Clara Twelve Months

Photoshoots with this girl are tough so we did an impromptu one at the park too today. I spent the night before Clara's birthday looking back at picture from the year and wondering how my little baby has become such a little adventure sausage! She climbs on furniture, loves throwing things while saying 'blahhhh', says dada when the phone rings and is always running after her sister. 

Clara started walking very soon after she turned eleven months. Just after a few weeks now and she's almost running or trying to, but still stumbling here and there. Right after she started walking, she never looked back to crawling and seriously just wants to keep up with her sister. Her talking has also been progressing quite well too. Mama, dada, up, down, hi, bye and lamby (her new cuddle toys) are the main words, but she understands so much more and gets so excited when I suggest the right thing like when I ask her if she wants her water. I'll ask her to find lamby and she'll bring him back to me plus she's getting better at putting toys into containers. She loves brushing her teeth and going on the slide (and climbing up it). She's learned how to climb onto the sofa and try to jump off the side. Also, she found a red marker one day and totally stained my pretty beige footstool (throw blanket is now permanently living on top of it). 

She's still eating really well and has been loving salmon, cauliflower, raspberries, banana, peas and of course pasta. Her breastfeeding schedule is still just morning and evening and though it will be nice to be able to get away for a night kid-less, I'm just going to go with it naturally and she how long she wants a feed and soon drop probably the morning feed then the evening one. 

Clara has been a great sleeper (knock on wood!) this past month. She's asleep by 7:30ish and wakes up usually by 6:30 though she did sleep in to almost 8 the other day! Napping is starting to evolve to just one a day though she usually still has a short nap in the morning and a longer one in the afternoon. Her top four teeth are starting to come through and I'm happy to say this hasn't been affecting her sleep too much just general grumpiness throughout the day. 

Happy happy one year Clara! 

^^always searching for snacks - i.e. getting a hold of the Cheerios

^^banana oat waffle smash cake with whipped cream, peaches and blueberries!

and for some sisterly love...

^^ending with this gem. 

Clara's First Birthday Brunch

It was so hard to capture a picture of Clara smiling at her birthday brunch last weekend! I think she was a bit overwhelmed by it all, especially when we sang happy birthday. Originally, I wanted to host a party with our family and friends at our place for her first birthday, but because of space and a majority of the guests living in London, it only made sense to do it there. I decided on Granger & Co. because their breakfast looked amazing, especially their scrambled eggs and the vibe was clean/simple. 

We choose from a set menu and had fresh juices, smoothies, tea or coffee. Everything was so good even down to the birthday cake I requested for Clara. It was a simple vanilla cake with freshly whipped cream and tons of strawberries. The restaurant were great with coordinating every detail with me and accommodating all of our requests. I made little favors of pink himalayan salt for the guests which also acted as place cards and also included pretty party hats too. A few arrangements of pretty white flowers and that's it! We couldn't do a smash cake there, but we did do one on her actual birthday the other day made up of waffles, peaches, blueberries and cream. There are still a few balloons lying around the house, but I would say this was a successful week of celebrating my baby turning one. 

                                  

    

    

    

     

 

and the menu:

Clara Eleven Months

Those fingers, always in her mouth! My baby Clara is 11 months now. Seriously, how is she one in a few weeks? She's starting to walk, talk and understand more each day. She can show me where her head is, say 'uh oh' when she falls down or drops something and says 'up' when she wants to get out of her highchair. She mainly cruises around furniture, but these past few days she's been taking 10 or more steps in a row on her own!

Her new nickname is adventure sausage because she's also looking for the next best thing to discover. She's all over the place, climbing on things, getting into where she's not supposed to go and for some reason loves going under chairs and tables. She ordered Fifty Shades Darker on the Fire Stick Remote by accident and has a new love for Teletubbies, especially the opening scene. 

We just got back from Greece last week where there was a two hour time difference we're still adjusting to getting back on track. She's been waking up 4am, but I can usually get her back down until at least 6am. Other than that, she's been a champ at sleeping through the night. 

I'm happy to report that Clara is still eating very well. Her favorites lately are homemade applesauce with greek yogurt, mozzarella, pasta, green beans and clementines. She's not loving avocado as much recently, but still loves her blueberries, strawberries and pears. I've dropped breastfeeds down to one in the morning and right before bed. She doesn't seem to mind having a snack rather milk in the afternoon plus it gives me the chance to have a few kid free hours once in a while. 

I've been just finalizing her first birthday at the end of the month. We're doing a small breakfast in London which should be easy and fun. Can't wait for this nugget to grow up some more! 

 ^^When I try to make them smile unsuccessfully

 ^^See what I mean about being an adventure sausage? 

Clara Ten Months

This little nugget turned ten months old last Saturday. She's made some big developments over this past month like giving kisses, waving and touching her head when I ask where it is! It amazes me how much she understands and I swear she answers me with a little baby sound when I ask her simple questions like if she wants water or more food. She's starting to shake her head no and copies her big sis when she makes silly noises. Since her first tooth popped through a couple of weeks back, she's been much happier since then although still very clingy to me at certain times.

Clara's still a great eater, but when she doesn't want anymore food, she'll purposely drop leftovers on the floor while looking at me or just swipe them all over the place. This cause and effect phase is cute, but oh so messy. Her current favorites are avocado (she can eat an entire one by herself), scrambled eggs, blueberries and broccoli. Sweet potato, chicken and oatmeal are no longer favorites, but we'll keep trying.

I've dropped the late morning breastfeed and replaced it with a snack (usually something easy like a banana, rice cakes or mini breadsticks since we are usually out and about). Amélie will give one rice cake to Clara and then take one herself - it's such a cute moment of sharing, which oddly enough happens only with snacks and not toys. Clara still has a feed right when she wakes up, the late afternoon and then right before bed. I don't think fully weaning her off breastfeeding will be a problem by the time she turns one. She doesn't seem to mind as long as it's replaced by a snack.

Clara's been sleeping through the night lately, which is great for the moment, but not so great hat she wakes up by 5:40 every morning. What's also not great is that she usually wakes up Amélie as well so the day for us starts early. They are usually both  asleep by 7:30/8:00ish with Amélie waking up once or twice for the bathroom or cuddles. Clara's still napping two or three times a day. She's usually not a long napper - not more than an hour and it's usually on the go in the stroller or in the car.

We've been trying to spend more time outside whenever it is sunny and warm. She's a huge fan of touching and putting everything into her mouth - sand, grass, you name it. I have to keep a close eye on her, but she has so much fun playing outside and loves going on the swings at the playground (particularly when big sis pushes her!). Also, Clara is standing on her own now - usually just for a few seconds before she falls. Plus she's becoming really good at taking steps using her walker an cruising around. I have a feeling I'll have a walker in a month or so. Stop growing up so fast!

Amélie 3 Years Old

My eldest is three years old. She's a little miss - dainty, sweet, funny, delicate and beautiful. She's such a mini-me in so many ways. She doesn't like to be messy (i.e. asks for a napkin and wipes her mouth after each bite of spaghetti, points out any crumb on the ground and loves to pretend to vacuum). She loves her play kitchen and playing hostess. She lines her toys up in straight lines and always wants everything to be perfect. She says, "I love you, mommy" spontaneously and give me a big hug. She loves being creative, practicing ballet and singing more nursery rhymes than I even know. She tries to count to twenty and most times forgets the number six. She says the cutest things and makes me laugh all day, but also knows just how to push my buttons too. 

As she's growing, she's not just my daughter, but becoming my person - my little friend who I chat with right before she goes to bed. She loves when I do her nails and when we have picnics together outside. She helps me bake and is always up for wiping down the kitchen cupboards. She's my little buddy, sidekick and darling girl. 

I love that she loves chicken nuggets (my fav), broccoli, sweet potato fries and mango. She'll request miso soup, but more often bowls of her ultimate favorites - 'belly pasta' (star pasta with bone broth & parmesan) or 'daddy egg' (poached, soft-boiled or over-easy eggs). She loves chocolate cake, apple cinnamon rice cakes and animal crackers too. Most days, she wants to play or watch a show over eating, but we get through it even if there's some promises of sweet treats at the end. Speaking of shows, she's mastered how to use a tablet and has her favorite shows on Netflix she navigates to herself. She's starting to learn her letters and drew the perfect 'x' yesterday without prompting. 

Her English accent is adorable and I can't wait until we visit America so everyone can point out the little phrases she's picked up and tones she uses. She says, 'would you mind..' and 'please may I..' which is all very polite and nice. She's great at preschool now - going two morning and one full day, which is where she is learning from the other children around her and mimicking what she's learned at home. She'll start official school in September 2018, which is scary and exciting at the same time. 

She's also the best sister who can be a bit too loving at times, but it's just in her nature to be affectionate. She loves pushing Clara on the swings and giving her kisses. She also does not like it when Clara destroys the toys she's worked so hard on arranging, but will also bring special baby toys to the park with us so Clara has something as well.

I can go on and on about how wonderful Amélie is, and despite how difficult it is sometimes to take care of an emotional toddler with tantrums and all, thinking this will never end, I do know she's growing up to be such a sweet girl who will definitely have a bright future ahead of her. I mean, she is finally sleeping in her own bed, in her own room and has been fully potty trained for a year now so that's a good start right? But really, she's a superstar and she's three! 

Also, here's a little recap of what we did on her actual birthday this past Tuesday: 

^^We had lunch outside at the playground (sandwiches on whole wheat bread, grapes, snap pea crisps & green tea lemonade for me), then went to the library for books and songs. 

 ^^We baked some cupcakes for Amélie to bring to school and made some marshmallows too.

^^We did one last happy birthday after dinner plus got the cupcakes all ready for school the next day. 

It was a great birthday, but I'm happy to have our regular routine back again too.