Family Resemblance

While there's no denying that Clark has Chuck's nose and eyebrows, my mom and I both think that he has a lot of Slane in him - at least a bit more than Aurora. As soon as she got home Grandma Slane scanned in a bunch of photos and I thought I'd share them here to get your thoughts. I'd say...

Clark just may have his Grandpa's smile. Here's a cute picture of our little Clarkie:

And this is my dad, Robert Clark Slane, sitting on my Grandma Bobby's lap circa 1946:

He might have his Grandma's bright eyes! Here's a pic of sweet Clark, taken yesterday:

And this is my beautiful mom, Ellen Sandler Slane, when she was a baby in 1952:

There's a good chance Clark has his Uncle JuJu's cheeks and chin. Here's our boy:

And this is my brother Julian Slane, taken back in 1969. Cheeks!!!

We all know Aurora looks a whole lot like her daddy, but if anybody's wondering where her crazy blond curls come from, my mom sent me this picture as well. Yup, it's me! This was taken in 1978:

And here's a picture of our gorgeous silly girl, taken earlier this week at school:

Maybe she looks a little like me after all! Thanks for sending all these great pictures, mom - I love them.

Four days

My mom always thinks four days will be too long, but this sure felt like a short visit to me. She flew back to FLL this morning and we miss her already! It was such a nice relaxing trip, starting with our usual catfish dinner. I think the food was the best it's ever been.

She joined us for pajama story time at the library, one of Aurora's favorite activities.

We spent some quality girl time discussing hairstyles. Aurora only wanted two buns.

And we took a lovely walk with Clark at the Austin Nature & Science Center. 

It was my birthday weekend so we also baked cupcakes and did a little shopping. I loved spending my Old Navy gift card from Grandma Nancy (thanks Nancy!) and my mom couldn't get enough of our sweet happy boy. During her visit Clark turned 7 weeks old, slept over 7 hours straight, and outgrew his size 1 diapers and most of his 0-3 month clothes. He's growing so fast - we hope she can come back again before he gets too much bigger!

It's my birthday!

My mom's visiting, and Clark just had his first photo sitting. What a great way to spend the day!

Infant Activities

Now that Clark is 6-weeks old, I've decided he's big enough to start getting out and about. I've spent years finding toddler and kid's activities around town, and now that we have an infant again I'm back to looking for baby activities! Of course, I haven't had to look far. Yesterday we ventured out to the library for infant story time. The place was packed, and Clark was the youngest and smallest one there. Our neighbor Will was in attendance, as well as over 20 toddlers (about 45 people total!).

Today we went to our nearby Yoga Yoga for our first post-natal yoga class. It was a much smaller group, perhaps 10 moms and babies, and Clark was the youngest, but surprisingly not the smallest one there. He was bigger than some of the 3 and 4 month old girls!

He fell asleep during story time, but stayed awake and alert during yoga; smiling when I was paying attention to him, fussing when I was doing mama yoga (which I really needed - my lower back's been killing me and this definitely helped), and focusing so well during baby yoga time. I think we'll make both of these a regular weekly occurrence, while continuing to find fun new activities to get us out of the house during my final 5-weeks of maternity leave. This weekend we have some extra special activities planned... stay tuned!

Monday

Today both of our kiddos woke up with a case of the Mondays...

I think it must've been the gloomy fall-like mornings we've been having. Truthfully it was a beautiful day, and I'm not just talking about the weather. Clark is 6-weeks old now and today he was more awake, alert, and happier than he's ever been. He was holding his head up better, too, and he's gotten so big that I decided to take out the baby headrest from his car seat. It's about time to adjust the straps up a notch as well, and today I sorted through and put away all of his newborn sized clothes. Even some of his 0-3 month outfits are getting too snug! I honestly can't believe he's growing so fast...

Aurora has been loving her pre-K class and comes home happy, tired and hungry just about everyday. They still send me pictures everyday as well, so I know she had a great Monday too.

Bailey!

I haven't been taking pictures with most visitors, but today's guest was extra special. Bailey's in town from Delaware and came over to meet baby Clark for the first time! I really miss her, though I have to say - being on maternity leave, I don't really see anybody very often so having Bailey and Laura gone isn't as hard as it would be if I was at work. Still, photos were in order. Bailey brought lunch from Blue Dahlia, which included nutella. Aurora had never had nutella before but let's just say... she liked it.

As if that weren't enough sugar, we baked brownies for dessert.

Initially, we'd planned on cleaning out the cupboards and re-organizing the kitchen together, but since I've been home on leave I've really been cleaning and neatening quite a bit on my own. I went through our closets and got rid of 4 big bags of clothes, offered my maternity clothes to friends (no, I won't be wearing them again) and have been chipping away at kitchen projects a little at a time. I believe this brings joy to Bailey's heart. Seeing Bailey today sure did bring joy to our hearts...

Clark was napping the whole time Bailey and Brian were here, so today's Clark fix was taken earlier this morning, when Aurora lined up all her favorite nap buddies in her bed:

Bragging

Clark just turned 5 weeks old, and last night at 10pm as I fed him I asked very politely if we could please not see each other again until 3am. The next time I opened my eyes it was 4am! He slept for 6 hours straight!!! After re-reading all my baby books while I was pregnant, my goal was to have him sleeping an hour for every week old he is - so, 4 hours by 4 weeks, 6 hours by 6 weeks, perhaps 9 hours by 9 weeks? I wasn't sure it would work and I'm not saying this really will happen every night or every week, but so far we're doing pretty well.

I realized yesterday that I hadn't taken or posted any videos of Clark, so early this morning I took a quick video of our well-rested boy and his silly sister...

 

Yeah, I have pretty great kids.

Outside

After a week of 100+ degree temps, a cold front rolled in this morning and it was amazing. The timing was great, as we had an outdoor birthday party on the calendar and we do not enjoy going outside when it's that hot. The weather was perfect - perhaps even a bit chilly. Chuck and I hung out with Clark and chatted with the other parents while Aurora played, and everybody had a good time.

It's not just the temps that have been keeping us indoors. This summer Central Texas has been hit hard with West Nile Virus, and while we can certainly spray ourselves with mosquito repellant, the best way to avoid it is to stay inside. It's a bummer because Clark loves going on walks. If he's a little fussy, going outside calms him down instantly. 

We'd been taking family walks pretty regularly as part of our evening routine. Not only did it get us out of the house and give us a bit of exercise, but when you walk around with a newborn you get to know your neighbors. The family across from us has a son who's right around 6-months old, and two doors down we have new neighbors who just had a baby boy last week. Clark may have some friends nearby! I just hope this WNV scare passes soon so we can get back to taking walks in the evening as the temperatures cool down. Perhaps I'm feeling a little cooped up being home from work, but getting outside and going to the park today was just about the best thing ever.

1 Month

No, you're not seeing double - I just couldn't decide which picture I liked better! Little Clark is getting bigger and bigger everyday. Lately when he wakes up in the middle of the night to eat, I take one look at those cheeks and chins and wonder that he needs more food at all! Luckily, this week he's been extending one block of sleep to nearly 5 hours. It's the 9pm-2am block, and it's not always easy for us to get to sleep that early, but last night I did. Chuck went back to work this week and Clark's been a bit fussy during the day. Maybe the house is too quiet with just the two of us, but I think he's starting to realize he has no control over his arms and legs and is getting frustrated trying to communicate that he wants to move, or he's gassy or tired. But he's a good eater, his schedule is becoming more and more predictable, and we have sweet happy times everyday. Happy 1 Month birthday, little grubster!

Clark Fix

My mom commented on the last post that she needed more pictures of Clark, so I've been emailing her with pics everyday, and the photos I've been taking are so cute I thought it would be a pity not to share them here as well. After all, I'm sure you're ALL coming here for a Clark fix, right? He is a super cute little guy. From when he wakes up in the morning with his sister, to our active awake time, and the sweet naps he takes with his daddy...

He also just started frowning and making actual "waaah" sounds, which is sort of amazing. The only thing that's not cute is when he's grunting and screaming, but I don't mind it too much. Having a little baby is very sweet, even when he's unhappy. I just prefer to take happy pictures!