Playtime with Clara-girl

I have a number of random photos of Clara playing in the last month that I know I will forget about if I don't post them soon.  She LOVED playing with all the Halloween decorations, but particularly liked being chased by the giant hairy spider and shaking hands with the skeleton below (whose head is turned around making him even more creepy).  She also loved rearranging the pumpkins surrounding the fireplace (not real ones that would be too heavy for her to move).  I imagine that our Christmas tree will look funny this year with all the ornaments within her reach being constantly pulled from the branches.

 

A number of my friends with kids similar in age to Clara have talked about how they bought pom-poms from the dollar store and cut different size holes in the lid of a small container for their toddlers to play with.  I went out and did the same thing (since I feel like Clara doesn't have very many toys and the ones she has she is bored with but with Christmas so close around the corner I don't want to buy any new ones for her yet) and she loves it.  The pack of pom-poms I bought have a few sparkly ones and those are always the first ones Clara goes for.  She loves her bling.

Clara can now successfully blow bubbles so long as I am the one holding the bubble wand.  If she is holding it she usually gets it too close to her mouth (and okay, sometimes she just sticks it right in her mouth).  But when I hold it and she successfully blows a few bubbles she is excited and chases after them.  We blow bubbles a lot around here and almost everyday Clara runs up to the sliding glass door, points, and then begs "Out! Meesh!" so we can blow bubbles and she can play in her little Cozy Coupe.  Meesh is how she says please and I have got to get a video of her begging for something soon before she changes how she says it.  She is a very polite little gal and almost always says "meesh" for anything she wants.

She also loves drawing - much more than just coloring.  She is so happy when she has a pen and a piece of paper to scribble on. 

This is my new blue bench and I totally love it.  The bench was actually left behind by the previous owners and arm has always been broken and it was just raw gray wood that had been exposed to the elements for too long but Paul and I have used it that way the whole time we have lived here and talked about refinishing it someday.  So for my birthday present, Paul sanded it down really well and then asked me whether I wanted it stained or painted and I told him I wanted a dark blue bench.  Isn't it great?! 

Clara's hair has gotten long enough and thick enough that I can actually do full french braids, not just half ones at the top of her little noggin.  This was my first attempt and they were a little messy by the end of the day after nap time and playing outside and I ended up having to pin her bangs back since they escaped and kept bothering her by falling in her eyes.

This is her "blowing" face.

We also like to throw the ball around in the backyard or kick it and chase it.  I think we may need to upgrade to some little soccer ball or something instead of this tactile ball.

And Clara is such a big helper and enjoyed picking green tomatoes for me from the garden and trying to convince me they were apples (her word for apples is "App! App!") so that she could eat them.