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