It has been a fun and crazy month with Clara, marked mostly by all our usual summer travel. Our soon-to-be Big Sister (though she insists she is already a big sister...birth is a mere formality) has experienced an explosion of vocabulary, using words we didn't expect from her until junior high at least (and startling in being context appropriate!). She remains Little Miss Manner, finding the composure to ask "may I" and "please" and "thank you" even in the middle of tantrums.
A couple highlights to share...
Prayers at Nighttime
For our nighttime routine, an ever-evolving process, Kate now reads stories to Clara before all three of us retire to the nursery to say prayers. Clara insists that Mama goes into the room first, then she does, then Dada. We all knee at her bedside and individually sing "night night" to whomever or whatever we want. When Mama sings, Clara leans over and whispers to Dada "Shhhh...Daddy. You don't talk, okay?" Every night.
The locks remain on the doors. Clara has become quite accustomed to them, and one might even say they eliminate the tyranny of choice from her evening options...in that she no longer has to make that agonizing decision whether to tough it out in bed or burst through the door every three minutes to prolong her waking time. Call that parental rationalization if you will, but it has also been our psychic balm for these couple months.
But those locks are undone when Paul and Kate go to bed. Clara has been sleeping fine until any point between 1 am and 4 am. At which time she bursts into our bedroom and climbs into bed with us. Paul usually retires to the guest room for a little more sleep, and Kate endures patiently as our three foot daughter proceeds to expand her surface area to take up the entire queen size bed.
Potty Training
We'll say we're about 85% there. But we're expecting some pullback when Baby Sister gets on the scene. That elusive 15% results in some cumbersome packages delivered at the least expected times. Still, we're very impressed with our little girl and her transition to big girl underpants.
We're not sure where she gets this particular trait, but she does at times insist on spending longer on the toilet then one might expect. She just reads, sings, talks to herself, etc. If you happen to walk in on her, she says "No, no Dada. I really need some privacy."
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