8 and 33

This week Clara turned 8 months old and I turned 33 years old.  At 8 months, Clara is crawling and clapping all the time, and starting to pull up and wave.  She's a bit shy around strangers at first.  She loves sliced banana, mama's homemade pizza, and organic whole grain waffles with a bit of maple syrup.  She's using a straw sippy for water and diluted juice.  Every time and age that passes with us thinking she can't possibly get any more delightful, she does :-)

Showing off her clapping skills (while eating bananas - she's multi-talented):

Chasing the kitty all over. Baby: 0, Kitty: 1.  (Warning: This video is only for relatives who infrequently see the baby and can afford to waste a few minutes of their life on this.)

On my birthday, I had to work and then Scott had class that night. Exotic, huh? Well, at least I got all these (and a few more) awesome cards and presents...



Clara's fingerprint cast in sterling w/birthstone
(Jane Wear @ Etsy)



Clara is so advanced.

And a pizza party at work (I love pizza)... and then a couple of hours after the pizza party, I was summoned to the conference room and saw:

I was so happy! It's rare I get to see my girl in the middle of the work day.  Thanks a ton to Scott and my gnomey Pamela for making that happen!



Baby girl is so big! Will I even be able to lift her on my next birthday??



Have a great weekend, y'all :-)

brief updates and photodump (again)

we are so busy these days with my work, scott's school, trying to get our house ready to sell, and a crawling, inquisitive baby!  she's doing great and I'll try to do a more substantive update on her 8-month bday tuesday. she loves swim class, chasing the pets, pretty much all food, and things she shouldn't play with like cords and daddy's textbooks. she laughs and smiles most of the time, and just started clapping when she's excited (will try to get a video). some pics from the last couple of weeks:

mommy had a long day but I get the leg massage! score.

blueberry protein pancakes.... necessitate baths

mommy's homemade pizza.... better without a bib

pretty please let me out of here?!

this goat... needs a diet



my Tennessee relatives (Vols fans) wanted me to fight the Florida gator



YOU AGAIN??





what?  why are you calling me damien? 



have a great week :)

G.

happy anniversary

9-15-07







9-15-11



 

pulling up?!! and photodump

After learning to crawl last weekend, Clara has perfected the art now. It is the cutest thing EVER and she is so proud of herself! The only downside is that now we have to baby-proof a bit. Luckily when Scott switched our "bisque" outlets for bright, modern, white last year, he installed the kind that are automatically baby-resistant (you have to stick something in both slots at once for either to open). We also traded in our glass coffee table for an upholstered storage ottoman and tray.  Now we just have to strap the TV to the wall, gate off danger areas like the bathroom, fasten a rogue lamp cord to the baseboard, and install small hooks for the blinds' cords .   We're not going to worry about kitchen cabinets and such at this point since we're hoping to sell our house soon and not have to do all that in two houses.

Scott went to check on Clara on Thursday and she was standing up in her crib! She hasn't done it since, but we went on and lowered the mattress to be on the safe side. It's unbelievable to me that in the course of a couple of weeks, she's started talking ("dada"), crawling, and pulling up. Can someone please stop time??

I have a post about breastfeeding ready to go up later this week, but since Clara's paternal grandmother is reportedly in withdrawal from no new pics, this is enough words for now :-)


my first carousel ride - with grandma!



crinkly-eye smiles are the most fun

the kitties are in big trouble now that I can crawl

 

CRAZY SMILE




meeting daddy's brother, Uncle Don T, for the first time. he likes cool stuff like cartoons. I think we will be bff's.



mommy thought it would be fun to take pictures in the grass. I thought it would be fun to eat grass.

 

mmmmmm....technology

Have a great week!
-G.

Crawling!

At seven months old, and with her Chattanooga grandparents in town, Clara learned to crawl this weekend! I was in the kitchen washing pump parts (%^&$!^^* - the one thing I won't miss about nursing when I'm done) when she first did it.  A minute later, giving me time to get the video camera ready, she did it again:

More pics from the weekend soon... Hope y'all have a great (short) week :-)
-G