legs, preferring to roll around on her rounded tummy.

Beco Butterfly II

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've attempted to keep baby items limited to necessity items only. One can easily be overwhelmed by the selection of baby carriers out there. Slings to front packs, back packs, front & back packs, wraps, the list goes on. I would have never known all the options there are out there. And now we arrive to the title of my post.

After polling other mommy friends for what baby carrier they liked best, I arrived upon the Moby Wrap. I love my moby wrap. It was heaven when Claire was really small. She could get oh so snuggly and close to me. The Moby could calm her almost instantly in the first six weeks of life or so. I could wrap her up and go about housework, she would snooze. It was amazing. Its flexible as she has grown. There are several different tying options so I can wear her on my hip, facing out, facing in, on my back. So versatile. Ok, the one complaint I have and I had heard of before I got the moby was the practicality of it. Its essentially almost 20 feet of fabric that you wrap and wrap around you to create these different carrying positions. So if you are out and about its pretty impratical to use. You either have to wrestle and wrangle all this fabric so you don't drag it on the ground while attempting to tie it OR you have to get it all arranged at home. Setting it up at home can be quick and fairly easy but my personal experience was that traveling with it in the car in a seat belt and then attempting to put baby in it didn't work well. So I've pretty much limited my Moby use to around the house and short stints to and from the house by foot.

I had been steered away from the Bjorn because of the uncomfortable arm staps. When one was handed down to me it came as a pleasant surprise. Its ease of use is probably the simplest of all baby carriers except for maybe a sling. Claire seemed to enjoy the Bjorn and as she developed liked facing in and out. I have noticed that as she gets bigger, the weight distribution on the straps does make the Bjorn uncomfortable for long stints.

As Claire continues to grow and our family ventures further and further from home, I was considering how we would transport her. We have one possibly two plane trips coming up and I'd prefer to travel with the least amount of gear possible. (Especially given that one of our trips is to New York and we'll need to be as portable as possible). I considered getting an umbrella stroller but I don't love the idea of Claire being down in a stroller on the busy streets of New York city. I could take the Bjorn but we'll be doing a lot of walking and that's not going to be so comfortable for all the walking we'll do. The Moby is not really a good option for similar reasons. I couldn't imagine standing on the streets in Manhatten trying to tie up the Moby to transport Claire. Enter the Beco Butterfly II. A friend of Brieanne's (with whom I've consulted on many things baby from teething to baby essentials to feeding baby solids, she's a wealth of helpful information) recommended the Beco Butterfly a few months ago. After doing some additional research I decided to give the Beco a try. I'm in love. The features I like best? The soft soft cotton that its made of, the straps are comfy, the waistband evenly distributes Claire's weight. Its almost as simple as the Bjorn to put on. It will carry Claire up to 45lbs (not that I'll be carrying her like that when she weights 45lbs). I can put her in it while she's lying on the changing table or couch or floor and then put it on me. I can transfer her from me to Josh or whomever else without having to take her out of it. I can wear her on my back or front. Its great. So, that's how Claire and I will be gallavanting around NYC...stay tuned for the photos.

March is here

Its been beautifully sunny the last couple of days and we've taken advantage of the lovely weather. Lots of walks, time outside and even a Sunday picnic in the park. Enjoy a few photos from the last week or so.

Academy of Sciences

A word to the wise. If you are planning a trip to the newly rebuilt and reopened Academy of Sciences, go on a weekday afternoon unless you miss crowds akin to Disneyland trips in July. This place was more crowded than fleas on a dog's back. Navigating the Steinhart aquarium with a stroller was no mean feat.
The academy showcases a beautiful rainforest exhibit, a white alligator, a marvelous aquarium and the planetarium but with the weekend crowds, it was very difficult to fully appreciate all the academy had to offer. After a morning at the academy of sciences, we walked over to a lovely little cafe called Le Velo Rouge for a delicous lunch and some live music courtesy of the Tipsy Gypsy Trio (playing the tunes of Jango Rinehart).
That's Claire gnawing on Auntie B's arm..yum yum!

I caved...

When we were preparing for Claire's birth I was determined to keep baby gear at a minimum citing our small house and very limited storage space. I figured my parents got by with less than a 1/4 of the inventions that are currently out there for babies so why can't we. The first item I railed against? An infant car seat. When we were shopping around for pack n plays someone passed one along to us and I figured I would pass it along to someone in my family to use while watching Claire. The carseat has never made it into the hands of other family members, while not the primary carseat for Claire it has proven VERY helpful. The next item I was against? A swing. We really don't have the room but nevertheless, a swing adorns our living room and has proven so helpful. Again, this was another free hand me down. The third item I was against was a bumbo. Although the bumbo isn't big it still doesn't compact down to store well and Claire has the bouncer and swing, why do we need a bumbo? Well, last week I discovered why. She has started trying to sit up using her little stomach muscles. Whether it is laying on her changed, sitting in my lap or hanging out in the bouncer, Claire started to pull herself up. That means no more bouncer (a primary sitting place for Claire). SO...after searching Craigslist for a reasonable one, I caved and gave the ok to get a bumbo. In its first week in our home, it has proved to be a very useful item.