Well, almost :) Clara is now 19 months old and much has changed since
the last post. This month she has become quite the helper around the
house. If she accidentally spills water, she runs off to her room and
gets a washcloth to dry up the spill. She even pats the floor dry
until she is satisfied the spill is no longer visible. Just a few
days ago she started "cooking." She uses a few empty bowls to mix her
"food" in and then serves it for everyone to enjoy (spoon feeding you
herself her special "meal." ---Love how imaginative little ones can
be.)
No surface seems too high for Clara to try climbing! Jason found her
sitting atop the kitchen table yesterday. She can get into almost any
chair alone. In fact, she now can climb onto her highchair and buckle
herself up (all we do is add the tray) when she is ready to eat. She
is not only willing to wear her bib again (thankfully her current
shirts will be spared the spaghetti stains her summer clothes were
subject to), but she is willing to wear the smock bib which covers all
of her shirt and most of her lap! (Unfortunately, the new need for
her stain remover is now all the pen marks she gets on herself.)
One thing I didn't expect would happen so soon is her new love for all
electronic media (computers and TV). She loves cartoons and knows
there are plenty of them on the computer (from Dora to Barney to Mr.
Rogers Neighborhood, she's willing to watch any and all of it. Not
for the 5 minute spans she use to but all the time if we let her.)
Fortunately, she is still willing to give books a glance, particularly
around nap time and bedtime. She still "reads" to herself although
sometimes would rather us read the same book to her over and over (or
about 7 times in a row :P Current favorites include, "Twinkle,
twinkle time for bed" and "Whose knees are these?"
Clara loves spending time going through her wardrobe and taking out
_all_ of her clothes and trying them on. The good part is she knows
to save them back in the drawers when she is done. The bad part is it
seems pointless to fold any of her clothing anymore (wait a minute,
maybe that's also a good part, who has time to fold any ways?). She
also loves to try on her shoes (is this just a girl thing or do little
boys do this as well?)
Taking her out for a stroll has become much more challenging than ever
before as she seems to be quite focused on removing her socks and
shoes regardless of how cold it is getting outside. Jason barely
caught one of her shoes she tossed on the ground which rolling down
towards a large storm drain. I guess she prefers to spend her time
playing in the backyard rather than getting pushed around the neighborhood!
Despite the lack of new words (she'll someday say more than "what's
that?" Right?) She seems to understand quite a bit which is helpful
as she can also follow most commands very well. Now that I'm on
complete bedrest and unable to sit up except to use the bathroom, she
is great at reaching things for me and handing me things that fall to
the ground. She may sometimes take a small commission for her hard
work though (if I say, "please pass me the chapstick," I can expect
her to uncap it, put some on her mouth/nose/fingers then hand me the
uncapped chapstick to use). No matter, when you're stuck like me!!
Clara is finally showing signs of potty readiness! She has started
pointing to her diaper when she is about to do #1 or #2, but only
gives about a 15 second warning which is usually not enough to
actually get her to the potty in time. Oh well, in time :)
Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for our family
and Clara's baby brother. He is now 29 weeks old and we're hoping
he'll make remain inside til at least 34 weeks (or better yet, 37+
weeks) before his big arrival. Clara has heard us say many times
there is a new baby coming, but so far every time we say baby, she
just points to herself. Ah well, hopefully it will be several weeks
before she is dethroned as the only grandchild on my family's side!
