Claire turns one year old

Claire's one year birthday was September 5, 2007. That was a Wednesday. So we decided to celebrate on Saturday, September 8. Claire also opened presents in Ohio when she was there over Labor Day weekend.

Claire's birthday stash was huge. She really enjoyed the new toys and books, and she will grow into the really cute clothes that she got.

Now that she is a year old, we are packing away a bunch of her other toys and putting those in storage. We also switched her to a new car seat, and it is installed in the front-facing direction. She seems to like it a lot better than the old one and it certainly fits better than the old one, where her feet have been hanging over the edge for a month now.

Enjoy pictures & video of her birthday (see link above left).

Claire Walks!!!

Mark the day - August 6, 2007. Two days into her 11-month birthday, Claire Brown takes her very first steps! Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma were all on hand to watch Claire take 4 steps, from an end table into Mommy's arms.

Video now available! See the slideshow (or use link to August photos, above left).

Claire has a tooth!

This has been the pattern over the last couple days:

6:30pm -- Claire goes to bed

7:30 pm -- Claire awake!

12:00 am -- Claire awake!
4:35 am -- Claire awake!

Why oh why, lord? Well, this morning Morgan discovered the reason why. Claire's first tooth! It will be on the bottom of her mouth. We tried to get a picture of the tooth but she's very protective.

Today was also Claire's first bike ride! She enjoyed it very much as you can see from the picture below:

Check out the link for July photos for more.

Claire in California

The big move has finally happened. With the help of Pat, we settled into 839 Sevely Dr. There is a great park across the street. Pictures of us in our new home and at the park are in the June 2007 pictures (link above left).

We also made our first trip to Yosemite, where we stayed with Uncle Rob and Aunt Rachel.

Claire did several hikes. Grandpa Lewis was the mule, Grandma Fen was, as always, the teacher.

1) Base of Yosemite falls
2) Happy Isles
3) Mirror Lake
4) First lookout of Vernal Falls

We also really enjoyed going to Cathedral Beach, where Claire loved to play with the rocks; and Discovery Overlook, where Claire did her first granite slab hiking. Pictures are in the June 2007 pictures. Enjoy!

Claire Crawls!!!

A weekend with daddy has motivated Claire to learn how to Crawl.

Witness the magic!!! (link above left).

Claire video in May

In the link for May 2007 photos (above left), there are some really cute videos of Claire, including one of her playing with Lefty using a feather. She is really growing fast -- she can stand unassisted for a couple seconds at a time.

Both grandmas should be getting some Claire time in June, which will be great for everyone and we're looking forward to that.

We've got Claire's housing set in California. Here's the new place:


The address is:
839 Sevely Dr.
Mountain View, CA 94041

I will head out to California on Saturday for an interview at the library. I will also do my first California hike in three years! Can't wait. Morgan will be alone with Claire!

Side by side comparison