Clara Gayle

In an effort to annoy and frustrate friends and family we decided not to reveal the baby's name until she was born. We had a top 3 picked out with one clear front runner. The baby was born and we stared at her for an hour asking her, so, what's your name? She wasn't too cooperative, forcing us to make the ultimate decision. We went with our favorite, Clara. It doesn't have any significance. We just liked it. Her middle name, Gayle, is Chris' Grandmother's name, who passed when he was a teenager.

Clara's quirks include running the gamut of facial expressions in her sleep, impressive burps and the desire to have her hands free at all times. She was born with her hand on her face (thanks, baby) and has been handsy ever since. It was a long night that first night in the hospital until I figured out that she wanted her hands freed from their mitten prison.

Clara suffers from what we refer to as 'angry hands'. She wants to put her fingers in her mouth, but her hands just won't cooperate. She flails them and cries. They pump in an angry fashion. You can help her by bringing her fingers to her mouth, but in an instant those darn hands fly away again. It's so frustrating for babies. It was a long week until I finally broke down and gave her a binkie. Angry hands are much more manageable now.

Jackson is very protective of Clara. He always wants to sniff her and is very concerned when she cries. He doesn't jump on her or act jealous, but he always wants to be in the action. We appreciate his concern, but he isn't as helpful as he thinks he is.

Clara is average in all of her body stats, but everyone comments on her large hands. We call them her man hands. Adorable now, but hopefully she'll grow into them.

She's pretty dang cute. I think we'll keep her.