Clara's First Halloween

So, if you ever wondered if Clara was really my daughter, just watch the clip below for confirmation. Choc-o-holism runs strong in our family.

And here are some other pictures from Clara's first Halloween. We dressed her up and sat out on our front porch to greet the trick-or-treaters.

Pumpkin Carvin'

Tonight Clara and I carved her first Jack-o'-lantern. I gave it her smile... center bottom teeth, and two on either side up top. Clara helped me by handling the pumpkin guts as seen in the video and photos below.

My Little Pumpkin is 7 Months Old

Clara has been busy getting ready for her first Halloween. Today we picked up the pumpkin and plan on carving it with a smile to match hers... two bottom teeth in the center, and to upper teeth on either side of the center.



It is amazing to me that she is 7 months old. She has slept through the night the last two nights. She crawls all over the place...Fast! She pulls up to standing and cruises around the furniture. She can climb the stairs going up, but hasn't figured out how to come down. And yesterday she pulled her self up to standing and then balanced on her own for a few seconds without hanging onto anything. She is a great eater and usually quite happy as long as she is the center of attention. She makes lots of noises...girgles, grunts, and giggles. The closest thing to a word that she says so far is "dadadadad" which Patrick seems to think is "dad." That pretty much sums up Clara at 7 months.

Climbing

Today Clara climbed our stairs from the living room all the way up to her bedroom 3 times. Until now she usually tired herself out by the time she reached the landing half way up. Now there is no stopping her!

Highlights from our trip to Georgia

Clara and I just got back from a week in Georgia. We started the week with Clara's first flight. She did a great job... a lot of wiggling, but no fussing.
Once is Georgia, we went to visit my friends Kelly and Erik and their children 4 year old Aidan and 18 month old Marian. As you can see from the photo below, the visit wore out all of the kids.

But after their naps, there was still time for fun.

Mid week, Clara and I journeyed on to Grandma Dayna and Grandpa Chris's house where she modeled this year's Halloween costume from Gran Mary.

And Clara got to meet her Great Aunt Sue.

Grandpa Chris enjoyed telling Clara some stories.

And at the end of our trip we went to Barnesville, Georgia to have a little reunion with some of the Georgia Pharmacy Class of 2003. Below you will see from left to right my pharmacy school roommate Jen with her son A.J., me with Clara, my friend Felicia with her sons Preston and Jackson, and my friend Virginia with her Yorkie, Sophie.

We flew home Tuesday the 7th and while we were waiting for our flight Clara decided it was time to pass another milestone. She pulled herself up to standing for the first time. Now as you can see in the post below she is doing it all the time.

Pulling up

Clara has started to pull herself up to standing. Keeping things out of her reach is becoming more and more challenging.