8 months

I really never thought this blog would eventually be whittled down to a bunch of baby updates, but, alas, so it has.  Who has time for anything more??  One day, I'll get back to recording our lives.  For now I only have enough energy to make us a Shutterfly album, sorry blog.

So eight months!  What a seriously fun time.  This little chub has definitely become very opinionated and he'll let you know it.  He's gotten very good at pushing things away he doesn't want: his pacifier, a spoon, your hand when you try to wipe his face.  He's also a champ at letting you know when he wants something.  Took away that toy he was playing with?  "Mmmmm! Mmmm!" means "Hey I wanted that!"

We also finally have a tooth!!  His little grin looks so different now. And we're working on its neighbor as we speak.  That first one was a beast to get through.  We're talking cranky, sad, grump of all grumps.  Wouldn't go to sleep unless he was nursing, clingy, crabby, all the things he really never is.  It was a rough 7 days.  This second tooth hasn't been nearly as bad so far, so I'm just crossing my fingers for a new normal since we've got 20 odd more of these bad boys to get through.

We introduced little dude to a bottle when he was a little over a month old annnnd...never really went back to it.  So, unfortunately, he lost the skill and absolutely refused to take a bottle when we started up a little over a month ago.  Sigh, momma's gotta concert to go to at the end of August little guy!  We had to figure this out!  Well, it took a month plus, and a lot of patience on Dave's part, but we did it.  This kid now takes a bottle like it's no big thing.  Thank heavens.  I wasn't about to miss Taylor Swift in August!

One of Clark's new favorite discoveries lately has been his pointer finger.  He doesn't know how to point to things yet, but if he sees something interesting - say the eye on his stuffed animal - out comes his little pointer finger and a cocked head as he inspects this new important thing.  It's seriously adorable.  

We've also started to babble in earnest and it kills me.  He figured out how to say "dada" a few weeks ago and it hasn't let up.  He doesn't know what it means yet, but hearing him whisper, "dadadada" under his breath might be one of the cutest things he's ever done.  Now if he could only master "mama"...

We've really started to get going with solids now, eating three square meals a day that are at least 1/4th of a cup or more.  Kids got an appetite!  He used to open his mouth up wide for his first bite, but he's just started to wise up that not all purees are created equal.  He's started to take a quick tester bite before he's ready to commit to the rest of meal.  He's no dummy.  Green beans and avocados?  Um, no thanks.  Pears and nectarines?  Oh yeah, I'll have some of that.

It's so amazing to see his little personality come out more and more every day.  Being this kid's momma sure is a party.

7 months

Somehow, in my mind, I never really thought much past my baby being 6 months old.  And now, here we are, at 7 months.  Time.  She is a fickle and fast mistress.  But seriously, wasn't he just a week old??

Clark is sitting up like he's been doing it all his life and his giggles are infectious and right from his chunky belly.  My mother-in-law says he laughs just like David did when he was a baby.  So stink'in cute.

Things of note: we're gaining steam with solids!  We're up to eating three "meals" a day and so far his favorite is, wait for it...prunes!  Of all the things a kid could eat, huh?  Bananas and applesauce are next in line and butternut squash and cauliflower are the bane of his existence. He's still not super into this whole eating thing yet, but it's so fun to expose him to new tastes and textures.  In addition to purees, I'm also trying a bit of a baby led weaning approach and trying to let him hold and chew on things, but he gets so confused.  He gives me these looks like, "This apple slice goes in my mouth?  Are you sure...?"  It's a work in progress.

Clark and I took our first solo plane ride together up to Provo and, while we did just fine, flying sans David is definitely not my traveling method of choice.  Thank goodness for kind seatmates (why would you ever book someone with a lap child in the middle seat??) and a helpful flight crew.  Also, note to self, never wear white pants when traveling with a baby.  Duh.

Clark is rolling all around these days.  Back to tummy.  Tummy to back.  This way.  That way.  I'll put him down and turn around for a minute and he's on the other side of the room.  He hasn't quite figured out how to use his rolling antics as a mode of getting to where he wants to be yet, but I'm sure that light bulb will go off any day now...

It's definitely not all fun and games though.  Baby boy was doing a great job of sleeping 7PM to 7AM and then all of a sudden...not so much.  He likes to wake up in the 4:00 to 5:30 range these days and doesn't much like to go back to bed after those early wake up calls, but we're working on it.  Really, really hard. 

For the most part, though, this is such a fun age.  We adore this little guy and he most definitely has Dave and I wrapped around his tiny little finger.  We love you baby boy!

6 months

 Six months.  Six months!!  Who is okaying this madness?  Good thing this is such a fun age, or I'd probably be bawled up in a corning looking at newborn pictures.

Stats:
Weight: 19 lbs
Height: 28 1/2 inches

Clark is one happy camper these days and smiles at pretty much anything that moves: grocery store clerks, palm fronds, dogs barking.  He's not picky.  He's also especially giggly right now and it's killing me.  I have entirely too many videos of him laughing #sorrynotsorry.

Kiddo became a expert traveler this month going on two trips and six plane rides total.  And he was a dream.  Seriously, kuddos to this kid.  His first flight to Provo he gave us a diaper blow out and fell asleep minutes before the plane landed, but he was happy!  Not complaining.  We turned around the next week and flew cross country to Florida and Clark was a trooper all over again.  The real amazing thing was on our flight home where we waited 5 extra hours at the airport, missed our connecting flight, had to spend the night in Dallas, and grabbed an early morning 7AM flight having to be up at 5AM and off to the airport...and Clark didn't cry once!  Not once!  He was a miraculous traveling super baby.  Bless him.  Bless him 50 times.

This little guy is starting to become much more verbal these days with lots of ba's and aa's, and recently working on his ma's.  It's adorable.

The cutest thing lately is that our little man is starting to reach for him momma.  It melts me!  He's only done it a handful of times, but I just adore it (hopefully I still adore it when he's 2 and wanting to be help all the time).

Big baby milestone this month: solids!  So far we've just given the babe rice cereal and his reviews are definitely mixed.  He's interested, but confused and really the best tactic to getting him to eat a bite is to make him laugh and dump a spoonful in his open mouth.  He looks surprised every time, but he seems to be swallowing more than is dribbling down his chin so...progress?  I'm getting pretty jazzed to start giving him fruits and veges next. 

Little guy definitely is starting to have preferences these days and one of them is colors.  Specifically red.  He seems to dig all things rosy, most especially a cup I like to drink out of.  When it's on the table he does a full two armed lunge toward it until I move it closer.  We get the message little dude.

Mostly we just love this little chub and are so happy he's ours for good.  Keep growing little guy (but not too fast please!).

Easters

I have always loved Easter.  It probably started with the fact that it's close to my birthday, but after that it just became such a sweet simple holiday filled with family, good food, and the message our Savior.  What more could you want?  Except for dying eggs...not such a big fan of that.

Clark was introduced to the egg hunt at our ward's Easter activity.  He wasn't really into it...just wait till you can eat the candy next year kiddo.  It gets wayyyy more fun after that.

As it so happened, Easter this year, fell over General Conference weekend.  So we got to spend a few days with family down in Orange County.

While the boys were away at Priesthood Session, we packed up the babe and toted him to Balboa Island for some good times. 

One of my most favorite things is watching other people love on my little dude, and his Grammy and Aunt Brooke are pros.

Since General Conference means we stay home, we didn't get decked out in our Easter best on Easter Sunday, but that didn't stop Clark from looking oh so dapper!  

Until he figures out how to take hats off his head, this kid will be wearing a whole bunch of them.

 It was a perfect Easter weekend filled with all the fixin's and plenty of baby giggles.  So thankful for family and the message of this Easter season.

Clark meets water

Lets be honest, I have been dying to get Clark in the pool for months now, but it just hasn't been right. 

I didn't have a swimsuit for him. 
The pool was too cold. 
David wasn't around. 

But finally, finally, the stars aligned and we got this kiddo in some swim trunks and dunked him in Grammy and Poppy's lukewarm hot tub. 

And it did not disappoint.

Gosh, being a parent is so much fun.  I love watching these firsts with this little guy.

 Clark in sunglasses.  There are few things cuter than Clark in sunglasses.

But that sassy look on the right comes close.

 "Whooooa dad, I'm not so sure about this..." - Clark

Just kidding.

Get ready kiddo, we're going to be int he pool a whooooole lot this summer.