Claire--4 Month Update

 Today marks 4 months since Claire was born, and part of me can't believe we're already 1/3 of the way to her first birthday, but on the other hand, I can't believe it's ONLY been 4 months. It sounds cliche, but I really can't believe there was a day that I hadn't kissed her cheeks or held her in my arms. She has added SO much to our family, and I'm hoping to capture a little bit of that in this post!

Claire's entrance into the world can be summed up for me in one word: peaceful. I'm going to eventually do a post telling her birth story like I did with Henry, but she came in the quiet hours of a Sunday morning after a short and easy labor. The pace in the labor and delivery unit was slow, there was no hubbub of excited grandparents waiting downstairs, no hours of waiting for her arrival. And after she arrived, I sensed a calm and peaceful presence about her that filled me with the same. During my pregnancy we had such a hard time getting clear ultrasounds of her because she was always laying on her belly. I thought she was going to be a stubborn little firecracker who started giving orders the moment she was born, but no. She is gentle and quiet and peaceful and calm. She is an absolute ANGEL!

Claire has the sweetest disposition. She is content to just be in the same room as us, and rarely demands more. As soon as you look her way she lights up, but she's also happy to lay in her swing or on her play mat, or to be carried around. Because she's so quiet and easy, she often gets overshadowed by Henry and his needs. This surprised me, because I expected Henry to take the brunt of the inattention, but it's definitely been the other way around. It actually makes me feel really guilty and anxious, but I'm trying to do better about that. I just hate for this precious baby to get overlooked in the shuffle!

She is pure JOY! Claire loves to "talk" to us, and jabbers away. She makes the CUTEST noises and sounds, and I love hearing them!

These two love each other so much! I can't wait until Claire is old enough to start engaging with Henry more.

Part of this is being a second time parent, and part is her natural disposition, but things with Claire have been SO MUCH easier than they were with Henry. She's been sleeping in her crib for naps since she was about 3 weeks old, and at nighttime since 5 weeks. About 3 weeks ago, I took away her nighttime swaddle and started sleep training. It took 3 nights before she slept through the whole night without crying. 😭🙌 Those nights were hard, but they were so worth it! Claire and I are both enjoying the extra sleep and are SO excited to see each other in the mornings! :)

 Big girl has been trying to help hold her bottles and it's the sweetest! 

Claire has gotten so strong in the last couple of weeks, and all of a sudden she props up on her elbows during tummy time and looks around. She's rolled from her tummy to her back several times, and tries reallllly hard to roll front to back as well. She always wants to be sitting up, and I think she'll have some abs soon from all the crunches she does. 😜 

Along with being the sweetest baby ever, Claire is also the MOST BEAUTIFUL BABY EVER! I seriously can't get enough of this smile! We thought that she was maybe going to have blue eyes, but as the weeks have gone on, they're gotten darker and darker. Looks like we have another brown eyed baby!

These are the sweetest moments that I never want to forget. 💗

Claire has completely stolen all of our hearts, and we couldn't be more thankful to have her in our family. I know I speak for us all when I say that I can't wait to see her personality continue to unfold over the next few months!