Clara 6 Months!

Clara is 6 Months!! 

Weight: 13.32 lbs (6%)

Height: 25 in. (25%) 

Head: 16.5 in. (36%)

-She is happy as long as she has got some company around, toys/Calin/or people watching to entertain her.  She is pretty good to let anyone hold her as long as she knows Dad and Mom are around and if Calin is around and she has some people or something to entertain her.

We have a picture almost just like this of Calin and the fish.  Love it! 

-She loves to be outside watching Calin play or just walking around outside.

-She still loves Calin and he is definitely her favorite person around.  She has great smiles for Dad every time he comes into the room, and if I go away and come back she is pretty happy about that.  She also really seems to love her cousin Gracie.

-She still loves to be swaddled and sleeps much better when she is!  I don't swaddle at naps (she doesn't do as well at naps being swaddled but occasionally I will) so I do have to go and lay by her to get her to sleep mostly just to hold her hands still so she can fall asleep.

-She is often sticking her tongue out or chewing on it.

-Her morning nap is usually only about 30 to 45 minutes.  Her afternoon nap is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  She usually wakes up after 30 minutes, but if I can manage to catch her before she wakes and then soothe her back to sleep then she'll sleep another long stretch.  She still does a short evening nap around 5 or 6 as well.  I have tried taking it out, but then the rest of the night does not go well and she falls asleep during her evening feeding and doesn't eat well.

-At night she usually has at least one 5-6 hour stretch and then wakes up every 3-4 hours after that.  Hopefully we can start stretching her a little more and get a good 7-8 hours in!

I love her little shy smile that she often does after she smiles at someone.   

-She likes to hear music and songs.  Her favorites lately are ones that Calin likes to sing.  "Popcorn Popping", "I am Like a Star", "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam".

-She is liking to read books more and more and especially enjoys them when she can get her hands all over them and grab pages.  I like to think she is just taking it all in anyway she can sight and feel!  She has mostly been liking little board books.  We have one about shapes that she really likes.  She also enjoys a song Halloween book "Shake Dem Halloween Bones" that Calin and Robby have been reading and she smiles and giggles whenever Robby sings it.

-She loves to put everything into her mouth and although there are no signs of teeth, she is definitely "gumming" all the time.

-Eats every 3-4 hours.

She has been chewing on her fingers a lot lately.  No sucking though. 

-Still trying to get her to eat better with solid foods. We just barely the last 2 weeks have really made a push to get her to eat every night because it helps her sleep better.  However, it still seems to be a frustration for her and us so hoping it gets better soon!  She has had rice cereal, baby oatmeal, and oatmeal mixed with bananas.  The bananas and oatmeal seems to be her favorite.  Trying sweet potatoes this week!

-She is definitely miss grabby these days.  Grabs anything she can get her hands on!  Toys, hair, faces, anything!

-She loves her baths and being in the water.  She will just stick her face right down into the water.

-She loves to grab, hold, and examine toys.  Her favorites seem to be Calin's giraffe, zebra, and the blue ball.  She also loves anything that crinkles; bags, paper, etc.

I am so done with these picture mom. 

-She always seems to be thinking hard as she watches everything around her.

-She likes to have her pacifier to go to sleep.

-She is still quite a noisy sleeper, but I must admit I like it cause I can always hear her and know that she is ok.

She has these beautiful bright blue eyes that are often wide and bright taking the world in. 

-She has been squealing quite a bit lately.  I think it is usually because she is either really uncomfortable, really tired, or I think her teeth hurt.

-She has started to find her voice and talks a lot lately.

-She is in size 2 diapers and still fits in her 3-6 month clothes and some of her 0-3 month still fit.

-She rolls right over back to front mostly on her left side but is now sometimes doing it on her right too.  However going front to back is a whole other story.  She can't figure out to put her arms up and so tries to roll over her arm sticking out. She is going to break her arm one of these attempts!

That darn arm! 

Mostly, Clara is just sweet, happy, easy to please, and a generally easy going, go with the flow little girl.  I can't remember life without her and am enjoying every minute of getting to know this sweet little girl!

New Adventures

Labor Day we went on a hike on some trails down by the river.  Robby wanted to go down by the river so Calin could play and throw rocks in the river.  However, our hunt for a route to get down to the river didn't go so well and we ended up going through a bunch of mud.  We didn't find a good spot where the water wasn't totally gross or a place that was shady so we hiked back up to the trail and headed back the way we came and then finally found a nice spot for Calin to play in the water.  After a long and hot trek we found a quite nice perfect shady spot and Calin had a blast.  Clara was tired so we didn't stay too long, but enjoyed it all the same! 

Trekking through the sinking mud. 

Poor Clara was so hot.  Well we all were.  Everyone's cheeks were bright red! 

Finally found some shade and got some water to cool down.  

Much better! 

Calin enjoying playing in the mud! 

More water and mud and he found a cool rock round like a ball! 

Building a dam. 

Calin loved the deeper water and decided to just it down in it! 

He loves life and was having so much fun just playing in the water! 

The next Friday we went with some friends to the Children's Museum.  We have been wanting to go since it opened last year but just haven't made it for one reason or another.  It was a lot of fun and we will definitely be going back again soon! 

It has been fun having friends to go out and do things with and even better that they have kids Calin's age.  Unfortunately, their kids are all girls.  Poor Calin rarely gets to play with any boys his age.  We just haven't found anyone with boys Calin's age where it works out to do playdates.  Poor kid.  Oh well, he'll just have to enjoy hanging out with the girls!  

Checking out the sheep with Dad. 

Flying in the airplane with his "girlfriends".  

Typical boy, Calin wanted to drive and pushed Dylan out of the way right after this picture.
We really are working on the pushing! 

Working on the car with Dad! 

Kind and Prince of the castle! 

Anyone there?! 

Working at the bank with Dylan!  

And, Clara was at the museum with us but napped for most of the time.  Here is a couple cute pictures she and I took when we got home from the museum. 

Fun on the porch while Calin was sleeping.  Clara was talking a lot so we went out so we wouldn't wake Calin up. 

Blurry but I love that smile/laugh! 

Just a few Firsts

Here are a few things I forgot to put in our August post. 

Calin and Clara's first time in the tub together!! 

And Calin's first time helping me make pizza's!! He mostly just ate the cheese.  It sure was fun cooking with Calin though! 

August Family Time

All of my family came into town on the 15th for the weekend to hang out and go and see Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Tuacahn.  Then my parents stayed through the next week.  It was a fun week minus the part where we all spread a bunch of sickness around to each other!

Friday afternoon when everyone got here they stopped for lunch before going and dropping everything off at the condo where they were staying.  Becca stayed with us! Then they all came back over for dinner that night.  My parents got there later that night and came and ate dinner too.  It was fun to have everyone here!

Darn it's blurry! 

Fun with Uncle Erich and Aunt Allie! 

Hungry hippos with Uncle Josef! 

 Saturday we headed over to go swimming at great grandma's pool.  It was a nice refreshing morning swim!

Clara loves the water and would just stick her face right down in it.  

Calin enjoys playing on the deck or on the steps and playing with the toys.
He is not so fond of putting his face in the water. 

Enjoying the water! 

 After our swim we went to Irmitas for lunch.  All except for my mom who is not fond of Irmitas food.  Some of the rest of us aren't either but went anyways.

We all had to sport the sombreros for a photo op.  Josef was not amused and did not participate.  

 After lunch Robby went to go pick up our new shed and then do some lazor tag with Jimmy and Preston.  My siblings and I and Summer and Allie all went to get pedicures while my mom and dad watched Calin and Clara.   Then we all met back at our house and my family was so awesome to help us carry the shed to the backyard.

Becca, Summer and I at pedicures! 

Carrying the shed.  The boxes were super heavy! It was hilarious watching them carry these! Poor Becca! 

After that we all went and got ready for dinner and Tuacahn.  Calin and Robby stayed home for dinner while Clara and I went and ate with everyone else.  Robby left Calin with his mom and then met us at Tuacahn.  Clara came to Tuacahn with us and stayed at the show care.  She did great and it was nice to have her close so I could go feed her during intermission since we still can't get her to take a bottle!

Reading stories with Aunt Becca before Tuacahn! 

 The next morning we had french toast over at my grandmas and then everyone came and hung out before we headed to church on Sunday.  It was so fun to see them all and it's always good to get everyone together!

Josef and Summer enjoying some Clara time! 

 The rest of the week with my parents we enjoyed swimming, walks, playing at our house inside and out, reading books, going to parks, and just having Grandma and Grandpa and Mia around for a while.  Unfortunately, we all had gotten colds right before everyone came, and then I got the flu on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.  It was so nice to have my parents there to help with the kids since I was miserable, but then I passed it to them and my poor mom and grandma got sick that weekend.  Robby also got it on Saturday.  Thankfully the kids never got it though!!

It was a great week though and we always love and enjoy having grandma and grandpa here to play with!

Calin went through a week phase of wearing his glasses all the time while my parents were  here.

Climbing trees with Grandma at Great Grandma's house! 

Walking around the block at Great Grandma's 

Clara was in her stand up mode and was a little concerned that grandpa was not standing up! 

Calin started a funny game with grandma and grandpa where he would tell them to "stand up" and then throw the bean bag and they would fall down.  It was his "david and goliath" game.  My parents were good sports to play this game over and over again!  He usually crashed down with them too! 

Playing at the river downtown with grandma! 

Grandma taught him how to make a parade with his animals.
He loved doing this every time we were over at Great Grandma's! 

Grandma also taught him to stand all his animals up on the blocks.  He also did this every time.

It was a great week and it is nice for me to have the company and the help with the kids.  They are also great to help with house projects and my dad was great to help Robby get the base for the shed started so that we can get that put up! We (especially me) are always sad to see my parents head back to Oregon.  I wish we could see them more often!  Thank goodness for face time and Skype!