11 Months

Oh Clara. She is getting so big in both size and personality. I just bought her a new outfit in 18 months and it fit great. She's paying attention to whats going on around her. She loves pointing to what she wants and likes. She's learned how to turn lights off and on, push the garage door button and ring bells at receptions. She is talking more, sometimes saying things that I think make sense. I am pretty sure I heard her say siena, dog, water, hi, bye and others. Though it could be in my head but I feel she is doing lots, I may just not be listening. Cedric usually demands all my listening skills. 

Summer has been fun, though this past month has been very hot. The "heat dome" made it unbearable to be outside but lucky we've had some days we could go out and splash around. She really likes the water, I suspect she will learn to swim before Cedric does (sounds familiar). 

I don't do it often but sometimes we get in some of Cedric's hand me downs. He wore this same suit when he was 4 months old in Cayman. She isn't small but man, he was a big baby!

 

We are working on some more big girl skills. Like going to the park and playing instead of being in the carrier. And not eating the mulch or rocks - though they still look very tasty. She loves the swings and slides, her big smiles and giggles when she gets to participate make me feel like I should be allowing her to do more. 

Clara is working on walking as well. She is walking with assistance  and even takes a few steps here and there on her own. Not enough steps to catch them on camera yet but they are coming. She stands alone all the time, she loves to practice (Cedric especially loves to help) and she had a bit of a sleep regression - so you know it's for real. 

Here are some of my favorite photos from this month. We went to dinner at Free State and because of some private event it took FOREVER. So we were all a little bored as we waited for the check. Instead of flipping out or melting down we chose to be silly. I love when these kids can play and laugh together.

 

 PS - Clara started it. 

Fourth of July 2016

This year for Fourth of July my parents came up to Lawrence for some BBQ and fireworks. Just for future reference, when we say BBQ we mean the real stuff. Bob has a new smoker and loves to smoke whenever he can. We have a freezer full of smoked meats. 

Cedric had never done any fireworks so in the afternoon we headed to the fireworks stand. I don't know who was more excited, my dad, mom or Cedric. I took the "mom" roll and had to keep telling everyone to put the big stuff back :). 

We brought our goodies home and set them off with my uncle and aunt that live in town. It was the small classics - the tank, the chicken, the race car, a few fountains and lots of sparklers. 

I was so sure Cedric was going to be bothered by the loud noises (I always was as a child and his temperament is much like mine) but Cedric LOVED it. He wanted more and was sad when it was over. I guess fire and explosions trump noise. Clara looked a little annoyed but was fine too. Maybe mommy is just a weeny. 

 It was a fun holiday, nice to see my parents and nice to pass some traditions on to my little guy!

Cedric's First Movie

For over a year I've known that Cedric's first movie would be Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo. I thought maybe if a G-rated movie came up before then that we'd consider going but nothing ever did. Of course, I found out the day before that Dory was rated PG and this whole idea of only showing my children G-rated movies went out the window. 

So I built up the "first movie" as best I could but Cedric really didn't seem too concerned. He had read the Curious George Goes to the Movies story and seen the corresponding cartoon. The morning we were meant to go Cedric decided he'd rather go to the indoor playground with Bob. So I realized pretty quickly we were doing this more for me than him :). 

It was opening weekend and we drove out to the Legends to see the show. We ate popcorn and cuddled during the end of the movie. I had to keep my leg on his seat so he wouldn't fall through the back and cursed the previews as they took way too long. I think Cedric enjoyed going, maybe he'll get more worked up for Cars 3 :).

10 Months

Clara is now 10 months. In a blink she will be a year. Things are moving fast and if I don't stop to look around once in a while, I'll miss them. 

Clara is definitely understanding a lot about the world around her. She loves to laugh and has a good sense of humor. She loves silly faces and goofy Cedric games. She knows common phrases and has been repeating sounds more. I'm fairly confident she is saying "all done" but it comes out "ah duh". When I really listen to the babbles she says, they are starting to sound more similar to words and phrases I say.  She can wave and clap, though not always on command. I think she is soaking in more than I realize. She is good with routine and isn't nearly as anxious around strangers as Cedric was. She does well being left with Bob and her grandparents, which is a nice change. I think she'll be the most social of all of us! She is still a happy girl but getting more opinionated. She struggles during diaper changes and doesn't like getting dressed. I think she is just over laying down. She wants to be sitting, standing, crawling and moving. She hasn't been cruising much but is a great stander, she barely needs to hold onto anything to stand. I find her standing in the center of the room quite often now, it won't be long before she decides to walk. 

 Clara is eating well, though sometimes I worry I've been giving her too much adult food (i.e. -food with salt and sugar). She's not been as excited about the pouches lately but she did learn to feed them to herself. Once that happened I realized she needed a lot more food than I've been giving her. Some days she is hungrier than others but in general she likes to eat. She especially likes finger foods, which is hard for me because I don't want her to choke and she loves shoving it in. 

This was at Chipotle, the first self fed pouch and first black beans and rice. Now she can't stop eating them!

We've been trying to stay cool during the extra hot June. We went up to Lake Quivera and Clara had her first taste of sand. It must have been good, she kept going back for more :/ - It's hard to convince a crawling baby to stay on her beach blanket. 

We went to the outdoor wadding pool for the first time on her 10 month day. She loves her nightly baths with Cedric in Mama's tub so I knew the pool would be a hit. She loved splashing and trying to catch the water. She kept trying to crawl deeper and splash the fountains. She's a fun girl and it's going to be a fun summer!

Month 9 (or The Month Everything Happened)

 So much was happening leading up to Clara turning 9 months I kept a running list of her accomplishments in the kitchen. Of course, I've lost the list now but I'm sure it will pop up some day and make me smile. Or cry. This girl is growing up so fast. 

Let's start with the 9 month stats:

Length: 28.5 inches - 75%

Weight: 18 lbs 11 oz - 42%

Head Circ 17.8 inches - 79%

So Clara is growing well. We are wearing some 12 month clothes now. Clara has been eating more food lately, soft solids and has really gotten into the Cheerios. It seems like the more she tries the more she wants! We are about 50/50 regular food and baby food. She likes to try anything Cedric has, we have to watch carefully that she doesn't get anything she can choke on!

And she finally has some teeth! This was the first photo I was able to get as she is very protective of her mouth. 

The week after Clara turned 8 months she started crawling and never looked back. Here she was practicing at the Lawrence Sports Pavilion while Cedric was at gymnastics. She really seems to enjoy the freedom crawling gives and doesn't sit still anymore. The worst is outside, I can't have her happily sit on our beach mat anymore. She immediately crawls to the grass to find something to stick in her mouth. 

With crawling came sitting up on her own and pulling up on everything. It was all of a sudden she could do everything and it really messed up bedtime. She was sitting up if she was awake and she seemed to be awake a lot more. And then came the standing. So for a week or so I was in her room a lot putting her back down to sleep until I felt she had learned to sit down and lay down by herself. Then we tried some sleep training to get her to fall asleep on her own. It helped her night wake ups but the naps have a lot of crying.

Since Clara started crawling and pulling up on everything I figured she needed some shoes. So these are her first real pair of little shoes and so far she's done a good job of keeping them on - when we use them. They are really just for when we head out of the house incase she wants to crawl around or stand. 

Here is Clara in a cute shirt I bought before she was born. I seemed to think she'd be a big girl by 9 months :). 

I feel like I'm forgetting things. Crawling, standing, eating, sitting from standing, sitting from laying, and generally all over the place. Clara loves Siena and Siena does a good job letting Clara pet her. Clara found Siena's water bowl and loves to try to splash the water. She also likes to try to splash the water in the toilet bowl. She's busy. 

We are moving up to new toys. She can't push herself on the little car but she enjoys going for a ride. She isn't interested in the walker feature. With all the standing I thought she'd start cruising around the furniture already but she is perfectly happy to sit down and crawl to what she wants. Fine by me, I do not need a walker yet!

After she did so well on the little car (and been doing well in shopping carts) I figured she would be strong enough for the wagon. Here she is on 5/24. We were just going to go down to the mailbox but she was having such a great time we ended up walking around the long block. This picture was taken after the 20 min walk and she was still so excited. She loved sitting and grabbing at things. She loved interacting with Cedric. All in all, she is enjoying growing up. 

8 Months, Baby :)

Little Clara isn't so little anymore. Well, yes she is but every week she's getting bigger! Here is my favorite photo of her from Easter. She is such a doll :)

Clara is very interested with the phone, remotes, video monitor, and basically any other electronic thing she shouldn't have. She loves lots of things she shouldn't have - paper, tissues, plastic, small pieces, magazines, grass, pens, string, electrical cords . . . the list goes on. 

We've been out a lot more now that the weather is nice, a good bonus to being back in Kansas is the warm weather in April. Clara loves spending time outdoors and it's nice when Cedric can find friends to play with so we can have some one on one time. 

The big development this month has been Clara's steps towards crawling. She went from lunging forward to getting in the crawling position. She will move her arms forward but hasn't quite figured out how to push her legs forward yet. She crawls her arms until she is on her belly then reaches and rolls until she gets what she wants. 

A few times she has successfully half pulled herself up. She loves to practice standing but doesn't try to walk or anything. She loves to be upright. 

Clara is very strong. Exhibit A - my arm a day after Clara decided it would be fun to squeeze it while feeding.

Clara is getting tired of some of her baby things. She is getting aware that some toys and activities are distractions so I can get things done. She just seems aware of what is going on, she is starting to understand some words and phrases. We've been starting to work on baby signing more. She's started clapping and sometimes I wonder if it is actually her trying to say "more". Maybe, she is a genius - right?

Cedric loves finding double shopping carts so he can sit with Clara. They've been getting along really well. There are times when Cedric ignores her a little but in general he is a great helper and likes to entertain her. She laughs at him and he loves that. I say "She thinks you're funny Cedric" then he says "I am funny Mom". 

Clara still can't sit up from laying by herself but she tries. She is such a happy baby. She is babbling a lot more -"yayaya", "gagaga", and "dadada" and it's always loud. She shouts and yelps and is really cute when she gets excited. She is getting opinionated but in general is very happy. 

Sleep hasn't been going very well this month. Clara is out of her Merlin Sleep Suit because she rolled in it and now is in a free for all situation at night. She rolls all over and is trying to find the best way to get comfortable. So she's up a lot. We didn't go through this with Cedric as he was out of the suit much earlier. 

Clara is a great baby, I just will love it when she sleeps more! I'm feeling like the bottom two teether are close to coming in - maybe things will get better after that? She is happy most of the day, so I try not to worry about it!