My name is Clara, and I’m eight months old today! In my 242 days on this planet I’ve been to Vancouver, Palm Springs, Ottawa, San Diego, Edmonton, Wizard Lake, Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and even two different cities in Spain!

I don’t have any teeth, which makes it hard to chew… but boy do I ever try! I’ve been eating real food since I was just six months old, but I still love milk too. I also love red onion, tomato, bread, anything spicy, steak, most vegetables, and plain Greek yogurt (the very best food of them all). My pincer grip is getting a little bit better, but I still mostly grab things with my whole hand.

For the first half of my life I was a pretty good sleeper, but since I’ve been about four months old I wake up an awful lot at night. I’m also not a great napper; one of the only ways to get me to do that annoying thing is to put me in my carrier! But mom’s okay with that, because that’s how she still gets some daily snuggles.

I learned how to sit up all by myself just before I was six months old, and since then I’ve learned how to slither, how to crawl, how to pull myself up to standing, how to sit back down, and even how to walk if someone helps me. Just yesterday I learned how to pick up a toy from the ground when I’m standing up. I can also balance on my own for about 10 seconds!

I used to really like being in my stroller or my carrier and going on long walks, but now I get bored of being contained. I just want to crawl or walk everywhere!

I’m moderately interested in my toys—the best part of my toys are the tags on them—and I’m way more interested in dangerous things like string and other choking hazards, electrical wire and outlets, glass tables, and anything with sharp corners. I’m also learning how to open drawers.

I love my mom and my dad. I don’t really have stranger danger yet, but I’m starting to get a bit of separation anxiety.

So far, I’ve been very healthy. I got a bad cold on the way to Spain: I had a very runny nose, lots of sneezes, and a really bad chest cough, but that’s clearing up now. I’m not sure how much I weigh, or how tall I am because I haven’t been to the doctor recently. I know when I was six months old I was just under 15 pounds and that Mom and Dad tell me I’m long and skinny.

I like to babble: I usually say “ba ba ba”, “ma ma ma”, “da da da”, “bow wow wow”, “al la la la la”, or “ha”, but mom and dad don’t think that I actually understand those words yet. I also growl and blow lots and lots of raspberries! I recently learned how to do this on someone’s shoulder. That’s pretty funny!

I know my name and can come when someone calls me (but only if I’m in the right kind of mood for that). I also can wave hello and goodbye and clap my hands when I’m excited. I also like to dance (mom says its mostly just bouncing).

I also learned how to kiss, but I’ve only kissed mom so far. Dad’s a bit jealous.

People say I’m not particularly smiley, and they are right–I prefer to scowl. You need to do something pretty awesome to make me smile. But if you’re funny (or you are a pigeon, a puppy, or a video of me), you’ll be rewarded a big smile, a squeal, and a big laugh!

I can’t believe that I’m 2/3 of the way to being one year old! I don’t do math yet, so I’m not really sure what that means but it sounds kind of crazy!