"I can't believe you figured that out..."

She's done it! Claire holds her bottle up by herself!

Mom's sad attempt at a pigtail!

Claire never ceases to surprise us! She gets up on those hands and knees and bounces back and forth like she's going to take off...and then...nothing. She loves to stand with someone holding her up by her hands...and sometimes she'll take a few steps.

A few nights ago we put her in the saucer with a juice bottle with handles and a sippy spout. She played with it, drank a few sips, and then talked to it like she does to all of her food. Just five minutes later I noticed that the bottle was empty...someone figured out how to unscrew the top and dumped apple juice all over herself and the saucer! She seemed so stunned and was freezing cold...

I've been trying to introduce more solid tidbits to Claire...based on advice from the hundreds of mom's I know and her age. Teething biscuits are a hit and she manages them well, but they're a big mess. She does okay with the puffs...but forgets that they go in her mouth and sort of need chewed...so she occasionally chokes. I bought some finger foods at Kroger the other day (dehydrated bananas and strawberries) and she loves them...but they're really big chunks. I guess we'll just keep putting tidbits in front of her and see how she does! She tends to play more than eat them..