Clara's First Birthday Festivities

Kevin and I both took off work on Clara's birthday and took her to the zoo. She had a great time pointing at all the animals and running around. Clara really liked the squirrels and birds that were running around when we were eating lunch. She actually off running after them and signing bird! We got to see the baby tigers that are only out for a couple of hours each day. I don't think Clara was too impressed by them, but Kevin and I had fun watching them play with each other. The zoo was exhausting and Clarita was asleep the second we put her in the car even though it was well before her usual nap time. We stopped at In N Out on the way home and she woke up in time to eat some french fries. This was her first french fry experience and she really liked them. She did, however, choose peas over the fries a couple of times so at least she still likes her veggies!

We had Clarita's birthday party the Saturday following her birthday and it was, of course, pink polka dot themed! I had been studying for my licensing test and didn't really have a lot of free time to get stuff done. Luckily I had a bunch of left over puffs from my baby shower (thanks Tia Laurie), lots of Mason jars and bird cages that I borrowed from Tia Laurie, a super cute banner that Kate made Clarita, and I spent the past couple of church council meetings making banners and a wreath. We invited family (Kevin's family is huge!) and a few close friends who are like family. It was the perfect day and everything turned out really well!

Luckily Clarita has very talented Tias! Tia Laurie made her a super awesome puffy pink polka dot tutu and Tia Alyssa made her a cute pink polka dot flower "1" shirt and matching hair clip! Clara was very cute in her party outfit!

I actually had to wake Clara up from a two hour nap to come to the party. She was happy and spent lots of time waving at everyone and playing with the big girls, Jessica and Sophia. Clara absolutely LOVED her cupcake! She started out by poking it with one finger. Then she tried some frosting and decided that it was fabulous. She proceeded to grab handfuls (only using one hand) of frosting and cake and shovel it into her mouth! She acted like she was starving and hadn't just eaten a big lunch. I think she was mad that Kevin and I hadn't given her cake before!

Teagan trying to steal Clarita's Os

What's Eden doing?

Playing with Baby Holly

I'm supposed to blow what out?

Wait, I forgot the bib!

While opening presents Clarita decided that she wanted to play with them of course. She was playing with her little push popper toy and fell and hit her mouth on it. She began screaming like I've never heard her scream before and I realized that she had cut her lip and was bleeding. I had been thinking that morning how Clara had not fallen and drawn blood yet. Luckily all she needed was a pacifier and drink of water to make it all better! She got tons of presents which she has had great fun playing with. She also got lots of super clothes which I will have fun dressing her up in! All in all, I think it was the perfect first birthday party for the little Wiggle and I think she enjoyed herself!

Logan was obsessed with this toy and
even took it to show his mom so she
get him one!

Hey mom, didn't I have one of these?

Birthday twin panzas...too much cake!

Birthday twins!

12 Months/1 Year!!!

I don't know how it happened, but somehow my little Wiggle stopped being a baby and turned into a little girl ... It seems like only yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital, but it also seems like a lifetime ago and I can't imagine my life without her! This past year has been so much fun watching Clarita grow and change. Although Kevin and I often say we want to stop time, I also find myself saying that each stage Clara passes through is my favorite. She started walking this past month which quickly turned into running and is unstoppable now! She is also less frustrated because we can put her down anywhere we go and she can run around. Which is perfect because playing outside is one of her favorite things!

Why is that white stuff so cold Fafa?

At the Big Trees

Helping to give the stray cats water

Clara continues to be super happy. As a friend at church put it, she seems like she just loves life! That really describes her. My mom always says that she can't stop smiling on the way home from babysitting Clara because they have so much fun together and Clarita is just so happy. Don't get me wrong, she is super stubborn and opinionated and can throw a fit in the drop of a hat if she doesn't get what she wants, but she can also generally be redirected and the tears stop as quickly as they began.

The babies attacking Tristan

If it's a walker why can't I walk on it?

We decided to take Clara for a bike ride this month. By the time we got everything figured out and ready it was almost nap time...not a good time to try putting a helmet on Clarita. She hated the helmet and cried when we put it on. Once we started moving she was fine, but the helmet kept falling over her eyes. We decided that was probably not a safe way to wear a helmet and called it quits after a few blocks.

Clara absolutely loves her stuffed animals, especially her monitos, and requests them. She has a sound for monkey that she always says when she sees one (kind of like maa maa or mo mo). Clarita likes to give her stuffed animals hugs and kisses (aka bite their noses). She continues to love her cats and rarely pulls their fur or tails. Baza actually comes up and rubs on her and requests her to pet him and Spikey tolerates Clara's petting. Clara loves Tio Chino's and Tia Laurie's dogs and takes forever to eat her dinner when we are there because she has to watch them the entire time. Clara also likes to pet babies and other little kids. I think she thinks they are cats!

Sharing her monito with Baza (they're both helping fold her clothes)!

Stuffed bears at the cabin

Reading is one of Clara's favorite activities and she will choose books for us to read to her. She actually sits still on our laps while we read (a miracle for her) and often wants to read a book numerous times or read multiple books. Clarita also likes looking at her books on her own and will sit and turn the pages and point to the different pictures.

Clarita still hasn't experienced separation anxiety. She literally tries to jump out of my arms to get to Abuelita when she arrives to babysit. Then Clara starts waving to me, probably telling me that it's time for me to go so that she and Abuelita can play. She has also bonded even more with Kevin now that he has been staying home with her two days a week. In the morning after she nurses she is done with me and only wants Dada! She also loves playing with her little friends and cousins.

Two screaming babies? Yes please!

Daylynn and Clara

Why is Baby Cambria screaming?

Clara always sleeps through all the fun

Clara got another hair cut this month as her mullet was once again out of control. Kevin is very sentimental and hates when she gets her long hair cut off. I, on the other hand, really don't mind..it will grow back! Abuelita and I also got our hair cut with Clarita. Clara was in the middle of a snack when Bri attempted to cut her hair and she screamed! Bri ended up cutting my hair while Clara ate then I fed her snacks while Bri cut her hair. She looks so grown up now! Clara had fun playing with Daylynn and her friends. She was so cute trying to run after them on her tiny little legs!

Snuggling with Baby Cambria

Still no teeth for the little Wiggle but Clara's favorite thing to do is eat yet she stays tiny. She wakes up signing eat and signs it throughout the day when she gets hungry. She knows signs for some foods like banana and will sign those or point to what she wants. If you give her the incorrect food she shakes her head no until you give her what she wants. She will love something one day and refuse to eat it the next, but still eats pretty much all foods and hasn't shown any definite dislikes. It's hard to pinpoint a favorite food, but she loves fruit and will eat that until she is ready to explode.

This month Clara began making some distinct sounds for certain words. Although I am reluctant to say she talks as really it's just a sound that only people who spend a lot of time with her can decipher, I guess it's the beginning of talking. The words she tries to say are all similar in English and Spanish so it's hard to tell what language she's trying to speak. She has said mama and dada for months and I know she knows who we are because if you ask her where we are she will look and point. However she still just babbles the words all the time. That being said, Clara actually signed mama and said mama at the same time so I decided that was obviously her official first word. I didn't even see it, but Kevin told me all about it. She has special sounds for more, monkey, and says mama and dada.

We have also taught Clara really important things like how to stick her index finger out to touch ours when we say "ET" and how to pound her chest and yell when we ask her what a gorilla does! One day I came home from work and all I could hear were little footsteps and yelling. Apparently she had been running around all day pounding her chest and yelling and my mom didn't know why! I also tell her "no, no, no" and shake my finger. She now will start to do something she knows she shouldn't and then stop and shake her finger.

She loves her birthday present from Reedcito and Kierito!

Texas Fight!

It's so fun to watch Clara's little (well more like giant) personality develop. She never stops moving or talking...she's certainly not a boring little girl, that's for sure!

Clarita's Stats (courtesy of the doctor)

Weight:17 pounds 7 ounces (still 15th percentile)

Height: 29.5 inches 

Head Circumference: 17 inches

What Clara Wears

9 months clothes still fit her pretty well. She wears a couple of her 12 month outfits but they are still quite large on her.

Things Clara Loves

Mama and Dada, nursing, going for walks, naked baby time, pacifiers (especially her monito), car rides, her pouch, reading books, being a baby airplane, people, taking showers in the Bumbo, playing with her toys, animals (especially her cats), eating, playing peek a boo, anything with a rough/bumpy texture, walking, empty bottles, cardboard boxes, phones, remote controls, brushing her "teeth", running up and down the stairs with Mama, Baby Signing Time DVD, stuffed animals, getting the ABCs sung to her while pointing at them on the wall, Tio Chino's wallett

Things Clara Does Not Love

She is such a happy baby that there aren't many things Clara dislikes. However, when she encounters one she lets it be known with screams and lots of tears. These include waiting, being told "no", having her face or nose wiped, having things taken away from her

How Clarita Sleeps

Clara takes an hour and a half nap around 10:00 and another around 3:00. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00. Clarita sleeps in her sleep sack in her crib with her pacifier. She generally falls right to sleep. I wake her up around 6:45 to get her ready when she goes to Kevin's parents' house, but on days she doesn't have to leave early she wakes up between 7:15 to 7:30.

Nicknames

Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggle, Baby/Bebe, Sapita, Munchkin, Birthday Twin, Monkey Butt

Sign Language

Clara can sign eat, more, please, thank you, hat, ball, sleep, baby (her favorite), banana, water, milk, bird, dog, cat, mama, dada, hurt, shoes, socks, wash hands, frog and book. She will do her signs spontaneously or to prompts in Spanish or English. 

Monthly Exciting Events

March 19, 2014: Clara eats her first french fry!

March 16, 2014: Clara says her first official word, Mama, accompanied with the sign so we know she understood what she was saying!

March 15, 2014: Clara's first time bowling and her first junk food, frosting! It was love at first lick!

March 2, 2014: Clara starts walking

March 1, 2014: Clarita runs her first postpartum race with Tia Laurie

February 26, 2014: Clara starts blowing kisses

February 23, 2014: Clara's first bike ride (not a success)

Monthly Pictures