I finally understand what the big deal is about child proofing everything. I use to think, oh, Clara knows she shouldn't touch XYZ so we don't have to worry... Well it turns out, the things she shouldn't be touching are apparently the most interesting things to explore. A little over a week ago we moved back into our old house, got our belongings out of storage and realized that we can't simply put things back where they use to be because now anything within her reach she can and will touch. So no cleaning products in reach, or knives, or any liquid we don't want her to ingest (did I mention she finally got a hang of unscrewing lids?). I figured she has had the Q tips in reach for so long, why would we have to worry now? Turns out she is in exploration mode because the box of 500 q-tips were all the bedroom.
Its pretty much pointless to organize the clothing in her dresser either because she really enjoys pulling her clothes out (its just a matter of time til she moves onto our dresser). She is not napping too well, often just having quiet time without any actual sleep, on days she does sleep she wants to stay asleep way past 4 PM but we wake her up because we don't want her too wired at bedtime (around 8 PM lights out). Since she isn't napping, neither is Calem (now that they share a room).
Oh well, on the brighter side she is finally starting to speak a little more. Words I hear regularly are "new, blue, green, up, hot, no, puppet, ball, bean, pee, poop, baby." She makes the first consonant sound of a word, ie for blueberry she'll say "buh." Problem is, if you guess wrong too much, she gets pretty upset.
She sleeps great at bedtime, at least 12 hours at a time or more. She has a great appetite and is not a picky eater (she'll be eating broccoli and mango while I'm sitting next to her eating chips and cookies). She is still not that interested in the potty. Sometimes she wants to sit on it, but hasn't had much luck making her potty "sing" (it sings a song if she pees in it).
I'm looking forward to getting more unpacked so we can be more child-friendly and allow her to roam about without worrying what she's touching now. The bathroom is now kept locked on the outside so at least no more unrolled toilet paper!! She loves picking flowers and studying them. She doesn't stay still for very long though unless she's stuck in her carseat, then she gets a glassy stare as she fights the sleepiness she gets from our many trips around town running errands.
It is a delight to see things from her perspective. At church there is a salt water fish tank close to her classroom and she loves to stare at the fish. Normally I would walk right by something like that but watching her watch them is actually fun. I know that time flies, I'm trying to enjoy each stage while it lasts.
