Hey Mom, look at me!!

Clara is amassing new skills on what seems to be a daily basis; however, it is hard to capture these moments on video due to her rapt fascination with the video camera and her tendency to stare blankly at the flashing light whenever it appears. Luckily, we managed to catch her off guard on several occasions and documented some of the major developments of the past month.

This first video documents three of Clara's loves: (1) munching on anything with a strap; (2) viciously attacking the wipes on her changing table; and (3) sucking on her toes.

I'm beginning to fear that Clara has a little bit too much of her Mama's serious nature and not enough of her Dad's fun-loving humor. This rare display of the giggles hopefully proves otherwise.

Clara's new found mobility is still somewhat of a shock to her -- especially when she realizes that she is the victim of self-imposed "tummy time."

An autumnal post.

Lest you think that our little family has been exclusively focused on helping Clara perfect the art of blowing raspberries, Katie and I wanted to assure you that we've been at least as busy as bees (especially considering their sluggish nature in such chilly temperatures as we've had recently).  Here are a few of the other activities that we've been engaged in over the last two weeks:

Ah, good ol' New England exercise.  Strangely enough, we found all of these leaves (and more, since the pile heads around the corner) in restful repose upon our lawn on the weekend before the vacuuming truck came by.  I am presently harboring a sneaking suspicion that our neighbors conspired against us in the dead of night and stealthily moved hundreds of pounds of crinkly leaves into our backyard right under our proverbial noses.  As additional words will undoubtedly fail to accurately express my possibly irrational sentiments, allow me to conclude the description of this picture thus: if it were possible to perish from the condition of sore leaf-raking muscles, I would not be writing this post right now.

It is indeed fortunate that the sense of satisfaction that accompanies a well-groomed backyard invigorates and enlivens the constitution, and my muscles were "back on their feet" (as it were) in no time.

(now, back to more baby)

After such an endeavor, what better way to recuperate than by gorging oneself on turkey, stuffing, cranberry super-yum, and other assorted treats?  Thankfully, Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and we were able to soothe what ailed us by eating large quantities of delectable delicacies.  Which consequently caused a series of different ailments, but that's a story for a different day...

Seeing as Clara hadn't yet really gotten on the solid food bandwagon, my mom decided to prep her for the meal by introducing her first solid food: tree bark.

Clara thought it was pretty freakin' delicious.

Afterwards, we had a little rest.

Katie and Clara peacefully preparing for the gluttony which will shortly ensue.

(pictures of eating excised for the

purposes of good taste and decorum)

After the feast, we had to hose Clara down, as we do every night, and my mom was kind enough to fluff up the towels in the dryer before they were used.  Clara thereby discovered the joys of warm towels, and rolled around in them for about ten minutes before the excitement (and heat) dissipated.

 

 

(the little cutie.)

Katie and I were fortunate enough to have our friends Joe and Marcia visit us over the holiday as well - they moved back to Minnesota a few years ago, but are kind enough to constitute the (adopted) Midwestern segment of our family, and so they came out to meet little Clara and hang out while enjoying the beautiful weather that we had in Boston over Thanksgiving.

 

Clara winds up for a full-body attack on Mel the Squeaking Moose.

Joe tried teach Clara how to do a Charlie McCarthy bit, but every time he tried to do the ventriloquism thing, it just sounded like a baby crying.  Maybe a little more practice will do it next time.

Finally, Clara's been practicing her up-sitting in the boppy.  Here she is looking skeptical after being told that it's a useful skill - will anything be as comfortable as being carried around?  She may have a point...

Is your Mama a Llama?

Perhaps we've read that book too many times, because Clara clearly thinks her Mama is a llama. It's the only explanation for why she repeatedly tries to communicate with us in llamaese.

Clara @ 4 Months

Clara is 4 months old today. She continues to amaze us in the growth department, measuring in the 99th percentile for height. Her favorite activities are having long early morning conversations with herself, dancing to Sharon, Lois and Bram and putting everything within reach into her mouth. She (and her mother) survived their first two (partial) days of separation this week, and she loved spending her days with cousin Elliot, who she studies with rapt fascination. She is well prepared for the fast approaching Boston winter thanks to Anja, our friend Amy and her father, who have supplied her with a variety of fashionable hats.

Family Resemblance?

Katie thinks that Clara has inherited my dashing good looks - when we visited my grandparents in Pennsylvania, we found some baby pictures of me that allowed us to make an accurate comparison.  It's up to you: what do you think?

Chris at 5 months

Clara at 4 months

Let's hope that the logical progression, given these pictures, does not come to pass (this picture of my head has been chosen for maximum beauty):

Since we scanned some of these baby pictures, here's an image of me at 2 months practicing the sideways smile that has served me well as a prelude to mischief...

A Vacationlet.

Clara, Katie, and I took a minivacation to the lands on either side of the Mason-Dixon line over the course of this past weekend.  While we didn't see any mechanical ducks on our visit, we did have the fortune to visit my grandparents and some of our friends who have migrated South with our feathered friends towards (slightly) warmer locales.  During our journeys on the road southward, we also encountered not a few snowflakes; I discovered, much to my chagrin, that it is difficult to satisfy indignant feelings toward such injustices as snow-in-October while traveling on the highway, and the best that I could do is call my mom and complain.  Thank heavens for mothers (and cell phones).

Clara was fortunate enough to get acquainted with a whole host of new people who love and care for her from afar, including:

my grandmother Arlene, who was amazed at Clara's training to seek after a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most Fingers Simultaneously in Mouth",

my aunt Mary, who taught her how to imitate the effect of drinking a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew,

Katie's law school friend Leslie, who taunted her with a delicious cream cheese pecan pie which must have been conjured, rather than made (actually, it was I who did the taunting while eating said pie),
 

our friends Sonya and Jeff and their daughter Rebecca, who is cute as a button, has enough energy to put the Energizer Bunny to shame, and sweetly shared her toys with our little drooly (sp?) munchkin,

and my grandpa Redding, who over the course of his 87 years has actually figured out how to tell jokes to his 4 month old great-grandchildren.

We also were able to visit our friends Jared and Amy in Baltimore and got a chance to see their gorgeous new townhouse in Baltimore and meet the even gorgouser Sylvie Pearl, who is just a few months older than Clara but already is a barrel of laughs and smiles, visit the Mutter medical museum in Philadelphia and marvel at the many icky things that can be (and are) stored in specimen jars, and visit the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the adjoining new (to me) park space so that Katie could see where the Constitution that she defends in so stalwart a manner was written.

It was a fun trip and wonderful to reconnect with so many friends and family that we don't get to see as often as we would like.  As with most good vacations, we were a little worn out at the end, but it's a good worn out.

New Tricks

Trick #1 - Spitting



Trick #2 - Eating an apple