Thursday, August 27, 2009

Clara’s 6th Month

From July 8 to August 8, Clara did quite a bit of learning, growing, and changing.

During this time, Clara gained true mobility when she learned that she can roll over more than one time in any direction. In this way, she rolls, with ever increasing precision, to any particular corner of the room she wants to and get into whatever she can find there. With her rolling, a blanket on the floor didn’t cut it anymore, so then we began using queen sized sheets. Now, I have to be more diligent on just vacuuming the whole room because she’s going to just roll all over the floor anyway! She particularly likes to roll over to the fireplace hearth, book case, desk, and easy chair so she can explore those interesting surfaces with her feet. Those little toes like to explore too!

Clara has also become more vocal this month. Strings of adorable babbling syllables, “Wuwuwuwuwu,” “Mamamamama,” “Babababa,” and even a whisptered “Papapa” are tried out one at a time then discarded for the next new sound. “Mama” seems to be the only one she shortens, but she tends to reserve it for grouchy moments. When I KNOW she’s using it to call me, I will dance for joy, but right now I’m just quietly celebrating her growing verbal skills. Oh, and her favorite sound over all, is still the raspberry. : )

On August 8, her six month birthday, I measured and weighed her and found her to be 27 inches tall (measured standing against the bookcase, Aw!) and 20lbs!

So, here is Clara in pictures. These photos are strictly in sequential order, so although they may appear extremely random, this is how our girl grew this month.

Clara and her daddy cuddle and reconnect every day when James gets home. It is very sweet to see their excited reunion. I never get tired of it!

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This picture was taken when I was getting ready one morning and left my night nursing *ahem* bra on the bed. Clara in her curious way had to examine it, of course, and ended up putting it on! It was backwards and upside down, but I had to get a picture anyway.

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And here’s a levitating Clara in her bouncer. She really loves it.

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Here is one cool chick in her Hawaiian shirt, sun hat, and shades. Grandpa Glenn brings home all kinds of adorable clothes and gifts from his many trips all over the globe.

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Gran Sally and Clara. Too bad the clouds are grey outside!

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This is my front porch after a typical Monday run to get our fresh farm veggies and groceries from Fred Meyer and Costco. This is what I end up toting up to the front door. Surely my arms must look like Popeye’s by now! (The blue bag on the end is full of spinach too : )

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Here my little model is trying on some Baby Legs with a little jumper Grandma Carol picked up for her. No, you’re not leaving the house with that on, Young Lady. ; ) But she sure is cute!

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Happy Birthday, to Mama! It’s so much nicer to have a birthday as a mother. I got to cuddle my little girl and get wet slobbery kisses all day. I think it gets even better when your children actually know what a birthday is. : ) Here we are at Red Robin for my birthday. Isaac and Adam were spending a couple of days with us and we all met James for lunch. I got a free burger, but I DID NOT get a free sundae, would you believe, I stayed completely sugar-free through my birthday?

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So I did a naked baby photo shoot. She was so adorable! I have to have SOMETHING to embarrass her with when she’s older. : )

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Happy Six Month Birthday, Clara!”

A quick family photo while packing to go to our party.

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Our two families assembled (except Grandma Carol who was in Ohio) to celebrate my birthday. Aspen and Dad took over hosting duties. It was a lot of fun.

Starting on the left, there was Sheila, Sheila’s Mama from Peru, Sally, Glenn, Robert, Brady (the silhouette), Aspen, me, Clara, James (taking the picture), Drake (not in the photo) and Jeremy.

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The “kids” table: cousin Niqui, Uncle Adam, and Uncle Isaac, with cousin Drake in the background in the highchair!

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My little Family. Aspen made the cute cake. I also finally broke my sugar fast with a little cake, some homemade Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (I own the recipe book!), and a wonderful vanilla ice cream made with maple syrup. Yum!

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I had fun making sure that Clara had gifts to open too. She did great with the tissue paper. She got an organic bamboo stuffed bunny to cuddle, a phthalate free squeaky ball, and a wonderful wooden and rubber string flexible toy. She’s six months old now! It was time for real toys! She loves them all. . . .IMG_6338

Especially to eat!

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But Grandpa Glenn’s security tags work well too!

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Uncle Isaac and Uncle Brady entertain Clara too.

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And later, James had a little birthday just for me. : ) Aren’t those the prettiest roses ever? They opened and dried so lovely too.

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“In other news . . .”

Our non-Clara portion of the month was busy too. To highlight a few things . . .

Our CSA share of farm fresh veggies has been going great this summer. I think it peaked at the end of July with a beautiful, Alaska grown variety of fresh yummies, but I expect it to go through September, ending with more root veggies like potatoes.

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James and I hosted a very authentic Greek birthday dinner at our house for Granddaddy Robert (cooked by all the ladies of the family). Did we get a picture of all of the wonderful food that we slaved over? Or the (almost) immaculate house that we haven’t showed you yet? Oh no. But we did get a picture of the baklava “cake” and the impromptu “birthday candle” that we used. : )

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Clara and I also met a few members of Sheila’s family. You may not know that James’s sister-in-law is from Peru, and this summer both her mother and her sister (who actually lives in the Netherlands now) came to visit her in Alaska. Sheila’s mother didn’t speak any English, either, that’s why Clara looks so confused in this picture below. : )

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A big part of Clara’s six month was taken up by her mama stressing about, preparing for, and teaching a VBS class on God’s Amazing Creation: Insects. I focused on butterflies and bees, although I really could have gone HUNDREDS of directions. I also am very aware that spiders are NOT insects, but the web added a cool effect. These are a few pictures of my classroom, and the 4 and 5 year olds who came to see it on the last day. Oh, while Mama was teaching, Clara stayed with Grandma Carol, and they had lots of fun together.

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That’s about it! Whew! With the marathon out of the way, I hope to feel more free to just post more about our day to day life. I’ll try anyway!

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:05 PM

    What a happy Birthday month you had. I am happy for you to have enjoyed the whole month!
    Sally

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  2. Cute stuff! She is getting cuter every month! And happy birthday to you! And, your room was so cute! I know that is sooo tough to get all that ready with a little one! Congrats and 'good on ya' for doing VBS and such a studpendous job (from what it looks like)!
    Love you all!
    Luc and Dougle and boys

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