Gardner, Little Mama, Yogi & Fashionista

Clara turns three in less than a month (and reminds us on a daily basis now using her fingers and words that she will be 3 on her next birthday).  I have been collecting photos of her for a while and am going to through them all into this post because she is such a busy little thing.

 

Clara adores being outside.  Especially when I let her use the watering can to water the plants, which she hasn't been able to do since last summer because she gets kind of wet and it has been too cold.  But the other day was lovely so she spent a good hour feeding all the new flowers we planted.  I love this little yellow 4T dress that my mom bought for her.  It is my new favorite.

 

After a while I convinced her to take a break and pose for me.  Such a sweetheart.  I can almost always convince her to let me French braid her hair if I explain that I am doing a princess hairdo.

But then it was back to filling up the watering can and watering flowers some more.

Once we got bored with that (Rose was asleep for all this - her afternoon naps are turning out to be epic most days) we did an easter egg hunt in the backyard, just the two of us.  Clara is at that funny age where she notices an egg far away and runs right past the obvious ones in the grass at her feet.

She was only a little disappointed there was nothing in these eggs.

Clara's favorite game is Candyland and she wins every time we play and we aren't even letting her win.  Somebody take this girl to Vegas.

Clara has had Coach Nicole at West Valley Gymnastics almost since she started and while the relationship was a little rocky at first, Clara adores Coach Nicole and talks about her often.  But Coach Nicole is going on to get her Master's degree and won't be teaching any more so this was her last day.  Clara is actually moving up to the next level next week anyway (which means I won't get to follow her around and help her out - it will just be her, the coach, and a few other students!).  I'm both proud of her and sad.

Clara's best buddy in gymnastics in Tony - they were born one day apart.  It has been amazing watching them grow together over the past year and seeing their skills develop.  You can already tell at not quite three years old that Tony will likely excel in floor exercises and Clara's forte just might be the uneven bars.  I know it probably sounds weird to say that but if you saw the two of them on the equipment it is pretty obvious where they seem to have strengths.  We are going to miss Tony and her mom.

Rose is never happy hanging out on a quilt while Clara and I eat breakfast.  She insists on being present at the breakfast table.  I've just been putting the bumbo up next to us while I sat there with both girls but I think it might be time to break out the highchair.  Clara's favorite breakfast food is bacon followed by cereal (seriously? I give her muffins and pancakes and eggs she requests cereal? although buttermilk pancakes with blueberry syrup is probably a close second favorite).  Her favorite cereal is Golden Grahams although she also likes Honey Bunches of Oats and Honey Nut Cheerios. 

Clara is such a little mama.  She begged to change Rose's diaper for weeks and after proving herself by always being willing to get diapers and take them to the trash after I changed them, I let her start to help with my supervision.  She actually does a good job and is so proud of herself.  The first time I let her open one up that was poopy Clara pulled back and made a face, then triumphantly announced, "see mom, I thoughted it was poopy!".  Clara still makes a little gagging sound like she is throwing up in her mouth a little every time Rose has a bad diaper. 

Clara is not so great at helping with bottles though.  She tries to jam them in and pulls them out right when Rose gets going, tips them down so the milk isn't in the nipple, and loses interest fast.  But it is still cute when she wants to try.

 

One of Clara's very favorite things is licking the beaters whenever we make a treat like cookies or a cake.  She gets it all over her face but is perfectly happy about it.

I convinced Clara to do yoga a couple of weeks ago and taught her child's pose.  She can also do down dog, cobra, and happy baby but that's pretty much the extent of her knowledge.  We need to keep working on it.  This is one of my favorite pictures of her though.

While the yoga mat was out, I laid Rose on it and Clara was trying to get Rose in on the yoga action with a little cobra pose too.

Another way Clara has been exhibiting her nurturing tendencies is by taking care of her "baby".  This stuffed zebra is her baby (she has dolls and other stuffed animals but it is the zebra that she cares about and calls her baby and protects and dresses and pampers).  She is constantly going through Rose's close to find outfits that are on shelves she can reach or that are lying discarded on the floor after a bath and putting them on Zebra.  Then she grabs a swaddling blanket and carefully (and accurately if not very tightly) swaddles her Zebra, rocks and pats him, and lays him down to sleep or swing.  She even goes so far as to turn on a nightlight, the white noise machine and softly close the door while shushing me and explaining that it is time to be quiet because her baby is sleeping.  She also buckles him into the carseat if given the opportunity when it is inside.   

And finally, Clara LOVES trying on clothes and will tear apart her closet if I get preoccupied while she tries on every outfit she owns (unless it is pants which she doesn't like wearing much).  She can even get her church dresses which I keep on the top rack as long as she stands on a chair and yanks hard enough.  I found her like this after feeding Rose and putting her to sleep one day and had to get a picture. 

And that is the update on Clara-girl!