Come on, Pacifier!

Today Clara found her thumb.  This is not a good sign considering Mitch and I were both notorious thumb-suckers as children.

I've been working with Clara for probably 6 weeks to take a regular pacifier.  It would be a nice option when trying to soothe her and helpful for our upcoming road trip to Texas.  It's advantageous because it's easier to break a child of a pacifier than of her own thumb, which follows her everywhere.  She makes funny faces when I put a pacifier in her mouth, including some gagging, wrinkling her upper lip, and thrusting it out of her mouth repeatedly.  She has yet to figure out that she can actually suck on it.

Our daily pacifier practice.

She's great at sucking her own hands though, and now her thumb too!

Clara at 12 Weeks

My baby is growing up!

WEIGHT: Today she unofficially weighted in at 14 pounds!

LENGTH: 24"

WHAT SHE LIKES: She likes her baby gym, socializing, her rattle, her swing, being sung to, cuddling, her changing table, taking a bath, looking at her dragonfly wrist rattle, and playing with her dad.

WHAT SHE CAN DO: She can reach for and bat at objects, and she can bring her hand to her mouth.

OTHER INFORMATION: She's been easy on Mitch and I in many regards. She sleeps 5-8 hours in a row at night, is happy most of the time, enjoys diaper changes and baths, rarely spits up, and usually falls asleep in her crib without crying.

She had another one of her large-scale poopy blowouts.  It was a challenge getting all the poop out of her belly button.

Recently loud noises have begun to scare and upset her.  While I was holding her yesterday, Mitch, who was in the next room, sneezed.  She did not like that AT ALL.  Granted, he can be a loud sneezer.

Busy Baby

Clara has had a busy weekend with some noteworthy firsts.

• She attended her first Baptism Celebration (which was AMAZING. We love our church!)
• First brush with nature. She actually touched grass. And a fly landed on her.
• First time to Fitz's.
• First picnic.
• First zoo visit.
• First time to stay in the church nursery for both services.
• First time to demonstrate that she can't take a good nap while we're out and about. 

I'm going to have to stop bragging about how I can still do basically whatever I want with a baby in tow because it looks like Clara's beginning a schedule domination phase.  I hear that one lasts a few years.

Looking so sweet in her Sunday clothes.

Clara's brush with Nature.

Some cute things I've noticed about Clara:

• When I push her stroller over the gravel in our driveway her cheeks jiggle.  And she's got some cheeks! They are getting cheekier (softer and pudgier) by the week.  Although I hear she's still no match for her father at this age.
• She stares at me the entire time she's nursing. And it doesn't matter if I'm watching her or paying her no attention. Every time I look down her gaze is intensely locked on mine.  We're talking unwavering eye contact.  I'm beginning to think she doesn't even blink. 

Why We Invented Crib Bumpers

I'm learning why crib bumpers were invented. Clara has been camping out in our guest room this week as the floor in her room is being refinished. In all the commotion of moving and having the items from several rooms misplaced into other rooms, her crib bumper has been MIA, so she's been doing without it until things get sorted out.

This shouldn't have been a problem. She's never needed it before.

Unfortunately, however, she picked this week to develop the skill of working her body around in a circle. She can turn like a pro, and I have yet to witness how she does it.  The result of these acrobatics is a lot more waking up at night and crying.  She's increased from 1 to 3 wake-ups.  And most of these are not hungry cries, but "Rescue me!" cries.  I find either her little legs and feet are sticking out through the crib rails kicking around or her head is tipping off the edge of the mattress and mashed up against them.

I finally went on an emergency scavenger hunt today and re-installed the crib bumper for the last night of her camp out.

Other Clara changes: She's got lots of new, super-cute expressions. She's more interested in playing. If I put her rattle in her hand she can hold and shake it.  She cried today simply because she wanted to cuddle.  She played in her baby gym and spent 10 minutes batting at a couple of toys for the first time.  She's a lot more interested in looking around when we go on walks.  I've determined she's pretty much a laid back gal with a good temperament and a lot of fun to be around.

Have Baby Will Travel

We went on our second mini-roadtrip last week since Clara joined our family.  She does really well for the most part.  We spent some time in Columbia, visiting several friends and family.  The highlight for Clara was seeing her buddies Lucas and Zoe, the children of two of my closest friends (along with seeing her grandparents of course).

Lucas is one year old.  He very good at being "pacito" while patting Clara.  

Zoe and Clara were born within 6 weeks of each other.  

Zoe's mom, Amanda and I have a long history together. We were born together, in the same hospital, a day apart. We figure we first met in the hospital nursery.  We re-met in elementary school where we became best friends and frequently called each other to coordinate our outfits for school the next day.  We were cool, I know.  When we realized Clara and Zoe had the same outfit, we decided to continue the tradition for old times sake. After all, we're pretty sure they're going to be best friends.

 

Mitch and I also enjoyed "showing" Clara around Mizzou's campus with Crystal and Ryan.  We took some pictures. 

Upon returning home, the two NBA fans in the family enjoyed some relaxing basketball-watching time together.

It was a fun break. Now back to refinishing wood floors...

A Day in the Sun

Clara went swimming for the first time today.  She tolerated it pretty well, although after about 10 minutes she began crying for an unknown reason, so we got out of the water.  I was uneasy keeping her in the sun any longer than that anyway.  She did look awfully sweet in her little swimsuit and sun bonnet.

 She was pretty tuckered out after all the fun and sun, so we rested in the shade for a while.

I noticed that I've developed a strategy for nick-naming Clara. It's easy. Basically I just add er to the end of whatever verb describes what she's doing at the time. Like Fusser, Sleeper, Pooper, Eater, Squirmer, Smiler, Burper, and yeah... that's about all she does. I've now also tried to assign nicknames to Mitch using this same method on two occasions.  That's probably not a good impulse to indulge in with any frequency, but it is sort of funny.

Mitch, using that highly creative brain he possesses, has taken to calling Clara "Little Baby" when a pet name is pertinent.  It's cute.

I've noticed a big difference in Clara lately.  She's much more active and responsive.  We actually play now, and she actually likes one of her toys!  A rattle.

Fancy Band-aids

Clara experienced pain on Friday in the form of vaccines.  I wish she didn't have to know about pain.  She certainly let us know that she didn't like it!

The only bright spot to the vaccinations were these cute band-aids.  Clara didn't care about them of course, so the nurses must have included them for my benefit.  I did appreciate it and had to take a picture.

It’s sad to think that through bringing a baby into the world we subject her to all the suffering, pain, and death that come with this fallen and decaying place in which we live.  I’ve been feeling a little bad about it, but then I read John 1 and realize that God IS life.  Life is a beautiful thing and a blessing.  And through Jesus, Clara can experience a fulfilling bodily life and a wonderful, glorious eternal life.  She was created by God, brought into the world according to His sovereignty and perfect timing, and is safely in His loving hands.  So there’s no reason for me to feel bad for her.

We learned that Clara is a big girl. She weighed in at 11 lb. 12 oz., (82^nd percentile) and measured 23.5” (93^rd percentile).  Will she have the Bennett height?  She’s certainly on track!  Only time will tell now…

My Attempt at Blogging

I've been meaning to start a baby journal. Clara does so many funny and cute things, and I'm going to forget most of them if I don't write them down. However, I haven't done it yet and seem to lack journaling motivation, so I'm going to try a blog instead. Perhaps the phantom possibility of an audience comprised of interested parties will keep me engaged and consistent!