19 Months

Clarita has also grown even more stubborn (I didn't think that was possible) and can throw quite the tantrum when she doesn't get her way! She is super independent and wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. This includes walking everywhere (she doesn't want to be carried or pushed in the stroller), choosing what she eats and when she eats it (and don't even try to help feed her), sitting in adult chairs without booster seats, crossing the street without holding an adult's hand, etc. If she is unable to do what she wants she throws a tantrum. They are usually short lived, but have been known to last for ten minutes on occasion.

But I don't want to take a picture without my chuponcito!

That being said, Clara is generally happy. She loves most things and really loves to learn. It amazes me how much of a sponge she is. She can now identify and say the letters in her name as well as a few others including "M" "D" and "O". Every time she sees a "D" she says, "D Dada!" Not quite sure how she made that connection. One day Clara was playing with her letters with Abuelita and ran through the house shouting "Clara" holding all of the letters in her name. Aba and Dada thought she was a genius, but I pointed out that they had been on the dishwasher and she had probably just taken them off. Dada was disappointed to find out that she wasn't quite up to genius status yet.

Clara is also learning her colors. She can point to the correct color for most of the basic ones if you ask her in English or Spanish. However, when you ask her what color something is she almost always says blue. I guess it's her favorite!

Watching Dada's Triathlon

Yay Dada!

Clara and Aba started going to story time at the library and Clara absolutely loves it! There are lots of kids for her to play with which she loves, as well as singing, stories, and arts and crafts. The first week she had a melt down because she did not want to relinquish her glue stick. I think she likes arts and crafts, she must take after Tia Laurie!

Getting things ready for Frijolita. Of course
she insists they are all "Cawa's"

The little Snugglepuff is still constantly on the go. She is only still when she is asleep, and even then she rolls all over her crib. I don't think she will ever be able to sleep in a bed without rails! Clara loves running and often goes for runs around the block. She also likes to walk to the park and run through the yard.

Dance party line!

This month Clara has really started putting words together. She repeats everything she hears (including "oh shit" which I said in front of her) and says three to four word sentences. One of my favorite things she says is "Hair, eyes, out!" when she wakes up and her hair is in her eyes (she then promptly requests a clip or bow). She also seems to understand that English and Spanish are different languages. She can switch back and forth with ease, but generally directs conversations to Dada and I in Spanish and to Aba in English. If she is talking to someone she doesn't know well she will say things in Spanish and when that doesn't get a response switch to English. Clarita has also started using plurals and posession correctly. Instead of saying "Dada chair" she says "Dada's chair". She talks nonstop, even if she is by herself. Half the time I have no idea what she is saying. It doesn't help that I am not ever sure what language she is talking in. Since I talk to her in Spanish I listen for her to speak back to me in Spanish. There have been times she has talked to me in English and I didn't even realize what she was saying because I was not expecting English. Clara is also pretty polite and often says please and thank you spontaneously. Since we often say thank you to her when we give her something so she will repeat it, she has started saying thank you when she gives something to someone. It's pretty funny! 

Cupcake!

Dancing with the puppet lady at Ryland's birthday party

She has finally started calling the people she sees often by their names. Tia Laurie and Tio Chino are just "Tia" and "Tio" or "Tios" if she is talking about them both. Tia Erika is "Eika" and she often refers to Tio Robert as "Eika" also or sometimes "Wober". Abuela Sheri is "Sewee", Sophie is "Feefee", she says Kate perfectly, Tristan is "Tistan", and Teagan is "Teegee". Abuelita is still "Aba" and Fafa "Fafa." Clara seems to think that two people cannot have the same name (although this apparently doesn't apply to other things since she named her stuffed cat "Bafa" after our cat) and she generally will not call anyone except Tia Laurie and Tio Chino "Tia/o" and will not refer to Abuela Sheri as Abuela or Grandma. I assume this is because she has already decided that Abuelita and Tia Laurie and Tio Chino have these prefixes and nobody else can have them.

Feeding Teegee

Loves her Dada!

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 21.1 pounds (she finally grew!)

Height: 32 inches (she refused to stand still so who knows how accurate this is!)

Head Circumference: 18.5 inches

What Clara Wears

Clarita still fits into most of her 12 months clothes but the pants are getting a little short. Since it's been getting cooler I have been putting her into her 18 month warm clothes. They are big, but the cloth diapers help to keep the pants up! She is still in size four shoes but they are getting a little snug.

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, Baby Signing Time DVDs, stuffed animals (especially monito and "Bafa"),  being swung through the air, swinging, sliding, being outside, water, swimming, blowing bubbles with Abuelita, dancing, shoes, esnugles, baths, letters, coloring

Things Clara Does Not Love

She has not been a big fan of having her hair combed and still hates doing anything she does not want to do at that exact time. Otherwise she is pretty easy going and happy.

How Clarita Sleeps

Clara takes one nap usually somewhere between 1:00 and 2:00 and sleeps for 2.5 to 3 hours. She's been getting better at sleeping at los Abuelos but still doesn't nap quite as long there. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and has been waking up between 6:15 and 6:30. She sleeps in her sleep sack with monito, "Bafa", dos pinguinos, and her chuponcito. This month she has woken up a couple of times at night and Dada even had to go up twice to give her a hug or pacifier.

Nicknames

Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggle, Baby/Bebe, Sapita, Munchkin, Birthday Twin, Monkey Butt, Loquita, Midget, Pipsqueak, Wigs, Loqs  

Talking

As I said above, this little girl talks nonstop! Her vocabulary is huge and she now says words in both English and Spanish. Before she would chose a language for each word and only say it in that language. Now she can switch back and forth.

Teeth

Seven and a half! She almost doubled her amount of teeth this month! She now has four on the top, two on the bottom (with one more just popping out) and a molar on the bottom left! Apparently her hippy teething necklace works because she grew the molar without us even noticing!

Monthly Exciting Events

October 14, 2014: Starts going to library story time with Aba

October 9, 2014: First molar appears out of nowhere!

October 4, 2014: First time blowing a bubble by herself

Monthly Pictures

It's important to brush your teeth (and support Texas)!

La Loquita

ET!

Showering Tia Laurie and Frijolita

The last two weekends were spent showering Tia Laurie and Frijolita! In case I haven't mentioned it, Tia Laurie is pregnant with a little girl (we call her Firjolita since she looked like a tiny bean in the first ultrasounds) and due on Dada's birthday! We're really hoping she makes her debut on her due date since Clarita was born on Tio Chino's birthday and we want two sets of birthday twins! We are super excited to meet Frijolita (aka Bailey) and had so much fun at the showers!

Tia Erika and I threw the first shower and it was the perfect day! Luckily I have a million decorations from past parties and showers so I only had to make some pennants (I glued them since I can't sew to save my life). Tia Erika found a bunch of fun games to play and did a great job making flower arrangements. We decorated letters for Frijolita's room, ate lots of yummy food, and of course played a TON of games (who doesn't love shower games?!)! Dada insisted on taking Clarita to watch the Reedley Fiesta Parade so she missed the first part of the shower. I was very upset about this at first as Clara has attended all of the other baby showers and had to be at Tia's. We compromised and they left the parade early so she could still partake in the fun. It worked out perfectly because they left early so Tia Erika, Abuelita, Stacy and I had plenty of time to set up without trying to occupy Clara too. She was very excited that there was a party going on when she arrived home and she immediately joined in the fun!

Such a good little helper

There were tons of little ones at the shower which was also super fun. We got to meet Tia Laurie's best friend Meghan's tiny daughter Piper. She was due a month and a half before Tia but decided she could not wait and came a month early. I think she just wanted to make sure that she got to attend the baby shower!

Sweet Piper

Kierito and Lyla

Carver is always stylin'!

Eden

Dada got a bruise from that suction cup!

Abuelita is a midget!

High school best friends!

This past weekend was Tia Laurie's shower at church. As always Jennifer did a great job of organizing everything complete with cheesecakes since Tia doesn't like cake. Clarita had fun helping to open presents, declaring all of the presents to be hers, and trying to get someone to give her a bite of cheesecake (she failed at this one). We had a great time and just can't wait to welcome Little Miss Bailey into the world!

Clarita helping to write the present list

Big Times Are Back

It's one of my favorite times of year...fair time! I love the fair and when I went with my work earlier in the week, I became super excited to take Clarita because I knew that there were so many things she would love. Turns out I was right! Last year we took her and while she enjoyed the people and bustle, she was too young to really appreciate the fair. This year she was better able to understand what was going on and what she was seeing.

She insisted on taking a picture with the giant pumpkins

Practicing her lassoing

The animals were, of course, a big hit. She mooed, oinked, and baaed away while pointing at the different animals. She liked the kid's area in the animal exhibits where she got to sit on a saddle and play in a corn pit!

There was a discovery zone (which made me sad to realize how unlucky we are to have lost the awesome kid's museum in Fresno years ago) complete with giant bubbles, lightening balls, and a crazy spinning tunnel. Clara loved the bubbles and insisted on trying to make them herself. She was not strong enough to life the giant metal wand, but got very upset when I tried to help her...such a stubborn girl. She really liked the tunnel and did not seem phased by the fact that it was spinning and created a dizzying effect. She also liked the lightening balls and insisted on touching both of them and watching the lights.

It just so happened that Snoop Dogg was playing at the fair the night we went. The concert area is in the middle of the exhibits and you can hear the music all over the fair. Clara loved the music and danced away (it was very child friendly as are all Snoop Dogg songs). She got to practice her dancing like a gangsta and I think it greatly improved!

I was not expecting Clara to be as enthralled with the rides as she was. I had high hopes of taking her on her first ride, but alas there were no little kid rides. She was mesmerized by all of the lights on the rides as well as the rides that went upside down and spun in circles. When the roller coaster that just went in complete circles over and over again stopped she said and signed "mas mas!" We knew we had a little daredevil on our hands, but I think she already wants to ride roller coasters!

Clarita got to try some different fair foods. She ate garlic fries (she opted to finish her peanut butter and jelly sandwich after a few), fried cheese curds (a big hit, I mean who doesn't love fried food?), and of course cinnamon roll (the best ones around). She is already dreaming of what she'll get to eat next year when she has more than four teeth!

mmm cinnamon roll!

It was a great night and Clara was exhausted by the time we left at 9:15. She fell asleep the second we drove off and didn't even wake up when I put her to bed. We love the fair!