6 Months!

I'm behind posting about Clara baby, and she's actually almost 7 months now!  Everything went well at her 6-month check-up.  Here's her stats:

Weight: 16 lb. 8 oz. (75%)

Height: 28 in. (98%)

Head: 42 1/4 cm (50%)

Yep, she's a TALL baby.  Everyone always thinks she's 9 months.  Eli's been asking to hold her lately.  I wouldn't be surprised if she surpassed him in growth!

Clara is just the sweetest baby ever.  All she wants is to make eye contact so she can smother you with her smiles.  That girl seriously smiles and laughs all day long.

Everything finally settled down around here for a bit, so I knew it was time to sleep-train Clara, getting her to sleep without being swaddled, and permanently move her from the bassinet to the crib.  (We had tried in December one night, but she didn't handle it well, so I felt we should wait.)  It took about three nights of some crying (with soothing), but then she was sleeping through the night!!  It was a miracle.  Before she was waking up several times through the night because she'd become unswaddled and couldn't get herself back to sleep.  I know how important it is to let babies learn to self-soothe (plus even more important that everyone gets the sleep they need!).  Instead of the swaddle I put her in a sleep sack.  So every night we do our sleep routine, I put her down (by 6:30pm), and she sleeps til around 4:00 or so, eats, then goes back to sleep til 7:00.  Awesome!

Of course, there had to be a couple hiccups, right?  Just a few days after getting her sleeping well she began waking and crying a lot.  I knew she was finally cutting her teeth (bottom two).  It was at least a week of rough sleeping (teething and Clara do NOT mix!).  Even after the teeth cut through, she was still in pain for several days.  I was worried that she would have to be re-trained, but thankfully once she felt better she was back to sleeping well again.

It took a lot longer to get her napping unswaddled and in the crib.  At first I'd just put her in the crib, let her cry for 20 minutes or so, and occasionally she'd fall asleep in there, but often I'd go in, swaddle her, and put her back in the bassinet.  She'd wake up continually through a nap and I'd go in and put her paci in.  It was highly stressful and frustrating for me.  Obviously doing that cut her naptime shorter as well.  (Clara generally wakes up at the same times, even if she doesn't fall asleep til later.)  Just this past week she is FINALLY completely out of the swaddle!!!  Hooray!!  I put her in the sleep sack, do our routine, lay her down, she takes her nap without waking, and we are SO much happier!  Clara's on a pretty predictable schedule now, waking up about 7:00am, nursing around 8:00, napping 8:45-9:45, eating breakfast at 10:00, nursing at 11:40, napping noon-? (however long that nap lasts, generally an hour and a half or a little more or less), nursing at 2:40, napping 3:00-4 or 4:30), dinner at 5:00, nursing/sleeping for the night at 6:30.  (Those times sometimes vary a little depending on outings and things that pop up at home, but for the most part they are very consistent, which is very important to me.)

Clara has always enjoyed tummy time.  She basically spends all her time at home (not eating or sleeping) on her tummy (though plays in her jumperoo for a little bit, too).  Although she's known how to roll for several months, rolling has not been her chosen method of getting around.  Clara is a scooter.  She's pretty good at the army crawl, but since Eli's toys are always strewn out across the room, she doesn't have to go far to find something.  She's been getting up on her hands and knees and rocking for quite some time now (a couple months?) so I'm surprised (but happy!) she hasn't taken off crawling yet.  It's funny how young they realize what's their baby toy and what's not.  Of course she always prefers something that's not her approved toys.  I'm constantly scanning the floor to make sure there's nothing in her reach that could hurt her.

Baby can sit on her own for a few minutes or more before falling down.  I think she's just too interested in moving and finding things to chew on to focus on sitting there.  Or she makes eye contact with you, gets too excited, and plops down.  : )  She definitely seems pretty proud and pleased with herself when she's sitting up, though.  

A week before Clara turned 6 months I began feeding her fruits and vegetables.  She was acting like she wasn't getting enough food from me, and was super interested in what we were eating.  She's taken to eating very well, and has liked every food we've tried (sweet potatoes, pears, squash, applesauce, bananas, peaches, and peas, though of course peas are not her favorite).  She eats about a whole Stage 2 jar for dinner every night.

Cute video of Clara eating pears--

Clara is so enamored with Daddy and Eli.  Whenever David is around, she follows him with her eyes.  If I'm trying to feed her, she will pull off every other second to watch Daddy or get him to notice her and make her smile.  She thinks Eli is the best thing ever and is constantly amused by his crazy antics.  Clara's favorite game is "Eat my hand," and it makes her bust out giggling over and over.  She also enjoys playing peek-a-boo and making raspberries.

Little girl does not like to be left alone.  Even if she hears me talking to her it's not enough, she has to be able to see me (or Eli).  She's been taking longer to warm up to "new" people now, too.

She loves to suck on her toes while laying on her back.  She's a great hair-puller and somehow thinks it's hilarious when I wince in pain.

We are so crazy about this darling girl, and so happy she's part of our family!