Clement: 4 mos.

Clement hit the four month mark on Nov 29th.  We went to his pediatrician to discuss his eczema further, but I put vaccinations on hold until I felt like we had a better handle on whatever is already taxing his immune system.   

Regardless, he was weighed and measured:

25.5 inches long and 16 lbs, 9 oz.  That's up 3/4 inch and one pound from the prior month!
(As a reference, when Josephine was SIX months she was 25.5 inches.  And she weighed 15.5 pounds, which is what Clement weighed at THREE months.)  I don't mind him being big except for how quickly he outgrows his clothes!

October 31 - Early in his fourth month

Watching football with Daddy.  We don't have a TV up here and we try to keep him away from our laptop screens, but I think Sean would agree that he's had a good bit more accidental "screen time" than Josephine ever did.  Definitely the effect of being second born to parents who are too exhausted to be quite as vigilant with those kinds of things!

November 3

Sitting practice, November 6

Wedding aftermath (to be posted later) - November 12

Thankful for Mama Jo's arms at Thanksgiving (to be posted later) - November 19

from Sean's iPhone... out to eat after church one Sunday - November 25

November 28 - Our bedroom lights get on his nerves.  Josephine's sunglasses helped so much I got tickled and had to take a photo.  Sorry, Clement.  

I have been trying to get a photo of him blowing bubbles.  He is a bubble blowing baby-- at least through his 4th month-- though it seems to be dying down now (as I write this when he just hit the 5 month marker).  Josephine was never into that, so I remember wondering what people meant about babies blowing bubbles.  Clement explained that to me.  

What hasn't died down is his appreciation for his johnny jump up... here he is November 25th... definitely has the hang of jumping now!

daddy-son staring contest

Today, Clement is 5 months old!  

In totally unrelated news, this picture and video are from September 25, before he was even 2 months old.  Sorry for any confusion.  

Pathetic explanation:  Sometimes, when you're waaaay behind, and completely depleted of mental energy, making a blog make sense is not actually a priority.  Getting something recorded is.  Deciding the value of what you are recording, versus... oh things like:  Christmas, Thanksgiving, your sister's wedding, several visits with relatives, the child's birth story, husband's birthday, etc.... also not a priority.  Did I note the depletion of mental energy???  So here.  A photo and a video.  3 months late.  But recorded.  You're welcome.  

i love these people.

Not the highest quality photographs, but I enjoy everything else about these...

 

Sean says this post is incomplete without reference to Lilliputians.  I told him that technically he has his own blog for such oddities.  But I did agree to link to this image.

Christmas, Part 3 of 3: Haigler

hey, look-- I angled the camera properly this year!  

Our eighth Christmas!

Mom and Dad's 39TH Christmas!

Darla and Brad's first Christmas!

Clement's first Christmas, too.

SNOW!!

:-)  

I love that it snowed in Bedford for both Josephine's and Clement's first Christmas.

Josephine and Sean made snow angels.

I like the picture below and ESPECIALLY when it follows the serenity of the picture above.

Now just imagine a dozen more photos like the one below, only with Josephine climbing over all parts of the scene and Clement watching her, eternally startled.  That's real life.  Thank the Lord for snowy moments that let me step into some peace and quiet for the sake a photograph!  :-)

It was, of course, wonderful to be home for the holidays.  In addition to the comfort and coziness of getting to see everyone, Sean and I stole away for a great date night (nearly 24 hours, really) in Fort Worth's Near Southside, also referred to as the historic Fairmount District, or simply, Magnolia Street-- as that's where most of the action is located.  It's a newly, rapidly developing area of Fort Worth, based off our close analysis of once per the last few Christmases.  :-)  We love the independent nature of everything opening down there, and the B&B we stayed at was A) very comfortable B) visually interesting C) yummy and D) within super easy walking distance of our dinner reservations at Ellerbe's and our "regular" bar-- The Usual.
Having not been on a date since Clement came to town, this was a wonderful relief and treat!

We even got the haunted room!

In all three parts, it was certainly a merry Christmas for our family!  

You can expect to hear about Easter sometime around August.

Christmas, Part 2 of 3: Sims

Our trip back to Texas was too brief to squeeze in a journey down to Teague, so we met up with Sean's parents in Dallas the day before they were headed out to Europe.  We went to the Perot Museum and had lunch before exchanging gifts.  The day worked out really well, and we're looking forward to finishing our Christmas time with them in Teague this spring.  (You see, Santa's dog delivers presents which fill these awesome, specially knit stockings at a particular house in Teague, and this experience cannot be duplicated anywhere else.  Santa's dog, thankfully, is very flexible and not bound to that whole reindeer-sleigh-Christmas-Eve schedule.  Santa's dog: children's best friend.)

the annual Grinch reading

A couple days later we met up with Gam down in Mansfield, had lunch, and went to a park.  It was great to see her-- we're so glad she was able to make the drive up!

Unbeknownst to us, Santa was making a visit to the same restaurant we had chosen as a meeting place!  One of those surprises that's equal parts exciting and shocking...

waiting to be seated

Clement hadn't started solids yet.  Life's so dull when you can't eat.