Even though she’s getting close to eight months, I couldn’t let October pass without writing Clara’s seven month update. Lots of changes have happened this month, the biggest of which has been crawling. Though she hasn’t perfected it yet, Clara is essentially crawling all over the place. I’m calling it crawling and not scooting because she lifts her stomach off the ground when she moves. Her movement still consists of a hybrid of scooting, rolling and crawling, but it’s effective. She still loves being on her stomach and rolls to it pretty much as soon as I put her on the ground. She’s also learning to move from a sitting position onto her stomach, which has been interesting and amusing to watch. She started by falling to the side and then rolling, but now she tries to lean forward and gradually move her arms forward until she ends up on her stomach.

Another big change we’ve seen this month is the emergence of her top two teeth. This brings her tooth total to four at not even eight months. I get the feeling she’s going to have a mouthful before we make it to her first birthday. These teeth have bothered her much more than her bottom teeth did. Now that they’ve popped through, I’m hoping she’ll have a reprieve from teething for a little while.

Clara is continuing to eat new foods and has yet to turn down a thing we’ve offered her. We most recently gave her black bean burgers, and she was a big fan. We try to make sure she’s exposed to a variety of different tastes and textures in the foods we give her.

Early in her seventh month, Clara took her second plane trip. Counting two trips to Alabama, including one that required a layover in Atlanta, this brings Clara’s plane total to six. We leave for Dallas in just over a week, which means she will have been on eight planes in her eight months of life.

She’s continuing to make tons of talking sounds. We’ve heard so many consonants that it’s hard to keep track. There are g, c, d, m, n and f, just to name a few. The child likes to talk, there’s no doubt about that. She’s also really into “blowing raspberries” right now and often does it when she’s trying really hard not to fall asleep. Because of her newfound movement, she’s discovered door stops and tries to chew on them. I also found her chewing on the leg of my office chair the other day. She has wooden chew toys, but apparently the chair is more appealing.

She’s got lots of firsts coming up soon – Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas – and we’re both thrilled at what we can do to make these holidays special for her. Not only will this be her first Christmas, it will be our first Christmas in Virginia and the first one at our new home. We’re both insanely excited about starting traditions with her that will hopefully continue for many more years.

How is it possible that our sweet girl celebrated her half birthday a couple weeks ago? Clara continues to bring laughter and joy into our lives on a daily basis. The past month has brought about several changes, the most major one being the appearance of her two bottom teeth on September 4. We knew she’d been teething but knew it could be a while before the teeth broke the surface. Things were rough for a few days (mostly for me), especially when her six month growth spurt hit. I think it will be a couple more weeks before her teeth are fully up, and I’m glad they haven’t seemed to cause too much pain.

On a related note, we started solids around that time. She’s been eating wonderfully, and we’ve been amazed at how naturally and easily eating solid food came to her. We gave her watermelon last weekend, and she actually growled when we took it away for a second. Eric loves watermelon, so Clara’s love of it is no surprise.

Another big change is that she’s begun scooting, almost like an inchworm. She can move her legs wonderfully but hasn’t quite gotten the hang of moving her arms and legs simultaneously. She rolls all over the place, turns like a clock hand and also scoots on her back, all of which have proven quite effective to get her where she wants to be. She started sitting up just before she hit six months and has nearly perfected it in just the last two weeks.

Her vocal range is widening, and we now get to listen to a variety of noises including growls, squeaks and squeals. We’ve started to hear more word-like sounds lately, which is very exciting. When she gets hungry, she starts “saying” mamamama and smacking her lips. Since she started teething, she’s started sucking on her bottom lip and makes the cutest little face while doing so.

She was 25.5 inches long and 14.5 pounds at her checkup two weeks ago, and I’m pretty sure she’s gotten longer since then because of her growth spurt and the fact that some of her sleepers are becoming hard to zip up.

Though she doesn’t look that different day to day, I can see how much Clara has grown when I look back at these pictures. It’s crazy to me that so much time has gone by. Our little munchkin is discovering new things each day, and I love watching her do it. She’s still rolling all over the place and is working hard on her scooting. She’ll be crawling before we know it!

Our only hiccup this month came when I discovered that Clara’s diapers needed to be stripped (possibly due to the fact that we have moderately hard water, or maybe just a detergent issue). I love cloth diapering, but stripping the diapers was a pain. Thankfully, my friend Marlyn was able to help me identify the problem and give me a solution (after a ton of text messages back and forth). Considering Clara’s been using the bathroom in them the past five months, it was probably time for a super deep cleaning anyway.

Clara has been going to bed around the same time each night for quite a while, and Eric and I have a pretty good routine down now. Most of the time, Clara wants to eat just before bed, so I’ll feed her while Eric reads to us. We’re currently reading The Hobbit and will move on to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone next. This is, by far, my absolute favorite time of day. Clara will sometimes stop eating and give Eric the stare down if he pauses while reading. It’s hilarious. She’s definitely entered the easily distractible while eating phase. Speaking of eating, we’ll be starting solid foods with her in just a couple weeks! I’m sure there will be plenty of amusing pictures to come.

Clara’s four month picture was delayed a few days because of the insane heat we’ve had here the past week. It’s been well over 100 degrees here for days. We finally got a cool snap (read: less than 90) so I took her out for a few pictures. Since I can’t keep her still for anything, this was the best shot I could get.

She’s changed so much in the past month. She can roll both directions and is already trying to scoot by pushing off the floor with the tips of her toes (see her left foot above). She’s also laughing, like genuinely laughing. It’s pretty much the best thing ever. She has started licking and chewing on toys and her fingers. She can sit on her own in her baby chair and likes to be held facing out so she can see what’s going on. She doesn’t look different from day to day, but she looks so different than she did a month ago. It’s insane. At her four month checkup, she was 24.5 inches long and 12 pounds, 8.5 ounces. She’s a long, skinny girl.

For the most part, she’s sleeping at night in eight to nine hour stretches. There are occasional nights that she wakes up more frequently. I’m happy that, at least for the time being, she is such a good sleeper. She’s such a sweet, happy girl. 🙂

I guess my standard intro to these monthly posts will go something like, “I can’t believe Clara is already ___ months old.” That’s how I feel. I can’t help but be a little sad, even though I’m obviously happy that she is growing and thriving. She’s outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes, at least in length. Some of them still fit, but the sleepers are starting to slip down her shoulders. It’s crazy to me that we’ll soon be packing away a good part of her wardrobe.

She’s changed so much since last month. She now has almost complete head control. She smiles more and squeals, too. She can grip things with her tiny fingers, and she can also pinch with her toes (that’s a trait she got from me, I think). She loves being on her play mat, and apparently the cats like it too. There’s a dangling bird that makes a chirping sound, and I came downstairs this morning to discover Chloe batting at it. She’s started putting her hands in her mouth, which can be frustrating when she tries to do so while eating. She’s gotten good at pushing up on her arms when she’s on her stomach, and I know she’ll be on all fours in no time.

Clara celebrated her two month birthday while we were in Alabama last weekend. I snapped this picture when we got back, so it’s technically a little past two months. I was planning to redo it since she smeared the orange chalk everywhere, but then I decided against that. This picture shows her personality so well. Smile on her face after making a mess. 😉 By the end of the shoot, she had smeared most of the chalk and had it all over her sleeper (thankfully it washed right out).

At her checkup yesterday, the doctor was really impressed with Clara’s neck strength. We’ve noticed her holding her head up for longer periods of time, so it’s just a matter of time before she’s got complete control of it. She was 23.5 inches long and weighed 10 pounds, 7 ounces. The doctor also gave me a pat on the back for Clara gaining over a pound since her last visit. She’s had at least one growth spurt since last month because there was one day that I felt like all I did was feed her. She just keeps getting longer, but her tummy and thighs are still so small!

We’ve noticed her trying to “talk” more, too. When I talk or read to her, sometimes she’ll move her mouth as if she’s trying to figure out how to make sounds come out. It’s adorable. Her hair seems to be lightening and getting a bit longer. She has also discovered her hands and fingers and really enjoys (loudly) sucking on them. She could take or leave the pacifier, but she loves her hands. It seems she’s learning or doing something new each day. Our girl is growing so fast!

The next several weekends are going to be awesome. This weekend, I’ll be celebrating my first Mother’s Day. Next weekend, our friends Marlyn and Chris (and their daughter Genevieve) are driving up from Orlando for a visit. The next weekend, Christa, Zack, Christian and Blair arrive for a short visit. We’ll also get to celebrate Blair’s seventh birthday that weekend, and of course I’ll be making a cake or cupcakes to celebrate. We’ve got a wedding to attend the next weekend, so it’s going to be a busy few weeks. Before we know it, summer will be halfway gone! We’re so excited, though, and are looking forward to spending some much needed time with family and friends.

Clara turned one month old yesterday. It’s hard to believe it’s been four weeks since she was born. Eric and I are still enamored with her, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. She is doing wonderfully. She eats well and is already a pound over her birth weight (as of her last checkup a week ago). Her official one month checkup isn’t until next week, but I have no doubt the pediatrician will tell us she’s right on track. All the doctors we’ve seen and even some strangers have commented on how alert she is. We obviously have nothing to compare her to, but she does seem alert for her age. When she’s awake, she is constantly looking around. She seems to be a very curious girl. She’s started to make little squeaking and cooing sounds, and we’ve even seen some smiles. She’s most alert early in the morning, and I love snuggling with her and talking to her before we come downstairs to start our day.  We’ve had the best time getting to know our little girl. It’s such a strange feeling to be excited for her to grow so we can do more things with her but also to wish time would slow down. It’s been an amazing month, and we’re so glad that we have this extraordinary little person in our family now.