Bits and Pieces/Playing with the Camera

Emily has become the blog nazi these days, refusing any picture that might show a bit of adult humor so here are some 'approved' pictures of the kiddo. The baby is cranky 90% of the time , but we caught her here during a calm period; minutes following these pictures Clementine began taking the lord's name in vain, projectile vomiting green pea soup, and spider-walking on the ceiling.

Christmas 2007

This year's holiday we were very busy! On Christmas Eve we had chili at Aunty Sissy and Uncle Bunny's house in Seattle, homemade cinnamon buns for Christmas breakfast (one of our many new traditions) and chicken with all the fixin's at Aunt Carolyn's in Tacoma for dinner.

Clementine slept through most of the festivities as she was passed around and cuddled. She likes all of her presents but her favorite thing about Christmas is all the sparkly lights.






When we got home on Christmas Eve, she was pretty tired (and grumpy) but she got into her new PJs then the three of us cuddled on the couch while Cam read her new book. She likes the pictures.

HEY!!

Clementine is already two months old!















And that's pretty funny...

Merry Christmas to All...

And to All a Good Night!

Hugs and kisses!
-Cameron, Emily and Clementine

Who can turn the world on with her smile???

(Never mind the prune juice on her shirt)

Here is one of the rare times we have actually caught her laughing on film!!

A few of Clem's favorite things...

In no particular order:
*Holding hands (that's mom's favorite, too)
*Binkies (especially spitting them out and then panting until someone sticks it back in there)
*Kissing (that's mom's other favorite)
*Christmas Lights
*Diaper changes (those are funny)
*Trying to stand up
*Snuggling
*Mirrors
*Bath time (this baby is part fish)
*All of her "friends" (stuffed animals) in her crib; she likes to tell them her deepest thoughts

Mood Swings

For the last week, this baby cannot decide whether she is happy or sad; but no matter what she is, her mood is extreme!
Last Tuesday she started laughing big time. She laughs like a crazed hyena! Changing diapers seems to be particularly laugh inducing and so is foot-kissing. This morning she was chilling in her crib for a few minute while I got ready. When I set her in there, she was sound asleep, when I came back, she was "talking" to her stuffed animals and cracking herself up!

But, if she's not laughing, she's screaming bloody murder. Waking up in strange places (i.e. at Aunty Sissy's or the grocery store) evokes the most screams with a close second being strapped into the car seat. I won't even get into what happens if she has to wait when she's hungry!!

These mood swings have been so extreme that I took her to the Doctor on Friday to see if there was something truly wrong with her when she was screaming so much her face turned red, her back was arched and my ears were bleeding. Cam met us there. Doctor said Clementine is the picture of health and she is very advanced for a 6-7 week old (holding her head up, being alert and listening, smiling and laughing, etc.). The good news is she's healthy (and did I mention advanced?), the bad news is she's moody. Don't know where she got that from...

Traditions

Since we had Clementine, family traditions have become very important to me, and, by default, to Cam, too. Holiday traditions have been the topic of conversation a lot lately especially with Christmas just a few days away. A Christmas tradition that Cam and I have had the last few years is that we exchange gifts several weeks in advance. We are terrible at secrets and I always get way too excited once the gift is in the house to wait.
Last night Cam and I gave each other our gifts. He got me a pair of Opal earrings. I didn't know what Opal was but Cam had done some research and found out that Opal is Clementine's birth stone. Awwwwww...he's so thoughtful! I got him a branding iron with his initials for his favorite food group-steak. And I got him the book No Country for Old Men since this is a movie he really wants to see but must wait till it's on DVD.

We decided we are going to start a few traditions this year. The first one is giving Clementine Christmas PJs and reading her a Christmas story (about Santa) on Christmas Eve. I'm also going to make my first attempt at baking cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. We'll see how that goes!

And in really important news...Clementine laughed today for the first time! Well, the first six times!!! She seems to think getting her diaper changed is super hilarious and she laughs and laughs at me. Her laugh is a whole lot of gums and a loud holler/giggle. I love it!! Hopefully we'll get it on video soon and post it here!

Girl Genius

Neither of us have been around many six week olds but I'm pretty sure ours is a genius. Here's proof: she holds her head up like a champ! And she holds eye contact and smiles all the livelong day. She can roll over and, I swear, the other day when she was chillin' on her belly, she was trying to crawl! I won't even get into the two year plan to get us out of Iraq that she came up with this weekend! Beauty and brains...she's the total package.