Clara goes to college (and to the doctor, and to sleep--we hope!)

I know it's been a while since my last post, but the last 2 weeks have been ferociously hectic. First, Clara went to college last week for our first class at the Parent/Child Center at Seattle Central Community College. Clara liked playing with the toys, trying to paw at the other babies' faces (why not? I let her do it with her baby faces book!), and dancing to a song called "Banana Phone" (i.e. one talks on a phone that's a banana--perfect for dancing!)

We also had Clara's 6 month doctor visit last week. She was a trooper during her shots, though she was super groggy the rest of the day. Dr. Danielson gave us the go ahead to start Clara on food for real, so she's been eating brunches and linners of peaches and millet, oatmeal, avocado, mashed banana, and pear applesauce that I made from the harvest of a neighbor's pear tree. She mostly enjoys playing with the food, and the concept of swallowing is still mostly foreign, but it does appear that some of that food is actually being eaten, so I consider that progress. Oh yes, and our doctor confirmed that Clara is still 95th percentile for length (29 inches) and head size (18 inches) but only 75th percentile for weight (18 lbs.) She's long and lean, that one. Greg's still holding out for a volleyball scholarship, but my bets are on competitive swimming. Time will tell.

Clara got her first cold this past weekend--a 101.7 fever and lots of congestion. She's been pretty good-natured about it, though she's been having trouble sleeping on her own. So, we've foregone all the good crib training we've done with her and let her back in our bed, so we can get at least a little (3, maybe 4 hours) sleep at night...

...which brings me to our latest endeavor: Weissbluthing. That's right, folks. We are finally trying to get Clara on a regular sleep schedule after some minor setbacks (see shots, cold and teething above). We are following Dr. Weissbluth's sleep strategy by holding to her to regular sleep and awake periods and have resolved to let her cry or wake her up to maintain adherence to the schedule. Tonight is our first night, so wish us luck. Clara kept up her end of the bargain by going to sleep by 8 p.m., so let's hope this bodes well for many nights to come. I'd welcome any sleep training comments from folks who've gone through it and come out the other side. There is an "other side" out there, right? I'll try and do a better job of keeping you all posted once our Weissbluthing experiment sorts itself out. Sweet dreams, everyone!