Clara is 22 months old!
I can't believe she is almost two years old already! I've been
re-reading a lot of my very first posts after she was born to try to
remember how things were going with her weight gain and sleep when she
was Calem's age. Of course, now I am fortunate not to have worry
about either of these issues with her as she continues to sleep well
at night (12 hour stretches) and her weight seems to be normal (she
can fit into some of her winter clothes from last year! but she eats
well so we're not worried about her weight).
Clara's world has not changed too dramatically since the arrival of
the baby primarily because Jason continues to be with her when she
needs him. While I'm at home, I take care of Calem while he watches
Clara.
Clara continues in speech therapy, with Jason carefully reviewing the
techniques we learn. For instance, even though she understands
English and Spanish well, we are to speak slowly in 2 word sentences.
When she reaches for something, like her water cup, we ask her to try
asking for it using words. She tends to use a lot of sounds that are
generated using the back of her tongue (more common in younger
children). We're hoping the extra work pays off. She has been
making more of some sounds, like "ma ma" (she doesn't call me this,
just makes the sounds).
We are surprised that Clara is already showing preferences for
clothing and shoes. She loves to wear my mother's shirts around the
house. She went with my parents to look for snow boots and wanted the
pink boots, but there weren't any in her size, so my parents picked
out the purple boots. Clara refuses to even try on the purple boots,
apparently she didn't understand when they tried to explain the pink
boots wouldn't fit her! She is also getting increasingly more
selective about which videos she wants to watch on line. Some days
she doesn't want any Sesame Street or Little Mermaid, other days she
is perfectly content watching the "Lady Bug Picnic" and other Sesame
Street classics.
I love that her personality is showing a little more each day. She is
always a delight, even on days she tries to wiggle off the changing
table!
