Clara and her puppies.

Clara adores her puppies.  Gwen is a little stand-offish with Clara.  She doesn't like those little hands getting tangled in her fur or poking her eyes too much, so she keeps her distance a little bit. 

Mac, on the other hand, will take affection anywhere he can get it!  Here is Clara mauling him, and he is just loving it!

rough weekend.

After a weekend full of canceled get-togethers, non-stop crying nights, and a Dr. visit, we're finally on our way to feeling like this again.

Actually, Clara is probably feeling 85% now, so the picture is really accurate..not crying, but not smiling either.  We visited urgent care about 20 minutes before they closed Saturday night (I bet they loved seeing us walk through the door).  The Dr. there told us that she just had a virus..always a little annoying to hear at the Dr when you think she must have an ear infection or something based on her fussiness.  But after 3 days of fever and fussiness, we needed to be sure it wasn't something more serious.  Why is it that the 2 times we've taken Clara to the Dr. when she's been under the weather, it has been just days before or after her regular check up?  Funny!  I guess now we know that the fever she had at her 1-year check-up was due to this virus, not just teething.

Here's hoping she continues to feel better and more like her happy little self.

our one year old little girl.

At one year, Clara is:

31 inches long - 95th percentile

24 lbs. 8 oz. - 95th percentile

head - 18.5 inches

I can't believe how you've grown this month Clara!  Physically, you have gotten so big!  You are wearing mostly 18 month clothes now, and your 18 month jammies are almost too small.  Even though you've grown so much, when we see you walking around, we giggle because you seem like such a little short stuff! 

You eat everything we eat, which is pretty great!  You don't seem picky at all.  You'll eat almost anything, as long as you get a good look at it first!  You never let anyone shove something in your mouth without eyeballing it first!  You still have to be in the mood to eat, or else meal time is a little frustrating.  We've learned that you'll eat when you're hungry.  So we I'm not worrying so much about your eating anymore!  You are loving oranges and strawberries lately, although we think eating too many strawberries may have given you a little bit of a rash yesterday.  Allergy?  You are liking zucchini, and loved your first bite of chocolate and birthday cake (uh-oh). 

Some new discoveries you made this month were grinding your teeth (ahhhh!) and popping your jaw (once again, ahhhhhh!).  Could you have picked more disgusting things to figure out this month?  Oh, and your love for the dog water and food dishes and an open toilet are also a little disturbing!  You've learned early that what isn't allowed is exactly what you want!

You are walking and almost running now!  You can zip up the stairs quickly, but still struggle turning around to come back down the stairs.  You love your cuppie of water, and tote it around with you often.  You can point to your belly, toes, ears, and sometimes your knees.  You can point to other peoples' noses and eyes.  You're doing pretty well with your animal sounds.  When we ask you what a puppy says, you say "boof".  A cow says "mmmmmoo" (emphasis on the mmmmm), you say "bop" for beep like the sound a car or microwave makes.  You just learned to say "teet" for tweet.  You looked at a picture of a zebra the other day and said "moo", so we're still working on it.  Maybe it was because of the black and white colors?  When we wander around the house, you point to anything and everything and say "dees".  Maybe that means "this".  We've heard you say "hi" and "no".  When we tell you "no thank you" you look at us with WIDE eyes and shake your little head.  Sometimes you obey, other times we still need more practice!

You still get plenty of sleep, little girl!  About a couple days a week you skip your afternoon nap altogether.  But usually, you sleep for 3-4 hours in the morning from 11-2 or 3, and again from about 5-7.  You have had a couple all night parties this month, but you've also been cutting molars, so we'll let it go for now!  You have 3 one-year molars, and the fourth is ready to break through any second.

Clara, you little person, you!  We adore you.  You fill each moment with joy!  Your spunk and enthusiasm make the everyday things so enjoyable!  We are loving every second with you!  The only thing we'd change is how fast time is flying by! 

Now enjoy these three, crazy pictures of our little girl.  She's sitting in a little rocking chair that was mine when I was 1.

 Really, you're giving your mama that face?  What did I do wrong?

Clara's birthday #6... winding down.

After cake, Auntie Angie and I went upstairs to give Clara a quick bath.  I anticipated more mess, so I didn't bathe her before the party, (or the day before the party), so a bath was in order.  We got Clara in jammies, and headed back downstairs to rejoin the party.  Clara visited with Opa for a about a second.  She did what she does best when it comes to glasses, schmears her little fingers on them. 

 All of a sudden, I looked back at the two of them, and this is what I saw.  One SLEEPY baby drinking her night-night bottle.

 I think she actually slept through the drinking part.  A big party for a little girl took its toll on her.

 The party seemed to take its toll on everyone else too!

You don't see Kurtis in these pics because he was in the kitchen doing dishes!  Woot woot!  Thanks Kurtis!

Thanks family for coming to help celebrate Clara's first year with us!  It was memorable and meaningful that you were here!  And all the pictures from the night are priceless!

Clara's birthday #5...the cake.

To avoid too much of a mess (yeah, I'm that mom), I put down a plastic tablecloth for Clara's cake experience.  At first, she touched it, and that was about it.

 She hated the feel of the tablecloth, though.  She just wanted up at first.

 I finally reached out and grabbed the cucake and brought it to her lips.  After that, she was a little more interested. 

 Mmmmm, this is kinda good.

 Classic!

 Now, she's going for it. 

 And then, she got over it! 

 She just wanted someone to pick her up!

 And Aunt Angie swooped in to rescue her...and get lovingly covered in cake and frosting!

Here is a video of the beginning her her cake experience.  You can see her getting into it, and you can her her loyal fans in the background, cheering her on!  Love it!