Nine Months!

Claire has now been "out" as long as she was "in"! Alexis and I might have differing opinions as to which seemed like it lasted longer.

There is no overstating how much Claire loves Daphne. She smiles and reaches for her every time she comes near. (Daphne loves Claire back, but that may be due to the constant rain of Cheerios, pasta and fruit she enjoys about three times a day.)

Devora Elona

In the Jewish tradition, a naming is a ceremony in which a newborn(ish) girl is welcomed into Judaism and receives her Hebrew name. Claire's naming was last month, and she was given the Hebrew name Devora Elona. We chose Devora to honor Claire's great-great grandmother Dora Schuman. (And Devora also happens to be Grandma Debby's Hebrew name.) Elona was chosen to honor Claire's great grandfather Earl Solomon, Sr. whose Hebrew name was Elizar. Although Elona is a form of the Hebrew word for "tree," it is pure coincidence, and not at all an indication that we took Henry's suggestion to name Claire "Tree Villain."


We said the prayers; Claire chose to eat them.

Claire was lucky that all four grandparents could take part in the ceremony...

Thankfully, Henry had a steady hand during this part.

Good Ones

Here are some great pictures we've taken recently...

Donruss Rated Rookie: Henry shows off his t-ball jersey and hat

Gran Gran was in town for Claire's naming last weekend (update on that coming soon)

Like his cousin Luigi, Henry on occasion likes to spend some time in formal attire (not pictured: his smoking jacket)

Claire takes advantage of the early spring weather with Jonathan, Natalie and Henry

Great Eight!

"Ta-daaaaa!" Claire is eight months old! (We celebrated this milestone in March because, FYI, there is no February 30.)



Looks like Costco membership is less exclusive than it once was...

Sketch Artist

We've called Henry lots of things during his life, but "artist" has never been one of them. Usually, his "art" is just scribbling on a piece of paper. So imagine our surprise when tonight he actually sat down and drew a self-portrait. He was pretty proud of this, so we had him pose next to it...

He'll have you know, those are eyebrows directly above the eyes. (And he'll point to his own eyebrows to make sure you understand that point.)

After he "signed" his art with multiple number 4s (for his age), we asked him to draw Claire. The result was this blue face. You may notice that he drew her with teeth. Although she doesn't have quite as many as this picture indicates, she is getting two bottom teeth in...and Henry really is proud of her for it.

The Many Faces of Claire Ellen

Now that Claire is a happy baby (for the most part), it's a lot easier to show her fun side...

She loves to sit up. But no crawling yet. This is a good thing because we haven't yet installed child-proof locks to block access to cleaning products, dishes and the good liquor.

Ready for her close-up!

She's filling out that Pampers #2 quite nicely.

In her not-so-secret garden

First Valentine's Day!

Taking her first bath with Henry. This look may or may not be a plea for help.

If I Ran the Circus

I had the day off on Monday, which was great timing because the circus was in town. So Henry and his cousin Natalie and I went downtown to see the Greatest Show on Earth...

That hat came with the cotton candy. I don't want to say Ringling Bros. charges a lot for concessions, but their cotton candy price appeared to have been influenced by the growing unrest in Arab nations. Someone check on Quaddafi's connections to the world's supply of pink sugar.

You better believe seven motorcycles driving in circles inside a steel ball was a highlight.

Yep, they still have tigers. Eight of them, in fact.

What better way to finish off an afternoon at the circus than with a trip to the Varsity?

Everything a growing girl and boy need!