Stern no more!

Jeremy was showing a few pictures of Clara to one of his classmates, and her first reaction was, "Hmm, she looks pretty stern." We think this picture proves otherwise! (Maybe it's the too-small hat.)

5-Y

Last Friday marked the end of our fifth year of marriage, a momentous event we marked by actually leaving the house--together! Without Clara! (All of our "together" outings in the last three and a half months have either been trips to the pediatrician or excursions to the grocery store, in which I go inside the store and Jeremy and Clara cruise the parking lot.) Our neighbor, Ericka, who's in our ward, came up to watch Clara, and Jeremy and I braved the elements to go out to dinner for the first time in months. We had a great time; we ate at La Cena, which is billed as "creative Latin American cuisine," and I braved the Paella, which was really...something. I don't know why I insist on being quite so adventurous on the rare occasions we get to eat out, but I think I knew I'd crossed some kind of invisible boundary when this huge dish was set in front of me, full of shellfish and sausage and shrimp (which I'd expected) and also featuring four alarmingly large whole calamari. Wowzers. To prove what a good sport I am, I speared the smallest of the four and ate it, chewing thoroughly. Not to be out-done, Jeremy chose the second-smallest and went to town. The remaining two I stuffed into an empty mussel shell and buried in some uneaten rice. My adventurousness only goes so far.

While our anniversary outing was both pleasant and memorable, I'm more grateful for the countless other moments that comprise our five years together. We've certainly experienced a lot of life together in a relatively short time, as my mom says, yet I can't imagine anyone else I would rather have shared those experiences with. Here's to many more years of contentment and joy, made deeper and more poignant by the occasional sorrow.

Let It Snow!

Syracuse has been on the news quite a bit lately, mostly taking credit for the snow everyone around us has been getting. But finally we've gotten our just desserts! Over the past 24 hours we've received more than a foot and a half of snow, making even the most basic things--like getting into our car--quite difficult. Jeremy snapped the following pictures before trudging out to dig our poor car out of the snow. What a wintery world!

The view of our parking lot from our front porch.

Our own little snow canyon.





The real challenge: getting rid of the voluminous snow piled up behind our car--thanks, neighbor!

How Comforting...

Clara is an extremely good-natured baby, which means that so far my anxiety and neuroses have yet to impact her negatively. Good for us! For the last several nights, we've put Clara down for the night groggy yet awake, and with nary a peep she puts herself to sleep. All she needs is a pacifier, and if she spits that out she manages to comfort herself with her fists. As you can see in this picture, a sleepy Clara likes to comfort herself by sucking on one hand and playing with her hair with the other (it also helps if she's within range of her favorite crib toy, Tu-tu Chew). What a tender baby!

Aside from Clara's sleep habits, life is plugging along much as it ever does in our house. Last week I discovered a great used bookstore not too far from home called Books End. I only had a few dollars and a few minutes, but I can see myself going back again and again. Books are a definite weakness.

Syracuse has gotten a decent amount of snow in the last week, but we're about 15-20 miles outside the weather you've been hearing about on the news. Some places north of us have had nearly 11 feet of snow in one week! It makes our 12-18 inches seem downright paltry by comparison!

Clara's Room

We finally put some finishing touches on Clara's bedroom. I still have a few other things I'd like to do over time, but at least it now feels like her bedroom! Clara especially enjoys having her name spelled on the wall--just ask her!

Playtime!

We had an unused gift certificate to Target and decided to get Clara this swell play gym, primarily because we are always on the lookout for something to distract her for even a few minutes from the fact she is not being held! We have met with only minor success, meaning that she still prefers playing face to face than entertaining herself. She doesn't mind lying on the floor with nothing around her, and she actually seems to enjoy the bouncy seat I borrowed from a friend. The jury is still out on the play gym, but perhaps she'll grow to love it.

In other news, Clara is up to 11 pounds, 12 ounces as of January 30. You grow girl! :)