Choo Choo Trains

Grace has a little obsession with trains lately. She has this toy train she got for her first Christmas and has played with it daily for the last few weeks.

She loves to line things up (like the letters on the fridge below) and say it's a choo choo train.

She has these stacking/nesting boxes that she lines up and says is a choo choo train. Minnie Mouse is always the conductor and Baby Giraffe is usually the only passenger.

She gets so excited when we see a real train while we're out driving in the car. She can hardly contain herself when we cross the railroad tracks on our way to church every Sunday. She's pretty easy to please.

4 months

My baby is 4 months old now and growing way too fast. We saw the pediatrician last week for her check-up, so here are her stats:

16.0 lbs (90th percentile)

25.5 in (88th percentile)

16 in head circumference (37th percentile)

Her head seems much bigger than that to me. Maybe it's because of those super chubby cheeks! She's doing well and is very healthy. We've been concerned about her head because of our experience with Grace, but Claire has great rotation in her neck with no signs of torticollis. The back of her head is a little flat, but her doctor says it's pretty normal for a baby her age since all she does is lie down. Now that she's holding her head up well on her own she'll spend more time sitting up in the bumbo seat and her exersaucer, which will allow the back of her head to round out more.

We love our little Claire. She's definitely not as easy going as her sister was. She's a little more high maintenance and has quite the set of lungs on her. She likes to scream. A lot. Especially when she's hungry or tired or both. She has been a great nighttime sleeper, but not so good at the naps during the day. From the day we brought her home from the hospital I was surprised by the length of time she spent awake between naps. She usually takes one decent nap (about 2 hours) and then two more shorter naps (30-45 minutes) a day. I just never know what order they'll be in. Sometimes her longer nap is in the morning, and sometimes it's in the late afternoon. I hate that she's not consistent. I like my kids to be on a schedule. She's also much more attached to the binky than Grace was. Claire will wake up in the middle of the night crying and all she wants is for me to put the binky back in her mouth. She's getting to the fun stage now where she's starting to grab for things and has an interest in playing with toys. She has the BEST laugh and it is so contagious. She's ticklish around her neck (yes, she has a neck!) and under her armpits. I love her wide, open mouth, gummy smile. It melts my heart. She loves to watch her sister and will crack up at Grace. I love those moments! We're so glad she's part of our family.

This was the first time I tried to feed her rice cereal. She's not a fan. I've tried again since then, and still no luck. She won't even open her mouth for it. I would never have guessed she'd be a picky eater!

Pest Control

We had a cricket in our kitchen the other night, so Grace decided to take care of it herself.

She trapped it under the laundry basket. Pretty smart if you ask me. Except that the cricket was much smaller than the holes in the basket.
He eventually jumped through one of the holes and met his fate with the fly swatter.

Water Fun

Yesterday while Claire was napping, Grace and I headed outside to have a little fun with the water hose.

The finger up the nose was because of the water that went up the nose in the previous picture.

Another Milestone

Now that Claire is 4 months old, I decided to get the exersaucer out of the garage for her to try out. I'm so glad I did because she loves it! She was grinning from ear to ear at all the toys. Then she started reaching for them and spinning those colored wheels. I'll be honest... I cried. Just a little. She's growing up way too fast. Next she'll be eating rice cereal and solid foods, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking... AHHHHH! I wish I could freeze time and keep my kids little forever.

Sisterly Love

Claire was having fun during tummy time until...

sister came along and decided she wanted to be in the picture too.

Claire really does love her sister, from a distance. She even loves her sister from the safety and protection of mommy's loving arms. She doesn't love her sister when she's in close enough range to touch her without mommy to keep those pinching fingers at bay. Grace doesn't understand that someday soon Claire will be able to get her back.

A Name and a Blessing

On Sunday, June 27th Justin blessed Claire in his home ward in Howell, Utah. We were already out west for a family vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming so we decided to have her blessing where our family could be there to share in the joy. It was a gorgeous day and Justin gave her a very beautiful and touching blessing.

My parents with our family

Justin's parents with our family

All the men in the blessing circle

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen

Grandma and Grandpa Nessen

Four generations

After church we had a luncheon with a lot of family from both sides. We had a good time visiting with everyone and enjoying the wonderful weather! We're so happy Claire is a part of our family. We wouldn't have it any other way. She has been such a blessing in our home. She is definitely more temperamental than her older sister was, but we love her just the way she is. She makes our family (more) complete!

Nessen Family Pictures 2010

This spring Justin's grandparents celebrated 60 years of wedded bliss, so the family decided to get everyone together (an impressive feat) this summer to take some pictures. All but 2 grandchildren were there, but don't worry they were photoshopped in later and you can't even tell!

This picture is of Justin's parents and their children and children's spouses.
Grandma and Grandpa Nessen
The whole gang. I'm not sure the exact number, but it's close to 50. Pretty amazing, huh?