18 Months

This month has been a busy one! We've been on the go so much and Clarita has been a trooper! She truly loves people and is usually happy as long as there are people around and she is busy. She's attended baby showers, parties, and even made a few road trips.

Supervising Ashley open presents

Coloring with Charlyse

Clara especially loves other kids and has a lot of fun when she gets to play with them. She gives hugs and kisses but also a few smacks if they do something she doesn't like. We're working on better manners. We're also working on sharing. She's generally pretty good about it but sometimes does not want to share or has to have whatever anther kid just picked up.

Rocking Conner

Eating is still hit or miss. Clara loves something one day and wants nothing to do with it the next. Her staple is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She always eats these and asks for more! She also insists on eating cereal with Dada for breakfast. Not just any cereal either. It has to be Blueberry Morning with Grapenuts and uncooked oats on top. I tried giving her Cheerios and she told me no. She's also really into Goldfish crackers. And she prefers the Goldfish brand not the Annie's bunnies. She picks those out and feeds them to us while she eats the Goldfish or pes as she calls them!

Who doesn't want peas as a before bedtime snack?

The next day she wanted nothing to do with peas

Clara has started talking up a storm. I can't even keep track of all the words she says. I'd say she probably consistently says 75 to 100 words and repeats everything we say. She also still babbles away in her alien language, but more often than not she babbles real words. She is still difficult to understand, and many of her words sound the same, but Dada, Abuelita, and I generally understand her.

So patriotic

Speaking of Abuelita, Clara has become even more obsessed with Abuelita this month. Every morning we talk about what we are going to do that day. I always ask her where she is going or who she is going to see and her answer is almost always "Aba." I will list other people and ask her if she wants to see them and she says, "No, Aba." When Abuelita gets here Clara is generally standing by the door looking through the windows calling Abuelita's name. As soon as Abuelita arrives Clara says, "Bye Mama" and is done with me. I think they have a lot of fun together! She also loves Tia Laurie and when she hasn't seen her in awhile spends the whole night stuck to her cuddling!

Tia esnugles!

Clarita is quite the little goofball. She loves being silly and laughing. She and Dada always take selfies and her new favorite thing to do is stick her tongue out for pictures. She also thinks that we are horses and if we lay on the floor she is immediately on top of us bouncing up and down and shouting "neigh!"

"Bib"

Sometimes we read like this

Tongue selfie

Naked tongue pea eating selfie with Dada!

Eating can be a messy affair

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 20.2 pounds 

Height: 31.5 inches 

Head Circumference: 18 inches

What Clara Wears

Clarita still fits well in her 12 month outfits and size four shoes. When she was in disposable diapers while traveling her clothes were big and her shorts almost fell off!

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, 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, esnugles

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. She also now dislikes having her hair combed.

How Clarita Sleeps

Clara now takes one nap usually somewhere between 12:30 and 1:30 and sleeps for 3 to 3.5 hours. Except for when she is with Abuela Sheri then she sleeps for only 1.5 to 2 hours (we're still trying to figure that one out). She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and has been waking up between 6:30 and 6:45. She sleeps in her sleep sack with monito, dos pinguinos, and her chuponcito. 

Nicknames

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

Sign Language

This is my last month recording this. She doesn't sign as much now that she talks so much. She still likes watching Baby Signing Time and signs if she doesn't know the word or really wants to get her point across. She signs 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, moon, good, day, time, nice, sun, happy, cry, go, juice, me, you, grandma, grandpa,  . 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

As I said above, I've given up trying to record her words because there are too many. She probably says between 75 to 100 and repeats everything. She has started making two to three word sentences such as, "Bye Mama work." or "Dada go?" when she wants to know where Dada went. She understands inflection and changes hers accordingly if she is asking a question or making a statement. She now says her name "Cawa" or "Caca" which is the cutest thing ever!

Teeth

Still only four. Two on the bottom and two on the top. We can see two more on the top on ether side, but they haven't made their way in yet. I swear one pokes through the gum and disappears again.

Monthly Exciting Events

September 1, 2014: "Swims" all the way across the length of the pool by herself (thanks to her bomb swimsuit)

August 27, 2014: Fafa's first time babysitting solo

August 23, 2014: Start snorting while laughing

Monthly Pictures

She loves reading!

She does not always love taking pictures