17 Months

The biggest happening this month was that Clara stopped nursing. When people found out I was nursing beyond a year I often got strange looks and a lot of, "Really, I could never do that." When people asked me when I planned to stop nursing I always said that I figured Clara would eventually not want to anymore. Everyone thought I was crazy and someone even told me that babies never stop wanting to nurse unless you make them. Turns out everyone was wrong and Clara gradually weaned herself. She started nursing less and less, stopped asking to nurse, and then wasn't even interested when I offered to nurse her. It's a little bittersweet as it means Clarita is not a baby anymore and doesn't need me as much. That being said, it is also nice to feel free and not have to worry about Clara having a melt down because we're out late and she wants to nurse. It was also ironic that she stopped nursing during World Breastfeeding Week.

Another big change this month was dropping her morning nap. Clara had started refusing to sleep for her afternoon nap. She would stay in her crib and play quietly for two hours, but not sleep. This meant that she turned into a nightmare in the evening and had tantrum after tantrum. I even ended up putting her to bed at 7:30 one night! VBS week seemed like a good transition time since we would not be home during morning nap time. She did well that week, but the following week actually requested to go to sleep in the mornings. Tia Laurie said that she grabbed her monkey and ran to her pack and play and said and signed sleep. She asked her if she wanted to take a nap and Clarita said yes. She did the same thing with Abuelita. Needless to say they let her (how can you not let a baby sleep who is requesting to take a nap?) and she did not take afternoon naps. So now everyone is forbidden from letting Clara sleep in the morning! She fell asleep in her high chair during lunch at Fafa and Abuela Sheri's one day (and they didn't take a picture!), but has since seemed to acclimate to one nap.

Clara called Lyla to coordinate their outfits

Playing with Connor and Eden

Clara has become quite the little imitator this month. She tries to repeat everything you say and do. She is really into jumping but can only get one foot off the ground. She often turns in a circle jumping with one foot! Clarita's vocabulary is growing and growing. Many of her words sound very similar and we often can't understand what she is trying to say unless she does the accompanying sign. She has also learned a lot of new signs this month that only Abuelita, who watches the new video with her, knows. I think Clarita gets frustrated that we don't know what she's saying! She also combines word now to make short sentences. She will say, "Mama Dada work?" when she wants to know where we are going or where we are during the day. She likes to point to things and tell you who they belong to (vacuum is Mama and magazines are Dada), or point to objects and say the name of the person to whom it belongs and the name of the object, "Dada pho" (Dada phone). Clara also likes to say goodbye and will say, "Mama byebye" as I walk out the door.

Walking is one of  Clarita's favorite things and she often squirms and wiggles if she is being carried requesting to "wa". As a result, it now takes us a million years to get anywhere because although Clara can walk at a good pace, she has to stop and look at and touch everything!

Clarita has become obsessed with her monito this month. She has numerous stuffed monkeys, but she prefers her super soft Jellycat monito (thanks Chelsea!) She calls all monkeys momo and often requests her momo. She also calls pacifiers momos because her favorite pacifier has a monkey attached to it. When Clara gets upset she requests her momo which usually means her pacifier and stuffed monkey. I have tried giving her different monkeys but she shakes her head and says, "No, momo!" until she gets the correct monkey. She also likes to carry him around with her and give him hugs and kisses. It's very cute, but also makes me nervous that something will happen to him and she will be inconsolable as I was when I was tiny and left my momo (that's what I called my monkey, and no, I did not try to get Clara to call hers that too) and blankey at the coast.

 She loves yoga

And fish

And taking selfies with Dada

Tia Laurie spent a lot of time babysitting Clarita this month since she was on summer vacation. Clara had so much fun with her and even had her first sewing lesson. She actually managed to sit still on Tia Laurie's lap and only push buttons when told to do so! She also got to fingerpaint which was fun until she slipped in the paint and hit her head. Clarita became obsessed with blankeys (she calls them babies) and spent a lot of time covering herself with Tia Laurie's fabric scraps and pretending the couch was her bed. Clarita loves her Tia and is so lucky that she gets to do fun things with her!

This is how Tio Chino babysits

First sewing lesson

Thanks for the awesome quilt Tia!

Going to sleep with her "baby"

Learning about dinosaurs

Paint it better if you eat it and paint yourself!

Meeting Dada and Tio for lunch

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 19.8 pounds 

Height: 31.5 inches 

Head Circumference: 18 inches

What Clara Wears

Clarita still fits well in her 12 month outfits and just moved up to size four shoes. She's a teeny one!

Things Clara Loves

Mama and Dada, going for walks, naked baby time, pacifiers (especially her monito), reading books, people, playing with her toys, animals (especially her cats), eating, playing peek a boo, running, empty bottles, phones, remote controls, walking up the stairs, Baby Signing Time DVDs, stuffed animals (especially her monito), getting the ABCs sung to her while pointing at them on the wall, being swung through the air, swinging, sliding, being outside, water, swimming, blowing bubbles with Abuelita, dancing, shoes, esnuggles

Things Clara Does Not Love

Not getting what she wants or being told no is at the top of the list. Wiping her face/nose are still generally disliked although she is getting better. 

How Clarita Sleeps

Clara now takes one nap usually somewhere between 12:30 and 1:30 and sleeps for 3 to 3.5 hours. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and wakes up between 7:00 and 7:15. She sleeps in her sleep sack with monito, dos pinguinos, and her chuponcito. She is a great sleeper!

Nicknames

Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggle, Baby/Bebe, Sapita, Munchkin, Birthday Twin, Monkey Butt, Loquita, Midget, Pipsqueak, wigs (thanks Mama) 

Sign Language

Clara loves sign language and can sign eat, more, please, thank you, hat, ball, sleep, baby, banana, water, milk, bird, dog, cat, mama, dada, hurt, shoes, socks, wash hands, frog, book, dirty, all done, car, bus, train, apple, horse, yes, no, bath, bubbles, airplane, boat, bear, balloon, bubbles, cow, corn, cold, game, hot, monkey, cereal, elephant, mouse, fish, peach, sheep, music, outside (the real sign), wind, phone, leaf, grass, tree, star, down, carrot. Clara made up her own sign for motorcycle in which she squats down with her hands out in front of her and says vroom vroom (she also does this for bike), she also made up a sign for outside that looks like she is turning a deadbolt, and has a sign for tomato where she puts her hand to her mouth like she is biting a tomato and smacks her lips, and duck is her entire hand like it's quacking.

Talking

Clara imitates everything so it is hard to say what words she actually knows and what she just repeats! Her words are ever evolving and she actually says some perfectly now. She says banana "nana" no "nah" (she can actually say no perfectly but prefers to say nah), more/mas "mas mas", bye bye "bye/buh bye", "baby", ball "ba", monkey "momo", eat/comer "mer", yes "yeah", thank you "da", "Baba" for Baza (this now translates to her word for all cats), milk "meh", dog "daa", yummy "mmm", water/agua "awa", Abuelita "Aba", grapes/uvas "ubas", dirty "duhdee", flower/flor "fowa/fla", all done/fin "peen", apple "apa/apple", hat "aaa", hot "aaw", necklace/cadena "nena", cheese "chees", shoes "choos", pan/bread "pa", boo, boom, Please "peez", "fafa", Tristin "tistin", book "buh", phone "pho", walk "wa", "bubble", moon "moo", music "mimi", soft "saa",  swing "swee", egg/huevo "hueba", rock (both the motion and the noun) "ra" bib "bi", wind "win", work "wor", outside "owsha", dry off/secarse "sheca", peach "pee", poop "poopoo", "ow", "uhoh", rice/arroz "awo",  s "ass (what she calls all letters)" (we really like encouraging her to say this one!) . She says some animal sounds, mau (meow), woo (woof), (ney) neigh, moo, baa, rarrrrr (for a bear), cua cua (duck), oo oo aa aa (monkey), ssss (snake), gloglo (what a turkey says in Spanish), she sniffs for a pig (trying to snort), and woo woo (when she hears a train). She also likes to walk up to people and start laughing in a deep totally fake sounding laugh.

Teeth

Still only four. Two on the bottom and two on the top. She has been chewing on everything including her hands so maybe some more are coming in.

Monthly Exciting Events

August 10, 2014: First time eating ice cream

August 3, 2014: Clara stops nursing

July 24, 2014: First time drinking out of a regular cup (without assistance)

Monthly Pictures

New and Old Friends

This past weekend my old roommate Beth, her husband Ken, and their 11-month old Hadley, came to visit. Although Clara and Hadley met for the first time Clarita was six months old and Hadley was a couple of weeks old, I think this meeting had a more lasting effect! Clarita was in love with Hadley. Thursday morning before the Hailes took off to Yosemite, the girls got to play and Clara was so excited that there was a baby in her house! She kept signing and saying baby and pointing to Hadley. She also liked to touch her and even started crawling around with her since Hadley isn't walking yet! It was hilarious!

Hadley checking out the DVDs

Friday afternoon the Hailes returned from their Yosemite adventure and we headed up to the cabin for more adventures. Clara was very excited to sit with Beth and Hadley the backseat. Poor Hadley missed her nap and was not a fan of the hour long drive. At one point when Hadley was crying, Clarita patted Beth on the leg as if to say, "I feel your pain." It was pretty funny. Little Hadley was a trooper though and was super happy once we arrived at the cabin. We cooked dinner and Dada got there in perfect timing, right as the food was ready. Clara thought it was fun to have Baby Hadley sitting next to her at dinner, but was more interested in watching her than eating. After dinner Hadley got a bath in the sink and the girls went to bed. They are both excellent sleepers and were out in a flash so the adults could hang out.

Clara is not good at sleeping in if she is in the same room as us. She wakes up and sees us and becomes really excited. Saturday morning she woke up at 5:45, stood up laughing and saying "Mama Dada!" Crazy Dada went for a 14 mile run and Clarita laid in bed with me while I tried to sleep some more. I think I got a half hour of sleep in before she decided to stand up and bounce on the bed. Hadley was a better sleeper and did not get up until after 7:00.

Waking up early makes a girl hungry!

After breakfast we headed out for a hike to the big trees. Both the girls fell asleep right away and slept for most of the hike. They randomly woke up at the same time and were happy after their short cat nap. We drove up to Panoramic Point to look at the views, but the girls were getting pretty tired by this point so we headed back for lunch and naps.

Rubber neck babies

Being carried is for babies!

They both took good naps and we all rested too! After nap time we headed out for a hike to Big Stump. It was a nice little hike that ended at the "big stump". It was certainly big and stumpy! The girls liked the hike and even held hands for a little while. Clara was obsessed with Hadley and kept saying "baby" and pointing to Hadley.

My what a big stump...

We got back to the cabin and ate dinner and the girls played. Clara enjoyed "brushing" Hadley's hair and worked on sharing her toys. She does not like to share monito but does pretty good with the rest of her toys. Sometimes she needs some prompting. The girls were exhausted after a long day and headed to bed around 8:30. Clara made it until 6:20 the next morning before standing up and saying, "Mama Dada" and laughing.

Buried under bears!

After a quick breakfast we headed out so the Hailes could make their trek back to Orange County. Once again Clara was super excited that Hadley was in the back seat with her. I think Clara had a lot of fun playing with Hadley. When we got back from church I asked her who was inside the house. She usually says Dada, but this time said, "baby." She was disappointed when she wasn't right. At dinner she had some cantaloupe and pointed to it and said "baby" probably because Hadley ate a ton for breakfast the previous morning. Clarita also began shrieking at the top of her lungs (happy shrieks) like Hadley did. It's pretty funny! It was a fun weekend and we are sad that the Hailes don't live closer. We can't wait to see them again!

Clarita's Busy Life

I always find myself saying "Clara is exhausted she had a busy day, week, etc." Tia Laurie pointed out that Clara has had a busy life and I realized this is true. Before I was pregnant Kevin and I said that we would not let a baby stop us from doing things we wanted to do. Although, of course, we have had to change some things, we are still able to do pretty much everything we want with Clarita and she enjoys being out and around other people. She's become a good little traveler and is pretty flexible with her naps; sleeping in the car, stroller, or even in the baby carrier while we walk around. That being said, I think she does get pretty exhausted sometimes and by the time the end of the week rolls around she is ready for some rest.

Two weeks ago was a super busy week ( so busy I didn't have time to write a blog) and we were only home before 9:00 PM one night! Clara saw Scotty McCreery at the park in Hanford. She loved dancing, pouting when she didn't get her way, and playing with a little boy. He would cover all of the sprinklers with wood chips and Clarita would clean them all off!

Que pouty face!

We went to Abuelita's so Dada could ride his bike on hills. Clarita, Abuelita, and I played and ate dinner while Dada rode. We went to Tia Laurie's and Tio Chino's for dinner and Glee. Clara loved dancing to the songs in Glee and of course playing with the dogs. She and Bigby took turns chasing each other around the living room while Buster hid from scary Clara!

On Friday we headed up to Shaver for Dada's triathlon. We stayed at Kevin's Auntie Lisa's cabin and Clara had a ton of fun chasing her little dog Rose around and barking at her. Rose barked and growled at Clarita and she thought it was the funniest thing ever! Saturday morning I got Clarita up bright and early to head to the lake. I was hoping she would not really wake up and fall right back to sleep in the car. She woke right up smiling and waving and played on the way to the lake. By the time Dada swam, the little Wiggle was tired and was content to hang out in the carrier while we watched him. She got her second wind once we got to China Peak Ski Resort to catch the end of the bike and watch the run. Clara waved and cheered people on and even got to go on the podium with Dada when he got his medal. He got fourth place overall and second in his age division. The winner was an elite athlete who is training for the Olympics so I think Dada really got third!;)

Practicing riding the ski lift

We headed back to the cabin to hang out and eat lunch before heading home. Clara loved running around and playing with Rose. She and Dada went for a walk and she collected some treasures (rocks and plants). Clarita slept the entire way home and was then ready to go.

Saturday night we took Clara and Tristan to Ice Cream Zoofari. Dada has been wanting to go for years and I told him he had to wait until he had a child. Last year he wanted to go, but it was super hot and I told him he could go when Clara was older and could eat ice cream, so he finally got to go this year! There were supposedly 46 different flavors of ice cream set up around the zoo. Dada had at least 20, Clara, Tristan, and I were not as ambitious. It was Clarita's first time eating ice cream and she absolutely loved it! After her first taste she seemed indifferent and we were hopeful that she wouldn't become ice cream obsessed...wrong! She would grab the cone out of my hands and devour it. Then she would say, "mas mas peez" complete with signs and sign thank you as well. We had to hide the ice cream from her and I just gave her cones with a dot of ice cream. When I told her she could not have anymore ice cream she started crying and threw a fit. I guess she takes after her Dada! Tristan didn't have as much fun as Clara due to becoming upset when a lady serving ice cream forgot to give him some. This happened right at the beginning and he was not very enthusiastic the remainder of the night. I think Clara was excited enough for both of them and she ran all over doing the signs for all of the animals she knew and inventing signs for those she didn't know! She also started saying Tristan "Tistin" and was so excited to play with him and sit next to him in the car. Aside from Mama and Dada the only other names she has tried to say are Abuelita and Fafa so Tristan must really be special!

Sunday was Tristan's birthday party so we headed over to their house after church. Clara went right down for a nap while we helped get things ready. She took a three hour nap and woke up right in time for the pinata. We thought she would love the pinata since she loves bats. Turns out we were wrong and she was afraid of it! If we put her near it she said, "noo noo" and ran away whimpering! Since Clarita is afraid of so few things it was really funny. She also called the pinata Mama so it was even weirder that she was so afraid of it. She did love the bat and did not want to give it up for Teagan to have a turn. Teagan was not afraid of the pinata and took some swings at it. By the time we left, Clarita was exhausted (you know, she's had a busy life) and fell asleep on the way home. She might be super busy, but she has a lot of fun doing it!

Bubbles returning Monito

We got two of them to pose

Telling Dada how the scary pinata is Mama

Bubbles watching her favorite movie