More Clara Pictures

Clara is almost 6 weeks and is getting cuter by the minute. She finally smiled yesterday and I just fell even more in love! I tried to get a picture, but she didn't want to cooperate. I think I still got some cute ones.

Clara 1 month Photo Shoot

My friend, Ceri, gave me these cute stickers to document each month of the first year. So on her one month birthday we had a mini photo shoot, courtesy my excellent photography skills. I couldn't just pick a few so here they all are!

Tyler and Clara

It has to be one of the sweetest parts of parenthood to see your children love each other. Tyler has adjusted quite well to being an older brother. Aside from occasional moments of jealousy, it is very obvious that he loves his little sister. He always wants to hold her, kiss her, and play with her. He especially loves laying down on the floor with her when she has play time.

This is one of my favorite times of the day. Pretty much every time I lay her down he lays down next to her and puts his forehead to hers and they just look at each other. SO SWEET!

Clara's First Month

Can you believe it's already been 1 month!? I think all mothers say that - I know I said it with Tyler, but really - I can't believe it's already been a month! Clara has been just the sweetest little baby ever! Nursing has been a challenge at times as she has days where she becomes, what I have dubbed a chain nurser - making me feel more like a cow than ever, keeping me tied to the couch, and giving me mere winks of sleep at night. But luckily those days are outnumbered by the more normal nursing days. And, even with the chain nursing days, she is already much better than Tyler ever was. She is growing up a storm! Her 2 week stats were as follows:

Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz (which was 12 oz up from her weigh in the week before!)

Height: 20 in (an 1.25 inch growth from birth)

Her percentiles are about 10-25th, so on the smaller side, but hey - she's growing!

I'm pretty sure she is up at least another pound since her clothes are getting tighter and some aren't even fitting anymore.

Some fun things about Clara:

- Clara loves being outside and is really beginning to enjoy our daily walks.

- One thing I have learned about Clara is that as much as she loves cuddling and loves attention, she also needs occasional down time. Sometimes when she's fussy I'll cuddle and cuddle to help her calm down, only to put her in her swing and have her calm down immediately.

- She is beginning to enjoy floor play and will kick and flap her arms like crazy!

- She has an incredibly strong neck for a 1 month old and can hold her head up quite well.

- Clara likes being sung to and will stop crying to listen to singing (it helps tons in the car!)

- Clara is patient - especially with Tyler. She already puts up with a lot of holding, pushing, kissing, and occasional bumping.

- She is calm and rarely cries - fortunately for us all!

- She hasn't smiled yet, but has the cutest dimple on her left cheek when she makes certain faces. I can't wait to see her real smile!

- She has the sweetest little personality and has brought so much joy to our home! We love her!

And finally, pictures!

Tyler's Potty

I've been wondering when to start potty training Tyler. I don't want to start too soon and have an episode similar to the toddler bed fiasco (which by the way is going MUCH smoother now), but much like the toddler bed fiasco, this kid has begun some habits that are almost forcing me to begin potty training earlier than planned. Not only has he shown an incredible interest in the potty and all that goes in one, but he has decided he hates having a diaper on.

I found him like this one afternoon when I realized things seemed all too quiet in his bedroom. When he goes to the bathroom now, particularly number 2, he takes off his diaper, usually bringing it to me as if offering some wonderful gift. Aside from the obvious solution of keeping clothes on him 24/7, I began wondering if maybe, just maybe, he was ready for the big boy potty! And so, we went shopping.

We picked out the best big boy potty Target had to offer - complete with a toilet seat, lid, flusher, and toilet paper holder. And get this - it sings a song when you go. Who wouldn't want to go to the potty on that? Tyler thought it was the best thing ever.

Since Tyler still only tells me he has to go potty after he goes potty, I have decided that we will call this phase of potty training - "Becoming Familiar with the Potty." I haven't put him in underwear or even pull-ups, I just let him sit on the potty whenever he wants to and talk about going to the bathroom like a big boy. He has yet to actually go in the potty, but he still has to put the toilet lid down, flush, and wash his hands before he'll leave the bathroom. It's pretty cute! Now we just wait for Tyler to be ready.

(you may wonder if I ever dress my child - be assured, generally I do)

Clara's First Real Bath

It was a while before Clara finally got a real bath - thanks to a bleeding belly button - but finally, around 3 and a half weeks old she got to experience the thrill of bathtime! I was a little wary, since Tyler screamed through his first bath, but Clara took to the water like a fish. She sat there completely content, looking out the window. And of course she looked stinkin' cute in her little towel!

Clara's First Week

Our first week with Clara was full of feeding, changing, sleeping, some crying (but really not that much), holding, snuggling, and getting to know our little girl. Clara is a wonderful baby! Some how I have been blessed with two happy, content little babies (knock on wood).

Some things about Clara during the first week: She already has super long curly eye lashes - lucky! She is already able to focus on my face for short periods of time when I'm holding her extra close. Speaking of holding her - she absolutely LOVES to be held. From day one she has been a cuddler. The only way I could get her to sleep this first week was cuddled up to me, which has completely blown my strict belief of no co-sleeping. If she is fussy all I need to do is pick her up and cuddle her and she is good to go. Makes it a little difficult for me to get anything done, as she wants to be held almost 24/7, and poor Tyler gets a little jealous sometimes, but comes with the territory I guess. Clara also loves to roll and stretch. She can already roll from side to side when you lay her on the floor! She's a mover.

This week Clara had her first well baby check up and a follow up weigh in. The check up went well as did the weigh in - or at least the results of the weigh in. The actual appointment itself is another story. I waited over an hour for a 2 minute weigh in and once we were finally called in the "nurse," if you can call him that, knew absolutely nothing. I had to tell him that Clara needed to be undressed for the weigh in, that a chucks pad had to be laid down on the scale before I put her little body on it, AND (this is the kicker) I had to show him how to read the scale. WHAT? The scale didn't show ounces, just pounds, so he tried to read it as if the second number was ounces when it was really just so many 10ths of a pound -which would result in a completely different weight. I was fuming. It took nearly all my restraint to keep my voice calm. What if I hadn't known how to read his scale? My actual doctor would have called me in a frenzy thinking Clara had lost a significant amount of weight and, might I add, scared the pants off me. I wondered how many other mistakes he had made. Anyway, luckily I'm not an idiot (unlike my "nurse") and the real weight was actually a gain in weight - not a loss - so all was well.

Anyhoo, this week we also celebrated my birthday, Mark's birthday, and Father's Day. Party! And Tyler got to know his sister a little better. Its a love/hate relationship - but mostly love. The first few days were a little rough and I got a few hits for good measure just to make sure I knew he was feeling a little left out. But since then he has adapted quite well. He always wants to hold her, kiss her, hug her, and cuddle her. Cuddling usually consists of laying on top of her or putting his massive noggin on her tiny one, but each day he gets better and better at being soft. The cutest is at night when he is being put to bed he reminds us that he has to kiss "baby." I'm excited to watch their relationship grow! And finally - pictures!

Mommy and Clara on Father's Day

LOVE!

Daddy and Clara

Cute Baby

Brotherly love

Pretty eyes!