Little pumpkin

Mom & dad have been trying but have failed to get pictures of Claire's top two teeth. Neighbor Mary appropriately dubbed her a pumpkin this earlier this evening. Her mouth looks like that of a jack-o-lantern. We had hoped she might make it to Halloween so we could have some fun with it (not really) but we noticed two new teeth sprouting earlier this morning. 

Claire loves to be outside, lately. The heat the last two days has put a damper on her exposure to the outdoors. She likes to visit her ladybug sandbox and grab fistfuls of sand. She actually stepped into the sandbox with mom's help last week but her time inside was short lived. 

She is showing signs of mastering the stairs going down. Unfortunately, she gets a bit distracted and turns around so her back is to the stairs. It's going to be  another few weeks before we feel comfortable letting her attempt the stairs without us right behind her. 

This is also week two of no bottle. We had weaned her to one a day right before bed but replaced that with a bowl of cereal. Mom thought it might be a bit of a challenge but Claire appears to have totally forgotten that she ever drank from a bottle. Mom & dad are also lucky that she can rotate between 2 different types of cups (one set is without handles and all are BPA-free!!) so she can always have a milk or water on hand. Lately she is really testing those limits on turning it over and setting it on it's side to see if it will leak.