Seven Month Birthday

Clara turned seven months old today.  Our little girl is so full of personality, energy and love.  Every day is such a gift with her and I try to soak up every last moment, for they are already passing too quickly.  Here’s some of what’s happened in Clara’s seventh month!

Clara…

- is sitting up for long periods of time now and it’s her favorite position to be in.  She will also lunge forward, and pull herself back up to sitting or pull herself out of sitting and onto her tummy.
- continues to do physical therapy - lots of baby sit-ups and tummy time to strengthen her core.  She’s getting stronger every day and is getting better control and balance, too.  She doesn’t mind being on her tummy anymore…
- continues to roll all over the place and loves getting around.  Crawling won’t be too far off; she’s scooching (is that a word?) her knees when she’s on her tummy and trying to figure it out.
- went to the library for the first time.
-  really got on a great schedule this month with three naps most every day.  She’s just in the past week or so been hinting around that she might like to drop that third nap (*sniff*)….
- loves being on her feet.  She still really loves her doorway jumper and bounces and laughs and grins like she’s on cloud nine when she’s in it.  She also loves to practice standing by holding on to our fingers. 
- does a great job of reaching towards and raking her toys and is still putting everything in sight in her mouth. 
- hung out with her cousin.
- is beginning to recognize her name (I think… sometimes…)
- started taking five ounce bottles!
- gave up the swaddle at night time and is transitioning out of it for naps, too.
- went to the mountains twice where she visited an apple orchard and went to her first Woolly Worm festival.
- helped host her first Hardy Hootenanny (more to come on that in another post soon)
- fought fought fought her mama on eating solid foods, and won.  I only make her do it a few times a week right now; it’s just not pretty.  She especially hates spoon feeding, but will gum a whole banana quite contentedly.
- smiles when I hold my camera or cell phone up at her (you think she’s photographed much?...)
- still doesn’t have any teeth, but her drooling has picked up considerably (see photos below), as has her biting and gnawing.  I think she might be working on a couple, but who knows…
- got some honest to goodness fat rolls.  We haven’t weighed her in a month (we’ll have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so we’ll get one then), but she’s very solid and very strong.  There are little dimples in her knees and her chubby cheeks have gotten even chubbier.  Never been so grateful for chub.
- keeps babbling.  We’re working hard on “mama” and “dada” and “puppy”, but still only have /g/ as her single consonant…

She just plain “seems big.”  The past month or two have brought her fully out of the infancy stage and into the baby-on-the-go stage.  Snuggles only happen when she’s eating and sleeping now and she is interested in checking out everything around her.  She’s very social and not afraid of strangers.  She almost always has a smile on her face and is very easy-going.  We’re thankful for such a happy baby who reminds us to be filled with peace and joy, too. 

Clara pooped through the first outfit I had on her today, so after a wardrobe change we quickly snapped these seven month photos.  Enjoy these shots of our little ham.

 

 

Thrifty Photo Shoot

Ever since Clara has come home from the hospital, I keep meaning to get a professional photographer to come out to the house and take some photos of Clara, and of us with Clara.  But every time I start looking into it, and see the price tag, I find myself reaching for my camera battery and start snapping my own.  So, we don't have super great photos of the whole family, but I'm satisfied (and so is my wallet) with these of the star.  Enjoy some shots from this week....

Clara got a very special toy from some dear friends...



It's Noah's Ark, with pockets!  Lots of little animal pairs fit neatly inside...

It's one of those special toys that she loves chewing on playing with now, but that will last through the years...

And I think that Noah's Ark is a wonderful story for Clara, a story of God's promises to us.

Here are more than just a few more shots of my lovely lady in pink, in our backyard on a lovely fall afternoon.

 

 

Psst!  Wanna see my scar?

And a few days later, she woke up from her morning nap in an exceptionally happy mood.  So, I snapped a few more of her in her room....

Catch ya later, Sears!  We've got some keepers here, for free! 

Video Round Up!

I prefer still photography, but there are some things that you just can't capture on stills and I don't want to forget.  So once every month or two, I remember to grab the video camera to capture Clara in action.  Here are a few videos from the past week or so. 

And here are stills of Clara watching the fire in the fireplace.  I love when she sees something new for the first time and is amazed.  May we all have that child-like wonder for life!

Woolly Worm Festival

Since we had such a nice time in the mountains last weekend, we headed back up again for another round.  The leaves have mostly dropped atop Beech Mountain now, but it's a big weekend to be in Avery County because it's the 34th Annual Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk.  What is a woolly worm, you may ask?  It's a brown and black fuzzy caterpillar that's known for its ability to predict the severity of the winter, much like the groundhog predicts when spring is coming.  At the Woolly Worm Festival there are lots of craft booths, rides, fair food, and the main event: Woolly Worm Races.  All the children (and some adults) buy and train (obviously) their chosen worm and then race them before an excited crowd of onlookers.  The winning worm predicts the winter weather.  Clara's not quite big enough for her own woolly worm yet, but we don't think it's ever too soon to begin introducing her to this fun mountain tradition.

It was a wee bit chilly on this mountain today, so we bundled up the baby before heading out....

Once we arrived, we took the obligatory woolly worm festival cut out shot (see photos from years' past here.) with a sweet baby face poking out this year...

As we strolled around, Clara took in the sights and smells....

We cheered on some woolly worms (one was named Rufus!) amidst the crowds

And just glanced at some of the rides, this year.  As much as Clara loves her doorway jumper, I think it'll only be a few years before we're seeing her on this:

When Clara gets a wee bit bigger, we'll help her pick out her very own of these guys...

And put him inside his very own bug barn:

But this year, we just watched them frolic in the woolly worm playground:

Since I didn't make it to the Dixie Classic Fair this year, this was my chance to consume funnel cake, and consume I did!

It was a beautiful fall day, which we enjoyed spending outside with family, smelling the smells of a festival and soaking up the energy and excitement of all gathered there.  We'll be back for the 35th Annual Woolly Worm Festival, and by then, Clara will be ready to start training her own worm!