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!
