It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Last Friday, Patrick and I both had the day off.  We took Claire for her 4 month checkup.  She did wonderfully.  She's exactly where she needs to be developmentally and is growing quite nicely.


Her official stats are:
Height: 25.5 inches (81st percentile)
Weight: 14.8 lbs (64th percentile)
Head: 16.125 (38th percentile)


The doc noticed a little bit of her stranger anxiety.  Claire was all smiles with the doctor until I had to put her down on the table so she could check her out.  She froze and got this nervous look on her face once neither Patrick or I were holding her.  Then started crying.  The doc confirmed the anxiety usually starts around 4 months of age and that she should outgrow it.   She also confirmed men with facial hair usually make the anxiety worse.  Perfect since we were taking her to see Santa immediately following her appointment.


We took Claire to Macys for her first official picture on Santa's lap.  We weren't sure how she'd do considering the facial hair anxiety not to mention she just got 4 shots at her checkup....but she did surprisingly well.  


Her dr's office is right around the corner from Macy's on Chestnut so we headed over right from her appt. They had a pretty impressive setup.

Heading down Holiday Lane

With my two favorite people :)

Quick walk down this festive hallway

And the story of Scrooge begins.

Macys really outdid themselves with the displays.  

Claire was amazed by all of it.

After walking through room after room full of these elaborate displays, we had high hopes for Santa.  Unfortunately Macys must not have had any money left for a good one.  They really suckered us in too.  They ask you if you want a picture with Santa before you even have a chance to see him.  Once you say yes, they escort you into this little room where Santa is hiding.  He couldn't have been more than 30 years old with a big fake beard and wig.  So disappointing.

Claire did great though.  She didn't seem to even think about crying.  She didn't want to stop eating her hands though so Santa had to hold them down while we snapped a pic.  If she's not chewing on something, then she's talking which is exactly what she was doing :)

After getting her picture taken we stopped so she could eat something other than her hand.  She was all smiles.

To keep the Christmas spirit going, we decided last minute on Sunday to head up to Hershey Park with some of Claire's cousins.  It was pretty chilly Sunday night so we made sure the little princess was all bundled up.

 An hour and 45 minutes later we arrived in Candy Cane Lane.

Big cousins Grace and Maddie were so excited.  Claire couldn't get over all of the lights.

She just stared in amazement.

As cousin Luke and Aunt Colleen rode on the merry go 'round.

With Grace, Maddie, Uncle Chad, and Daddy.

She really loved it.  Didn't seem to mind the cold at all.

After riding on a few rides, we headed over to the light show.  Love the Hershey Kiss tree topper :)

Claire slept through most of it.

But she did wake up once we got to Santa's stables to see the Reindeer.

She didn't trust those reindeer.

Then we hopped on a steam train for a little ride.  Claire just about had enough at that point....she did not want to cooperate for a nice family pic :(

Hopefully we can get a better pic next year.  We'll definitely be going back.  It was by far the best way to get into the Christmas spirit.  So fun!  Now if only we could bring that spirit home with us and finally get around to decorating our Christmas tree...

Oh I almost forgot...now that the Christmas cards have gone out, I can FINALLY post the pics we took of Claire over Thanksgiving weekend.  It's been torture sitting on these beauties.  So glad I can finally share them...Merry Christmas!

My personal favorite...

And Patrick's fave...