Clara Turns 8

I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that our Clara-girl is 8 years old.  I swear it was just yesterday that we were in Texas anxiously awaiting her arrival.  

I still remember the shock of her thick, dark hair and the way she would hold her hands together when taking a bottle.  And her silly, playful personality that she has shown time and again.  That girl loves to tease and she started it early by throwing pacifiers out of her crib, just to see us come back in and give them back to her, then repeating her fun game.  Being chased has always been her favorite and she loved when we would crawl around after her on our hands and knees calling "I'm gonna getcha!"  I vividly remember her squealing and toddling away with a huge smile on her face, and she still loves those kinds of games today.

And then she got bigger and could talk so well so early and we have had so many, many conversations together.  In the car, on walks, riding bikes, on airplanes and during our travels, and at home around the kitchen table.  Clara is a talker and her love language is most definitely spending quality time together.

One of her character traits that I love about Clara is how earnest she is in everything she does.  She tries so hard to please and do her best.  She will sit for hours creating art, whether it's drawing and coloring (but never with crayons, she has always preferred markers or colored pencils), braiding bracelets, or cutting, gluing, and stapling.  

She goes through phases of what she likes to create and one of my favorite to remember, although it was exasperating at the time, was her book stage where she would go through reams of paper, stapling multiple pieces into books, then writing and illustrating stories which she would only ever half finish before moving on to make another book.  I have saved many of my favorites because I couldn't bear to throw them away.  

But she shows the same earnestness and intensity in how she swims and works on gymnastics and ice skating.  Even piano, which she likes but doesn't love, is something that she enjoys and tries to do well at.

Clara loves her family.  She and Rose argue and definitely don't always get along, but most of the time they really are best friends.  On good days, they can spend hours playing together, setting up elaborate classrooms with dolls and stuffed animals, braiding hair, arranging toy food and plates, and creating their own little worlds.  And at night when we tell them it's time for bed, we will often hear them in their room giggling and talking until Rose falls asleep.  

Clara has also always been a big snuggler.  She loves when one of us will crawl into bed with her and stroke her hair and tell her stories.  One of these days she is going to be too big for it and won't want us there, but until then I'm grateful for all the snuggles.  Even the ones in the middle of the night that I used to dread when she would sneak down the hall and climb into bed with us.  

She doesn't do that any more.  It stopped about a year ago and had been tapering off for probably a year before that, but it used to be a nightly occurrence.  I was always the bad guy who would take her back to bed and snuggle her there until she settled again, but she learned that if she could get in under the covers without waking me up, dad would always let her stay.  She will still come in early on weekend mornings and hang out in our bed for an hour or more if we don't have anything going on.

Movies are probably one of Clara's favorite things in life.  She has always loved shows from the time she was a baby and would crane and arch her entire body to see a screen.  She has matured into being very responsible and having a good attitude towards screentime after it being a big bone of contention a few years back.  

We did a total detox one summer with almost zero screentime and ever since then we've balanced things with maybe one show a week and a movie on the weekend.  Star Wars is her favorite and she is dying to see Rogue One except I've put my foot down to some of the newer Star Wars movies because of the level of violence until she is a little bit older.  

Clara is an excellent student and reads really well.  If she has a book she is interested in, she will stay up late reading until it's done or until we realize her reading light is still on and go tell her to put the book away.  

We've been reading the "Indian in the Cupboard" series together as a family and Clara likes to read ahead after we tell the girls its lights out.  She also loves the science units at school and it's the one subject she comes home and tells us about.  

Clara LOVED her 2nd Grade teacher, Mrs. Gutierrez (or Mrs. G, as the kids all called her), and was getting teary-eyed on the last day of school when saying good-bye.

Other than that, it's hard to get anything out of her about what her days at school are like until weeks later when she will randomly offer us a snippet of conversation on the playground that she just remembered (usually about something alarming like a boy and girl in her class who have decided they are boyfriend and girlfriend, which makes me panic).  

The only subject that really gives her trouble is math, and that really has been a struggle for her, although she always eventually gets it with extra help and focus.  But she definitely does not like it and gets frustrated that she doesn't understand concepts right away, which then causes her to shut off and not want to work through it.  

We've been doing math problems this summer together in an effort to keep her from sliding back before the new school year starts so that she doesn't lose the math skills she worked so hard to attain last year.

For Clara's birthday this year, she wanted to have a few friends over from school.  I used to worry about Clara making friends because there were some pretty serious cliques in her kindergarten class that carried over to 1st grade, which would have Clara coming home feeling sad that her "best friend" had decided to be somebody else's best friend.  

Those girls are still at her school and still very clique-y (it's weird to see it unfold), but this year Clara formed some much healthier friendships with some really nice girls who all happened to end up in the same class.  So we had Mai, Olivia, and Bella from school, and Clara's friend Jane from church, come to our house for games and more like a big playdate, per Clara's request.  

She didn't want a theme this year, but Clara specifically asked that we serve sliders for dinner and a white cake with sprinkles melted inside of it for dessert.  So sliders it was, with all the things to go on it because Clara LOVES lettuce and tomato and cheese on her burgers and gets annoyed when we accidentally order a kid burger for her at a restaurant and it comes out plain.  We always have to ask for the additional toppings and have just started getting her the adult-size burgers, which she likes much better.  And I thought the funfetti cake turned out awesome and I shared it on my other blog.

Clara got baptized two weeks after her birthday, on June 1st.  Eight years old is a big birthday for us, because we believe that it is the age when children are able to understand important covenants surrounding baptism - to follow Jesus Christ, keep His commandments, and take His name upon us (essentially, try to be like Him).  That's why we wait to be baptized until at least eight years old instead of as infants.

Clara was so excited to be baptized.  A little nervous too, but more about how many people were coming to watch, since Clara says she doesn't like to be in front of crowds.  But mostly just excited.  

And she was also prepared.  Clara pays attention when we are at church or doing scripture reading as a family, and she knew that the steps she was taking were important ones to lead back to Heavenly Father.  She knew what songs she wanted to sing, and even wanted to do a musical number with her cousins, Emma, Lily, and Adelaide, who came for the baptism, and a few friends from church.  They sang "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" and did such a good job.  

She also liked putting together the program, and wanted me to lead the music, Grandma Cece to give the opening prayer, Grandpa Russ and Grandma Nash to give the talks about baptism and the Holy Ghost, and Grandpa Nash to say the closing prayer.  Both her grandpa's were there to be witnesses to her baptism.  

We were especially touched and grateful that some of Kayli's family was able to come from Texas and Utah to be there for Clara's baptism.  We are so grateful for the open relationship we have with them, and it meant so much to us that Kayli's dad and Grandpa Lamoreaux were there to stand in the circle when Clara was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost.  

I took Clara out to a field near our house to do baptismal photos for her to document this important moment. I couldn't choose a favorite (or even just a few), so here are a bunch of the photos that we loved of our beautiful, smart, talented girl.

We love you, Clara!