Clara's Blog

Guess what, I have two sets of grandparents! Who knew? This is sweet. We had some serious holding and napping going on here.

Grandma Sue	Grandpa John

Do you know I am named after Grandpa? No, His name is not Clara. Or Jean. It's John. Jean = John, get it? Scout, you look confused ...

We had a number of new adventures last week. I saw the ocean for the first time.



I went on a boat for the first time: the Sternwheeler. I liked the boat. It made a good noise and there was a breeze and mountains.


I also went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory for the first time. Yes, I am trapped in a family of goof balls.



Today we did a nice, long, stroller walk/nap to get bagels. Saw Uncle Craig and Miss Laurel. Oh, man, it's hot out there today.

Anyway, Scout and I wish Grandma and Grandpa were around all the time. I think Scout is depressed that Grandpa isn't here to scratch his ears.

Gotta go. Daddy wants me to do some tummy time workouts.

Here are some action shots of me wearing my dress from Uncle Jeff in Cazenovia:



Napping action shot:

Clara	Clara's long-lost Finnish cousin?

Apparently Big People watch a lot of bike racing. Every day, I've been sleeping on Mom and Dad as we watch these guys pedal their bikes around and around France. Today, we rooted for Oscar "El Nino" Sevilla. Can you guess why?

Khaleh Marjon held me yesterday. She's nice.

We also went to another bike race here in Portland. It was at the track. We sat in the shade on the grass. It was nice to see Craig and Connie and Jen and Elex and John.

Today I went for a long stroller trek with Dad and Scout. Scout thought he wasn't going to get to come, and he was pretty upset about it! We went to Grand Central Bakery. I got good air off some curbs and we went cross country a few times. No problems, though. I was safely cushioned by the Snuzzler, a gift from my friend Jame. Hopefully, I'm not going to get sunburn on my legs.

Every night around 9-10 PM I just can't settle down. Don't what it is, but I just don't feel good! Sometimes it gets better in a couple hours but -- you guessed it -- then I'm hungry again.

My neck is getting stronger. I'm learning to gurgle and squeak at Mom and Dad. Sometimes I just crack myself up! Apparently, I also laugh in my sleep.

That's it for now. Probably time for another bike race.

P.S., Sure enough, we went back to the Alpenrose bike race again. Saw Miss Molly and Miss Heather. I wonder what KC is doing now?

Hi everybody, what's new with you?

We had a busy weekend. I went over to Matt Mahoney's birthday party (I was the star attraction if you ask me), Chad and Anna's engagement party (they are _very_ nice), and we all went for a hike on the Maple Trail in Forest Park.



Normally, I just sleep through these hikes, but I popped my head out a bit to take a look around. Forest Park is green. It was too long a hike, though (Dad always lies about how long it will take). I got hungry and fussy and my stomach hurt.

I've learned some new tricks. I am working on my neck muscles so that I can look around. It's hard work -- my head is heavy. I am getting my arms under control a bit. They still flop and flail, but sometimes I can get them just where I want them. The best is when I manage to bring my fingers to my mouth. Then I can suck on them. Of course, it's hard to hit my mouth, and sometimes I end up with fingers in my nostrils or eye sockets.

I wish my neck was as strong as my legs. You better watch out, or I will shoot right off your lap!

Man, if you want to make your parents go crazy, just smile at them.

I am settling into a routine. Sleep all day, and then 10 PM is the start of party time. I am full of beans (many times those are painful beans) and don't want to sleep. Sometimes Mom thinks I've settled in, but when she puts me down, she finds out how wrong she is! 2 AM and 5 AM are good times to be awake, too. Mom is looking a bit sleepy these days.

How do you like to sleep? I think the best way is face down on top of Mom or Dad. You can wrap your arms around their chest and snooze away. Mom is soft, and Dad is so warm. Ahhh.

Bonjour, toute le monde! Nous voyons le Tour de France à télé. Oui, c'est vrai -- le cyclisme est ennuyeux. Il y a les mecs français qui ont attaqué à kilomètre 5, pédales depuis 3 heures, et ne gagnent pas. Quel predictable!

OK, so my French isn't very good. What do you expect, I'm a bébé.

Baths are nice, but I hate getting out. So cold. Ah, but my giraffe towel is SO nice. Ahhh. Thanks, Eberle family! Dad, you must work with some nice people. OK, you can stop taking pictures of me naked, now. I'm feeling bashful.

More bathing news: I took a bath with Mom. That was really nice. Besides bathing, we're been getting out and about. Saturday, we all went for a walk on the top of Powell Butte.



Sunday, we did this crazy thing. Mom and Scout ran while Dad and I walked, then Mom took me and Dad and Scout ran some more. Ha ha, I bet Scout was tired.



Poor Scout. He hates the Fourth of July and all the fireworks. It's especially bad now, Scout says, after the incident a couple years ago when the apartment behind us caught fire with a loud bang.

As for me, I am losing all the hair from the top of my head and my shoulders. Thankfully, my mullet is still intact, but for how long? I've been working on neck control, and I'm getting pretty good at flopping my head around. Man, I'm hungry. Sometimes it's hard to go for more than an hour without eating. Sorry, Mom. A baby's got to get big and fat.

Something weird happened yesterday. Dad had milk in this bottle thing. It hit the spot, but I miss Mom.

À bientôt! Pauvre Jan Ullrich.