Clara Cuteness

It's time for a Clara update, isn't it?

Clara has somehow gotten it into her head that Mommy is Cinderella.  Maybe it is all the times she has seen me on my hands and knees cleaning up when she throws food, but any time Clara sees an image of Cinderella, she starts pointing and proclaiming vociferously "Mommy! Mommy!".  We don't have princess stuff around our house but we got a princess coloring book for a niece for Christmas and we bought Cinderella for Clara to watch on the plane flights to and from Virginia at the start of December.  Then, yesterday the doctor gave Clara a Cinderella sticker.  And each time she has been exposed to Cinderella she does the same thing of pointing at her and exulting my name.  I asked Paul if he taught her that on the sly but he denies it.  I know she is only 19 months old, but still, I'm flattered.

My favorite thing Clara says right now is "kiwi" (pronounced WEE-wee and absolutely the most precious word you will ever hear) and "no".  I'm sure I will tire of "no" soon but for a long time she has just shaken her head in the negative and only in the past few days has she started piping up with a tiny but firm little "no!" when we ask her things like "do you want to read a book?" or "do you want milk?"  She usually follows up with an explanation of what she wants instead, like "show!" or "juice!" both of which Clara prefers to books or milk (and which we try to keep to a minimum for that very reason).   

We spent time around sick kiddos over Christmas and Clara came home with a cold and temperature that started on Monday and has continued all week long with only short bits of respite thanks to acetametaphin and ibuprofen.  The poor thing has been so hot and miserable and her sleep has really been off because of it (like waking every 1 1/2 hours all night long for three nights in a row and sobbing while I rocked and rocked and rocked her to try to help her calm down).  I took her to the doctor on Wednesday who told me it was just viral (which I was pretty sure of but I just wanted to be on the safe side).  Clara cried through the entire visit (she knows that typically going to the doctor's office means she is going to get shots at the end) but on a happy note we found out that she has put on a little bit of weight and is now 22 lbs. 10 oz.  It's not a lot of weight but she is so skinny and long that I am constantly trying to fatten her up with extra butter or milk or ice cream. 

This morning she discovered two of my hair elastics and has been walking around the house proudly wearing one on each wrist as bracelets.  She also attempts to walk in my or Paul's shoes whenever we leave them lying on the ground outside of the closet and she is frighteningly capable of prancing in heels as long as she is not on carpet.  She still obsesses over my earrings and necklaces, which I sort of wear just for her sometimes.

Clara has all of her top teeth now, including two vicious looking canines that came through just before Christmas.  She still uses those chompers to bite me when I play the piano for more than 5 minutes at a time, which always results in a time-out for her.  Fortunately, she doesn't bite anyone but me, not even Paul really. 

Her new favorite Christmas toy is a basket of plastic fruit with a plastic knife and cutting board.  The fruits have velcro in the middle holding halves together and Clara will sit for half an hour and slice the fruit apart so long as I will stoop down every few minutes to put the two halves back together for her to keep going. 

Clara will count but she needs someone to say "one" to get her started before she will follow up with "two, three".  I'm going to work on getting her up to five.

One last thing is that Clara made a bunch on New Year's Resolutions.  Want to see her list?  Here you go:

• Break my pacifier habit
• Learn to speak in short sentences or phrases
• Learn to offer the prayer at meal/bedtime
• Gain weight
• Learn to count to 10
• Learn to sing ABC's
• Take swim lessons
• Start dance/gymnastics
• Learn to pick up my own toys
• Learn to sleep in a big girl bed
• Get a passport and maybe even visit my first foreign country
• Learn to use the potty
• Become a big sister

She's an ambitious girl.  Takes after me, I think.