Week 8 - Botanical Gardens - Beginning of 9

This weekend Andre put landscape lights around our yard, his old house was always lit up and it looked so nice. He does such an amazing job. I'll be getting pics to add soon. That was one of our Christmas presents this year. Our other one was Clara's baby announcement and Christmas card, they are expensive. We are not exchanging anything this year as Clara is the only gift we need. She is getting one present from Santa and that's all that's under our tree. We won't have many Christmas' to come where we can get away without spending money on presents for her so we're taking advantage.

Saturday night we went to the Botanical Gardens to look at the lights. It was quite a crowd. I'd like to go to Largo Park as it looks like it's a much bigger event. That's about the only thing down here that can get me in the spirit as it's 80 degrees.

Andre was so cute wanting to take pictures at every stop.

 Second picture with Santa, even the Mrs. was there!








 Clara was so good the entire time, that's because her favorite thing to do is be walked around and there was tons to look at. She now likes to be held like you see below, facing out so she can see everything going on around her. Her colic time if at all is during the day now which is nice that she's not keeping daddy up during his hours. It's even been a few days since I've had Andre stay up with her because she is starting to sleep for longer periods of time. The last two days I've given her two oz. of formula in the evening which has allowed her to sleep 7+ hours in a row!!!! She starts at 7pm usually and sleeps until about 2am. Then she is up, eats and is back to sleep until around 6. VERY DOABLE! I am nervous to even type it because I'm afraid to jinx it! Theresa had mentioned what a good sleeper she was and suggested formula, what a smart cookie! Some days she is up all day and can be quite fussy, there were a few days she would cry and not be consoled, it breaks my heart. I noticed today when she is tired she doesn't even want to be held, she is happiest to be swaddled and laid down flat. She will whine and complain for a bit but soon fall asleep. Most days she wakes at 6-7 am, squirms for a while until she's wide awake. When she wakes up she just looks around and is quiet, the moment I make eye contact she breaks out in a BIG smile. Then she starts to coo and giggle a lot. We play until she is hungry and then (on "normal" days) she goes back to sleep until 10/11 and is up until around 3, she may or may not nap in the time between. Once the later evening hours hit she is usually sleepy for the rest of the evening. It makes me nervous when I go back to work she'll be sleeping the entire time I have her!! We will have to switch it up so she sleeps more during the day. Overall she is such a happy girl, sometimes she throws us for a loop and can be fussy but it's only been a day or two here and there. I'm VERY nervous about our flight to NY because she doesn't like to sit, yikes!

 

 

Cousin Selene came by to see Clara and fed her a bottle and put her fast asleep! She is due in May so she got a little practice.



Out on the couch.

Had to add this, Suz sent to to me, LOVED it. Tom is my favorite actor and the snowflake made it seem like Christmas for a hot second...pun intended.

Clara and I usually go for a walk each day. This is one of her cat naps for 30 minutes while we walk the neighborhood. She wakes right up when we get home, sometimes I can jump in the shower as she is waking up, many times not. If she is out cold I can sneak in pilates, that's only happened twice.

Each day I wash her hair under the sink. She loves it. She's also now good about letting me dry her hair after. It started when Kristin was here, then we tried and succeeded when Ana was here and now I can do it on my own. This is what it looks like right after until it calms down. When her hair is greasy it looks dark brown, when it has a little grease it has a red hue, and when it's dry like this it's my natural color and you can see some blond roots. Here eyes have lightened since birth but have been a consistent dark blue.

A selfie of us, we love to snuggle as much as possible all day. Dreading the days I can't!

So big. She loves to stretch. Loved the shorts too!

Half Smile! I have yet to catch the big ones. When I am in her face talking to her she has the biggest smiles but when I put my darn phone in her face she quits!

Plotting something...



Here is a video I took today to send to the girls. I took it the wrong way so sorry it's sideways, I'll do it right next time. I'll try to catch her in the morning when she is out of control chatty. Yes, she is always this squirmy! ;)