16 Weeks Old

I spy...

Clara's second tooth is on its way! You can't see it in this picture, but you can observe her new favorite activity: chewing on her fingers!

15 Weeks Old

Please pray

Tomorrow morning Clara is scheduled for surgery to repair an inguinal hernia. She should be discharged later in the morning. We are grateful to have the best pediatric surgeon in Houston performing the operation. He told us in the consult that he has performed over six thousand of these surgeries and that the whole process will be harder on us than it is on Clara. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that she recovers quickly and without complication.

Pure delight

My pretty girl today

I know that the top of her head is cut off - I'm not sure if it is my lack of photography skills or her bobbing head - but I love her expression.

14 Weeks Old

Growing everyday

One of my favorite pictures

Tummy Time

The rule "Back to bed, tummy to play" has not worked very well for Clara, until now. She would get so frustrated because she couldn't keep her head up. Now she loves it!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day outfit, compliments of Grammy

Smiling

Did you eat some sour hearts?

On Thursdays the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has free admission; so on Valentine's Day Grammy and the three of us went for a visit. They had a special exhibition and the subject of the first picture that greeted us when we entered the gallery was Clara, a rhinoceros.

Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Rhinoceros, 1749

The painter was primarily known for still-life pictures, but did paintings of the menagerie at Versailles. This one has not been seen in public for 150 years.

Needless to say, this is not Clara's namesake!

13 Weeks Old

12 Weeks Old

Getting bigger

Smile!

Mommy's favorite doll

11 weeks old

The bear shot

So big!

Mommy babbles and Clara giggles

10 weeks old - Up north in the cold

No naked baby pictures from Michigan!

Aunt Rachel meets Clara in the Cleveland Airport on the way to Grand Rapids for Nathan's Grandma's funeral.

Thanks to Aunt Janice, we had plenty of warm baby clothes.

Clara and Grandma

A borrowed frock

Clara did not suffer from a lack of attention!

The Polderman Family - January '08

Heaven is a wonderful place

The Polderman Family - Dec. '06

Nathan's Grandma Irene Polderman arrived to her heavenly home on January 22.
We will miss her, but thank God for taking her peacefully.

Letter to Clara: Month Two

Dear Clara,

This month has been such a blur with your daddy returning to work after a long paternity leave and my surgery. Even though in many ways it feels like our little family has been reeling from one change or challenge to another, I thank God that He chose to bless us with you even without our asking. Watching you grow, first inside my expanding belly and now with our own eyes has brought us so much joy in the midst of these small trials!


Toward the end of this month, I began to wake up in the morning wondering what new, sweet baby-ness I would experience with you. This was a welcome change from my previous ponderings as to how many hours of sleep I would get and if they would be consecutive or not! Now after the blessed 6-8 hour stretch that you sleep sometime during the night or early morning, I pull you into bed and we cuddle. What bliss! Although you haven't really found your schedule, there is a little bit of routine in your life and bath time is one of your favorite parts of the day.


Our holidays this year seemed so crazy and off-kilter and I thought about how I look forward to next year, when you are bigger.


But then I put away your newborn clothes that didn't fit anymore and nearly cried, knowing that you would continue to grow up so quickly. Growth and change are always bittersweet.

I treasure every moment with you, darling, and you will always be my little girl.

Love,
Mama

9 weeks old

Comparing size

Baby love


A different view

Who does Clara look like?

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Free genealogy

8 weeks old - Grampy and Grammy to the rescue

I didn't get any almost-naked baby pictures at 8 weeks. On January 2nd Nathan made me go to the ER because I was complaining of persistent abdominal pain and he was convinced it was appendicitis, which it was. On January 3rd I had an appendectomy and on the 4th my mom flew back to Houston to help us as I recovered. Providentially my dad was still in Houston on business and took wonderful care of Clara while I was in the hospital.

It was wonderful to see how Clara grew to recognize Grammy and Grampy. She smiled readily and babbled at them. Family is such a blessing!

Christmas with Clara: A Retrospective

I believe that I mentioned in an earlier post that Nathan hastily left town to Michigan on Christmas day, due to Grandma Polderman's health. I was blessed to have my family come into town on the 26th and we celebrated together on the 30th when Nathan had returned and most of us were fairly recovered from a nasty cold. Fortunately, Clara and Grammy didn't get sick, so the household was running efficiently (thanks to Grammy). However since the primary photographers were under the weather, there aren't as many pictures of the visit as there might have otherwise been!

Here are a few pictures of our post-Christmas celebration:

(I don't remember the sequence of events that led to the different outfit in the next photo, but I am sure that it was a necessity, not a frivolous wardrobe change. As much as I love all of her sweet outfits, there is no such thing as "playing" dress-up with my wiggly baby!)

Clara received quite a few books for Christmas. Nathan and I gave her "The Velveteen Rabbit." I love to read and I hope that she will, too. I read her whatever I am reading right now and I can't wait for her to be old enough that she will want us to read stories together. When I went out shopping for her, I realized that being in the children's literature section of the bookstore was actually more dangerous than shoe shopping!

7 weeks old - Happy New Year

Baby and bear

Clara and Mama