It's A...

...Boy! We went for our 18 week ultrasound on February 26, 2015 and I convinced Kevin that we should do something special to find out the gender this time around since it will be the last time we ever do this. He was not a big fan but grudgingly agreed to let Tia Laurie find out first and then wrap something boyish or girlish for us to open. He said that he wanted to be the first person to find out (which I understand) and I had to convince him to avert his eyes during the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech put the picture with gender labeled into an envelope which Tia Laurie picked up that night. As Kevin was anxious to find out, she agreed to get something for us to open the next day. I was surprisingly patient and not anxious to know what it was. With Clara I was obsessed with finding out, but perhaps because I already have the girl I wanted the first time, I was content not knowing with this one (although I did want to find out eventually for practical purposes like room and clothes).

Kevin insisted on doing the old wives' tales tests the night we found out. We held my wedding ring over my belly and it said girl (it said boy for Tia), and did various other tests such as picking up a key and looking at Mayan and Chinese predictions (they were different). The total was girl three, boy six.

We headed to los Tios Friday night and decided to let Clarita open the package. We explained that we would find out what the baby in my tummy was depending on if there were girl or boy clothes in the package. She was very excited to open it and kept saying, "nino o nina" while she opened it. Before we could see what was inside the box we asked Clara if it was a boy or girl and she said, "I don't know" and threw the box in favor of a better toy!

Turns out there were two cute little boy outfits inside! I think we both had begun to think that it was a girl, maybe because we can't imagine anything but Clarita, and were surprised to see the boy clothes. We were excited though and can't wait to meet the little guy! Clara had said all along she either wanted a baby, Bailey, or a boy so she said she was happy too. She now talks about what she will do with Baby Emmett (after Kevin's great-grandfather) and the next day got out her big sister book and told me that the baby in the book was Baby Emmett and the girl was Clara. She plans to share her toys (including her coveted refrigerator and casa, but not her bubbles), read, and play with the baby. Now we have to learn about boys!!!

23 Months

Right now Clarita is at a super fun age! She is like a little sponge soaking up everything around her and it is so fun to watch. I wish that I could learn as many things as she does in a day and have such fun doing it! She is generally so happy and fun loving. However, she continues to be super opinionated and stubborn and that happy little girl can turn into a screaming little girl in 10 seconds if she does not get her way. She usually reserves these tantrums for Mama and Dada (how very sweet of her).

Giant sleepsack thanks Tia!

Clara now knows all of her upper case letters and gets very excited when she sees a letter for one of her favorite words. We'll be driving or walking somewhere and I'll hear her shout, "C Clara! D Dada!" I like that such small things make her so excited. She can sing the ABCs correctly in English and most of the way through in Spanish. She continues to love to sing and has mastered The Itsy Bitsy Spider. I often hear her singing to herself in the other room as she plays. Clara has also finally learned how to spell her name. For the past couple of months she insisted that it was "ARA Clara" which was funny because she has known that her name starts with C for a long time yet she left it off. In the past week she started saying "CLARA Clara." 

Yoga

Who doesn't read naked?

This little Wiggle is always in motion going a hundred miles an hour. I used to think that I had as much energy as little kids but turns out that I can't keep up all day long (or after a long day at work). Clara wears me out! Luckily she is able to entertain herself so I can at least make dinner in peace most of the time. She has been a little clingy this month, especially when I get home from work, so I have had to wear her in the carrier a few times while I made dinner. She says she is helping me to make dinner which I guess in a way she is!

And also ride their horse naked

We've had an resurgence of chuponcito obsession this month. She was doing pretty well not having it during the day, but this month she has become inconsolable on several occasions when she wanted it. Clara will be perfectly happy and then out of nowhere start screaming, "momo momo momo" (she still calls pacifiers that even though the monkey broke off hers awhile ago). Sometimes we can distract her and she forgets about it, but sometimes she screams like she is being murdered until she gets her beloved chuponcito. I have decided that she is going to be 15 and still sucking on that thing! The funny thing is, she has never really sucked her thumb. She will chew on her hand, but the thumb has never been substituted for "momo." I think that when her teeth are bothering her she uses chuponcito as a teether. Therefore I have convinced her that two of her teethers are chuponcitos. They work sometimes but sometimes she requests "momo, yellow one" instead of a teether. 

Ashes!

Although we have not actually started potty training (and I never want to), we have been talking to Clarita about going pee pee and poo poo in the potty. I have noticed that when she runs around naked she seems to be much more aware of her bowel movements (perhaps why the run around naked for a weekend potty training method is so popular). She has told me several times that she either needs a diaper or needs to pee pee. When this happens she sits on the potty and generally after 10 seconds declares "all done" without actually doing anything. This is usually followed by "uh oh pee pee floor" a few minutes later, but once she actually went pee pee in the potty and we celebrated by washing her hands with soap and water (her favorite part about the potty). Hopefully she will continue to improve and potty train herself, but I'm not holding my breath.

I need glasses

Sweet cousins

Crazy dadas!

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 23.2 pounds 

Height: 33 inches 

Head Circumference: 18.5 inches

What Clara Wears

18 months clothes and size 5 shoes fit perfectly

Things Clara Loves

Mama and Dada, going for walks, naked baby time, pacifiers, reading books, people, playing with her toys, animals (especially her cats), eating, playing peek a boo, running,  Signing Time shows, stuffed animals (especially Momo, Bafa, and Pigo),  being swung through the air, swinging, sliding, being outside, water, blowing bubbles with Aba, dancing, shoes, esnugles, baths, letters, coloring, crafts, anything related to music, trains, looking at photos, singing, touching her eyebrows

Things Clara Does Not Love

Being woken up from a nap, not getting her way, and being helped with anything or having someone else do something for her that she wants to do herself, especially brushing her teeth. We have made some headway on this front by having her animals brush her teeth for her. Sometimes she thinks it is really funny and happily obliges, but sometimes she says no way and screams the entire time.

How Clarita Sleeps

She's still taking one two and a half to three hour nap and goes to down between 1:00 and 2:00. At night she has been going down around 8:30 and getting up around 6:30. Clara sleeps in her sleep sack with an entire zoo of stuffed animals, her chuponcito, and two blankies which often get kicked off in her tossing and turning.

Nicknames

Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggle, Baby/Bebe, Munchkin, Birthday Twin, Loquita, Pipsqueak, Wigs, Loqs, Puff  

Talking

All the time, nonstop. "I need..." is her new favorite saying. She has started using pronouns rather than always saying her name. She still speaks mostly in English but has been throwing more Spanish words in, especially with me.

Teeth

Eleven! Four top front, four bottom front, two top molars (one on each side) and one bottom molar.

Monthly Exciting Events

February 8, 2015: Pees in the toilet for the first time!

January 31, 2015: First time roasting marshmallows

January 28, 2015: Gets both feet off the ground while jumping

Monthly Pictures

Que pouty face!

Whistle while you work

Love and Animals

As I've said before, we're not really big on Valentine's Day, at least not the commercial aspects. That being said, we still like to do something special as a family. Kevin always adopts me an animal from the zoo and we started adopting animals for Clarita last year too. This year I got a blackfooted cat (the tiniest cat in the world and my personal favorite at the zoo) and Clarita got a meerkat in honor of the new African exhibit that will be opening later this year. We planned a trip to the zoo on Valentine's Day to pick up her animal and see the zoo. Los tios had the same idea so we decided to go together. Then Clara requested that Aba come too so we invited her along and made the trek in the minivan. Bailey stayed awake for part of the zoo and Clarita enjoyed all of the animals.

My favorite tiny monkey came to play

After the zoo we went to lunch at Sequoia Brewery. Bailey spent most of the lunch asleep and tired Clarita barely made it through lunch without a breakdown. She ate a lot of fries and colored while we enjoyed out food.

Surprise, Bailey's sleeping!

Perhaps all the beer made her tired...

We entertained Clara on the way home so she would not fall asleep and ruin her nap. While she took a nap Dada and I had a very romantic afternoon of yard work! Once she woke up we headed to los Tios for a dinner of nachos (Clara loved them) and ice cream sandwhiches (she also loved those). Highlights included watching videos of Dada's and Tio's high school swim meets, Clara bouncing in the jumperoo and squishing her poop out of her diaper (she had to take a shower she was so gross), and Bailey being cute as usual. It was a good day filled with family and fun!

What I have to look forward to

Practicing

I want more beer!

Nachos for dinner? Yes please!

Hot sauce testers

Ice cream sandwich thief!

Un Dia en la Vida de Clarita

It's been awhile since I did one of these. This is from Sunday, February 8, 2015.

6:00: We wake up to crying on the baby monitor. Clara is sitting up.
6:15: We decide that she is not just going to fall back to sleep like normal and Dada goes up and gives her a pacifier and tells her to go to sleep.
6:50: Someone is awake and playing in her crib.
7:10: We go upstairs and get her up and do a diaper change.

7:20: We head downstairs and Clarita plays while Mama does laundry and Dada makes breakfast. Clara is obsessed with putting a tiny hat on Baza and runs around the house looking for him. Luckily for him she doesn't find him and plays with her easel instead.

7:35: The little Wiggle requests to open the refrigerator and gets "blueberry morning" (blueberries) out. She occupies herself eating those until the French toast is ready. Clara insists that she needs jam on her French toast.

Her "toothbrush"

8:00: Done eating. Clarita plays while we clean up. She chases Baza around and puts his hat on everything including him and her toys.

Practicing for the circus

8:15: Clarita brushes her teeth and takes a shower with Mama. She has a giant poop before we begin. As she's playing in the tub when we're done she tells me "pee pee" and squats town and pees in the tub. I call that progress as she at least told me that she had to go to the bathroom (baby steps)!

9:00: After Clarita finishes running naked through the house we say adiós to Dada who's off on a long bike ride and head upstairs to get ready.

Naked flute player!

9:32: She's finally ready to leave after reading 1 million books and playing with all her toys. At one point she tells me, "pee pee diaper" and when I ask her if she needs to sit on the potty she says yes. She actually pees in the potty for the first time and we wash our hands and cheer!

9:40: We head to Reedley for church.

9:56: We arrive at church on time for once! Clara eats snacks enjoys the children's message and plays with her toys during the service.

"Fruta bunnies"

The new church council

11:10: Church is done. We have snacks, she plays with Bailey and the toys, and we do a diaper change.

11:40: We head home.
12:05: We get home and realize that one of Clarita's shoes got left at church. Luckily Aba is still there at a meeting and gets it. I make lunch of tuna sandwiches made with Greek honey vanilla yogurt instead of mayo (it was the only non fruit flavor we had left and wasn't too bad), oranges, and milk. I was pretty sure Clara would not like the tuna and sure enough she started crying when she took a bite of her sandwich. She then declares her oranges are spicy and refuses to eat them. She throws a tantrum including throwing her milk over and finally calms down and decides to eat her leftover peanut butter and jelly sandwich ("no crust") and blueberries.

"No tuna!"

12:45: She finishes eating and we go upstairs and read.
1:06: Clarita gets into bed and Dada gets home in the nick of time to say goodnight. I do laundry and pull weeds while Clara sleeps. I think she would be jealous if she knew I was outside pulling weeds and I would gladly trade her places!).

3:40: Someone is awake and playing with her animals.
3:50: Dada gets her up and changes her diaper.

Dos chuponcitos!

4:12: We head to store with a snack of milk and Cheerios. Clara demands to push the little cart and declares, "I need milk!" On our way home we see our neighbor Olive and her parents outside their house and stop to say hi. The girls share some seed balls that have fallen off the trees.

Que Dada loco!

"Hi Owive!"

5:00: We get home and quickly get ready to go out to dinner.
5:15: We leave for Visalia.
5:40: We get to the restaurant and Clarita throws a tantrum for no apparent reason. This is followed by another brought on by not getting to hold my water glass. Dada takes her outside and she calms down. Clarita eats cornbread, french fries, smoothie, and a tiny bit of fish sticks. She gets her first brain freeze and tells us her head hurts!

But I want to hold the glass...

6:45: We head home after a somewhat disappointing dinner (I wouldn't recommend Ocean Basket).
7:15: We get home and head straight to the bath. Clarita rarely takes baths (generally only on days before she goes to Fafa and Abuela Sheri's) and absolutely loves them. She lays on her stomach and says that she is swimming.

My little monita

7:33: Bath time is over because the turtle turned blue. We go upstairs and Dada puts her pjs on and brushes her teeth while Mama puts her clean clothes away.We read a bunch of books and say buenas noches. 

"No Dada, Cawa do it!"

"Te amano Mama"

8:13: The sleepy Puff is in bed with a million animalitos and dos blankies. She's out in a minute and sleeps until 6:30 the next morning when Dada has to wake her up.