Clara is EIGHT months old!

Clara Mercy, you are a JOY to have around! You love to smile at people (even strangers who gush over you wherever we go) and are pretty relaxed when other people want to hold you. And everyone wants to hold you, so it's a good thing. Everyone wants to hold the cute, blue-eyed white baby!

Your personality is coming out more and more every month. This month, you have been so full of laughter and giggles, more than any other month. BUT, you've also been more fussy and particular about things than any other month. You get really angry when we take something away from you or when something isn't quite to your liking. I'm hoping it's just a stage, but we'll see! I think you're probably just growing up and figuring out what you like and what you don't!

You make plenty of noises. You are copying us a bit, like yelling when you hear your siblings being noisy! Some noises  are sounding like the beginnings of words, like "mamama" and "ba!" but most of the time it's just screaming (yelling like you're upset) and laughing and making noises like that. When you notice that we have food that you want, you yell until you get some. You are not a fourth baby who is going to be forgotten or left behind!

Speaking of eating, you love to taste whatever we have. You've tasted many different fruits by now...oranges, apples, pineapples, strawberries, raspberries, bananas. You love them all! We've also given you tastes of some meats and breads and whatever we are eating. You do so well with it all. You also eat a TON of Cheerios because you're not happy in your high chair without them! You have baby oatmeal mixed with yogurt or fresh squeezed orange juice for night snack but you will only eat it if it's warm enough. You will have none of it if it's even just a touch chilly. You still nurse every two hours during the day but are getting more distracted by whatever is around you. That makes things tricky. But you get grumpy if a feed is late so...yeah.

Your sleep this month has been pretty good. At the beginning of the month, you were up about three times a night and now you're up once or twice. For a few nights, you were up at 2am and 7:30 like clockwork, but last night you were up a bit more because I didn't give you any night snack because we were out late for a Christmas party. I'll try not to make that mistake again! You usually go to bed around 8pm and wake for the day around 8:30-9am. You nap at about 10:30-11 and again at 1:30-2pm. You've mostly dropped your third nap of the day which I am SO happy about because it's usually more of a fight than it's worth. If you don't nap long enough in the afternoon, it's pretty tough to stretch you to bedtime without it though! You nap best in your room with a sound machine and put yourself to sleep perfectly 95% of the time. Thanks for that, my girl.

You're in the middle of your first Christmas celebrations right now! This morning you opened your first Christmas present, a small police car toy that you played with in the store while we shopped two days ago. Way to act surprised when you saw it. You handled that like a champ ; ). You do still like the wrapping paper and boxes more than actual toys. Daddy just made a comment a few minutes ago about how you're going to have a lot of wrapping paper in your next diaper because you're just sitting on the floor eating wrapping paper right now. It could be worse!

You are small for your age but are filling out and getting heavier! I pulled out your 9-12 month clothes this month and they fit pretty well. You're wearing 9 month sleepers with 12 month sleepers layered on top because nights are chilly right now. For a while you were sleeping with a toque too because it was so cool. You're also in two sleep sacks with a flannel blanket on top. So cozy and warm!

You're still our blue-eyed girl. Everyone comments on how beautiful your eyes are. I love them too. Your hair is a light brown colour and is so even and smooth and soft right now. It's just starting to get long enough that you get a bit of bed-head on the sides when you sleep!

Some of your favourite things right now...dogs. You love dogs. You get excited whenever you see Hatchi and Mateo, the two dogs here where we live. You also love music. Whenever you hear any music, your little body starts bouncing. It is the most adorable thing! You also love to eat real food and be entertained by your siblings. You have the biggest smiles when you see them in the morning or after a nap.

You've spent a lot of time in the Solly baby carrier this month. It is easier to pull out than the stroller so you get to be snuggled up next to me a lot when we're out. You usually don't seem to mind, as long as there's stuff to look at. If we're just sitting in one place, you pull and push and try to get out like crazy! You do eventually fall asleep in it, though, if you're due for a nap, so that works really well for all of us!

One of the things you've started doing this month is patting things with your hands. You'll pat toys and my back while I carry you and tables and everything you can reach. You also pinch and grab everything. You're always curious and, of course, everything goes straight into your mouth!

You still have no teeth but I imagine they must be close. You've been unusually fussy and, today, very drooly. I can't see anything coming through yet, though we have your first toothbrush ready!

You are starting to make moves toward crawling. When you're sitting, you often lean over and shift from sitting to your tummy, almost hands and knees. When you're on your tummy, you can get places, though still not very quickly. I'm not complaining! The sooner you move, the sooner I can't ever take my eyes off of you!

 You're a joy to have around and I'm loving watching you grow up. You make everyone around you smile. You have no time for snuggles...right now you're in my lap and struggling to get away, despite being overdue for a nap and very sleepy. You're beautiful, inside and out. I love being your mommy. This family is so blessed to have you a part of it!

Clara is SEVEN months old!

Clara, you're seven months old today! You make seven months look easy! You're happy most of the time and are so easy-going. We love your personality that is starting to appear more and more. You truly seem to love life. You go with the flow so easily. You don't mind new places or people, as long as you're in my arms or the arms of someone you know.

You have no teeth yet, nor do you seem to be teething particularly much. You have everything in your mouth all the time, yes, but I think that's just normal for a baby your age! You do love to eat, despite having no teeth. You have only really started solids this month...a few cheerios here and Gerber puffs there. I've also started giving you some oatmeal with yogurt for night snack before bed and you plow through that stuff amazingly well for only having eaten off a spoon about half a dozen times! You've also tried watermelon and pineapple and apple and mandarin and whatever else we are eating. Oh, and tortillas, of course! You're still nursing every two hours during the day.

Your sleep this month has been about normal. You have been up three times a night for most of the month (11:30pm, 3:30am, 7am) but since starting to give you yogurt and oatmeal for night snack, you've started only being up twice! Thank you! You go to bed around 7:30-8pm and wake for the day around 8am. You sleep in a playpen in your own room and roll all over the place while you sleep! No more finding you exactly how I left you. You love to have flannel below you and like to have an extra flannel blanket in your bed to rub in your face to help you sleep. Adorable, you are!

Your eyes are still so blue and your hair is a light brown colour. There is still a bit of a bald spot on the back, but it's filling in nicely. You still have really dark, longer hair at the nape of your neck that I keep thinking I should trim a bit. It's the only hair that is still the same hair as when you were born, I think. Cradle cap is gone...yay!!

You're not moving so much that you're crawling, but you are definitely working on getting places! When you sit, you pivot around and REACH if you see something you want. Sometimes we will hear you complaining and look over to find you half tipped over and holding yourself up with one arm, trying with all your might not to fall over! Other times you do just plop over...and on concrete/tile floors it kinda hurts! You can easily roll from back to tummy and tummy to back. It's not safe to leave you on any kind of raised surface, though when your brother is nearby, I know you'll be safe. He loves to take care of you and does such a good job! Your sisters love to watch you too, especially Kayden, but they are still young enough to get distracted and not notice you move to the edge of whatever it is that you're sitting or laying on. You may or may not have taken a tumble off the couch this month because "helpers" weren't watching. Mommy's fault...sorry sweetie!

You pulled yourself up to standing for the first time today! I was eating my pizza during our typical pizza-movie night and you were sitting next to me, reaching for my plate. The next thing I knew, you grabbed my arm and were standing on the couch beside me! Nice work, strong girl! You were SO proud of yourself too. I could just see it in your eyes...your mind was thinking, "That was fun...mental note: try this again!" Anything for whatever is on mommy's plate, right?

Speaking of grabbing things, you are one grabby little girl. Nothing is safe with your little hands around. You grab plates and cups and tables and hair...Kayden has had her hair pulled by you on more than one occasion. You are just so curious! I love to see it, though I've had to stop wearing my necklace because it hurts too much when you pull on it. Plus, I'm scared you'll break it! Your grip is strong! Once you have something in your hand, it goes straight to your mouth. You've mastered feeding yourself Cheerios or whatever else I throw on your high chair tray. You get so mad when your tray is empty.

You have such a sweet little personality. I know I've said it before, but it's true! Everyone around here gushes about how sweet you are and you just look at them for a while and then you usually smile before burying your face into my shoulder. Then you peek back at them and smile again. You melt everyone's heart. Ours included!

Nicknames you've picked up this month...well, mostly you're just Clara. Mexicans call you "Clarita." It means "little Clara." They all love your name, by the way, because after hearing everyone else's names in this family, they're glad to hear one that's familiar in their country! There is an abuela at church who is named Clara as well and she loves to give you an extra special greeting whenever she sees you! Tio Yamil here at MTC likes to call you "Cachetes!" It means cheeks :) You always give him a huge smile when you see him.

You are wearing mostly 6-12 month clothes still. I have no idea how much you weigh, though I'm very curious! I know you're small for your age, based on the baby at church who is only one month older than you! She's much bigger than you are! If I had to guess, I'd say you're maybe 15-16lbs? You're growing, but still so small. Beautifully and perfect, there's nothing wrong with being petite!

You nap three times a day fairly consistently and go down like a dream, most of the time. I usually feed you when you wake up and then an hour and a half later I feed you again. Half an hour after that, I put you down for a nap and you usually sleep for about an hour to an hour and a half. You always wake up happy and are content to play in your crib until I come and get you or until Levi or Kayden comes to "help" you by playing with you through the playpen sides until I come. You always have a huge smile and flailing limbs when you see me come for you. I love those first wake-up smiles from you!

Clara, you are adorable and a joy to have around. I can't imagine life without you. We love having you here with us as a part of our family. You're a beautiful daughter and sister and we are thoroughly enjoying watching you grow up and learn new things. God made you someone special and I am so glad that I get to be your Mama. Happy seven months, my girl. I love you!

Clara is SIX months old!

Clara Mercy, you are halfway to your first birthday already! How have you grown up so much? So often I forget how young you still are...and then other times I can hardly believe that you're already as old as you are! You are delightful at every age, my girl. Such a ray of sunshine!

You have had many new experiences this month. You started your sixth month in Manitoba, spent a few weeks of it in Saskatchewan, and now are in Mexico. You are suddenly a well-travelled little girl! You've had your first plane trips, your first all-nighter (thanks for not having had any before this!). You've been held by so many people you don't know and have done so well. At the beginning of the month, you were a bit nervous about being held by people you didn't know, but now it's just so normal that you go with the flow...unless you're hungry or tired or need a new diaper.

Speaking of hungry, tired, or needing a diaper, those are really the only times you usually cry. You are such a happy and easy-going girl. Occasionally you will be a little "off" and cry for reasons we can't figure out...but that is by far the exception. It is so rare that you are fussy that I just don't know what could be wrong! Probably teething, little Clara, probably teething. (No teeth yet!)

You are still nursing every two hours during the day. With all our travelling and changing routines, I have forgotten a few feeds so they've been late and you haven't been happy about it. You don't seem ready to stretch those feeds out to three hours yet! You haven't had many solid foods, though I've given you tastes of things like guava, watermelon, orange, and corn flakes. Whatever we're eating that I think you might be able to handle goes into your mouth. One of these days we will try some actual baby cereal and see how that goes. But I'm in no rush. There is so much new going on these days that adding one more new thing to the routine seems unnecessary. Soon, my girl. Soon you will be eating what all the rest of us are eating!

You are still so small for your age. For the first time, I don't have a scale to get an idea of how big you're getting but I know that you're pretty tiny! I would guess that you're between 14-15lbs. When I measured your height just before we left our acreage, you were the smallest 6 month old we've had yet. You are perfect and petit. I hope that you will always know that you are perfect and beautiful. You don't have to be average to be just the way you're meant to be. It's what's inside that matters.

You are a beautiful soul, Clara. You radiate joy and thoughtfulness. You have a calming presence and are so easy to be near. Sometimes you just love to make noise for the sake of hearing your own voice, which is so fun to see. You can screech like nobody's business! We haven't heard your voice as much since coming to Mexico a week ago...I'm not sure if you're shy or just observing everything around you too much to think about making yourself heard.

Your sleep habits have continued with hardly a blip in all the changes that have happened. You wake 2-3 times a night. Your nights are about 8pm-8am. You nap three times a day, after being awake for two hours, for about an hour (sometimes two) at a time. All I have to do to put you to bed is pace the room 4-5 times with you in my arms and then lay you in your crib once you look sleepy and put a small blanket next to your cheek and you snuggle into it and fall asleep. You started sucking your tongue last month and continued all this month too. It seems to be a comfort thing for you. You snuggle the blanket into your face and I can hear a little clicking/sucking noise, though usually you're not actually sucking the blanket. You decided this month that you are a back sleeper! I would put you down on your stomach and you would right away flip to your back so I decided to just leave you that way and you sleep fine. There were some nights when you would wake up at a weird hour and be awake because you were on your back and not your side or stomach but I would just leave you to babble and you would eventually just fall asleep again. Now you sleep quite well in any position you put yourself in and are in a sleep-sack. I'm so glad weaning the swaddle wasn't a big deal for you.

You have slept in many different places this month! You started out on the floor in Manitoba. When we got home to Saskatchewan, you were on the floor in the corner of our room and then moved to your own room onto the toddler bed! Once when you woke from a nap, I couldn't see you in the monitor so I figured you must have fallen off the bed or moved to the other side. I walked into your room and you were nowhere to be seen! I got a little worried but there you were, UNDER the bed! You must have fallen off the bed and then rolled under before making any noise at all to let me know that you were awake! You usually wake up happy so I often have to check the monitor to see if you're stirring. You definitely don't cry every time you wake up! Now that we are in Mexico, you are back in our bedroom in a playpen. We have talked about moving you to another room (the shower in our ensuite to be specific) because our movement sometimes disturbs you...but I just haven't gotten over the idea of putting you in a shower just yet and you do seem to be less disturbed than you were at first so who knows. In a month, you could be sleeping anywhere!

Your hair seems to be getting lighter. You have a bit of a bald spot on the back, still, and the hair below it is still quite dark and longish. Not long enough to look like a mullet, though. If it was, I would have cut it off. You're welcome.

Your eyes are still so blue. Everyone here in Mexico loves them. I keep wondering if they will stay blue or if they'll change yet. They are such a beautiful colour with a ring of dark blue around the outside. My blue-eyed girl!

You have started reaching for and grabbing everything you see. We keep forgetting that you are grabby now and will often pull food off our plates or our plates off the table or cups out of our hands. It gets tricky. I can't hold you during meals anymore because my arms aren't long enough to hold you far enough away and also reach my food! But I'm glad you're curious. You love to hold things and look at them and taste them. Everything goes straight to your mouth!

You still love your siblings more than almost anyone else. When you see them come into the room, you just light up and start kicking and waving your arms. They still adore you too, and fight to be the one to entertain you and make you smile. They talk to you and do silly things like jumping up and down to make you laugh. Levi loves to carry you around and both Levi and Kayden love to take care of you for me if I need to run and do something. They are such big helpers with you. You are lucky to have a big brother and big sisters who want to help you and be with you.

Because of our move to Mexico, I have packed away most of your 6 month clothes and you are now wearing 6-12 month size. It is a little big on you, but we were short on space so I figured I would leave that size behind and bring the next size up for you to wear already. You are in 9 month sleepers and, thanks to cloth diapers, they work pretty well.

You are sitting like a pro, and have been all month. I guess you still have the occasional tip-over so I don't leave you sitting, say, on a table or concrete without supervision or something soft to land on...but most of the time you are fine. You also turn circles while laying down...though you don't like to lay down unless you're in bed. Sitting is WAY better! You can easily roll front to back and back to front.

Despite looking like you are enjoying these balloons, you now hate balloons. By the time our photo session was finished, you were acting fairly disturbed by the balloons. Your hands would grab them if they were in reach but they would be right in your face and you didn't realize that moving your hand away from your mouth would move the balloons out of your face so you did some good crying about that. I would take them away and you'd be upset that they were gone, but if I gave them back, you were upset that they were so close. Funny girl.

You've been through a lot of change this month and have handled it beautifully. You're a brave and strong little girl and we are so proud to call you our daughter. It has been a pleasure to be your mama these past six months and I look forward to what's to come. Happy half-birthday, Clara Mercy. I love you so much!

Clara is FIVE months old!

Clara, you're five months old! You are such a sweet and happy girl. You make everyone you see smile. You've played shy a bit this month, but despite not always wanting to be held by strangers (who could blame you?!), you are usually ready to give smiles from a distance!

You love to grab things. If there is a toy you want, you try to grab it. If your hand brushes any sort of fabric, you grab it. You love grabbing your toes and our fingers and really anything that your little hands fit around! And boy do you ever have a good grip! Many people who hold you comment on your grip. And of course, if it's in your hand, it goes straight to your mouth! You started sitting today, for minutes at a time instead of just a few seconds. And you can easily roll fromtummy to back and back to tummy, which is often more fun than going straight to sleep at naptime!

You are starting to babble now. You just open and close your mouth over and over and make noise. It's so sweet. You have a beautiful voice! You haven't actually said any words yet, no surprise there, but I've heard some "mamma" noises so I've been encouraging that.

You eyes are still so deeply blue. They are a dark blue, absolutely beautiful. And they are so expressive. They smile and they get sleepy and they get sad and mad. I love looking into your eyes. You are always watching what's going on around you. Your eyes light up whenever you see someone you know. And then your whole body moves and it's almost like you're going to wiggle right out of my arms to get to them.

Your brother and sisters continue to just LOVE you! They still fight about who gets to hold you first or who gets to talk to you or make you smile. You get excited when you see any of them coming. I look forward to seeing your relationship with them grow. You seem especially excited to see Kayden coming. There's some sort of sister connection there, I think.

You are growing all the time but you're definitely not a big baby! The scale today said 13.5lbs. When you had your four month immunizations this month, you were 12.5lbs and near the 3rd percentile for both height and weight, though you would be described as long and skinny proportionally. You are wearing mostly 6 month clothes. All your 6 month sleepers are fitting perfectly right now!

You had your first haircut this month! I noticed a few really long straggly hairs sticking out randomly all over your head so I took the clippers and ran it over your head to even it all out. Much better. We didn't take off any length, just made it more even. We got a handle on your cradle cap this month which means your hair is a lot more thin on top than it used to be but I see it coming back in already. Your hair has developed a bald spot on the back in the last month though. I blame it on so much time spent in car seats, bouncy seats, and on floors this month. We have been moving around a lot this month. You started your fifth month in Hudson Bay, SK at grandma and grandpa Buhler's house. Then we were home for about two or three weeks and now we have been in southern Manitoba for two weeks. That means you've had your first long road trip (to Manitoba - 8-9 hours). You did pretty well. You don't cry nearly as much as you used to in your car seat. I think it helps that you can hold toys and get them to your mouth now.

Your sleep this month has been...ok? We've done so much travelling that your sleep has changed and then changed again. At the beginning of the month, you were fighting naps with everything you were worth, so I changed your naps from coming after one hour of being awake to after two hours. That helped immensely. You have stopped napping in the midst of the action, sleeping so much better in a dark, quiet room now. You nap three times a day, usually, and for 45m-2.5hours at a time. At night you go to bed between 7-8pm and wake between 7:30-8:30am. You were swaddled at the beginning of the month and, while we were staying in Steinbach at Uncle Andrew and Auntie Pearl's house, I noticed that you were rolling in your swaddle so decided to try to put you to bed without the swaddle. You slept great! So I ditched the swaddle for good. Your sleep hasn't suffered at all. You still wake up 2-3 times a night, every 3-4 hours. A quick feed and you're back asleep! You always wake up with a smile, which is such a blessing.

You still eat every two hours during the day, which means I've had to do some tricky scheduling to have your naps and feeds work together without feeding you directly before putting you down. But we've found a system that seems to work! I feed you when you wake up and then an hour and a half later again. That way there is half an hour between being fed and going down for another nap. You are such a fast eater, usually only five minutes or so. People are always surprised how quickly you eat and make jokes about how it's probably because you're the fourth child.

You are so easy-going. In all of our travels and visiting of people and crazy schedules, you've remained our happy, content girl. Every once in a while we can tell you've had enough, especially enough of being held by other people. But a quick nap and you're usually all set and ready to roll again. We love you, Clara Mercy. You are a beautiful soul, inside and out. I love my time with you and am so proud to call you my daughter!