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Clara has done it. Though it seems unintentional, all the great ones make it look so simple. Watch her roll gracefully from tummy to back. It's quite easy when 2/3rds of your body weight is in your noggin...just tilt and let the momentum carry you to a perfect "10" landing!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
It's All Fun & Games Until...
We took Clara to an outdoor concert at Seaboard Station Friday night, meeting up with a few Raleigh friends. She did well for the better part of an hour, patient in the limelight of neighbors' fawning, permitting us to push her well past her normal bedtime. But as Nature requires, all good things must come to an end. Poor Cleremont was holding our daughter when she launched her coup de grace BM of the evening. This is the sort whose fury no diaper can contain. That was the signal to her observant parents to pack it in for the night. It's all fun and games until Clara poops on your friends.
In different news, Clara is finding an independent streak. Her usual focus with bottle feedings is suffering from a burning desire to see everything around her at all times. Where (as a young baby) she would suck away while peering at the Feeder, she now (as a grizzled veteran baby) rolls her head quickly from one side to the next as if she has to take in her complete surroundings at once lest they disappear forever.
The independent streak kicks in while seeking to determine who is the Feeder. Clara is no longer content to take the bottle passively from the Good Giver of Bomba Milk. No, she must make the decision herself. We can't plug the bottle in her mouth, we must hold it near her lower lip and allow her to nod her head forward to find the nipple. And she must now get her hands into each feeding, grasping awkwardly at the bottle with her chubby little fingers and acting as if she pulled it toward her mouth all by herself.
Tomorrow, Memorial Day, we will have a small adventure in parenting. While Kate is working with clients from noon to 8 pm, Paul will be put to the test of uninterrupted, un-refereed fatherhood. Understandably, we are all very nervous about this.
(Note to any other fathers...I'm told it's not acceptable to call it "babysitting." I think that suggests we're performing some special favors beyond the call of duty. The women seem to prefer we accept our full responsibilities as fathers by calling these times with our children "parenting." Odd concept.)
In different news, Clara is finding an independent streak. Her usual focus with bottle feedings is suffering from a burning desire to see everything around her at all times. Where (as a young baby) she would suck away while peering at the Feeder, she now (as a grizzled veteran baby) rolls her head quickly from one side to the next as if she has to take in her complete surroundings at once lest they disappear forever.
The independent streak kicks in while seeking to determine who is the Feeder. Clara is no longer content to take the bottle passively from the Good Giver of Bomba Milk. No, she must make the decision herself. We can't plug the bottle in her mouth, we must hold it near her lower lip and allow her to nod her head forward to find the nipple. And she must now get her hands into each feeding, grasping awkwardly at the bottle with her chubby little fingers and acting as if she pulled it toward her mouth all by herself.
Tomorrow, Memorial Day, we will have a small adventure in parenting. While Kate is working with clients from noon to 8 pm, Paul will be put to the test of uninterrupted, un-refereed fatherhood. Understandably, we are all very nervous about this.
(Note to any other fathers...I'm told it's not acceptable to call it "babysitting." I think that suggests we're performing some special favors beyond the call of duty. The women seem to prefer we accept our full responsibilities as fathers by calling these times with our children "parenting." Odd concept.)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tall Boys, First Laughs & Grandma Visits
Another week in review...
Grandma Dryden and Uncle Mark stopped by for a couple nights on their way up to Virginia. This was Dona's first time seeing little Clara, her 21st grandchild (though not the youngest anymore). Clara did all the things an infant does to earn a grandparent's adulation. And with Dona's limited hearing, her sleep wasn't disturbed in the least by Clara's late-night fussiness.
Clara has become a thoroughbred chow hound. As of this entry, she has consumed over 1 1/2 pounds of mama-milk in the past 24 hour period. The 3.5 oz bottles are no longer doing the trick, so we've graduated her to the "tall boys." Twice the capacity. She's not quite up to the full 7 oz guzzle, but she did knock back 5 1/2 ounces earlier in the week. Followed, of course, by a man-sized belch.
She's talking more, and we put her first laugh on display a couple days ago. She's been bashful with the giggles since then but seems to take notice of her own sounds whenever we play the video clip on the computer. She may have a touch of vanity.
Our little girl has kept to her crib routine for over a week now, and we're hopeful that a pattern is beginning to emerge. When we put her down before 8.00, she tends to sleep uninterrupted until a midnight feeding. After that, on good nights, she will wake up at three hour intervals for more food. But she usually goes right back to bed.
We still dream of that mythical place where babies sleep through the night and parents reap the pleasures of deep, deep REM slumber.
Grandma Dryden and Uncle Mark stopped by for a couple nights on their way up to Virginia. This was Dona's first time seeing little Clara, her 21st grandchild (though not the youngest anymore). Clara did all the things an infant does to earn a grandparent's adulation. And with Dona's limited hearing, her sleep wasn't disturbed in the least by Clara's late-night fussiness.
Clara has become a thoroughbred chow hound. As of this entry, she has consumed over 1 1/2 pounds of mama-milk in the past 24 hour period. The 3.5 oz bottles are no longer doing the trick, so we've graduated her to the "tall boys." Twice the capacity. She's not quite up to the full 7 oz guzzle, but she did knock back 5 1/2 ounces earlier in the week. Followed, of course, by a man-sized belch.
She's talking more, and we put her first laugh on display a couple days ago. She's been bashful with the giggles since then but seems to take notice of her own sounds whenever we play the video clip on the computer. She may have a touch of vanity.
Our little girl has kept to her crib routine for over a week now, and we're hopeful that a pattern is beginning to emerge. When we put her down before 8.00, she tends to sleep uninterrupted until a midnight feeding. After that, on good nights, she will wake up at three hour intervals for more food. But she usually goes right back to bed.
We still dream of that mythical place where babies sleep through the night and parents reap the pleasures of deep, deep REM slumber.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Week in Review
Kate went back to work on Monday, leaving Clara in the clutches of an evil nanny for six hours. Well, Nanny Katie is actually a sweetheart and we're glad to have her, but it was a tough day for Mama nonetheless.
Fortunately, we've been able to scale Kate's office hours back to just two days a week. That helps with the separation anxiety (Kate's, not Clara's...yet), but it means the Dryden household doesn't anticipate Mondays and Tuesdays with much excitement.
Beginning Tuesday evening, we started a put-down routine for Clara. It's our grand scheme to turn her into a bonafide crib sleeper. We've met with some luck for the early part of the nights, but we cannot break our little daughter's will to torture us in the wee hours of the morning. She is a willful child and shows no interest in long bouts of deep slumber.
Still, we are hopeful this will tide us over until we begin the much heralded Ferber Sleep Method. Paul knows nothing of how it works, but the ends (uninterrupted sleep for parents and child!) will most definitely justify the means.
The picture above was taken this morning. Clara was practicing her push-ups during tummy time.
Fortunately, we've been able to scale Kate's office hours back to just two days a week. That helps with the separation anxiety (Kate's, not Clara's...yet), but it means the Dryden household doesn't anticipate Mondays and Tuesdays with much excitement.
Beginning Tuesday evening, we started a put-down routine for Clara. It's our grand scheme to turn her into a bonafide crib sleeper. We've met with some luck for the early part of the nights, but we cannot break our little daughter's will to torture us in the wee hours of the morning. She is a willful child and shows no interest in long bouts of deep slumber.
Still, we are hopeful this will tide us over until we begin the much heralded Ferber Sleep Method. Paul knows nothing of how it works, but the ends (uninterrupted sleep for parents and child!) will most definitely justify the means.
The picture above was taken this morning. Clara was practicing her push-ups during tummy time.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Clara's Morning Fun with Friends
Our die-hard fans will love these videos of Clara's new "friends." Clara has recently discovered ceiling fans and absolutely LOVES them! She smiles, coos, kicks, and babbles to the fans throughout our house. Another longtime love is her mobile (and the lullabies that accompany it), so we decided to document her excitement for both. We hope you will get as much enjoyment from the videos as we have gotten witnessing her excitement every morning!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
When Clara Doesn't Want the Bottle
Another 3-minute clip for the die-hards. A brief performance by Clara on Saturday morning.
Whirlwind Week for Clara, et al
Clara had quite the week. We loaded the 4Runner to a tilt with every provision she might need, and headed down to Davidson last weekend for Paul's college reunion. Clara basked in some gratuitous fawning ("ahhh, so cute") -- she doesn't seem to mind this -- and met the Prince family for the first time. Fiona was so excited, she couldn't help but lurch at Clara whenever she was near enough for a quick pinch or squeeze.
On Monday, Kate and Paul brought their baby girl in for the much dreaded vaccinations. Clara was in the most gleeful mood, cooing for the doctor and pantomiming a crawl on the patient table. But then those needles...Wow! Paul held her hands and pacifier in place while the nurse jabbed the two-inch blades of steel into Clara's rolly thighs. "She might not even feel this," says the nurse.
Not quite so. I can attest, looking directly into my daughter's eyes, that she felt every bit of it. Her glare said j'accuse...you, Dad, are Judas! And she howled this cry of pain, the pitch of which we had never before heard. We're wimps, and yes, it was wrenching. Kate was quick to join the chorus of tears. Our rational brains know that two moments of pain are better than, say, polio. But our less rational selves felt pangs of guilt.
In retribution, Clara has not allowed us much decent sleep this week. We'll have her calmed for the night, and she'll drift off for a few moments. But just as we're ready to sleep, her eyes pop wide open. We suspect karma also has some role to play, as we bragged all last week about how well she had been sleeping. Why must we tempt the Fates?
Clara is now cooing a lot, blowing bubbles, drooling like a pro, and directing her right first into her mouth for some self-soothing. The doctor said she's 50th percentile on weight and height (a little over 11 lbs and 23 inches), and growing like a champ.
9-weeks down.
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