Action packed Thanksgiving week

Claire had a very busy holiday week.  It all started last Saturday when we took the little lovebug shopping for a Christmas dress.  It was a little chilly out so we made sure she was all bundled up.

We ended up at Macy's on Chestnut and it just so happened that they were having a huge Christmas kickoff celebration.  They had arts and crafts, carolers, choirs, bands, a light show, and even a sneak peek of Santa.  You'll never guess who we ran into there...

 The Phanatic!!

 He really loved Claire's boots :)

 So jealous Claire got a pic with him....I don't even have a pic with him!

After hanging with the Phanatic, Claire caught sight of the awesome light show they have there every year.

 She really couldn't take her eyes off of it.

It is pretty cool.

On Sunday, we walked over to check out the Philadelphia Marathon.  We hoped to be inspired to get back into running but seeing everyone limping away from the finish line had the opposite effect on me. I'm pretty sure Claire missed her chance to ever see mommy finish a marathon.  At least she got to see plenty of other people finish on Sunday.

Mommy and Daddy both had the day off on Monday so we took Claire to the Italian market for the first time.

One of daddy's favorite places.  He got lots of stuff.

Claire and mommy waited outside of one of those stinky meat places while daddy shopped.

"Eww look at all of those nasty meats behind me."

On Thursday, we took Claire to her first ever parade - the oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade in the country - right here in Philly.

 Claire stayed awake for most of it.

Even had a few laughs with Nana.

But of course she fell asleep before getting to see the guest of honor.

Santa!

And Mrs Clause too :)

After the parade we went to Claire's cousins house for Thanksgiving dinner.  Here's little Lilly with Grammie.

Lilly's already sharing with Claire.  She let her play on her playmat for a while.  Claire of course found Lilly's mirror. 

She couldn't stop looking at herself as always.

After dinner on Thursday, we drove down to Ocean City to celebrate Thanksgiving weekend with some of Claire's other cousins.  We took a walk on the boardwalk on Friday.  The weather was gorgeous.

Stopped for some pizza at lunch. 

But who needs pizza?

After lunch, mommy had to get some ice cream at Kohr Bros.  It was so nice out, lots of other people must've felt the same way.  We had to wait in line for over 15 minutes (which is a long time when you're waiting for ice cream :)).

Once back at the beach house, Claire got to meet a new friend.

 Claire meet Winnie.

Winnie gave her lots of kisses.  Claire didn't seem to mind though.

I think they're gonna be buddies. 

On Saturday, Santa was hanging out on the boardwalk so we took her up so she could finally meet him.  

The line was so long to meet Santa, we had some time to hang on the beach for a little with big cousins Grace, Maddie, and Luke.

Oh and daddy too.

45 minutes later, it was our turn to jump in the lifeguard boat with Santa.  We weren't sure how Claire would react since she wasn't in the best of moods.  First Grace and Maddie jumped in the boat.  Then Luke got to sit on Santa's lap.  And Claire was last.  She did surprisingly well.  I don't think she even realized who's lap she was on.  She gave her usual serious little scowl but didn't cry.  Unfortunately, Luke was not such a fan.

After another big feast on Saturday night, we had to head back to Philly to see little Lilly on her big Christening day.

After such a busy week, someone's happy to hang on the couch with daddy.  

A typical (week)day in the life of Claire

Now that I've been back to work for 3 weeks, Claire has definitely gotten a lot more used to the adjustment.  She's finally taking all of her bottles without fuss and has gotten into a little routine with Grammie.  Here's what a typical weekday is like in the life of Claire.


5:45am.  Claire wakes up.  Well sometimes she wakes up that early but most of the time, mommy has to wake her up.  She's always smiling in the morning though.

Mommy changes her diaper, feeds her, burps her, and then daddy gets her ready for Grammie and tucks her in her little car seat.  She talks the entire time.

6:15am.  Grammie picks Claire up.  She usually sleeps in the car but recently she's become quite the talker.  She loves yapping Grammie's ear off in the morning...at least until they get onto I-95.  Claire just can't resist the humming of moving at a nice steady pace....she always falls asleep then.


7:15am.  Claire wakes up for Grammie and eats a nice big bottle.  Then she hangs out and plays for a few hours.  Her favorite things are sitting in her bumbo seat, playing on her playmat, and swinging in her swing.  Grammie says the girl must have an internal timer because no matter how much fun she's having, she starts yelling and crying after 20 minutes...exactly...without fail.  Funny girl.


9-10am.  Claire has another bottle.


Noon.  Claire eats yet again and then usually takes her nice long nap at this time.  Somewhere between two and three hours long.


2-3pm.  Claire wakes up, has a fourth bottle and hangs out with Grammie (and usually Pop by this time of day) until Mommy or Daddy comes to pick her up.


6:05pm.  Mommy and/or Daddy pick Claire up.  Grammie and Pop walk her out together...too cute (sorry for the fuzzy pic...i was in too much of a rush to see my little girl to snap a good one).

6:30pm.  Claire, Mommy and Daddy come home...my favorite part of the day.  Claire eats and then hangs out and talks to us for a little while.

Love coming home to this face...

7:00pm.  Claire plays for a little while mommy and daddy have dinner.

As you can see from the pics above...she LOVES looking at herself in the mirror (the round purple thing hanging above her head).  So mommy had a great idea to move the mirror onto the floor to get her to tolerate tummy time a little longer...and it worked!  She actually smiles once in a while during tummy time now.  Here's the little ham checking herself out.

7:30pm.  Bath time.  Claire gets so excited when she goes up to her room at night.  She knows bath time and bed time are coming...her two favorite things.

8:00pm.  After she's had her bath and has her jammies on, she's ready for bed.  She eats again and is usually asleep within 15 minutes.  Once we put her down in her crib, she's usually out for the night.  Once in a while she'll lose her pacifier a few minutes after she goes down so will fuss until we help her find it.  But THEN she's out for the count.  


Until the morning, sweet dreams little girl.