Posts
First Ponytail!
We will continue seeking out the source.
Christmas Music in April
Clara found a Christmas CD, a well-listened favorite of hers from mid-November through early-January, and excitedly put it in the guest room player. This has been on constant rotation for weeks now, and Clara has managed to memorize nearly all the songs.
She gets so excited, in fact, that when we say good night to her she has added to her usual recitation of what she plans to do in the morning...
Usual: "In the morning, we're going to have blueberries, waffles, Papaw's jam and tofu!"
New: "In the morning, we're going to have blueberries, waffles, Papawa's jam and tofu AND dance to Christmas music!"
Barney & Imagination
Country Girl Clara
Depending on who you're asking, Paul has a tinge of Alabama accent (though he would argue much of his concatenations and rolling vowels are more a function of being too lazy to enunciate), but he's not responsible for these sounds coming from Clara. So, we ask, where are they coming from?
A new, favorite term is "RIGHT NOW!" But it comes out "Right na-yow." This morning she was singing Mary Had a Little Lamb with Kate. Her pronunciation? "Mary had a little la-yam." And then there's "out"...."ah-yowt."
Christmas Music in April
Clara found a Christmas CD, a well-listened favorite of hers from mid-November through early-January, and excitedly put it in the guest room player. This has been on constant rotation for weeks now, and Clara has managed to memorize nearly all the songs.
She gets so excited, in fact, that when we say good night to her she has added to her usual recitation of what she plans to do in the morning...
Usual: "In the morning, we're going to have blueberries, waffles, Papaw's jam and tofu!"
New: "In the morning, we're going to have blueberries, waffles, Papawa's jam and tofu AND dance to Christmas music!"
Barney & Imagination
While I wouldn't knock him out of the catbird seat yet, Elmo is getting a serious run for his money after Ga introduced Clara to Barney videos during our last beach visit. On the down side, Clara now asks to watch Barney videos. On the plus side, she's giving a lot more hugs (because Barney does) and it seems to have captivated her imagination. She thinks it's funny to pretend that Ga is Barney and Papaw is Baby Bop (?).
Her imagination is sprouting in other ways, too. At breakfast, Paul likes to put spices and hot sauce in his eggs (collectively referred to as "spicies"). While Clara doesn't care for spicies, she insists that we put "pretend spicies" on her eggs and blueberries each morning.
Also, Clara has a new found fascination with babies and the concept of pregnancy. Anytime her shirt blouses out at the stomach region, she giggles and says "Clara has baby in her belly....ha, ha that so funny!"
I'm Okay!
Clara is a jumping fiend, and it's a godsend for any parent of a two-year old. She double-leg jumps constantly, and we believe there is no better way to wear out a child than getting her doing deep squats followed by high jumps. Clara will do this all day long if she could. Her weekly gymnastics "class" (in the least organized sense of the term) has helped her develop quite the jumping proficiency.
She also idolizes slightly older girls (4, 5, 6 year olds mainly), and wants to do everything she sees them doing. Lila is one such girl who lives across the street, and they play together most days. Clara will imitate anything Lila does. A recent self-developed game is the jump, twirl, fall with the immediately giggled "I'm okay!" It's a favorite.
She also idolizes slightly older girls (4, 5, 6 year olds mainly), and wants to do everything she sees them doing. Lila is one such girl who lives across the street, and they play together most days. Clara will imitate anything Lila does. A recent self-developed game is the jump, twirl, fall with the immediately giggled "I'm okay!" It's a favorite.
Sleep
We write this with some anxiety that the very suggestion of "good sleeper" might send askew some cosmic karmic thread, reverting us back to the restless nights we have known for over two years. Indeed, when it comes to Clara's sleeping, we have become firm believers in the old proverb "this too shall pass."
But we must celebrate the victories, and the past month has given us many more good nights than bad. Clara has taken well to a schedule of bed time at 8.00 and waking up as late as 6.00 or 6.30. That's straight through, uninterrupted sleep. Seriously. Wow! Indeed, many mornings, after such good rest, she bursts into our room with both arms raised high in the air exclaiming "I'm awake! I'm awake!"
Our biggest challenge is her afternoon nap. Since last fall, she would only go to sleep in the car. And worse, she stopped letting us transition her from the car to the bed. So, for months now, Kate or Paul would sit in the car with her for the 60, 90, or 120 minutes of her sleep. It was okay through winter, but there's no way this works in Raleigh's summer heat.
Potty Training Updates...
First tinkle on the potty! And not much since then. We tend to sit on the toilet for around 30 minutes each morning, 30 minutes at some other part of the day, and about 30 minutes in the evening. While we're getting a lot of reading done - and getting through bags and bags of goldfish (her reward for sitting on the potty...though that is changing) - it might just be an exercise in strengthening her anti-potty muscles. So, more trial and error ahead as we figure this out with Clara.
Oh No! Clara Stole Daddy's Chair!
We write this with some anxiety that the very suggestion of "good sleeper" might send askew some cosmic karmic thread, reverting us back to the restless nights we have known for over two years. Indeed, when it comes to Clara's sleeping, we have become firm believers in the old proverb "this too shall pass."
But we must celebrate the victories, and the past month has given us many more good nights than bad. Clara has taken well to a schedule of bed time at 8.00 and waking up as late as 6.00 or 6.30. That's straight through, uninterrupted sleep. Seriously. Wow! Indeed, many mornings, after such good rest, she bursts into our room with both arms raised high in the air exclaiming "I'm awake! I'm awake!"
Our biggest challenge is her afternoon nap. Since last fall, she would only go to sleep in the car. And worse, she stopped letting us transition her from the car to the bed. So, for months now, Kate or Paul would sit in the car with her for the 60, 90, or 120 minutes of her sleep. It was okay through winter, but there's no way this works in Raleigh's summer heat.
Potty Training Updates...
First tinkle on the potty! And not much since then. We tend to sit on the toilet for around 30 minutes each morning, 30 minutes at some other part of the day, and about 30 minutes in the evening. While we're getting a lot of reading done - and getting through bags and bags of goldfish (her reward for sitting on the potty...though that is changing) - it might just be an exercise in strengthening her anti-potty muscles. So, more trial and error ahead as we figure this out with Clara.
Oh No! Clara Stole Daddy's Chair!
Clara is getting into the concept of jokes. At dinner each night, she says she needs a fork and instructs Dada to go get it. When he obliges, she jumps from her chair into his and starts eating his food. He returns to find her giggling mischievously. "Clara in Dada's chair," she informs us.
