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.