Eight Months

This past month has been a big one for Clarita's development. She has learned to clap, wave, give high fives, crawl, and pull herself up to stand! It is so fun to watch her develop all of her new tricks, and she is so very proud of them!

Tongue twisting

Our lives have finally started winding down and we actually had our first free weekend in at least the last six months. It was nice to be able to get stuff done around the house and spend lots of time with Clara. I think she enjoyed it as well!

Find the babies...

Cousins squared!

Clara moved to her own room this month and it has been amazing. Apparently we should have done this at the six month mark like I had initially planned. That is when she started waking up at night and I am lazy and did not want to have to walk upstairs to console her. Turns out she doesn't need consoling, she actually needs to be left alone. Clarita still wakes up sometimes during the night, but is able to put herself back to sleep. Sometimes we'll hear her fuss on the baby monitor, sometimes she sits up and plays, but it is short lived and ends with her sucking her thumb or putting her pacifier in and falling asleep. On morning I found her sleeping folded in half like she had sat up and then fallen forward. She was sucking one thumb and grabbing the bars of her crib with the other hand! I really wanted to take a picture but didn't want to wake her up.

Reading before bed is fun!

This month it seems like we can actually see the wheels turning in Clara's head. She knows what to do with her toys (a favorite being to throw them) and has very strong opinions about what she likes and dislikes. Clarita is not quiet about these opinions and will scream bloody murder if you do something she does not like (take a toy aka necklace, phone, remote away from her or lay her down when she wants to sit up). When Clara is tired of a toy or you give her something she doesn't want, she chucks it aside or pushes it out of her way before moving on to the thing she wants.

Clara still loves people and loves talking. It sometimes sounds like she is singing! Clara also continues to love animals and thinks it is the best thing in the world when a dog (especially a little dog) licks her face or she is able to pet one of our cats. Baza actually lets Clarita pet him sometimes and even lets her lay on him. She thinks this is awesome.

Cuerpo de Paz!

Clara has developed favorites with her food and likes dairy products, especially goat cheese and plain Greek yogurt, more than anything else. She has started choosing what she wants to eat sometimes. She does this by refusing to open her mouth until she is given what she wants (usually a dairy product). She will allow her yogurt to be mixed with other foods so we do this when she is in a picky mood. Clarita continues to love all foods and has yet to dislike anything. We have started giving her more complex foods since she hasn't shown any allergies. She really liked quinoa pancakes and quiche. There are always refreshments after church and one day Clara wouldn't stop grabbing my food. I had recently given her eggs so I decided to let her try the spinach quiche to see if she would eat it. She loved it and ate an entire bite sized quiche (just the egg part)! She acted like she was still hungry and there were no more spinach quiche left so I gave her a bite of a ham quiche. She refused to eat it so I took that as a sign that she wants to be a pescatarian like her mama!

Meeting cousins Annalis and Paige and Auntie Monica

Clara loves Emily and Sophia

Clara started crawling this month. At first she only crawled if she really wanted something. Now she is everywhere and into everything. She also loves to stand and jump! She tries to pull herself up on everything including our legs. Clara tries to stand up in the middle of the room by pushing herself up but hasn't quite mastered that concept yet. I think that our lives are going to get a whole lot busier now that Clarita is mobile!

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 15.8 pounds  

Height:  26.5 inches (measured standing up by her growth chart)

Head Circumference: 43 centimeters

What Clara Wears

3-6 and 6 month outfits still fit her pretty well

Things Clara Loves

Mama and Dada, nursing and bottles, going for walks, naked baby time, her "soothie" pacifiers (especially her monito and Bevo), baby exercises, car rides, the Baby Bjorn, her pouch, reading books, being a baby airplane, drooling, the exersaucer, people, taking showers in the Bumbo, playing with her toys, her teethers, animals (especially her cats), eating solid food, playing peek a boo with Dada, anything with a rough/bumpy texture, cardboard, paper, the jumperoo, crawling, standing up

Things Clara Does Not Love

Waiting, going to sleep when she’s overly tired, diaper changes, being told "no", getting dressed, having her face or nose wiped

How Clarita Sleeps

Clara still sets her own schedule during the day. She usually takes at least one long nap (sometimes two) and a few cat naps. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 (the time change confused her). Clarita sleeps in her sleep sack in her crib. She usually falls right to sleep. Clara sometimes wakes up during the night, but is able to put herself back to sleep. She wakes up in the morning between 6:15 and 6:45.

Nicknames

Baby Butter, Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggles, Baby/Bebe, Bambina, Sapita, Munchkin, Drool Monster, Birthday Twin

Foods Clara Loves

Avocado, sweet potato, carrots, lentils, green beans, bananas, plain Greek yogurt, beets, applesauce, eggs, cheese (especially goat cheese), quinoa pancakes, butternut squash, roasted eggplant, plums with cinnamon and nutmeg 

Monthly Exciting Events

November 10, 2013: Clara starts crawling!

November 7, 2013: Clara's first haircut (thanks Bri)!

November 6, 2013: Starts clapping and pulling herself up to stand

November 4, 2013: The tongue twisting begins

November 1, 2013: Sleeps in her crib for the first time (and the good sleeper returns!)

October 31, 2013: First time trick or treating (she actually grabbed the candy)

October 30, 3013: Starts giving high fives on command

October 27, 2013: Starts eating in the booster seat

October 25, 2013: First time going to the zoo

October 20, 2013: First time attending a half ironman (go Dada go!)

Monthly Pictures

Off with the headband, attack the monkey!