6 months!

Okay so this is a little late...but I wanted to post some pictures that Uncle Caleb took of Clark for his six month birthday.  By the way, Clark's six month stats are:
Weight: 17 pounds, 8 ounces
Length: 27 inches
Head circumference: 17 5/8 inches
He is in the 50th percentile for weight and 55th percentile for height.  Still average!
He also got three shots including a flu shot :(  Poor guy!

Random photos/video

Clark hosts Bible study

Wednesday was another rainy day.  Clark went back to sleep after his 7am feeding and slept in until almost 9am!  So he had a late nap which lasted two hours-yay!  It worked out really well because I had some cleaning and laundry to get done.  He was a good sport through all the cleaning--he watched intently from his exersaucer.  He was concerned about the broom when I was sweeping the hardwood.  But he kept close tabs on it and I made sure it didn't go near him. Haha  

Clark shows off his latest chew toy:

We had a smooth afternoon and dinner was ready when Josh came home.  Unfortunately I was folding laundry and didn't realize it was burning in the oven!!  The smoke detectors went off but Josh whipped a towel around and cleared the smoke away until it stopped. :)  Fortunately the chicken wasn't burnt, just the juices/spices that had leaked off the chicken onto the foil.  Anyway it all worked out, I just lit a strong pumpkin candle and that helped the nasty smell go away.  

After dinner we gave Clark his bath then Josh gave him his bottle while I got ready for my girls' Bible study!  We were meeting at my house.  Clark went down without a peep just as the girls were arriving.  It worked out perfectly!  We had a wonderful study together and Josh stayed upstairs in the loft in case Clark woke up.

I took some pictures of my new haircut today.    

the tame version:

 the crazy version:

Poor Clark.  He's going to look back on this blog and be like, "my Mom is a weird-o."  I need to get out of the house everyday because this is what happens when I don't!! Haha

Rain Rain Go Away

It's been rainy these past two days and let's face it: it's depressing!  Although Clark does sleep better when it rains during his naps. :)  

Tuesday morning I did Clark's laundry while he napped away.  We had a relaxing day of playing music and naps.  In the afternoon I got dinner going in the crock pot then we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's house!  Clark stayed there while I got my hair cut.  When I came to pick him up they had another wonderful report!  He did very very well!!  When I got there Grandma was feeding him some of her homemade applesauce and he was gobbling it down.  I told her, "Wow!  He eats this so well and it even has pieces in it.  He doesn't eat the turnips I give him unless they are completely pureed."  Grandma replied, "Well Kelly, there's a big difference between turnips and Grandma's applesauce!!"  hehehe so true!!  She gave me some to take home.  

We had small group Tuesday night, but I also had a Women's Committee Meeting, so Josh and I parted ways.  Aunt Kim came over to keep watch while Clark slept--THANK YOU!!!  It was great to have her here while we were away.  

Clark slept really well last night!  Here are some pictures from Tuesday:

Yummy:

Even yummier:

 Clark has trouble behaving on the changing table so I place this singing monkey next to his face as a diversion...it usually works:

That's all for Tuesday!

Clark strengthens his core

Clark has a surprise for everyone!!!

Yay success!!  Finally his core is sufficiently strong. :)  That happened tonight.  But let me back-up to Sunday.

Sunday morning I played in church so Josh stayed home with Clark because little boo was still a bit under the weather.  After church I had lunch with Mom, Dad and Caleb--that was fun!  When I got home Clark seemed to be feeling better.  He took a nice afternoon nap and woke up in time for an early dinner then we all headed out to choir rehearsal.  Our church is doing a cantata this year with my Mom directing and we wanted to be involved.  Clark came along and sat in his bouncer during the rehearsal.  He did great!

A Nigerian missionary named Gideon was sharing his testimony at the evening service so Josh attended and I stayed with Clark in the lobby until he was melting down and it was time to take him home.  (Incidentally Gideon was lodging at my parents' house during his stay.)  I was able to hear some of the testimony, which was really cool!  Gideon was part of a gang in Nigeria and the police were cracking down on the gang members.  Both of Gideon's best friends were gang members and gunned down by the police.  Gideon knew he was going to be next and he was afraid of going to hell.  There was a certain preacher who would come through his town so Gideon went up to him and said he wanted to hear the preaching.  The preacher was afraid for his life because he knew Gideon was a gang member.  But Gideon reassured him and the preacher realized he was serious! So he preached the gospel to him and Gideon was saved!!  Then Gideon went through the town and into the "bush" where the gang members were and preached to everyone!  He said everyone thought he was crazy.  Later on he was able to attend Westminster Theological Seminary in PA!!  Pretty cool.  Anyway now he ministers back in his country.  Praise the Lord!

Today Clark and I had a fun morning.  We went to a playdate at my cousin Holly's house!  My friend Elisha was also there.  It was so great to have some time outside the house with other moms!!  When we got home Clark went right down for a nap but he only slept 30 minutes.  I gave him lunch when he woke up and he got tired about an hour later--which I expected since his nap was so short.  His second nap was about 90 minutes, that's better!  We played some music this afternoon--I was working on some Christmas songs on my violin.  Clark didn't seem to mind hearing Christmas music even though Thanksgiving isn't even here yet!  :)  He ended up taking a short third nap which kept him happy through dinner.  It makes such a big difference when he gets that third nap in!  After dinner Josh left for a congregational meeting at church.  I gave Clark a bath then tucked him into bed.  He cried for awhile...I think maybe he wasn't tired yet, although he was acting tired before I put him down!  I don't know, I feel guilty though.  Oh well, I ended up popping his paci after awhile and he went right to sleep after that.

Here are some more pictures of Clark sitting up!

Fever breaks!

On Friday morning Clark and I were supposed to be at a playdate.  Unfortunately all three of the kids who were also going to be there were also sick!!  So technically we could have met anyway, but the moms decided to wait until Monday morning.  Hopefully everyone will feel better by then. :)  Friday was actually a miserable day for Clark so it's good we rescheduled the playdate.  I noticed when he woke up that his head and face weren't super hot anymore so I figured his fever was gone.  Before his first nap he was just so sad!  He didn't want to eat much breakfast and he wasn't happy in the glider or exersaucer.  So I just held him for awhile, we sang some songs together, then I nursed him and put him down for a nap.  He was very happy to hit the pillow as it were, but only slept for a little under an hour.  

When he woke up he was much much happier.  We played music, straightened up the house a bit, and had some giggles.  He had a nice lunch then went down for his afternoon nap.  Again, he didn't sleep very well but woke up happy.  As the day progressed I realized he was getting warmer and warmer.  So I took his temperature again in the afternoon and it was back up to 101.5.  He took another dose of acetaminophen, but was still warm at bedtime.  Again, his temperature was 101.5 and it had been four hours so we gave him another dose.  He didn't sleep well overnight.  Josh soothed him back to sleep at 10:30, then I fed him at 12:30.  He then slept until 5 then woke up for the day at 8:15ish.  And again he felt cooler so we didn't take his temperature in the morning.  

So Saturday morning we got him dressed in his Villanova gear!  He wanted to wear his cowboy hat too because it matched!! :)

In the middle of the morning we decided to move him from the kitchen to the family room.  He was surprised to be "flying" in his exersaucer hahaha

Clark stayed home all day Saturday to recover and it worked!!  He didn't have a temperature all day!!  He took wonderful naps--including an almost three hour nap this afternoon!  I was able to get out of the house and go to the Elverson Antique Show in the morning and to the Exton Mall in the afternoon.  THANK YOU JOSH for taking over at home so I could get some fun time away!!!!  It was very refreshing.  I was with Aunt Kim and Mimi!  We had a blast!!  

Here are some videos from the other day:

Clark tries sitting up again:

Listen closely as he falls over.....

did you catch that little "toot"? :) hehe

here we are trying to get him to laugh:

and here he's laughing really hard!

Sick-o

Wednesday Clark woke up with a cold.  He had a runny nose and eyes.  He wasn't coughing so that was good!  Overall he was in good spirits, just kinda snotty.  We played a lot of music throughout the day.  I have a big fat book of "Classical favorites" that we are working through.  He sits in the exersaucer or glider while I play.  I think he enjoys it :)  

After lunch on Wednesday we stopped by Mimi's house to say hi.  (Sometimes it's a litttttle boring at home all day!)  While we were there Pops came by and Clark lit up  like a lightbulb!!  I don't know what it is but Clark really likes Pops :)  He definitely likes men better, that's for sure.  It's so funny!  I remember Calla being so scared of men.  Or maybe that was KC...haha whatever!  When we got back from Mimi's I tried putting Clark down for a nap but he only slept for 40 minutes.  Weird!  I figured if he wasn't going to sleep he could help with dinner.  So he cheered me on from the exersaucer while I tried one of Aunt Katelyn's recipes: Chicken with an Apple Cream Sauce.  We had it over rice pilaf with a side of corn.  YUM!!  After dinner Clark was super tired because he had been awake for three hours.  We gave him a quick bath and tucked him in bed.  

Thursday Clark woke up miserable.  He looked awful too!  He slept really well all night (only waking up once at 4am to eat!) so I was thinking he was feeling better.  But that was definitely not the case.  He took a shorter morning nap, about 45 minutes.  Then I took him over to Grandpa and Grandma's for some fun while I went to a prayer meeting at church.  This week is our church's "Week of Prayer" so every day people get together and pray at various homes.  There was a prayer session from 12-1pm at the church so I decided to attend that one instead of an evening service.  It was great.  I sat with Mrs. Frey. :)  Anyway when I got to back to Grandpa and Grandma's, they had a glowing report about Clark!  He did really well.  I was so glad!  Grandma made me an awesome sandwich (yum!!!!) and Clark ate some applesauce then we went home for his afternoon nap.  

He took an awesome two-hour nap and I was able to take a nap too!  When I woke up I realized it had started raining.  No wonder we both slept so well! :)  We played some music again this afternoon while waiting for Josh to get home.  After a while Clark got hungry so I fed him while getting our dinner ready (leftovers).  Clark started out eating parsnips but I soon realized they needed to be further pureed.  So I ended up giving him pears and blueberries.  I figured when you're sick, fruit is the best medicine! :)  

After dinner we got him ready for his bath and Josh noticed Clark was really warm.  I had taken his temperature before dinner and it was 99.  We decided to take it again after the bath.  Well we ended up with three readings: 101.9, 100.4 and 101.5.  We have acetaminophen but we didn't know how much to give him.  We decided to call the pediatrician.  I didn't think anything was terribly wrong because he was smiling and pleasant.  The peds didn't call back right away so I called Aunt Amy--our resident doctor!! :)  She has a dosage chart so she gave me the correct dosage for his weight.  Soon after the peds called back and gave me the same advice Amy had given, and the same dosage.  She also said to check his temperature again in an hour and call back if it hadn't gone down.  Well by this point Clark was cranky and ready for bed.  I decided if he was feeling poorly he would wake up again.  I didn't want to put him to sleep then wake him up in an hour to take his temp!  As it turned out he slept from 7pm to 5am!!  Sounds like the meds worked. :)  

Clark had some after-dinner fun in his high chair Thursday night:

Tuesday shopping

Tuesday I woke up ready to shop!  Actually after I saw that it was supposed to go up to 68 degrees I decided it was a good day to hit up the outlets!  Uncle Caleb is going to be taking Clark's six-month pictures on Saturday so we needed to buy some special outfits for that.  I just loooove Hartstrings!  They have the cutest boy outfits!!  I couldn't decide so I ended up bringing a couple home.  Anyway after Clark's two-hour morning nap (yay!!) and before we left for the outlets, Mimi stopped by to say hi!  She had been in Texas for the past five days.

Mimi bought this cowboy hat for Clark while she was in Texas:

I think he likes it!!! :)

Clark and I headed out to the outlets after she left.  We were going to meet Aunt Amy and her kiddos there but unfortunately she got hung up at home.  One of the kid's teachers came over for a "home visit" and it took two hours!  Who would've guessed?!  Anyway it worked out okay because Clark was supposed to take a nap on the way to the outlets and instead he propped his eyes open.  So we spent about an hour there then he was really cranky.  I realized we needed to go when he was crying in his stroller in Carter's and I was looking through clothes saying, "you're okay, you're okay."  When I turned around to look at him and there were three ladies nearby staring at me like, "UM YOUR BABY IS CRYING!!" hahah oops.  Sorry to all Carter's customers at 3:30 on Tuesday!! :)  

Anyway Clark did fall asleep on the way home and I tried to transfer him to his crib but he woke up.  So I tried nursing him to sleep.  Nope.  Oh well!  So we played together for awhile then I gave him dinner.  Josh came home around 6pm then we gave him a bath and put him to bed right away.  He was asleep by 6:45!  He was so tired.  It was nice because then Josh and I had a nice dinner together.  Well, nice in that it was stress-free.  We were only eating a frozen meal-in-a-bag!! haha!!  

Tuesday night I went out to Walmart since we were obviously low on "real" food!  When I got back Josh and I watched Sunday's episode of Amazing Race since we didn't watch it on Sunday.  I just love that show.  It's so cool to see where they go and the challenges they face!  They were in Malawi, Africa during this episode.  Anyway then we went to bed.  

On Monday and Tuesday night Clark slept from 7ish to 4ish!!  I feel so rested.  And his morning nap is very consistently two hours now.  Yay!

Here's a video from a couple days ago.  This is Clark's latest workout routine!  Josh is counting the reps and saying, "feel the burn." haha

Happy Monday

unlike the rest of the world, Clark enjoys Mondays:

Monday turned out to be a great napping day for Clark.  He got up around 9 and took a two hour nap from about 10:45 to noon.  Then we had lunch, played music (well, Clark listened), then I put him down for his afternoon nap.  Around that same time, Aunt Kim came over to babysit so I could attend a short meeting at church.  She was here about an hour (THANK YOU!!!) and the meeting went really well.  She said Clark didn't fall asleep right away, but she held him a bit when he was really crying, then set him down again and he fell asleep.  

Anyway he took a shorter afternoon nap (only an hour) so I tried putting him down again but he would just lay awake in his crib.  Finally, after he had been in his crib awake for about 45 minutes, he started crying, so I figured his naptime was over.  Josh got home early (YAY!!!) and as he was playing with Clark, commented on how tired he seemed.  So he decided to try putting him down for a third nap.  I said, "good luck."  Well wouldn't you know Clark went right to sleep!!  I was so happy!!  

So he slept about an hour and a half while I was making a meal for my friend Jen whose due date was Monday.  The timing was perfect!  Then Josh, Clark and I ate as a family after I got back from Jen's.  I was afraid Clark would not be tired around his bedtime, but he actually was.  After his bath we had devotions and then I read him several books to help him wind down.  Well, even though he had only been awake for a hour and a half, he was ready to sleep--rubbing his eyes and arching his back and grunting.  So I put him down and he closed his eyes without a peep!  Maybe he wasn't feeling well?  I don't know.  

Anyway before his bath Josh called me into our room saying, "Clark is sitting up!!"  He was sitting up for six seconds at a time!  So I quick got out the camera....and here's what happened: 

Clark tries sitting up...

Oh well!  Maybe we'll capture it "on film" sometime soon :)