Our Growing Kid!

The past few weeks have flown by and Scout is changing a lot.  She has been trying all sorts of new foods, is content playing with her toys by herself and rolls all around after her toys.  We have noticed that her hair is starting to grow although it seems to be much lighter than we originally thought - one of the few traits she may have got from Mommy!  Blog updates have been tough since we have been experiencing some computer "issues" and Clara and Mommy have been sick.  Therefore, there has not been much sleep in our household!  Although for a kid with a cold, Clara remains happy and playful most of the time.  

Rollin' Girl

Having fun with her counting crab

Hanging in the back yard with Daddy

What an adorable bunny she makes!

Silly faces for the camera

Sweetie Pie!

First biter biscuit - what a mess!

Playing tractor with Uncle Ryan

Clara's trip to Manzanita

Clara's enjoyed her first trip to the beach house in Manzanita, Oregon. The first time we took her down on the beach she made lots of "oohs" and "aahs." We think she is a big fan of the coast already!
We had some amazing weather for our trip so Clara got to put her toes in the sand and Kevin made her a little sand castle.
Clara has started making more faces and sticks her tongue out a lot. She sits up really well and is babbling all the time.

She was very interested in the sand - so much so that we had to watch her carefully so she didn't try and eat it.

Grandma and Grandpa Stevens, Uncle Matt, Auntie Danielle and Cousin Tay were able to come too. Taylor and Clara had fun playing together.

Clara is SO interested in watching everything Taylor does.

Daddy's girl

So sweet!

Grandma Jan got the girls these adorable coordinating dresses, so we just had to take some photos in them on the beach. Getting the two of them to look at the camera at the same time was pretty tricky!

SIX MONTHS OLD !!!

How amazingly fast the past six months of our lives have flown by. Parenthood has been an even better adventure than we had imagined it. Clara has changed so much since we first brought her home. She is sitting up strongly on her own (tipping only occasionally), loves to play hard and makes so many different sounds (most frequently grunts to display dissatisfaction). She is amazingly strong willed especially in her pursuit of items like the television remote, Mom's iphone and our beverages. This challenges us to adopt clever methods of diverting her attention. All in all, we are excited to see what Clara's next six months of development bring for our little family.

On the weekend Clara turned 6 months old, Mommy was not feeling well, leaving Daddy to care for little Scout on his own all weekend. At first Clara put up a bit of a fight to this change (especially going down for naps) but by Sunday she had come around. While our planned activities didn't take place, Clara and Daddy had fun time together and the needed rest was greatly appreciated by Mommy.

Nakey baby!

Looking so sweet in her Over the Rainbow shirt from Auntie Brooke - A favorite of Mommy's since in is PINK and Wizard of Oz!!

Spending some time with cousin's Julie and Daniel, Scout's buddies!

Clara hanging out with cousin Taylor in the nursery at Kent Lutheran Church, where Mommy played as a child. We attended a memorial service for a special family member, Norman. Clara was able to meet some family members for the first time too.

Taylor trying out the dolly cradle.

~ Special cousins ~ Clara can't wait until she can toddle around behind Tay!

~ Fun week of visitors ~

This past week we enjoyed lots of visitors to our home. First was a special childhood friend of Mommy's, Kristi who got to meet Clara for the first time. Hopefully we'll see her again soon and introduce Clara to her kids, Justin and Ashley. Then Great Grandma and Grandpa Swanson came for an overnight visit. Clara eats up all of their attention!

Looking pretty darn cute in her new cherry dress! On Friday, Cousin Daniel came up for a visit and we all went and had a fun BBQ dinner.

She is developing a sense of humor and giggles at faces and sounds quite a bit.

Too big for her bassinet! She hasn't slept in it much the past few months, but it is still a benchmark in her development - one that is somewhat sad for Mommy!

Clara LOVES spending time with her cousins who also came to visit on Sunday. Hailey and Taylor had her laughing and smiley much of their visit. They helped Daddy baby sit while Mommy enjoyed a day at the spa with Auntie Amy and Grandma Carol!

Clara likes borrowing your hat, Hailey!

Our Baby is 24 weeks old!!

Happy after a bath in her bunny towel!

Clara loves her cereal and we are always surprised at how quickly a mess is created when she eats.

Talking up a storm... LA, LA, DA, AHH...

Just a swingin'

From her tummy she is working on getting her legs up underneather her.

Clara is such a little cheeseball for the camera. She seems to love having her picture taken.

Sacked out!!

Having fun with Daddy! She gets so happy to see him when he comes home from work!

An eventful week for Scout!

This past week ended up being a pretty eventful one for our little family. After months of looking, we finally purchased a new vehicle - one that gets Clara's approval as she fell right asleep in our first test drive plus it has lots of room for her things (stroller, car seat, toys, etc.). We also have been enjoying all of our beautiful summer weather spending time outside on walk and meeting up with friends. On Sunday, Clara and Mommy traveled to Chehalis for the Johnson family reunion at Great Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's house. It was a lot of fun for Clara to meet many family members for the first time.

Happy Girl! Scout's babbles have taken off this past week. She is "talking" to us more frequently and her sounds are starting to resemble real words - most excitingly "da da da!"

She still LOVES this baby gym toy!

This week Scout also had her first tastes of rice cereal. She has been very interested in watching Mommy & Daddy eat. While she liked to open her mouth for Daddy, most of the cereal comes right back out. What a fun experience for us!

Clara's legs are getting stronger all of the time and she is getting so good at turning herself in the exersaucer. She also likes trying to sit up and has really improved in the past week though not quite doing so independently. Her development is amazing for us to observe!