Clara's Van Gogh Potato Heads

So Clara made an army of Potato Heads that would make Van Gogh proud. Eyes, mouths, noses any which way; but, she had a great time with them.

The boy gets around

So Clay is now just a little over 6 months old, and he is tired of just lying around. Now he is on the move. He can sit up unassisted, crawl (on belly and occasionally up on his knees), and he pulls himself up to standing whenever he can get a hand hold on something. Additionally he has learned to navigate the single step between our family room and sun porch both going up the step and down. And what's the worst part... HE IS FAST! I can hardly keep up with him. The minute I turn my back to tend to Clara he is off to find mischief (or his favorite... the cat's water and food bowls). I really hoped to have a little baby for a few more months. The only bright side is that he is so very proud of himself and entertained by his new found freedom that he has been a lot less fussy.

Clayton's 6 Month Check-up

Clayton has already reached 6 months. It is amazing how fast the time has gone and how much he is changing. To recap our visit he had 4 shots and one oral immunization which was not fun for him at all, but Clara did enjoy getting a lollypop and a sticker from the doctor. He is growing just fine with the following measurements: Length 28 inches (95%), Weight 17.8 lbs (55%), and head circumference 17.5 inches (85%). Other fun from the visit, Clara was watching the physical exam of her brother and out of blue says "Otoscope". Sure enough Dr. Sims was using a otoscope to look in Clay's ears. I could imagine her knowing the word 'stethascope', but 'otoscope' shocked me. I remember an episode of Blue Clues used that word. It is amazing what they pick up. Also as we were leaving Clara pointed up to a water tower located next to the office and said "Look, Mommy, the Eiffel Tower". Now I know that wasn't quite right, but I was still impressed by the comparison. Thank you Little Einsteins for that one. Gotta love educational television!

As for Clay's other development his latest tricks are pulling himself up to standing and sitting upright unassisted. The biggest problem with him pulling himself up is that once he is up he can't figure out how to get back down so he'll either get tired and fall down, or fuss until someone helps him get back down on the floor to crawl. Sitting also is still in development; he can't get himself into a sitting position from crawling - he has to be placed on his bottom. And he does still loose his balance from time to time. Other than that he is a fast little army-man crawler. He will get up on his knees and rock back and forth or rotate in a circle, but rarely goes forward in that position; instead he will drop back onto his belly and take off. He also still likes to bounce in his jumper or walk in the walker, but not for as long has he used to. The freedom of crawling is more his thing right now.

He has been on baby foods for a while now and does okay with them. He is not the eater that Clara was. You have to put on a very funny baby show to get him to open that mouth. And he has learned to blow the food back out. He seems to do it not because he doesn't like the food but just because he thinks it is a funny trick. More than baby food he really seems to like table food. At Grandpa's birthday lunch last week Clayton went to town on a piece of Mellow Mushroom pizza crust. Even without teeth he managed to gnaw it down. He also likes to gnaw on carrot sticks and celery. He can't eat them without teeth of course, but I'm hoping it at least gets him used to the flavors.

Sleeping is pretty good. We spent the last 5 days up in Marietta visiting Grandma Mary and the Hess family. That messed up our schedule, but now that we are back home I'm going to work on getting us back to normal. On our regular schedule Clay sleeps from about 9pm till 7am. Wakes to nurse and then goes back down until about 8am. Plus he still usually takes 2 naps each about an hour long. One around 11am and the other around 4pm. That works well for us both.

Clay is almost 6 months old

Clayton has graduated from his baby bath tub to the kitchen sink. He seems to like it.


Yesterday I couldn't find Clay where I had left him. Silly me, he had crawled into Clara's play fort. I didn't know he could make it over the plastic threshold, but I shouldn't have doubted it.


Clara has a new friend. He is about 6 weeks old and currently staying at my Mom's house. He had quite a day yesterday- he was introduced to a 3 year old and had his first bath.

Some June Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. This first one was taken at Blakely Hayes's first birthday party in Columbus. It was great to see my old college roommate, Jennifer, again.

Next we have the party girls - Clara and Marian. After the Hess family vacation to Disney World, they stopped by our house on their way home. The Disney magic was still strong! And to think, that is only water in those sippy cups.

This one is of Clay at Blakely Hayes's birthday party. He actually wasn't the youngest guest.

Clay has been trying to crawl. So far he can get up on hands and knees and rock. That doesn't stop him from getting around though; his preferred method is an army style slither. It sort of looks like he is doing the breast stroke.

I love this one. It is always great to get a picture of them both smiling at the same time.

Clay is almost 6 months old. He can sit up on his own for a few seconds before he loses his balance. Here he is practicing sitting up like a big guy.

Clara answers some questions

My favorite part is when she draws a complete blank when I ask her what mommy does. Nice to know that all of my hard work is appreciated. Ha!