A Sleep Update...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Clayton and I are working hard on his sleep schedule. I am so proud of how far he has come over the last few weeks. Today, he slept for 1 hour and 15 minutes during his morning nap and his afternoon nap lasted almost 2 hours!! To top it all off, he was in bed asleep by 7 p.m.!

I truly recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. Clayton is a definite success story from using the tips in this book. He went from a random sleeper, that needed constant rocking and white noise to fall asleep, to being able to go to sleep on his own. I must say, though, that in addition to using a lot of Weissbluth's tips outlined in his book, I didn't always follow his advice completely. I really agreed with the importance of implementing a sleep schedule, keeping your baby awake for no more than 2 hours at a time, putting your baby in bed awake, as well as establishing a nap routine. However, the most important piece of advice I took from his book is to pick and choose the things that work best for your family and be consistent! Here is Clayton sleeping in his crib a few minutes ago. He's precious!

Enjoying the last of our Summer

Clayton and I are really enjoying the last few weeks of our summer! It is crazy how fast the time has flown. In just a few weeks I'll be starting my 7th year of teaching! Here are some pictures of our day. The first few pictures show Clayton's new love of playing with his food. He made quite a mess today! Then, after Clayton's lunch, we took Aunt Lala to Ski Shores Cafe. Clayton was the perfect baby! He finds even the most mundane objects fascinating! It is so fun watching the world open up to him. Like we always tell Clayton, "How did we get so lucky?" Cheesy, but true.

By the way, check out my friend, Katrine's, wedding website. She'll be posting updates as she and her fiance plan the big day!

A rice cereal mess.

Gotta love me!
"Hmm...what else is there to play with?"
After the clean-up.
Ski Shores Cafe
"What's that Mommy?"
Aunt Lala
"What is this neat contraption?!"
Talking to Aunt Lala.

I miss my Grandma and Grandad!

Clayton wanted me to post these pictures of him. He was telling me how much he missed his Grandma and Grandad. They're enjoying a much deserved trip to Europe. Check out their travel blog. On this trip, they're visiting Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Paris, France. They decided to go for their 34 anniversary. We miss them!!

"I really miss my Grandma and Grandad!

Can we visit them in August?"

" Yeah, I can't wait!!! (I, of course, said yes!)"

Sippy Cup

This evening, Chad and I introduced Clay to the sippy cup. I read recently that starting a sippy cup earlier helps a baby transition more smoothly from a bottle. Chad isn't convinced that he drank any of his juice tonight. We'll keep trying. He seems interested, though!

What can Clayton do now?!

Clayton is full of firsts these days. For the last week and a half, I've been working with him on sleeping independently, as well as making his sleep times more scheduled (Thanks, Jenn and Ashley for helping me with this difficult Mommy task). He can now fall asleep without my help. The key to him falling asleep without tears is to lay him down when he is getting drowsy but not full out tired (rubbing eyes, fussing). It is important that I watch the clock after he wakes up from a nap so that I can put him in bed within a couple of hours. When I lay him down, he usually watches his mobile for a few minutes and then turns on his side and drifts off to dream-land. I'm so proud of him! I often have withdrawals from holding him when he sleeps, but I now realize that Clayton getting quality sleep is more important that my selfish desire to hold him. I'm also more productive. If you're wanting to help your child sleep more independently, I totally recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. Click here to read more about this great book.

His second accomplishment is rolling from his back to his tummy. He started rolling independently TODAY!! When I have things I need to do around the house, I often lay him on his activity mat (or in one of his many toys: bouncer, jumper, or exersaucer) with some toys and let him play. Every time he rolled today it was when I was out of the room. I would come to check on him and be totally surprised to find him in a different place. I started trying to catch him on tape this afternoon, but he wouldn't do it while I was watching. Finally, I resorted to hiding around the corner and he did it twice for the camera. It is so cute!! Here are two videos of him rolling. In the first one, he rolled to his tummy before I had time to turn the camera on - stinker! In the second video, I catch him while taping from the hallway. Enjoy!!

Cute Videos

Clay gets cuter and cuter everyday! Here are a few videos I took today. In the first one, he is showing you his new jump/stand move in the jumper. He was so excited to see Daddy that he was REALLY showing off. In the second video, Clayton is showing how he can put his foot in his mouth. You will hear Chad in the background say, "a month early." Not that we're keeping track or anything - he, he! In the third video, I get in on the bragging - sorry. Hopefully the people looking at our blog don't mind a little bragging. In the last two videos, Clayton is trying peas for the first time. To give you a little background...the washer/dryer people were in the middle of installing our new appliances. Clayton had just finished letting out the most high pitched meltdown ever - seriously! The video is taken minutes later. He must have really liked the peas to stop crying. He was even able to let out some happy moans. After eating he was in bed, asleep, within 5 minutes. I'm not exaggerating. Even when he is throwing a temper tantrum he's still sooooo cute!

Happy 5 Month Birthday, to Clay!

Today is our little Clay-Clay's 5-month birthday! It is amazing how much he has changed since bringing him home from the hospital in February. He is now rolling from his tummy to his back, bouncing and turning in his jumper, pulling the bottle to his mouth, laughing when tickled, raising his arms to be held, opening his mouth for food, protesting when Mommy or Daddy leave the room, pulling up to a standing position, reacts to his name,rolling from his back to his side, and his grandad said that his is saying short legible sentences. We're so proud of our little redhead. Here are a few 5-month pictures.

Our Little Duckie: Then & Now

THEN: 1st Week of Life

NOW: 4.5 Months

Family Vacation: Friday

On Friday, Chad got up with the baby for his 6:30 feeding so that I could sleep in on my birthday! When I woke up, I found Clayton in his bouncer and Chad mowing the lawn - too cute! After packing for our weekend trip, Chad, Clayton and I loaded the car and headed for Fredericksburg. Once we arrived at our adorable cottage, we unpacked and checked out our wonderful room and surrounding wildlife. There are elk, longhorn, and white-tailed deer on the property.

Next we headed into town to find a place to eat. It was extremely busy with tourists and many restaurants wore closed for the 4th of July. To beat the heat, we ended up settling for Churches Chicken. We took our food back to the cottage to eat. Our plan was to head to the local Lady Bird Park for the fireworks but ended up hanging out at the cottage instead. Clay was asleep by 7:30, giving Chad and me a lot of time to hang out on the porch and play "Phase 10." It is a card game. I stomped Chad - he, he. I had a wonderful 29th birthday!!!

Chad let me sleep in on my birthday.
Happy Birthday, Mommy!
Family picture.
I love my little firecracker!
On our way to Fredricksburg.
On the porch of our weekend cottage.
Welcome home for the weekend!
Checking out the elk that live on the property.
Playing before we head into Fredericksburg.
Looking for a place for dinner.
Relaxing back at the cottage.
Eating carrots before bed.
Hanging out on the porch.
View from our porch.
Enjoying our evening.
Clayton sleeping.
Happy Birthday to me!

Family Vacation: Saturday

On Saturday, we woke up with our little Clayton nestled in the middle of us. It was so nice to wake up to him turned sideways in the bed. Picture his head by Chad and his feet by me - precious. After feeding Clayton outside in the rocking chair, we headed out for breakfast in Fredericksburg. We ate at the Rather Sweet Bakery on Main Street. They have the most delicious kolaches and peach muffins. We also had a mocha. I was in heaven.

After breakfast we headed east of town to the LBJ State Park. It has Texas wildlife and a historic reenactment farm that depicts the life of the first settlers to that area in the late 1800's. We were the only people there and got a one-on-one tour. It was great! Afterwards, Clayton was getting hungry so we fed him and changed him on the lawn outside of the information center. Clayton loved being able to stretch out.

Then we headed aimlessly back toward Fredericksburg. We decided to stop at a local fruit stand and bought some local salsa and ate fresh blackberry and peach cobbler. It was in celebration of my birthday. Then we drove out toward Blanco State Park but decided not to pay the entrance fee. Once back in Fredericksburg we picked up dinner and headed back to our cabin. We took a marathon nap (2.5 hours) and hung out as a family. Then we went for a walk to see the elk that live on the property. Clayton went to bed a little later than normal, due to the nap, and then Chad and I sat out on the porch and ate watermelon and chips and salsa. It was a wonderful second day!

A bottle on the porch.
View from the porch.
Breakfast at the Rather Sweet Bakery.
LBJ Sate Park
Historic Reenactment Farm
Bird's nest in the cabinet!

Clayton: "That is one huge dog!"
Stretching out our legs.
A quick stop in Luckenbach.
(Everybody is somebody in Luckenbach!)
Checking out the elk by our cottage.
Evening walk.
Kisses from Daddy.
Family pic.

Time for bed.
Eating watermelon on the porch.

Family Vacation: Sunday

Today was the last leg of our 3-day family vacation. Chad got up with Clayton and took him outside to eat and watch the animals so that I could have a few extra minutes of sleep (sweet hubby). Once awake, I packed up our things and got ready for the day. We left our quaint little cottage at around 8:30 to turn in our key. We've definitely found a local get-away that we'll visit often.

After leaving the cottage, we picked up breakfast at Java Ranch on Main Street in Fredericksburg. Then we stopped by a local fruit stand and bought some fresh peaches and a black diamond watermelon. On the way back to Austin, we stopped at Perdenales Falls State Park and hiked down for a dip in the river. When I say hiked, I mean HIKED! It was quite a journey down to the water: 100+ steps and ankle deep sand. Clayton was my 18+ pound weight. By the time we got to our spot I was exhausted. We inched our way into the cold river and had a really nice dip. Clayton really seemed to enjoy the water. Afterwards, we got out to relax on our picnic blanket and realized it was sitting in an ant bed - yikes! We ended up packing up and putting Clayton in the Baby Bjorn for the trek back to the car. I'm not sure who was more exhausted after our hike back to the car, Clayton or me. Clay slept the rest of the way home - 45 minutes.

To top of an already wonderful weekend, Clayton had his first taste of sweet potatoes. They were a big hit. He couldn't stop licking his lips. Also, I made fruit salad and added the peaches we bought outside of Fredericksburg. Yummy!! We also ate the watermelon as an after dinner dessert. We had a really nice weekend!

Early morning Father/Son time.
Java Ranch Cafe
Perdenales Falls State Park
Yum - sweet potatoes!

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Too Cute!

Clayton wore his new outfit from his Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Jack today. He was the cutest baby working out this morning! He loves it!

Eating Carrots

Yesterday was full of firsts! Clay had a work-out play date (see posts below), went swimming in a big pool for the first time, AND ate carrots for the first time. Here are a few pictures and I video I took to capture the moment. He seemed to really like them!

Swimming at the Northwest Municipal Pool

After our morning workout, Aunt Lala, Clayton and I packed our pool bags and headed to the Northwest Municipal Pool. It is a public pool in Austin that has great shade trees to protect my little red head's skin. Aunt Lala had her camera out and took some awesome pictures (check it out here). I'm a slacker. I only took one!

Clayton did soooo well in the water! I was expecting him to meltdown right away, but he didn't shed a single tear! I even dipped us both underwater for a split second. He was a little confused but didn't get upset. After swimming, he hung out in his swim diaper and cooed at everything. He loves being outside. It was a fun day!!

Working out with the Benoit Family

Shannon and I finally coordinated our schedules yesterday and went walking together. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos. Don't they look enthusiastic - he, he?!