These things go straight to my thighs.

Clara is getting pretty skilled in the art of feeding herself. Unfortunately, this can lead to a bit of overconfidence, such as today, when she tried to eat an entire rice cake in one go.

She soon learn how difficult it is to eat something bigger than your whole mouth in one bite. Later she may learn that in our family these starchy snacks go straight to the thighs...

8 months and counting

Clara at 8 months...

*Still not crawling. I'm trying to be patient, and really its just going to make life more complicated, but I want her to crawl sooo bad!
*She loves her bunny. Apparently hide and seek bunny is the most hilarious thing ever.
*When she is feeling amused, she breaths really heavily through her nose and crinkles up her face.
*She loves to eat pears, prunes, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, and rice cakes. She doesn't care for mangoes  bananas, and green beans.
*She says "mamamamama" and "dadadada" and it seems that she has some inkling of what that means.
*She loves her bath. Its perhaps her favorite time of the day.

6-month old fogey

Our little Clara has just had her half birthday... she's 6 months old! Its hard to believe that that little tiny baby that came into our lives 6 months ago has turned into such a big vibrant girl. Intellectually I knew it was going to happen, but some things about baby Clara still surprise me.

I'm amazed at our much her voice has changed; from her tiny, new born wail to babbling all sorts of sounds. She occasionally likes to practice what I call her "Wecker voice". which is basically seeing how loud she can yell.

I wonder at her mobility. From the little, swaddled bundle who was content to be laid almost anywhere, I now have a very squirmy baby. her main mode of transportation is rolling, and she loves to be put on the floor within rolling distance of all of her toys.

I love her chubbiness. When Clara was born, she was at the smaller-end of the scale at 6 pounds 11 ounces. She had skinny little chicken legs. Now she is the epitome of a "Gerber" baby, with very chubby checks and thighs. She has taken to the new adventure of solid foods with much enthusiasm, so I don't think this is going to change anytime soon.

I'm elated by her sleep. She has changed from a newborn who would sleep anywhere, to a baby that thought any sleep was for the weak, to a baby that is able to sleep 12 hours at night without much help. Naps are another story, but I'm feeling optimistic.

I marvel at her curiosity. Like all newborns, Clara was content to be held and stare into space. Now she is intensely curious, especially about whatever I am doing: studying, cooking, writing, cleaning. She loves to play with her toys or anything else that is handy, and I think she could watch our dog, Scout, forever.

Her eyes. They were beautiful then, and they're beautiful now.

Mmm... sea salt + ice cream

Nathan would tell you without hesitation that I'm a little weird when it comes to desserts. Its not that I dislike desserts, I just don't have much of a sweet tooth. That's why he usually ends up with his slice of pie and mine (minus two bites). These are pictures from our trip to Portland a few weeks ago, when Jen took us to the neatest little ice-cream place: The Salt and Straw. It was perfect for me because the had a variety of unconventional ingredients that combined salty and sweet flavors. I played it safe with sea salt and caramel ribbons, but I could have had ice cream with dandelion, rhubarb, blue cheese, or balsamic vinegar. 

The question of self-portraits...

I was looking through my photos and I realized something; I don't have very many photos of myself. It's gotten much worse since Clara's birth. Not only is she so much more fun to photograph, but I'm also dealing with my own issues in accepting my post- pregnancy body. After you have a baby, it's easy to feel like your body is someone else's; it doesn't look, feel, or move like it used to.

It's not that I hate any picture of myself, I just hate most of them.  I am going to make an effort to change this in the future. Maybe if I take enough pictures (not in a narcissistic way), I can overcome this aversion to seeing me in a photo, because an important part of documenting my daughter's life is documenting my role in it.

Good morning, sunshine...

Thank you, cousin Lucy, for the snuggly blanket!

Cousin Cade

We had a nice little visit with my sister Emily and her new baby, Cade. Cade is just two weeks old, but he's already so big! I can't wait until they are older and can play together as cousin friends.

Tulip Festival

happy baby, sad baby

Baby is sad...

on her tummy.

Baby is happy...

on her back...

with people making silly faces at her.

First Easter

What a lovely Easter Sunday we had. We had a lovely Easter service at church, and Clara looked so precious in her Easter outfit.

It was such a lovely day I couldn't stand the thought of being inside, so we moved outside for a picnic dinner, followed by a nice walk.

Oh Utah...

Outside my window this morning...

Outside my window this afternoon...

Bundled Bundle

Before we say goodbye to winter for good, we did have a chance to use our adorable baby snowsuit, and we continue to make use of our all-terrain stroller for family walks.

Zonked

Everyone sleeps but me...

P.S. baby is one month old today! I can hardly believe it...