Happy Birthday, Clara! This day has been kind of surreal for your mama. How is it that it's been a year since you were born? Has it really been that long since I first met you? Have we really had that many days with you?
You are growing into a beautiful and joyful little girl. You had a smile on your face pretty much all day today! And not just a shy, little smile either...you have this new crinkle-nose, eye-squinty grin that is just adorable. It makes you look like you're having the best day ever. I hope it was just that for you!
This month, like every other month, you have grown up a lot! Your hair is growing longer and you are stretching taller. Your legs are growing into longer toddler legs and your whole body is just not quite so "baby" as it was just a couple months ago.
You are wearing size 9-12 month clothes - though you still wear the odd 3-6 or 6-12 month pair of pants. I just sized you up into 12 month pj's tonight because the 9 month ones were just seeming a little tight on the toes last night. I really have no idea how much you weigh. You're still so light, I would guess between 16-18lbs. You are 27" tall. Your hair is growing so much longer! It's definitely long enough to put a clip into and has the most adorable little curls behind each of your ears. I can't really say that you've had your first haircut, though I did trim a few stray hairs out of your face a couple days ago to give you more "bangs" and less straggly fringe. You have four teeth that are completely in now. They sure change your look. You don't look much like a baby anymore!
You have mostly seemed to have gotten over your shyness and are pretty friendly with people. You still prefer arms you know, but you seem to be pretty easily convinced that new people are friends too. Your shyness didn't last too long, probably about four months (Dec-Mar). You love to make people smile but are also content to just watch the action and laugh along with everyone else. You don't always need to be the center of attention.
You've started doing a few new actions this month. You clap all the time, often looking to one of us as you clap to see if we're clapping too. Sometimes you clap after you do something that you're proud of. That's pretty cute. You've also started waving in the last week or so. I'll say, "Say bye!" and you'll wave your arm to whomever is around. You will also hold a toy or hand to your ear and talk. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, as you've rarely seen anyone talk on the phone, if ever. But I always say "hello, hello!" when you do that and it's turned into a game.
You have definitely said your first word(s) now. It sure seems like you think "ba!" is a word so I'll count it. You've been saying "ba!" for months already but it seems to have turned from sound to word now. You love to yell "ba!" into big, echo-ey spaces and hear your voice come back to you. You've also said "mama!" a lot. If I leave the room, you will call "mamaaaa!" in the most pitiful voice and start to cry. Sometimes, when you don't know where I am, you will just crawl around the house calling for me. One day, I was in the bedroom and you were looking for me, calling as you crawled around. I called you from the bedroom and heard you get closer before you called again. I returned your call and you came closer and closer, calling over and over again, until you found me. It turned into a fun game, going back and forth calling each other. When you found me, you were so excited! Another day, you were inside with Daddy while I was making supper. I heard you crying and crying from the kitchen but didn't know what was going on. I soon found out that you thought I was behind a closed door in the bedroom and you were banging on the door and calling for me, "mamaaa!" while you were wailing. Beautiful girl, I love being your "Mamaaaa!"
You have no problem getting where you want to go these days. You crawl on hands and knees at a crazy speed. I love to watch you crawl, your little bum and knees going back and forth and hands slapping on the ground. You've tried some stairs this month and have made it both up and down the two steps into your bedroom safely. You've also gone up one step on the stairway to the upstairs apartment above us. I'm really glad you haven't gone further because the stairs have hardwood tread and there's tile flooring at the bottom. It would do some damage to fall down those! You've also learned to push on doors to open them and let yourself into rooms. The door to your siblings' room doesn't latch, much to their dismay, and you know there is often fun stuff on their floor so you will let yourself into there whenever you please. You also pull yourself up on everything and will climb onto things if they're not too high (like a small stool or chair that might be sitting around). You will also walk while holding onto our hands but when you really want to get somewhere, you just drop to your hands and knees and cruise!
You are a really good eater. Your favourite food right now is potato salad, I think. It's interesting that you like it so much because you don't really seem to care for eggs on their own. Eggs are one of the few foods you will leave on your high chair tray untouched. You also don't seem to like hot dogs, which surprises me. I can't say I'm too disappointed about that one though! You love fruit: papaya, mango, pineapple, apple, oranges, grapes, berries, bananas...you eat them all! You eat whatever we are eating these days and LOVE milk. Water is thinner than milk and still makes you choke a bit from surprise when you have a mouthful of water when you're expecting milk. It makes me smile every time. You are now fully weaned and it hasn't seemed to phase you.
You have been a little more snuggly this month, which I love. Maybe it has to do with weaning and not having as many snuggles built into the day, or maybe you're just getting older and deciding that laying your head on our shoulders isn't actually the worst thing in the world, but whatever it is, I love it! You are just the perfect size to snuggle in my arms and be held. That said, when you're done with being carried and want to explore something more fully, you can sure squirm and twist and try to get away! It really makes things difficult sometimes. Oh well!
I've noticed this month that you have started to play a little differently. Instead of just grabbing things and either throwing them or putting them into your mouth, you take time to look at them. You put them into bigger things. You carry them around and yes, still put them in your mouth. But your play seems a little more intentional and it's fun to see your personality developing!
You love every sort of animals and have started noticing other babies this month too. You really like Hatchi, the dog on the yard here and have learned that if he's nearby, you can throw your food off your highchair onto the floor and he will come closer. You love to feed him. You love water and have swam in the pool for the first time (I think?) this month. You either splash in the little kiddie area or go into the deeper part with Daddy. It's not fun if it's too cold, but if the temperature is right, you have a great time! On the pool deck, we put you in the shade of the umbrella and you don't leave the shade because you know that the tile pad is hot if you leave the shaded area. Smart girl!
You like stuffies and have had a chance to sleep with both Levi's Rabbit and Maddie's Tigey this month (they generously offered that you could have them for a nap). Your favourite is still your Hippo, who you sleep with every night and nap.
Speaking of naps, you are a pro. I really am so thankful that you go to sleep so well. I walk into your room and put you into bed and you snuggle your face into Hippo and go to sleep. And on the days when you're not quite tired enough to go straight to sleep, you play in your room for a while until you fall asleep. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You sleep from 8pm until about 7:30-8am and nap at around 10am and 2pm for about an hour or an hour and a half each time. You're finally sleeping through the night, my girl! I tried for about 4-6 weeks to gently wean you from nursing at night but it just wasn't working and you were starting to cry at night anyway so finally I just stopped going in to you. It wasn't easy to hear you cry, you cried for 2-2.5 hours straight for 3-4 nights in a row! But you weren't screaming quite as desperately as you did in previous months when I tried this. And after those few nights, you started to just sniffle a bit when you woke and then you were sleeping through. I am so glad!
Clara, you are a blessing to our family. We all love you. Your siblings fight over each other to say goodnight to you every night and give you hugs and kisses. Levi loves to take care of you. Kayden will run into your room whenever you wake up from a nap or in the morning. Maddie keeps you safe by telling you in the most gentle voice that you shouldn't touch something and helping you back to the floor so you can go somewhere else. (She also calls you "Miss Clara" every single time she refers to you!) You are a pretty special and loved little girl. I hope you always know how much your family loves you. Happy birthday! It's been an amazing first year with you!
p.s-you loved these balloons so much today. You wouldn't let go of them the entire photo shoot and not afterward either! I finally had to pry them out of your hands so you could eat lunch. You would just carry them around and then notice that you were still holding them and shake them violently up and down with excitement. And then you would chew on them and I'm pretty sure at least one popped, courtesy of those sharp little teeth you have.
