The Hot Dog Dance

Clara is really into dancing these days, and her favorite song is the "Hot Dog Dance." It's from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel. At the end of each episode, Mickey and friends do this dance and Clara goes absolutely nuts. She not only dances, but also sings along. Apparently, love for this song is typical among many toddlers. My nephew Jackson loved it when he was Clara's age and all of the kids in our playgroup react the same way as Clara. Here she is watching it from our computer.

New Video

Here is some new video of Clara. She is learning the names of body parts and can now point to her head, feet, belly, eyes, ears, and mouth. I've been trying to film it but it's difficult because as soon as she sees the camera, she wants to play with it. Here's a little sampling.

The Fashionista

One of Clara's favorite things to do these days is play with clothes and shoes and try to put them on herself. She is especially into putting things on her head, both hats and other articles of clothing.

The other night she was playing after dinner. She was just wearing her shirt and diaper. She brought me her white shoes and motioned to me that she wanted them on by holding up her feet. She then took a shirt from one of her PJs and put it on her head.

The finished look (complete with the perfect accessory - the pacifier).

Here are some other looks.

Pajama pants on the head.

Bloomers on the head.

Her head piece fell off right before I took this, but I thought it was a funny pic. It captures Clara's laughter perfectly.

Perhaps she's the next Vera Wang? Carolina Herrera? Donna Karan?

Clara update

Things have finally settled down a bit in the Boothby household. Brad returned a couple of weeks ago from two weeks in North Carolina. We've settled into our house, although we are constantly having to move items as Clara learns how to get into more places.



Clara has been standing on her own for awhile, but she is now able to stand for about ten seconds and is trying to take steps. Her new favorite thing is standing up from her chair and trying to walk. I videotaped it but I'm having trouble uploading video to the blog right now.

Also, Clara has really gotten into music and dancing. And she loves to watch dancing. One day I had "So You Think You Can Dance" on and she would watch routines and clap after they were finished.

We are highly entertained by our girl everyday and can't wait to see what she learns how to do next!

Happy 1 Year, Clara!

A couple of weeks ago, Clara turned 1! I can't believe how fast the year has flown by. I don' think I will be able to write a really long post about the occasion for another couple of weeks. We have had a bit of a chaotic month and will have another few weeks of it.

Last month, the owners of the house that we are renting informed us that they were going to be coming back to San Antonio earlier than they anticipated. They offered to let us stay at this house until December, but since we are most likely only going to be in SA for another year, our options were either to move into another house now (since most houses want a year lease) or stay here until December and rent an apartment for six months. We decided to move now. So after we knew that we had to move, I quickly started looking at houses. It was the worst possible timing because Brad was working nights and so couldn't really go see anyplace with me. Luckily, we found a decent house in our present neighborhood. We like the neighborhood a lot and we won't have to alter our routines at all. Clara can also keep the neighborhood pool that she loves so much.

Anyway, we move next week. We've been busy doing all of the annoying things that you have to do when you move. And during all of this, we celebrated Clara's birthday! Brad's parents and grandparents came down and we had a party with family and friends on the 4th of July.

So...I most likely won't do a longer post until a couple of weeks from now. Just know that Clara is doing splendidly. She is all over the place, destroys our house daily, and is discovering new, exciting things all of the time. She also talks nonstop, complete with hand gestures. I can't wait until I can understand what she is talking about.

Clara - 11 Months

We hit a major milestone a few weeks ago with Clara learning how to crawl. At first she was reserved and a little cautious, choosing only to really crawl to us or to toys. She was hesitant to go off the carpet. However, that soon changed and now she is fearless. Her favorite thing to do is to pull up on our coffee table, which really made me nervous since it is glass and iron. But I gave in and let her do it. I just try to be close by in case she takes a bad fall.

We've been going to the pool a lot lately. It has been so hot and humid that it's really the only pleasant thing to do outside. Clara likes the kiddie pool. She will stand up while I hold onto her hands. She also loves lounging pool-side with a sippy cup and people watching.

Here are some pics from this month.

At the pool with Daddy.

Looking at the baby in the mirror.



Pulling up on the coffee table.



At my friend Deana's wedding shower. From left, Elizabeth, Deana, Jennifer, and Jenny.

Here is Clara's shriek, one of her many impressive sounds.

Clara at 9 & 10 Months

Clara's been busy these last months learning new skills. At her 9 month appointment at the beginning of April, she weighted 17 ibs, 2 oz and was almost 27 inches long. This puts her in the 23rd percentile for both.

She hasn't been eating as well lately. I think that she's sick of her purees, but she's not quite into finger foods yet. The only foods that she really enjoys right now are yogurt and her teething biscuits. I have been eating meals with her at the table so that she knows that we eat meals as a family. For dinner, I have been trying to give her something that Brad and I are eating. She mostly just likes to play with the food though. She also likes to handle the spoon herself, although she ends up flicking most food off of it before it reaches her mouth. Through reading about it online as well as talking to other Moms, I've heard that this is pretty typical. Also, our pediatrician told us that any food besides breast milk or formula is still just practice food (it's not affecting their nutrition yet), so I'm not too worried. I just hope that she gets more into it in the next few months.

Although she is still pretty bald, she is getting some hair. And she seems to be getting some curls. Right now it's really just the hairs behind her ears, but I'm hoping the rest of her hair follows.

Some other milestones and firsts for Clara:

*She is pulling herself up on objects. About a week ago, Brad went to check on her in the night and she had pulled herself up in her crib. We had to lower it to the lowest setting.

*She can wave good-bye.

*She gives hugs.

*She plays coy, smiling and then quickly turning her head into my shoulder.

*She sings with me.

*She went swimming for the first time the other day. She didn't quite know what to make of it, but she started splashing with her hand after a while.

Here are some pics from the day we went swimming (unfortunately I forgot the camera at home, so these are taken post-pool) and yesterday in the backyard.

Spring Has Sprung

This has been a busy, although fun, month. Aside from this week, we've been having really great weather lately. Clara loves being outside. Unfortunately, we've also had a little bit of a challenging month because Brad spent most of the last month in Houston on a rotation. Clara and I really missed him and I know that it was hard for him to be away from Clara for so long, since she changes everyday. Luckily, he is back now. One of the upsides of Brad being in Houston was that Clara and I went to visit him during some of his days off and got to visit and stay with Scott, Amy, and Jackson. It was great to see them. Here are some pics from the last month.

We went to a park that had a little lake where you can feed the ducks.

Hanging out on the dock.

Jackson the Duck Whisperer.

Clara loving being outside.

She loves her sun hat.

Easter morning, next to her first Easter basket. I had to get a little creative since she can't have candy yet.

The tube that her new bath toys came in was her favorite present.

In her Easter dress, in a very ladylike pose.

A Typical Conversation

Clara at 7 & 8 Months

I've really dropped the ball on blogging lately. The Olympics were on last month, which is kind of a sad excuse. But if you know me, you know how much I love them. After taking care of Clara all day and catching up with the Games at night, there was no time.

Clara has really changed in the last two months. It sounds corny, but each stage really does get better. She is turning into such a funny and sweet little girl. Here are some developments.

*I'm not quite sure what she weighs, since she hasn't had a doctor's appointment since she was six months, but I think that she's at least 16 pounds, if not more. She's 27 inches.

*New sounds. She talks all of the time. Usually she is pretty loud (see previous posts' videos). But she has developed this really cute softer voice. She sounds more like she is actually trying to have a conversation with you. Her latest sound is W (as in wa wa wa wa wa). She also has started stressing certain sounds. She will raise the pitch of the final syllable of sounds that she makes, like she is emphasizing it. I'm trying to capture it on video but she tends to stop talking when she sees a camera.

*She loves standing up and can now pull herself up while holding my hands. It's one of her favorite things to do. She can also hold herself up while supporting herself on the coffee table.

*Still no crawling. She will lean on all fours but hasn't moved herself yet. She sometimes scoots by laying on her stomach, putting her butt up, and moving her legs.

*She's eating three little solid meals a day in between breast feeding. She has been doing oatmeal in the morning, a veggie or fruit in the afternoon, and a veggie or fruit (depending on what she ate in the afternoon) early in the evening. Her absolute favorite is roasted sweet potatoes with roasted bananas. It's a Tyler Florence recipe. She loves it so much that she dives into the spoon. She also loves apples, peas, carrots, and zucchini. She tried avocado last week and seemed to like it but I think the texture was still a little coarse for her. I'm going to try mixing more ingredients together and adding some seasoning soon. I also want to try chicken towards the end of the month.

*I have totally dropped taking her anywhere in her infant carrier. She's just too heavy for it. I take her floppy seat to the grocery store and restaurants so that she can sit in shopping carts and high chairs. She is two inches off from being too tall for her carrier, so we need to start shopping for a new car seat.

At the zoo with Daddy.

In her Valentine's outfit.

Playing.

Playing on her tummy.

My happy girl.

Clara at 6 months

Clara has changed so much over the last month. She now weighs a little over 14 pounds (20th percentile). She has gotten a lot more hair, although if you hadn't seen her before, you would never know that, because she is still pretty bald.

Also, her little personality is really starting to come out. She interacts a lot more than she did even a month ago. We have been going to a library story time for a few months now, and we have had play dates with some of the other kids that go. I think that it's been good for Clara to see and play with other babies. Some other things that Clara has been doing:

Talking. This isn't new, but she is making a lot more consonant sounds, like "ga," "ca," "da," "ta," etc. She has also developed a high pitched squeal that I liken to a dolphin. It's not my favorite but apparently it is a developmental milestone, so I guess it's good that she can do it?

Sitting on her own. She doesn't have it completely down, but she can sit on her own for maybe a minute at a time before she wobbles.

Kissing. At least I think that is what she is trying to do. She puts her mouth on my cheek and just freezes there for a minute.

She also has been really interested in my water that I drink while I feed her, so I let her try it one day. She enjoyed it, so I got her a couple of sippy cups and have been letting her practice. She doesn't have it completely down yet, but it's pretty funny to watch. She also does this really cute thing where whenever I am holding her and drinking water, she immediately puts her hand on the bottom of the glass like she is propping it up to help me drink. So helpful!

In not so great developmental news, she has really regressed in her sleeping patterns. Before, she was waking up once in the night to eat and went right back to sleep. It was great. Then out of nowhere she has started doing this thing where she either completely freaks out when we try to put her in her crib or she goes to sleep but then wakes up 30 minutes later and freaks out. It was really bad because when she first started doing it, Brad was on his month of nights. I was so exhausted that I ended up just letting her sleep in bed with me. Since Brad is here now, we have been better about making sure she is sleeping in her crib. I tried to let her cry it out one night. She kept it up for an hour and a half and I finally couldn't take it anymore.

She has been getting a little bit better, so hopefully she will come out of it soon and get back to her old self.

On another note, she loves playing in her exersaucer. Here is a video. The lighting is bad, but it gives you a good idea of what she does in it.

Solids as a Rock

Clara turned 6 months old on January 1. To celebrate, we started her on solid foods. She probably could have started them sooner, as she was exhibiting all of the signs that books and articles that I read said babies should be doing. However, I really didn't want to start too soon because it was so much easier to just nurse, especially since we were traveling at Christmas. But I have to say, I was really excited to see what she would do.

I first started her on rice cereal that I mixed with breast milk. I know...yummy! But that's what her doctor told us to start her on and I think that the texture and familiar taste was probably a good starting point for her.

She's was so excited to be in her big girl high chair!


She's a little skeptical, but she's trying it.


Even though the above picture does not convey it very well, Clara does like rice cereal. Since she handled that well, I decided it was time to try some vegetables. Her doctor suggested trying some veggies before fruits just so she wouldn't get used to a lot of sweetness.

I have been eager to make baby food for awhile. I decided to start with sweet potatoes. I roasted one for about an hour and a half so that it would get really soft. Then I pureed it in the food processor and added a little water to smooth it out. I thought it was delicious, but was disappointed that our first feeding went like this:



But then I read that it sometimes takes babies up to ten tries to accept a new food, so I decided to keep trying. By the third try, Clara really liked it.

This week I tried carrots. I tried baking them because I really prefer veggies prepared this way and I was able to find a baby food recipe that did this. Unfortunately, they were disgusting. They were really dry. So instead I steamed them and again, pureed and added water. They were pretty good, but not as good as the sweet potatoes. I think Clara might feel the same way, because she tolerates them but doesn't eat as much as with the sweet potatoes.

I will introduce her to a new food each week, so that I can make sure that she doesn't have any allergies. My plan is to try peas, green beans, and squash. I want to try a green veggie next. Then I might break it up and do some fruit. I want to try apples, bananas, and pears first. I can't wait until we finish the single ingredients and can move on to combinations.

Christmas in Maine

Ok, so I'm finally getting back to blogging. I was working on this last week and our computer froze and I got so fed up with it that I gave up.

We went up to Maine during Christmas week to celebrate the holidays with Brad's family. It was great to see everyone. We hadn't been up there since we moved down here, about a year and a half ago.

Although the travel days were long, Clara did really well. And she had her first celebrity sighting at the airport. Bruce Bowen, a Spur who retired last year, was in the security line with us and Clara kept staring at him (maybe because she has never seen anyone that tall before). He looked down at her at one point and smiled.

Clara had her own seat, which helped out a lot. Not only did she have her own space, but we had a row to ourselves, which made things like feeding her so much easier. And luckily we missed all of the excitement of blizzards and terror threats that were occurring during this time.

On Wednesday, Brad's parents had the family over for a great meal in which Brad's Dad made a fantastic roast (22 pounds if I remember correctly).

The ladies had fun visiting with each other.


The men had some bonding time as well.


Clara got to meet her first cousin once removed, Adney. Adney is Brad's Uncle Rob's baby. She is two months younger than Clara. Brad's sister, Kate, got this picture of an initial meeting. They were somewhat curious about each other. I don't remember Adney being bigger than Clara. Maybe it is just the camera angle? She certainly has Clara beat in the hair department.


For Christmas Eve, we went to Brad's Grammy's house. We opened presents from everyone except Brad's immediate family.

Clara loved her Aunt Kate.


She also thinks that gift wrap tastes great.


On Christmas morning, we opened presents at Brad's parents' house.

Here is Clara with her new stocking that Kate, Tim, Annika, and Gunnar got for her.


Annika, our niece, really took to her new cousin. She was giving me helpful advice on what Clara wanted and needed. Very Mother Hen.


Clara also enjoyed spending time with her Mimi.


Here she is enjoying a present with Dad.


Christmas morning is tiring!


We had a fantastic visit with everyone. It was great for Clara to get to see her Maine relatives and for them to be able to meet her. Things got a little difficult at the end of the trip because Clara was completely off her schedule and was not sleeping well. Still, it was sad to say goodbye to everyone. Brad and I are lucky to have such great families.