This is such a fun age. Clare is so interactive, interesting and joyful these days. I was telling J the other day that the words “pride and joy” take on new meaning. Every little accomplishment brings such feelings of pride – it’s normal baby development going from a little lump who can’t do anything except swallow and cry (well, they do more then that but you know what I mean) to a full little being with personality, preferences and attitude. Still, the normal development is a series of little miracles that keep us in awe every day. This week she started clapping, or at least trying to. She doesn’t get any sound when she claps her hands (those darn fingers get in the way), but today she clapped some stacking cups together and loved that.
Clare’s favorite person is still Daddy. No one can get her to laugh like Daddy can! As you can see from the picture – the adoration is mutual. She loves my parents too and now recognizes them when they visit. My dad came over on Friday night and she just lit up when she saw Grandpa.
Little Miss’ latest accomplishment is holding her own bottle. She’s been doing this for Mary for a couple of weeks now, but J got her doing it this week. She even corrects herself when she drops the bottle to low for milk to come. Such a little smartie. I don’t have any pictures, but she’s sitting up really well right now too. Today she sat up for about ten minutes completely unsupported. She’ll start to topple over, catch herself and pull herself back upright. She also was sitting on my lap today on the floor with her feet in front of her and she launched herself forward. Of course she landed on her head, scaring me to death but not startling her at all. Hmmm – I see a new phase Clare’s life. It will be a phase full of bonked heads.
The highlight of the day (and maybe the week) was the 6-month reunion of our Bradley Birth class. It’s so much fun to see that group! It was great that all 7 families could make it, complete with their cutie-pie babies. Seriously, not a funny-looking baby in the bunch! The babies are all at different stages of rolling, crawling, wiggling, etc. (except stationary Clare). She, however, was the loudest of the group with her shrieks and sings. We re-created the picture we took at the first reunion with the boys in one row and the girls in another. It goes from l to r Grayson, Jake, Teo, Peter along the top and Libby, Clare and Attilie along the bottom. I love the picture above because Teo is reaching for Attilie’s head and Attilie is reaching for Peter. There was an awful lot of head and face grabbing this afternoon.Amazingly, no one cried during the picture and they even held fairly still for a minute or two. 
Last but not least, here is a picture with the toes in the mouth. This is a common occurrence for all diaper and clothes changes. 