nine months old

I can't believe that Claire has been alive for as long as I was pregnant with her. Last week, Claire turned nine months old! I can't tell you how much I love my little "lovey baby." She is just a ball of cuddles and giggles this month. Hallie and Daddy have her laughing all the time. She still loves to be held and loves to snuggle. She can do hand motions to several songs. She even recognizes if she is doing the wrong signal and will self-correct it. It looks like she is holding up to the French meaning of Claire, "smart girl." Clairey still has the craziest hair on the planet. Now that more is growing in, it looks a little darker. She holds her own bottles now and I think she prefers it that way because she will pull it out and think about life, and then smack it back in when she is in the mood for some more. She laughs at toys that have flashing lights and loves to snuggle baby doll toys. Her crib is filled with her current favorites: her "my first baby," glow worm, elmo, cookie monster, and a new brown-haired soft dolly (pictured below). I let her play with it at the store the other day and because she was laughing so much with it, I just couldn't go home without it. I cried to Chris the other night about how fast Claire is growing up. I think eight and nine months is my favorite baby stage. They can laugh and try to be social, but they still are cuddly little babes. In ways I want her to stay this age forever! I like that both my girls wait to crawl around. It preserves their baby status just a little bit longer. Happy nine months, Clarinet!