Clara and Everett

Clara and Everett

Friday, April 3, 2015

What Clara can do!

Clara is 17 months now. She can do and say so much and has for quite some time, it's exploded over the last few weeks. I wish I would have kept better track since she's done and said lots of this for months, better late than never I hope.

It blows my mind how much Clara is talking now. She says so many words I can't even count. A lot is repeated but so much is on her own. When we talk to her she will say the last word or two of each sentence we say. For example, she'll say, "DadA!" calling for him around the house and I'll reply, "Dada is at work." She'll repeat, "Dada work!"

Her favorite phrases:
"He ya go" for "Here you go"
"I gotch you" - which is what I say to her when I am putting on her socks and shoes on my lap since I can't bend over well these days. Now when I set her anywhere she's hesitant, she'll say, "I got you!"
"Awww Man!" - which is what is said on Dora after we ask Swiper the fox not to swipe our things, she loves this saying, she thinks it's so funny.
"A,B" and sometimes C - from singing ABC which she loves to do
"1,2" and sometimes she'll say 3 - we're always counting but this really became common before going down on her new slide.
"Guppy Guppy GuppY" she sings with the song now. It's not just "Buppies" anymore, she is getting the hang of singing the song. She sometimes also replies when watching the show, she'll do what they ask.
"Good Girl" she'll say when she knows to be proud of herself and she claps for herself too.

She knows all her animal sounds and animals. She doesn't say the animal by name, she says the sound it makes or the action it does. She knows her Bubble Guppy characters in her book when I ask her to point out each one she can. If I ask her to find certain toys she does. She's known her body parts for a while now: head, hair, tongue, teeth, lips, eyes, ears, nose, neck, belly, belly button, knees, elbow, boobies (mommys), legs, arms, feet, hands, toes, fingers. We're working on butt, chest, back, she can point to them all and say them all.

Words I can think of that roll off the tongue: juice, slide, please, mommy/mama, dada, toys, play, nunu, chair, eat, hungry, up, down, on, off, open, close, door, potty, shoes, socks, pants, shirt, hair tie (a favorite), bear, dolly, baby, ball, swing, yogurt, pizza, eggie (egg), buppie (bubble guppy), oops, oh no, outside (favorite to say and do), walk, step, brush, water, key, hat, glasses, blanket, plane, bird, go, happy, bright, light, jacket, pouch, banana, apple..I know I'm missing so many but those are just words without prompting. When I ask she will say many more.

She grabs my finger and pulls me to the door and says, "outside" or "slide". There's still lots of babble but it's repetitive which makes me think she knows what she's saying?! She will follow commands very well. She knows how to throw things in the garbage and even does when mommy doesn't ask her to. Thankfully it's only been actual garbage, she'll find tissues or small pieces of things on the floor and throw them away. This morning I changed her diaper in the living room and I left it for a minute, when I came back she was putting it in the garbage. She has a puzzle of doors with different locks that open and close and she'll say, "open", "close", and "lock" when she can lock them, some she gets mad at still she can't figure out. When she does do it well, she'll say, "there" after she's locked it. She has many puzzles and she knows right where the pieces go, sometimes it takes her a minute to fit it in, we'll ask her to "turn" it and sometimes she turns the piece and other times she turns the board around to make it fit...my little problem solver! She has the shapes she can speedily fit into the correct holes, when she doesn't get it at the right one, she'll say, "no" and move to another hole. I'm mad I didn't make these notes sooner, I know with your baby brother I'll wonder...when did Clara do this or say that and you've been doing lots of these things for a long time now, oops.

You blow your own nose. You smear your snot all over but you blow really well and you blow when I ask you to for me, it makes it so much easier when you're sick. When you know someone is sleeping (real life or in a book) you say "Shhhh" and put your finger over your lips. You love accessorizing, you'll put on a hat, hair tie, shoes, or gloves, jacket and wear them all day. You snuggle and love to butterfly and Eskimo kiss...give and receive. You give the biggest bear hugs around the neck, it feels so good, mommy's happy place. You fidget with your hands and your feet, they always need to be busy. You brush your dolly's hair and cover her with a blanket and rock her in your arms. You push your cars/tractors/bus around the house saying "Vroom". Mr. Michael who is with you with Miss Doe Mon - Wed says you build legos and blocks very well! I agree! You love to stack things and balance things.

I've been around a lot of babies lately, your age, older, younger...I'm reminded of how lucky I am. You get into next to nothing compared to most. You're a really good listener for the most part. You don't like to be told no, so maybe that's why?! You get really upset with yourself/me when you're told no, you don't like to do things wrong. You don't ruin things, bang things on our walls or e You've never gotten into things in our house, we've never "put things up/away" for you. You know what you're allowed into and what you're not and you obey very well. You do know what you want and what you don't want and you're not happy if you don't get what you want but your tantrums do not last long. You fight mommy and daddy but we don't cave to you so the struggle isn't long. You're a neat eater. We feed you some things and you also feed yourself. You don't like getting your hands ultra messy so you hold them out for us to wipe, you also wipe your own hands, face and tray when asked. If something spills you say, "Uh oh" and you wait to have it cleaned up, you never smear your hands through it. You did at first, but after a few "no, no, please wait" you did from then on. You're getting better at saying "All done!" instead of pushing the utensil or dropping food on the floor, it's been a while since you've done that. You're much better at telling us you don't want things you say, "hee go" and hand it back which is clear you don't want anymore.

You play really well on your own, if you need more attention you'll come grab my finger and say "play" and bring me to something you want to do, or just bring me to the middle of it all and let me decide. You love to walk around the house and find random objects to carry back and forth. You have a drawer of gloves  and hats you like to get into in your room. Or you'll find something around the house, or take your toys all over and leave them everywhere. Daddy and I can get ready for work while you watch bubble guppies, when it's over you'll come find us or play alone no problem.

I'd say others your age may be able to climb better but I'm glad you don't. You wait for mommy's hand or daddy's help with things. You don't like living on the edge or taking risks without us by your side. I think you would but I believe you know we don't want you to. I've always been able to wear earrings and jewelry and you will grab one earring gently, then push my face to see the other one, I tell you gentle and you are, if you're in a "mood" I share my bracelets with you. You are a toddler for sure, you throw some decent tantrums already and say "No!" over and over and wave your arm back and force something fierce! You're very independent and like to be. When you are teething you're needy, especially if someone else is taking mommy's attention, aka another baby. It's good practice for baby brother. It breaks my heart when you're sad, or when you want me/need me and I have to make you wait, it'll be an adjustment for us both.

You're setting the bar quite high little girl, we thank you for that.

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