Clara's Bday Party

We had a little party for Clara's birthday on Saturday.  Luckily the weather was pretty nice so we could be outside for a while. We don't have a very big house so having many people inside for an extended time does not work to well. But we were able to have a few friends and family over to help us celebrate which was nice. Clara has no idea that it is her birthday or her party so the first birthday is mostly for us parents. But, all the kids had fun playing together. Clara did not know what to think when everyone sang to her, she had a 'what in the heck is going on here' look on her face. And she got to have her first cake ever (almost her first sweets ever except she stole a bite of cookie the other day before we could stop her). Everyone was impressed with her eating of the cake. She ate lots of it but created almost no mess. It was impressive.

Eating Cake

The Friends

Here is a little video from the party.

One year old

Seems hard to believe, but today is Clara's 1st birthday. She had a rough start (hard birth, 5 days in NICU, cried the first 3 months) but she has turned into a very happy, silly, active little girl. Here's an update of what she is up to:

• Walking, running, climbing everywhere. She started walking at 10 months and hasn't slowed down.
• Not really talking yet. She will sometimes repeat mama and dada. She "ruffs" for dogs and "mmm" for cows. 
• She is very emotional and quite dramatic. If she is happy then she is all smiles, but when she is upset she is sobbing on the ground.
• She is a mama's girl for sure. If she is tired, hungry, upset, etc. and sees me, she will cry until I pick her up. 
• She still sucks her thumb, mainly when she is tired or upset.
• She's a great sleeper. 10 hours at night and usually a 2 hour nap. 
• Loves to eat! She eats just as much as Esther does. She eats pretty much everything we give her.
• She is still a big girl. She wears 18-24 month clothes. Her 12 month dr. checkup is next week, so we will get her official stats then.

We got Clara a little rocking chair for her 1st birthday (like we did for Esther).

It is hard to believe she went from this

 to this