Clara's 2nd birthday party!

November 2, 2012

 

We celebrated Clara's 2nd birthday at home, just the 4 of us.

 

After breakfast we let her open her presents from us so that she wouldn't get overwhelmed with a ton of new things all at once after her party the next day.

 

From us she got:

A new Elmo outfit that I found on Zulily

A LeapFrog Scribble & Write

A My Own LeapTop

A stroller for her Abby doll (the doll she got from Great-Grandma Ruby)

A Skippy Jon Jones book

Cinderella on DVD

 

Once she was dressed, I took her with me to do a little last-minute party prep shopping. We went to Hobby Lobby, Shopko, and the grocery store. She was really good for all of our stops! I even picked up a little birthday cake that we could eat for dessert that night.

 

Here she is blowing out the candle (in her new Elmo outfit)

Saturday, November 3

 

We packed everyone up first thing and headed for Mimi's house. We decided to do all the prep work there, since that's where we were having the party...and it would just make transporting all of the food a lot easier. We would be able to eat lunch and the kids could go down for a nap before people started showing up for the party.

 

We stopped to fill up some cute Elmo balloons on our way there.

 

Once the kids were down for their naps, I started assembling the cupcakes.

 

Anita frosted while I cut the marshmallows and Oreos in half and put the chocolate chip eyes on.

 

Here they are all finished and on the stand

I also cut up strawberries and added grapes, blueberries, and mandarin oranges to make an Elmo fruit platter

 

 

Auntie Jessi was the first to get there. She and Clara opened presents right away. And it was a good thing, too, since she got a tiara! No birthday is complete without one!

 

 



 



She also got a Cinderella book (that came with a fun wand) and a box full of fun jewelery that she LOVES to play with!

 

Mimi and Papa got her a stroller for Abby, which is awesome because now she'll have one wherever she goes. Anita made her another photobook with pictures from the last year. It's awesome!

 

She got some Elmo pajamas, a Sesame Street DVD, a couple really cute outfits (one of them Elmo), some new books, some cute scarecrow bowls, and some money from the Great-Grandparents. She had such a great time.

 

 

We had a yummy dinner and for dessert we had Elmo cupcakes! She even blew out her candles.

 

 

Thank-you cards are going in the mail soon, and I'm kind of glad all the craziness is over, but I am SO glad that she had a good time. She loved all her gifts and she loved spending time with her Aunts & Uncles that she doesn't get to see that often.

 

It's amazing how much of a difference it made from her last birthday to this one!

 

Clara's 2-year survey!

Monthly Survey

How old? 2 Years!!! Oh My God!

Doctor’s appointments?: November 7

Stats:

Weight: 28lbs (70th percentile)

Height: 36.75 inches (off the charts!)

Clothes size: 2T-3T in pretty much everything.

Diaper size: Size 6 in diapers and 2T in Pull-ups (when she wears them)

Hair color: Strawberry blonde.

Anything else?

Milestones:

Teething: Last I checked there were still no molars. Her sleep has been disturbed again lately, but I didn’t look to see if it might be her teeth on top of the cold she just got over.

Talking: She’s speaking more and more clearly all the time…either that or I’ve just learned to translate better.  She can also say her name (not real clearly, but if you know what to listen for you’ll hear it).

Anything else? She sings ALL.THE.TIME. She has become pretty demanding. She won’t sit in her booster chair at the kitchen table anymore. We’re also working on potty training. Some days are definitely better than others, but it’s pretty exhausting and I’m not even the one doing most of the work.

Things she likes:

Toys: She’s really into dolls lately. She also likes her play kitchen at Mimi’s, swinging, playing outside (especially in the leaves).

Books: She still loves to read. I think one of her all-time favorites is Eric Carle’s Ghost Story. I’m not sure if it’s the actual story or the way Grandpa reads it. :)

Songs: She sings lots of songs. Some she learned at story time, others we (or others) taught her.

TV Shows/Movies: Caillou. Caillou. Caillou…seriously. It’s almost all that we ever watch. That and LeapFrog.

Other Activities: She’s still going to story time on Mondays. I’d like to get her back into swimming again, but we’ve been pretty busy and disorganized lately. She loves to feed the birds outside at Nama & Grandpa’s. She also likes feeding her new fish!

Things she dislikes: Sitting in her booster chair at the table, using the potty, being told she has to do anything (lol).

Sleeping: Sleeping has been hit or miss lately. It seems like she’s been waking up a lot again so I don’t know if there’s something going on developmentally or if she’s just a crappy sleeper. Naps are ok. Usually Adam and Mimi are the only 2 people who can get her to nap.

Eating: She hasn’t been eating very well again. Some days are better than others, but there are some days where it seems like she won’t eat anything. Or she won’t eat anything but garbage.

Favorite Foods: CHEESE!

Not so Favorites: Everything else. Lol Just kidding.

Nicknames: Nothing new from last month.

Things we’re looking forward to next month: Her birthday party is November 3. Other than that we’re just getting ready for Christmas and celebrating Thanksgiving. I think we’re doing the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day.

Pictures!!

 

Clara, you're 2!

Dear Clara,

Happy Birthday, big girl! You're 2 years old! I can't believe how fast the last year has gone! You're such an amazing little girl and I'm so glad you're ours!

You are getting easier to understand every day. It's so nice now that you can tell us things. I love it when I come home from work and hear you yelling "Mommy!!" when you see me in the driveway. And as much as I don't like you mooching food from me, I can't resist when you say "peeeeeeese!" with that cute little smile on your face.

You have an infectious laugh. Your brother was gifted with it as well. You guys both love laughing! And I think you might be the only person I know who asks to be tickled!

You're so smart. I'm amazed at the things you already know. You can sing your ABC's, you can count to 20 (which I heard you doing in the car SEVERAL times on the way home from your birthday party), you know shapes and colors, animals, animal sounds and so so so much more! And I love to hear you singing songs in your cute little voice.

You're such a sweet big sister. It's been really amazing to see how much you love your little brother and how much he just adores you. I know you  might get annoyed with him when he wants to play with your toys, but I hope you two stay close and are each others' best friend.

Daddy and I love you so much. We can't wait to see what fun and interesting things this next year has in store for our family!

Happy 2nd birthday, sweetheart! We love you!

Sam's 7-month survey

Monthly Survey

How old is baby? 7 months

Doctor’s appointments?:  January 11, 2013 at 9 months.

Stats:

Weight: 17.8lbs

Height:

Clothes size: Still 6-12 months, though moving more solidly into 9-12.

Diaper size: Still in 3’s.

Hair color: More red than blonde, especially in certain light.

Anything else?

Milestones:

Verbal skills: Starting to make more babbling sounds, but mostly he loves squealing and laughing. He also makes a really cute noise (not even sure how to describe it) that we call his “dragon” noise.

Teething: He has 2 teeth on the bottom in front and I think he’s working on more.

Rolling: He rolls all over the place, especially when you’re trying to get him dressed or change a diaper. It is NOT fun!

Crawling: Yes! Finally! And forward, too, as of October 30, 2012. He has been getting all over the place by rolling and sitting up and stretching out and scooting backward, but he had yet to actually crawl until just now.

Anything else? He can sit up from laying down. He likes to climb into things-if you sit on the floor he’ll climb into your lap, he’s trying to pull up on things. He likes to stand up and hold onto your fingers. He’s even starting to work on balancing while standing!

Things he likes: He likes to be tickled. He likes baths. He likes to sit in a pile of toys and play with (and chew on) everything. He loves to watch Clara and Scooter run around. He’s really starting to enjoy books. And his favorite things are those that play music.

Things he dislikes: He’s not a big fan of his car seat right now, though I don’t know if it’s the car seat or just being strapped in.

Sleeping: Sleeping is ok. He just had his first cold and he got used to me nursing him to sleep so I need to break him of that now that he’s better. He’s usually in bed by 8 and sleeps til around 5. Sometimes he wakes up earlier and if I don’t have to work I’ll just bring him to bed with me. He’ll usually take one nap in the morning (of varying length-anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours) and then one in the afternoon, if we’re lucky.

Eating: He’s eating 3 meals a day of Earth’s Best baby food. He also gets about 20-30oz of pumped milk (or he nurses when I’m home).  He’s starting to eat Cheerios now, too, so I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s really feeding himself.

Nicknames: Dragon boy, bubs, buddy, and still The Captain. J

Things we’re looking forward to next month: We have Thanksgiving, the Holiday Parade, and the Turkey Trot. Clara’s party is this weekend and I’m sure he’ll be into everything, and playing with Brayden.

How I like motherhood: I love it more and more each day, especially the good days when things are easy, but even on the hard days. The kids are just so cute and fun that it’s hard not to enjoy it.

Likes: I like watching them play together. Sam is really into his big sister and Clara is so cute when she says good night to him each night…”Good night, Captain!”

Dislikes: I haven’t been getting very good sleep between work and school and the broken sleep the kids have been getting lately. But I know it’s just a stage and we’ll get through it. I also wish I had a clone, but it is getting easier as they get older. Sam is content to play by himself more than Clara was so I am able to get a load of laundry in or get the dishwasher unloaded.

 Pictures!