Clare is 5 Months Old!

My Sweet Little Lady is already 5 months old!!  I cannot believe that it has almost been half a year since Clare came in to our lives!  She is growing like a weed and getting so much more interested in everything around her.  This last month we had a visit from Grandma, our first real snowstorm followed by nice spring weather, and we finished up the month with a visit from my sister Courtney.

I also really felt like Clare and Grayson got closer this month.  He doesn't call her Clare but he is always asking where the baby is or watching to make sure that she is seeing what he is doing.  She loves to watch everything that he is doing which is very cute.  Clare is a very observant baby and she definitely thinks her brother is fascinating!

My mom came out to see her grandkids (Julian and me too but mostly the kids) and she spoiled them rotten!  She played with both kids, helped a ton with Grayson when he got sick (first fever ever), and bought Clare a whole bunch of new headbands and cute clothes and shoes.  We absolutely love visits from Grandma!

We had our only big snowstorm of the year after my mom left and we decided to take the kids outside to experience it even though we were all just getting over having colds.  Clare didn't cry but she also definitely didn't enjoy herself.  She sucked her breath in at the cold temperature and just looked annoyed.  Grayson thought it was a ton of fun until his hands got wet (we don't actually own kid gloves) and then he got really upset and we had to put him in the bathtub to warm up his hands and calm him down.  He had a lot more fun the next day over at his friend Erick's house because Erick had extra gloves.  Clare and I decided to stay inside in the warmth :)

After our snow weekend, the weather finally started to warm up and we spent the next weekend at the park where it was gorgeous.  Oklahoma weather is kind of crazy the way that it bounces between being hot and cold.  We have definitely enjoyed the nice spring weather and we are trying to soak as much of it up as possible before the hot Oklahoma summer.

We ended Clare's 4th month with a visit from my sister Courtney and it was so much fun to see her!  She came out for her Spring Break and while I don't think Enid, Oklahoma is a very spring breakish location, she wanted to visit her adorable niece and nephew.  She was a huge help and we all enjoyed having her around!

At 5 months old, Clare:
- wears mostly 3-6 month clothes though she is long enough for a lot of 6-9 month stuff already.
- is very happy and sweet most of the time but she is not a very good sleeper.  She has regressed and now only goes 2-3 hours at a time before waking up.  I really don't want to make her cry it out but we may get to that point soon if she can't go a little longer.
- loves Mort the Moose, her peacock, a hanging monkey toy, books that make a crunchy sound and rattles.  She really likes toys now and she particularly loves anything she can get in to her mouth!
- loves watching her brother no matter what he is doing.  She will twist her whole body around so that she can see what he is doing.
- is very observant of everything going on around her.  I don't think Grayson was nearly this observant at the same age.  Clare loves to look at people and try to figure out new things like fans.
-smiles and laughs frequently.  She has the sweetest little smile in the world!
- likes her bouncer, especially the brightly colored one with the fish (we have two so that I can keep one in the family room and one in my bathroom so that I can get ready).
-will sit in the bumbo but she is always trying to reach for something that is too far away so she gets a little frustrated after a few minutes.
- finally doesn't hate tummy time!  She still doesn't love it but now that she can roll and also get her head up a lot higher she tolerates it much better.

Our Girl is 4 Months Old!

Sweet Miss Clare is now 4 months old!  The last month Clare started laughing frequently, rolling from her back to her tummy, and going to the daycare at the gym.  We didn't have any trips or anything planned so we were able to get in to a nice routine at our house.  Clare finally started sleeping better and,more importantly, is now sleeping in her rock n play all night instead of refusing to sleep anywhere but on me.  We also celebrated Clare's first Valentine's Day which was a lot of fun!

I really wanted to start going to the gym again but I was a little nervous about leaving both kids at the daycare.  The last time that Grayson was dropped off at daycare, he got very sad and it hurt my mommy heart so I wasn't eager to drop him off but I also know that it is good for kids to spend a little time away from their parents and it is also good for me to get a little time to work on myself.  I am so glad that we started doing this because both kiddos seem to do really well there and it gives me a chance to work out and take a shower without worrying about what Grayson is getting in to or if Clare might start crying.  I am so grateful that the YMCA here has a great Child Watch program that makes me feel comfortable leaving the kids!

For Valentine's Day this year I decided to take some cute pictures of Clare (Grayson made it clear that he really didn't want to join in) and we did a fun little craft using the kids feet to send to their grandparents and give to Julian.  I'm not really a big Valentine's person for myself but it is fun to do cute things with the kids!

At 4 months old Clare:
-is 26 inches long which puts her in the 99th percentile for height.  She is a very tall little lady!
-is 15.2 lbs which puts her in the 79th percentile for weight.  She is quite a little chunk who is already getting little baby rolls!
-wears size 3-6 months though she is so long that she is about out of her sleepers in this size.
-sleeps for 4-6 hour stretches in the rock n play at night.  This is a huge, awesome change from last month!
-thinks her mama is hilarious!  She laughs at me all the time, especially when I sing or dance around with her.  She particularly likes "The Wheels on the Bus" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  She also likes it when we sing "Shake It Off".
-loves her daddy and will give him the biggest smiles when he looks at her :)
-thinks her brother is very interesting.  She is always watching what Grayson is doing with great interest.
-loves to watch the world around her and see what people are doing.
-loves Jaque the Peacock and Mort the Moose.  Mort was Grayson's favorite toy and now he seems to be one of Clare's as well!  She really likes to chew on his feet when I have him hooked to her carseat.
-really enjoys chewing on her books.  She does little baby sit ups so that she can see and reach the books better which are pretty cute :)
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