Clara is ELEVEN months old!

Clara, how are you so close to a year old already?? I feel like this month you have changed almost more than any other month. Perhaps you haven't changed as much physically this month, but boy you have made up for it in personality!

You have got spunk, my girl! You were so laid-back for your first few months but you are making up for it now! You let us know what you like (squealing and reaching) and what you don't (yelling and throwing yourself). You're really starting to notice when you make your siblings laugh. I can see your eyes light up and you really try to keep them laughing. You can get quite angry if you don't get your way. This could be teething or it could be a sign of things to come, I'm not sure! You throw yourself backward and scream when you don't get your way. But on the flip side, you are also often content to just be walked around the yard to look at whatever there is to look at. You aren't quite as shy as you've been in the past which has been nice.

You're starting to babble a little bit more. It's still mostly "ba!" but every once in a while you will let out a sound that we think might be a word. You've noticed this month that if you crawl to the wall beside the bed in your room and look up, your "BA!" echoes. You'll go to that wall after diaper changes and just yell and yell to hear your echo!

Speaking of crawling, you've really mastered the technique this month and are working on your speed! You sometimes army crawl still, but more and more you are up on your hands and knees. The tops of your poor little feet are so chapped from the surfaces you have to crawl on here. It doesn't look comfortable but it's too hot to put shoes or socks on you! You're also often up on your hands and feet crawling like a spider (as Maddie called it). I'm not sure why you do it...maybe the tile is so hard for your knees? Or maybe the pool deck is too hot? You're also pulling yourself up now but no steps yet. You don't even really like to stand when we hold onto your hands. I won't rush it with an unfenced pool here on the yard!

You love to swim! You had a bath in a bathtub this month for the first time since we left Canada and I thought you would love it because you always seem to love water, but you just cried! You've been having showers only for the last 5.5 months since we got to Mexico so you just don't remember what baths are about! You love the shower though, and the pool. Whenever you see water, running or still, you always want to put your hand in it and feel it.

You are still very petite for your age. You're wearing mostly 9-12 month clothes still. Nothing has changed since January with clothing sizes. I imagine you still weigh about 15-16 lbs. Your hair is growing longer all the time and I've noticed that it's long enough to get messy now. Your eyes are still bright blue. I'll be surprised if they change now because there's no hint of any other colour coming in. They're a darker blue around the outside and a clear, bright blue closer to the middle.

You love animals. Whenever you see any sort of animal, you reach out your hand to touch it and get upset if you can't quite get it. That goes for pretty much anything you want to touch. You wave your arms and reach out for whatever it is that has your attention. We visited Grandma and Grandpa M in Canada this month and you loved their golden retriever, Sheila. You were covered in dog hair the entire weekend and loved every minute of it!

You get a lot of attention from everyone you meet and you've become a bit more ok with that again this month. Because you reach out your hand to people, not because you want to go with them but just because you're curious, you get a lot of high fives. After this, you'll often bow your head and hide your face from them. It is the cutest thing!

I've noticed that you've started putting small objects into larger boxes or toys lately. One day I saw that you opened a drawer, put two of my socks and a ziploc bag inside and then closed it again. I've also seen you put toys into boxes. You seem to be fascinated with dropping things and seeing where they go, whether it's a toy into a box or food off your high chair tray. You'll hold your hand out and look down then let go. It's a very intentional action. I don't always love it, especially when it has to do with food, but I do love to see you learning!

Your sleep this month hasn't changed much. You're mostly in bed around 7:30-8pm, you wake twice or three times in the night to eat, and then you're up for the day around 8-9am. I've been trying to help you learn to sleep through the night without eating in the last few days by slowly stretching out the space between your feeds and shortening the amount of time I feed you. I can't really tell if we're making progress yet but at least you aren't crying for two hours every night so I call that a win!

You started out this month nursing every two hours. I held with that through our trip to Canada and then once we got back, I started stretching your feeds out a bit. Well, you must have caught my intention because you ran with it and would refuse to eat for up to 5-6 hours at a time! With you not sleeping through the night yet, I decided to reign you back in and feed you more often until you could go all night without a feed. You drink milk and water out of sippy cups and straw cups with no problem. You eat nearly everything we do. I still try to fill you up with a pureed night snack, just to try to help you sleep well. Your favourites are yogurt, rice cereal with cinnamon, and mashed banana with rice cereal and cinnamon. You also love raisins, fruit (papaya, mango, oranges, bananas, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, everything!), and crackers.

We had a real scare with you this month, Clara Mercy. You were lethargic and limp - for an hour and a half - and we were about to rush you to the hospital. We were all praying, of course, and just as the Hadime group prayed for you in the van on the way to a ministry evening, you started to perk up. Within about 5 minutes, you went from laying your head on my shoulder or laying in my arms, which you NEVER do, to sitting up on your own and acting completely normal. What a relief! Praise the Lord! Now, let's not do that again, ok?

This month you saw the ocean for the first time! You went for a trip to Canada. You popped two teeth (second bottom one and one top). You went swimming in the pool for the first time.

Seeing who you are becoming is turning into a real adventure, my Clara. I have no doubt that you'll take the world by storm one day. You have a beautiful personality and are growing into someone who loves deeply and lives passionately. We'll be cheering you on toward your first birthday, Sunshine. We love you!

And a picture of what the big kids were doing while I was taking pictures of their sister :)