news

My little tiny baby is ONE. She is walking. She is eating people food and no longer on formula, ditched bottles. She can hardly be called a baby anymore.

She feeds herself, likes to laugh as if she is in on the joke, and can dance a mean jig.

If I start writing too much about what she means to me I will certainly cry so let's keep it light.

Toys of the Week:

• Cozy Coupe
• Excedrin Box from Costco
• Pink Truck & Mega Blocks
• Daddy's LPs, CDs, and floppys
• Panda wallet

New Tricks:

• The almost-run
• Holding stuff while walking
• Dancing on command
• Pushing around the Cozy Coupe and then using it to climb things

Still:

• Not too keen on saying words.
• Crazy about the dog and cat.
• A great eater.
• Fascinated by Mommy's art supplies.
• Hates being put to sleep.

Family Portrait

my chubby barefoot girl

Toys of the Week:

• A straw, for chewing on.
• An old cell phone, for banging against the fireplace grate.
• TV remotes, the old standby.

New Tricks:

• One handed clapping.
• High fives, or co-op clapping, as she probably thinks of it.
• Clapping while standing.
• Getting stuck under and inside of chairs but finding her way out eventually.

Revelations:

• Will nap four times longer in her crib than in her swing.
• Can only be expected to get 1/5 of the rice into her mouth.
• Really really loves the illest dance beats.

Still:

• Thinks scaring the crap out of her parents by trying to lunge off the bed is hilarious.
• Doesn't really feel much like saying words, so chill yo ass.
• 21 pounds of chubby cuteness.
• Not going to sit still for longer than five minutes: no way, no how.
• Laughs the hardest at her dad's silly voices.
• My favorite baby.

not entirely as planned, and that's okay

The transition from non-motherhood to motherhood is rough. You think when you're pregnant that waking up every 2 hours to pee at night is going to prepare you for waking up every 2 hours to tend to a baby, but it really doesn't. You think that feeling their every movement inside your belly will prepare you for when they're outside, but it doesn't. It's nice in its own and I miss it sometimes, but I'm not going to pretend I had plenty of mothering prep before Clara made her grand debut.

I think, if I can credit anything for the relatively easy time I've had so far it would be this: flexibility. There were plenty of things that didn't go as planned, but accepting and adapting kept me from going nuts about it.

• I fully expected to be breastfeeding full time. That did not work out. I will spare you the details, but suffice to say: nursing & hospital grade pump at every feeding and the most I ever produced together was one half of one ounce. I am glad I was able to let go, (mostly) forgive my breasts, supplement, and then switch to formula. When nursing ends up just making you both cry sometimes you just have to throw in the towel. I'm pretty convinced that if formula didn't exist and it was up to just my body to feed my baby, she would be dead. So: thank you, Science.
• I expected life to remain mostly the same, but with a new person around. And this is not to say it has made a 180--I'm still me--but priorities and schedules and favorites change. Don't watch much TV anymore. Even our favorite shows are afterthoughts. My favorite things are much simpler than before. Now almost any activity that the three of us can do together makes me very happy. Sleeping in till 8 feels like heaven. A 10pm bedtime seems entirely reasonable.
• I expected to remain a reasonable person as far as my baby was concerned. Instead, I find myself squealing like a kid at every new/cute/impressive thing she does. I find myself looking at her constantly and thinking she's the most beautiful little person I have ever seen. And that's just how it goes. You really can't help that they steal your heart and make you silly.
• I expected to be making my own baby food. Instead, I found that she doesn't like purees, she doesn't like being fed, and she doesn't quite know how to chew and swallow very well. So right now we just give her little pieces of fairly soft stuff that we're already eating. It's okay, but a far cry from the jars and bibs and food mills I was planning for. And some stuff she just decides she doesn't like the texture of and spits right out.
• I expected to carry her around on me in a carrier all the time. The reality? My baby is big & heavy for her age. My 5'3" body and my terrible backache right after giving birth were not good for carrying her around. Plus, I found the carrier a little awkward to use. And now that my back doesn't hurt? She's entirely too heavy for that to be comfortable for more than 15 minutes.
• I expected not to have a baby voice. I have managed not to use cutesy baby words, but I must admit that my voice is high-pitched and not normal when I talk to her. I also seem to have no control over this.
• I didn't expect to miss just being able to go places at the drop of a hat. Packing her diaper bag and getting her changed and making sure she's not hungry and she's happy take half an hour, at least. Spontaneity needs to be planned for now.
• I didn't expect for my views on love to become so much more complex.
• I also didn't expect for this to be the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

Baby in a Box

Big ol' feet.

the state of clara marie: 8 months

Likes:

• Playing with her spoons.
• Eating cat tails.
• Chewing on paper.
• Remote controls to anything, the more the better.
• Computer wires, amp cables, usb cables, cable cables...
• Blowing raspberries, receiving tummy raspberries.
• Her new tooth.
• Tearing up papers, magazines.
• Yanking stuff off tables.
• Cats, dogs, anything that's furry and moves.
• Being Upside-Down Baby.

Dislikes:

• Eating food.
• Being on her back for any length of time.
• Bubblegum flavored medicine.
• Diaper changes.
• Sitting anywhere while her mommy tries to get things done around here.

Tuckered out.

picture medley awesome time!

I haven't been great about updating here, but I thought a Clara picture adventure show is in order.

 

How the play mat got one step closer to being obsolete.

 

"Oh, Hi Mom, I will help you with the recycle box."

 

Snow is pretty neat.

 

"Sea lions, where!?"

 

10 and 2!

 

Let's stand!

 

:D

 

She loves this thing.

 

Ready to spend Daddy's monies!

 

"Just sittin' here with mah blue whale."

 

This is not what you're supposed to use your new standing skills for!

whoa

Yesterday you learned how to pull yourself up to a standing position. You crawled next to me and then used the storage boxes under my desk to stand yourself up. I can't believe how quickly you're going to the next new thing. I was just getting used to you zooming all over the floor.

so this is what it's like to be a proud parent

When you discovered your toes a few weeks ago, you started hanging onto them like knobs at first.  You'd lie there and wiggle around with your toes in your hands, happy as a clam.  Eventually you started trying to get your toes closer to your mouth, but your ample & delectable belly thwarted your attempts.  You've been trying and trying to get those darn toes into your mouth to no avail.

Until today.

Today, on the changing table, you grabbed hold of that foot and gave it your all and I finally saw that toe go into your mouth.  It was an amazing moment of victory for chubby babies everywhere!

The satisfaction I got from putting your wet toe back into your footie pajamas was priceless.

Please don't ever stop being so much fun.

slow your roll, please, missy!

Clara can now officially:

• Sit up on her own, unsupported.
• Crawl.
• Pull my hair.
• Pet the chubby cat.

We are:

• Proud.
• Excited.
• Horrified.

things we love about you (so far)

• When you figure out exactly how your toys work and you start actually using them regularly instead of accidentally.
• That you get such a kick out of seeing yourself in the mirror.
• How excited you get when we walk into the room and shoot a smile in your direction.
• When I wake up to the sounds of you sucking on your fingers and blowing raspberries.
• How sometimes you get one little big toe out of your footie pajamas and it is so tiny and chubby.
• That you love sitting in your exersaucer at the front door and looking out the window at the cars that pass and the mailman.
• How you love to hold onto your toes when you're on your back.
• How you have become such an expert at rolling over that I really shouldn't even bother putting you on your back anymore.
• That you chuckle and grin every time I tickle your face with my hair.
• That you've taken a liking to sitting and standing and now sometimes they are the only things you want to do (with our help).
• How much you love sitting in your little red baby chair and playing with the tray toy.
• That you can fall asleep pretty much anywhere and in any position but as soon as you are moved you wail as if being put in a more comfortable place was the worst thing we ever could have done to you.
• That you still like the Christmas tree lights being on as much as your mommy does, no matter what your daddy thinks.
• When you are on the verge of crying but end up laughing instead.
• When you make grumpy face.
• How you can make us happy, any place, any time.

a bundle of joy, indeed

Clara sucks on three fingers, no thumb.  She flips over onto her stomach on the changing table.  She grabs onto her toes while I try to change her diaper.  She stares at her hands for ages.  She pulls and bats at toys.  She laughs with us all the time.  She is the light of our lives.

ROCK AND ROLL

You've been teetering on the edge of a roll-over for months, it feels like.  You'd get as far as your side and kind of get stuck there, not really knowing what to do with your arm that was in the way.

But last night: YOU ROLLED.  From your back to your belly.  Twice.  You did it again today.

These are exciting times!

screaming, sitting

These days Clara is really into screaming and sitting.  She's a happy screamer.  She wakes me up just screaming happily.  Just awake and excited to make some noise.  It's pretty great except that sometimes her daddy can't tell the difference between happy screams and angry screams.  "What's wrong with her?"  She was just happy and noisy!

Sitting is her other passion.  She likes to be upright, looking at stuff.  I can understand this as I also enjoy to sit.

I CAN'T WAIT TILL CHRISTMAS.

 This is a picture of two happy ladies.

YAY!

You pulled on the owl's foot!  I heard the pull and then the jitter!  I'm so proud of you!

Next up: rolling over.

Come on, you know you want to.

round one of the holidays

You've had your first Thanksgiving (delicious) and the Christmas tree is up and you love to look at those lights.  Today you reached up for the legs on your hanging jitterbug toy and grabbed it and would not let go.  I was hoping you would pull and realize that makes the toy vibrate, but I think that was a little too much to hope for on your first grab.  I was delighted that you just held onto his foot for so long.  You've been holding on to your lion with the rings and the rattle too, lifting him up sometimes.

You're so close to rolling over!  It's excruciating to see you on your side: so close yet so far.  You just hang out on your side for minutes at a time but you really don't seem to want to roll onto your stomach at all.  You're pretty good at rotating yourself 360 degrees on your play mat though.  I'm pretty impressed by your leg muscles!

Today your daddy was reading to you about table saws from a home improvement magazine and you loved it.  It's probably because you love anything he says or does for you.  I do too!  :D

Oh and just so you know: there are probably a million sandwich kisses in your future.  You're not allowed to ever stop liking them.

This was your first Thanksgiving dinner:

And here's you holding onto your toy for a long time:

3 months

You turned 3 months old yesterday.  It really snuck up on me--so much so that I didn't realize the date until about 8pm.  I can't believe how fast you've grown.

I was hugging you yesterday and your dad remarked that you're almost half as tall as me.  (An exaggeration of course...but not by much.)

I can't believe how cool you are.  Yesterday you were in your swing for a while and when I walked up to you again after a few minutes, your face lit up completely.  You were so happy to see me and I was so happy that you were happy I shed a few tears.

Don't ever stop being awesome.

Clara Beara!