Love is in the Air

Neither Kevin nor I are big on Valentine's Day. We both feel that it is kind of a silly day as we show our love for each other every day. We definitely don't do sappy cards and over priced heart shaped gifts, but usually get each other a little something. Luckily Laurie and Russell feel the same as us about Valentine's Day so they came over to hang out.

Kevin has been taking two days a week off to stay with Clara since his parents are in New Zealand for almost a month and usually watch Clara twice a week. Plus, he likes hanging out with the little Wiggle. He was home on Valentine's Day so he made us a wonderful dinner and we hung out and watched Glee and the Olympics. Clarita was obsessed with Glee (since we rarely watch TV she gets really excited when it's on) and preferred to sit next to Tia Laurie holding onto Tia's foot while she watched! It was quite funny.

Kevin has adopted animals (usually monkeys) in my name for Valentine's Day the past few years. We love the zoo and like to be able to support it in different ways (and I LOVE monkeys). This year in addition to my Guenon, we decided to adopt an animal for Clara. We got her an elephant because that was the animal on the form they sent and when I tried to fill out an online form it was too archaic and difficult so I went with the elephant. Plus, we thought she would like to play with the trunk of her stuffed elephant (she did).

Holding her elephant while watching the elephants

We decided to take Clara to the zoo to celebrate Valentine's Day and to pick up her adopt an animal packet. We had taken her to the zoo at night for different events, but never during the day. We thought that she would really enjoy seeing the animals (you don't see many at night). Needless to say the zoo was a big hit! Clara loves animals and was so excited to be surrounded by them! She squealed with delight the entire time and waved to the animals. Clarita really liked the petting zoo and loved petting the sheep and goats. At one point about five sheep and goats came running because the zoo keeper had food. Clara started squealing, kicking, and pointing.

Clarita liked the beggar orangutan

Waving to the animals

"I'm petting a goat!"

I think her favorite animals were the giraffes. She got super excited when she saw them and pointed and yelled. Maybe because she had a toy giraffe? The little Wiggle also loved her stuffed elephant. I thought it was going to be a tiny little thing but it was actually a big elephant that they sell at the zoo. She held on to it the entire time and gave it lots of abrazos. We can't wait to go to the zoo again to see the baby tigers that aren't out on display yet.

Metal animals are cool too!

Superbowl!

Our friends Megan and Michael host an awesome Superbowl party each year. This year they really outdid themselves with tons of delicious food, drinks, games, and fun! Last year there were only a couple of little kids, but this year there were five all under the age of three! Megan was so sweet and got some toys for all of the kids to play with. Clara had a ton of fun playing with all of the different footballs. Towards the beginning of the afternoon, a few of the boys were standing around one of the footballs staring at it. Clara crawled in took one look at it, squealed with delight, and picked it up. Then the boys were jealous and wanted to play with it too!

"Get away Connor, it's mine!"

Reedcito and Connor want in on the football action

Clarita had fun playing with the little boys. She and Connor liked standing at the glass doors banging away and squealing at the dogs. That is until Connor tried to kiss her. Clara would shake her head no furiously and push him away. Thatta girl Clarita! He also liked petting her hair which was pretty funny.

Connor petting Clara

She and Ryan had fun playing with the pieces from Michael's chess set. And she and Reedcito played with some balls. He kept asking what Clara was doing, but I think she was a little too boring for him. Clara also played with Tia Laurie and Tio Chino which is always fun!

Sadly, Clara didn't win any of the squares, but Kevin won one round. I won the Superbowl questionnaire game (i.e. who will score the first touchdown, what will the first commercial be about). Clara and I rooted for the Seahawks for a couple of reasons. A) Their colors are better than the Broncos, B) I had Russell Wilson on my fantasy team this year so I felt some loyalty to him, and C) I happened to have a Seahawks jersey that I bought at a Ropa Americana store in Honduras for $1. Very good reasons to cheer them on obviously. Clara didn't have any Seahawks colored outfits (if their colors were pink she would have been set) so we settled for a blue and green ribbon that clashed horribly with the rest of her outfit. She and I were very happy that the Seahawks won! Clarita ended the night snuggling with Michael and petting the dogs...perfect end to a perfect Superbowl party!

Ten Months

This month Clarita has really seemed to change a lot. She now seems more like a little girl than a baby. She is really starting to understand things and amazes us with how quickly she learns. Clara has discovered that she can play peek a boo by holding blankets over her face and then pulling them down, this is now one of her favorite games! She also loves to wave and will usually wave on command in English and Spanish. Clara spent much of our plane ride waving to people and playing peek a boo over and around the seats. Needless to say, she made a lot of new friends!

Clara continues to be super happy and inquisitive. She is into everything and requires a keen eye on her at all times. She loves to crawl full speed after the cats and pet them (she's actually pretty gentle) and lay on them. Baza lets her, Spikey usually runs away. Clara also loves to walk holding on to her walker, someone's hands, or walls. She is getting good at walking with assistance, but still too wobbly to walk on her own.

Clara did wonderfully on our super long trip to and from Michigan. We were so impressed with her ability to stay happy and take naps a midst tons of noise and people. She really is such a good baby and has spoiled us rotten. She adjusted well to the three hour time change going both directions too. I'm glad she is so flexible.

Packing

Clara had her first little sickness this month. She had a mild fever (101) and was congested. The little Wiggle didn't really seem too bothered by it. She was a little clingier than normal, and didn't eat as much, but still wanted to play. It was right before our trip to Michigan which made us nervous, but it only lasted a day and Clara was ready to travel.

Sleeping with Dada when she was sick

Clarita has developed quite the little personality and is very stubborn. She has definite likes and dislikes and lets these be known. Clara doesn't cry often but when she does it is loud and sounds like she is being murdered...more like a pterodactyl scream (or what I imagine one would sound like)! She's getting to be so fun!

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 16 pounds (apparently she lost weight)

Height:  27.5 inches 

Head Circumference:  17 inches

What Clara Wears

Clara wears 9 month clothes. The pajamas are still too big and she trips over her feet. She wore disposable diapers in Michigan and everything was too big without her giant cloth diapers!

Things Clara Loves

Mama and Dada, nursing, going for walks, naked baby time, her "soothie" pacifiers (especially her monito and Bevo), car rides, the Baby Bjorn, her pouch, reading books, being a baby airplane, drooling, people, taking showers in the Bumbo, playing with her toys, her teethers, animals (especially her cats), eating, playing peek a boo, anything with a rough/bumpy texture, cardboard, paper, crawling full speed ahead, standing up, walking with her walker, empty bottles, phones, remote controls, brushing her "teeth", running up and down the stairs with Mama, Baby Signing Time DVD

Things Clara Does Not Love

Waiting, going to sleep when she’s overly tired, being told "no", having her face or nose wiped, having things taken away from her

How Clarita Sleeps

Clara continues takes an hour and half to two hour nap around 10:00 and another around 3:00 (at least when I'm in charge...) She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00. Clarita sleeps in her sleep sack in her crib. She sometimes falls right to sleep and other times cries for a couple of minutes before putting her pacifier back in and falling asleep. 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, Drool Monster, Birthday Twin, Monkey Butt (thanks Grandpa)

What Clara Eats

Clara has decided that she does not want baby food (aka purees) anymore and refuses to eat them which makes things difficult since she still doesn't have teeth. She will eat pretty much anything if she can feed herself or it is in chunks. Some new foods she tried this month are artichoke hearts, chicken, cucumber, Indian food, Chinese food, Mexican food, lasagna, pear, Ebelskivers, turnips (not a big fan), shrimp, peanut butter, teething crackers, Lil Crunchies, peach, pecans, pesto, and spinach. This little baby can eat and usually eats so much everyone swears that she will throw up (which she has never done)! I don't know how she stays so tiny.  She also tried Mangoes and loves them and Blueberries which she became a little obsessed with and would eat and eat and eat and if you took them away she would cry.  She also ate a whole slice of a fried banana roll on Shannon's birthday and loved it!

Monthly Exciting Events

January 15, 2014: Clara starts playing peek a boo on her own

January 12, 2014: Clara's first time in the snow

January 11, 2014: Clara's first trip to Michigan to visit Grandpa Bill, Grandma Peggy amd Great Gandpa

January 10, 2014: Clara's first plane ride (she did wonderfully!)

January 1, 2014: The fake coughing begins

December 21, 2013: First bath in a big bath tub

December 20, 2013: First time in Las Vegas (she loved all of the lights)!

Monthly Pictures

It's pretty impossible to get pictures of her sitting anymore

Michigan!

We spent a week visiting Great Grandpa, Grandpa Bill, Grandma Peggy, and Aunt Lori in Burton, Michigan. Luckily we missed the terrible weather (think -25) and left right before the negatives came back. It was in the 20s and 30s most of the week with lows in the teens...a heat wave for Michigan! It was absolutely beautiful, everything covered in snow like a winter wonderland! Since it was in the 70s and super dry at home we really enjoyed a taste of winter.

Clara had so much fun playing with everyone. She had about a thousand picnics with Grandma Peggy and Aunt Lori, walked on the ceiling with Grandpa, and waved and played peekaboo with Great Grandpa! Aunt Lori's daughter and grand kids came over and Clarita had a ton of fun playing with the little girls Lauren and Reese. She especially liked their necklaces and earrings! We also went to Aunt Lori's grandson Jack's basketball game and Clara made a million new friends and had fun playing with Grandpa and the girls.

Snuggles with Lauren

Playing with Reese

Since it was so cold and snowy outside Clara spent most of her time inside playing and walking around. She loved playing on the two stairs that went to the dining room and went up and down about a million times. Kevin and I even got to go snowboarding/skiing on a covered landfill (since we don't have any snow in California this year) while Clarita stayed home and played with the grandparents!

Grandpa, Kevin, Clara, and I went for an adventure to For-Mar, a nature preserve just down the street from Grandpa's house. We bundled Clarita up and I strapped her on and we walked all through the snow. She was so tired, but stayed awake for quite awhile looking around at the snow and squealing. We walked a few miles saw deer, lots of squirrels, frozen ponds, and bouncy bridges. There was also an exhibit with a bunch of stuffed animals which Clara loved. She got to touch furs from a lot of animals and thought they were soft and snuggly. The little Wiggle had a ton of fun!

Frozen pond!

I had to wear my snowboarding goggles to keep my eyes warm!

Kevin and I went sledding and walked across a frozen lake (a really weird feeling knowing that there was 60 feet of water underneath us) while Clara played with her grandparents. Maybe she'll get to join us sledding when she's a little bigger!

The Shrine circus was in town so we took Clara there. She had been to the circus when she was four months old and really liked all the lights then so we figured that she would love it now. We were right! Clara was mesmerized by all of the lights and sounds. She watched intently the entire time. The circus did not end until 9:45 and Clarita was definitely tired but she hung in there and watched the entire show. She really liked the animals, especially the dogs. I think that she now expects dogs to jump through rings of fire!

Clarita really seemed to enjoy our trip. She was generally happy and enjoyed playing with everyone. I think she had tons of fun with Grandpa walking on the ceiling, flying through the air, and getting lots of splurps (that's what Grandpa calls blowing raspberries). It's really too bad that we live so far away and that she won't get to play with Grandpa all of the time.

Grandpa's arms fell off from shoveling so much snow!

Lounging with Great Grandpa

Grandma Peggy

Aunt Lori

So tall!

Four generations of Johnsons

Clarita with the Michiganders