The Slippery Slope of Growing Up

On Saturday I came into Clara's room to find her sitting up in bed.  I was amazed.  It was so cute to see that she'd finally figured out how to sit up without help, and she was awfully proud about it. She seemed like such a big girl!

On Sunday I can into her room to find her STANDING UP in bed. She was REALLY proud about that one.

What? What a minute? Back up. When did this happen? I was looking forward to the sitting-herself-up phase. Did it really just come and go in one day? And now she's moved on?

Might I add that the "drop side" of the crib was down when she accomplished this feat, as I was completely clueless that she was anywhere near standing herself up, and when I discovered her, she was leaning over its edge, reaching for her nearby dresser. Yikes.

By Monday she'd begun taking steps (while holding our hands or her walker) with increasing proficiency, and today she crawled up and down the step between our family room and kitchen.

They say once a baby starts becoming mobile, locomotion is a fast progression.  I have to say, to me it feels more like a slippery slope to the inevitable: growing up.  And things are in full "motion" around our house.

On the go.

Clara at 9 Months

You've gotta love the cute eating pictures.

Weight: 21 lbs. 13 oz. (91st percentile)

Length: 29" (91st percentile)

What she can do: Clara can crawl within a few feet of her starting point, support herself against the couch while standing, eat cheerios, pull herself up to standing occasionally (still pretty shaky), sit herself up, clap, bang two objects together, drink from a sippy cup, and roll/wiggle/squirm in an attempt to crawl right off her changing table.

Yes, she does have two legs.  The other one's just hidden do to the wide stance required for balancing.

Mommy time

What she likes: Clara likes other babies.  She squeals and giggles when she sees one across the way in the grocery store.  Other moms just have to laugh.  She likes a container of objects that she can reach into and pull items out to play with one by one.  She also likes ...me.  She's becoming increasingly clingy, especially in new situations or around new people.  My not-so-cuddly baby is becoming more cuddly, and I love it.

Clara and her friend Izzy, just being babies.

Clara is crawling some, but she still can't quite keep up.

Sleep: A few days ago I stopped feeding Clara at night, so she's been pretty unhappy with me when she wakes up wanting to nurse.  As a result she's spending lots of time crying before going back to sleep. I use the Ferber Method to comfort her by patting/rubbing her at 5, 10, 15, and 20 minute intervals.  When she sees me come over to her crib she initially cries much harder and louder because her expectation of nursing isn't being met.  It's been tough for everyone, but two nights ago she slept all the way through the night without waking.  The next morning Mitch left for work with an extra spring in his step saying that was the best night of sleep he'd had in a long time.  We're on the right track I think... we're going to stick with it for at least a while.

Other Information: Clara has a ready smile and likes to socialize.  People frequently comment that she's a happy baby.  I like hearing that.  She is smiley and likes anyone who interacts with her.  Also, she's in almost all 12 month sized clothes now.  Still, her growing seems to be slowing a bit.

Bedtime = The Best Time

As the clock strikes 7:00 o'clock, Mitch grabs up Clara and marches her to the bathroom to fill her ducky tub with water.  It's bedtime for babies at the Bennett house.  Once the tub is ready, it's Clara turn.  She's taken to her room and stripped of her now grimy clothes and wet diaper.  I love seeing her cute baby bottom pass by as Mitch carries the giggling Clara at arms length to the bathroom.  Her little legs kick around in the open air below her, causing her whole body to wiggle and swing effectively along the way.  She's then plopped into her bath water.  I pop my head to observe the fun.  Clara splashes and plays, giving 100% of her attention to her toys, and doing her best to ignore the inconvenient scrub-down that is simultaneously being administered by her dad.  Once suitably clean, she is transported back to her changing table where she receives a new diaper and is quickly zipped into her feety pajamas and laid in her crib.

Now it's my turn.  I select three books from her shelf and place them along the side of the rocker for later, then rescue the now-whining Clara from her crib.  She nurses while we rock.  It's relaxing.  Once finished, I try to burp her as she tries to climb me.  I try to pat down her wet hair as she tries to reach the blinds and scratch the wall.  I try to squeeze her for a passing hug as she tries to pull and eat my hair.  Eventually we re-situate with her sitting on my lap and the reading commences.  As I turn the pages, she sits, completely relaxed against me (anyone who knows Clara well can appreciate that this is a rare occurrence), and listens to the words while watching the pages turn.  It's so SWEET.  It's hard for me to eventually stop reading (we may have done all the books twice by this point) and put her to bed.

I always end by laying my hand on her head and praying for her or blessing her.  Most often I pray, "God would you bless Clara so that she would grow to know you, the one true God and your Son, Jesus."  There's nothing greater that I could wish for my daughter.  As much as I love her, I know that God loves her infinitely more.

It's Hard Not to Help

Clara has acquired some exciting new skills in recent days, particularly pertaining to her ability to self-feed.  When I put a puff in front of her, one at a time, she can reach out, pinch it up between thumb and forefinger, and by some means or another land it in her mouth with about 50% accuracy.  In other words, one for Clara, one for the floor, one for Clara, one for Clara's hair, one for Clara, one for the highchair crevices.  

However, the every-other-puff that makes it into her mouth has a painful journey to it's final destination.  It's hard to watch.  She reaches for it, knocking it to the side, she reaches again, awkwardly maneuvering her fingers to grip it.  She aims for her mouth but misses.  She aims again with better results.  Though not a perfect delivery, her wet lips are sticky enough to hold it for a moment.  Engage other hand.  She reaches up, attempting with two sets of fingers to push it the rest of the way in.  She can already taste a hint of banana-grain-goodness.  But no, she winds up chewing her finger with the tantalizing puff still dangling off her lip.  After another double-fisted effort, involving concentrated tongue and lip work, with her head straining forward, she finally succeeds and enjoys the fruit of her labor.

I know I could so easily put her out of her misery (and surely she's miserable, right?) by popping that puff directly into her mouth for her.  Instead I sit, perched on the edge of my chair, my eyes glued on her, willing her brain and muscles to do the needed work and feeling a great sense of relief on her behalf when she succeeds.  Meanwhile she's happily reaching for the next puff.

I would gladly do it for her, but I know that she needs to practice and learn.  Part of being a parent is allowing your child to gain needed independence along the way.  Nonetheless, it's hard not to help.

Clara at 8 Months

Height: 28.75"

Weight: 21 lbs. 4 oz.

What she can do: She can sit independently with increased stability, stand while bracing herself against something (with a spotter), roll around with the best of them, babble (ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-tha-tha-tha), eat efficiently, and give eye contact to anyone who says her name.  She can get up on all fours and rock back and fourth and try to crawl, which usually results in her face-planting into the ground since her arms haven't figured out what to do yet.  If she doesn't like something I'm doing to her (say, wiping her face), she's now figured out how to grab my hands and push them away.  Lovely.  And she got a new tooth yesterday, so we're up to six.

What she likes: She likes standing, the Skidamarink song (she will laugh if you sing it to her), banging on the computer keyboard, pulling my glasses off my face, trying to climb whoever's holding her, and the airplane (I lay on my back with knees bent while she lays on my shins and zooms around).  I've begun to notice that she thrives on being around people.  And she's always good in the church nursery no matter how grumpy she is for me.  It appears that mom gets boring after a while, but it's helpful when other friends or family members are introduced to the environment.  :)  Other babies make her laugh.  She really likes her foam bath pieces.  I usually throw three in her tub at once.  It's funny watching her because she's determined to have all three of them in her control.  This usually means that she puts one in her mouth and then grabs one with each free hand.  The main problem with this is that those other two hands want space in that mouth too.

Sleep: I wish!  Her new tooth may explain a few things.  She has been waking up every hour of the night for the past three nights.  This reminds me of "Baby Think-It-Over" from middle school.  Otherwise her sleep has been mediocre throughout the month.  She wakes up because she works her way sideways and down to one end of her crib where she gets stuck, has to be rescued, and becomes wide awake in the process.

Other information: I have to admit, Clara looks a bit goofy with her new top teeth.  They remind me of the silly pumpkin faces I used to carve for Halloween.  It's still super-cute though.  Yay! for awkward baby stages!

Clara's First Thanksgiving

Clara's first Thanksgiving was celebrated with both sides of our family.  The weekend before the big day we ventured to my parent's home for an early get-together with my family.  We all went to church together at FBC and then ate a big turkey dinner with my Aunt Myrtle and Uncle Jim, Grandpa and Grandma, and cousin Brian and family, brother, sister and husband, and parents.  My signature dish for these dinners has become the Diary Potato Bake.  Mitch isn't complaining about that at all.  Clara sat in her high chair with us and entertained us with her coos and smiles.

Rather than turkey or stuffing, she was fed carrot/squash medley.  At one point, mid baby food scoop, someone asked me a question.  I turned to answer them prior to delivering Clara's latest bite, with the spoon hovering just out of reach of her mouth.  Suddenly my mom started laughing.  We turned to look at her.  It was a moment or two before she could get out an explanation.  It turned out that while I was distracted, Clara had made several concentrated efforts to eat her bite, repeatedly opening her mouth and lunging toward the tantalizing spoonful of food, but to no avail.

So excited to be eating with the group! (Photo by Crystal)

Clara's handmade Thanksgiving dress from Grandma.  (Photo by Crystal)

We had a fun time visiting.

A few days later, after Mitch got off work for the holiday on Tuesday, we drove late into the evening to get to TX around 2am to spend Thanksgiving with Mitch's side of the family.  The following day Jan, Clara, and I headed into Dallas for a little makeover for me.  Jan had a connection with someone who was doing free haircuts to build their haircut portfolio, so I got signed up for that.  Then, for my Christmas present, and because she knew I was interested, Jan hired her close friend, a professional makeup artist, to teach me about makeup.  I came away from the day with a whole new (yet fairly subtle) look!

On Thanksgiving we got together with Mitch's Grandma and aunts, uncles, and cousins and the Alvey's house for a wonderful meal together.  Later several of his extended family members (32 additional people I believe) came to join us.  Lots of new faces for me!  Clara was funny.  The moment the door opened and 30+ people filed into a home that was already somewhat full with the current 20 some, she commenced to yelling.  For quite some time, she just yelled over and over again, "Ahhhhh!  Ahhhhh!  Ahhhhh!" as if to see how loud she needed to be to hear herself over the crowd.  Overstimulated?  I think so.  Nonetheless, she loved it all and did great.  The moment we laid her in her pack 'n play that night, she was OUT.

David and Carolyn, our hosts for Thanksgiving. (Photo by ...David?)

Clara, Jan, and I at Thanksgiving (Photo by ...Jan?)

Over the next two days we got to spend some good time with Jan, Brian, and Kevin before heading home.  Because we won't see them again until after Christmas, the gave us Christmas presents early.  Clara received a book with the recorded voices of her Nana and Papa.  As Jan turned through it and let it read itself to Clara, she kept laughed, with a good chuckle for each new page.  Jan narrated her thoughts saying, "Hilarious!  A talking book!"  I thought it was pretty funny.

Clara's talking book (Photo by Brian)

"Yay!  A donkey!"  It was part of the nativity set. (Photo by Brian)

Clara was also quite enthralled with her wooden tower of fun.  She got some other super sweet presents like a girly suitcase and a kids nativity set.

Group picture! (Photo by David)

Clara was a hit with her cousins (2nd cousins that is) and they were a hit with her! (Photo by David

She did fabulously on our return drive, sleeping all but 2 hours of our driving time.  We stopped along the way to give her some breaks.

Yay for family time!  We have so much to be thankful for this year as always!

A Flair for the Dramatic

I'm beginning to think Clara is a bit of a dramatic.  She definitely doesn't get that from Mitch.

I mainly have three reasons for this forming theory.

1) She recently had her first ear infection.  She had all the symptoms.  It started on a Friday night, of course, so after being reassured that this was no emergency (which, for this first-time parent, requires a phone call to the nurse hotline), we were forced wait it out over the weekend with Tylenol.  Had you been with us those few days, you'd have known, as we did, that Clara was in a bad way.  No one slept, no one relaxed.  Finally Monday came, and after our third rough night and tense day, I took her in to see her pediatrician first thing.  Here we learned that she had a mere "slight bit of redness" in one ear and was otherwise just fine.  I could tell from the doctor's reaction that she was more giving Clara an antibiotic and terming it an "ear infection" so I didn't feel like a complete idiot.  Jan pointed out that at least Clara is going to let me know when she has an ear infection whereas some babies barely let on.  Yes.  Yes she will.

2) She is quite vocal about whether or not a particular situation is to her liking in general.  I wouldn't call her a fusser per say... just opinionated...

3) I'm happy to say that I'm pretty good at determining when Clara is tired at this point in our journey together. Yet it seems that no matter how many signs she gives me (rubbing her eyes, yawning, fussing, etc.) and no matter how right I am in thinking that she needs a nap, she begins each one with a good, passionate cry the moment I situate her in her crib.  It lasts about 60 seconds, then fades away, and she's usually deeply asleep within 5 minutes.  It's as if she's saying, "Just so you know, I do not want to take a nap!" as she's simultaneous drifting off to sleep.  Duly noted Clara.  Goodnight.

Clara finally started sitting independently with stability this week!  

  

Yes, those are two new top teeth! (actually 3) I think this was taken the first day they'd popped through earlier this week.

 

I have to admit, I'm one of those moms who thinks her baby is just the cutest thing ever.  But I mean, come on, just look at that face... :)