Clara

I haven't written a post about Clara lately, because writing about Clara is too complex for me.  She's just turning into this amazing, funny little person, and I can never quite capture it when writing.  But I'm going to try to write some stuff, if nothing else so I remember.

She LOVES being a big sister, and has been an absolute dream.  We were warned over and over again about jealousy and that she would have such a hard time with the baby.  I am so grateful that neither of these things were true for Clara.  She wakes up every morning saying, "Baby?  Baby?" and runs to find her.  She gives Lucy unsolicited kisses, and understands that she needs to be very gentle.  She's always been very sensitive when Lucy cries, and gets concerned, offering her binkie and saying, "Momma!  Baby crying!"  When Lucy cries in the car, she very gently but firmly says, "Lucy, stop.  Lucy, stop."  Never yells at her or gets mad, more like she's enforcing a rule.  With that, just the last few days Lucy has shown a lot more interest in Clara.  When Clara passes, Lucy looks at her and smiles.  I think we're getting into big-sister-will-make-little-sister-laugh territory.  I know it's too soon to tell, but I'm so hopeful that they'll like each other and want to play together.  Jordan and I were discussing this the other day, and we realized that Clara is ALWAYS going to love Lucy and want to play with her, that's just her personality.  Really, it's whether or not Lucy is going to get annoyed with Clara...

Clara's talking is really taking off!  She was a little later than some kids, but I wasn't too worried.  It fits her personality that she waited to talk until she was a bit more confident.  Our biggest issue now is that her binkie is really in the way, and I haven't been disciplined enough to take away the binkie during the day.  Sometimes, even without the binkie, she'll talk like she has it in her mouth.  Other than that, she says new and funny things every day!  And I'm surprised at how much she really understands me.

When you have a second baby, teaching the concept of "patience" is an absolute necessity.  And I'm very lucky to have Clara, who has always been naturally patient.  Sometimes I simply can't do things right away for her because of Lucy or we're in the car or something, and I can say, "Clara, you're going to have to wait.  Can you wait a little bit for me?  I promise I will do this/get that/play with you as soon as I'm done."  She always says yes.  Now, how long "wait" means varies depending on how tired she is, but overall I think her abilities are very impressive for a 2 year old.  I try to ALWAYS follow through to re-enforce the idea that if you wait, you can get what you asked for, but really, it isn't me.  Clara just has a really sweet, patient temperament, and for that I am so very, very grateful.

She loves loves loves Jordan.  Those two are like peas in a pod.  When he's home, they play and play and play, and Clara wants to copy everything he does.  When she's hurt, she cries for Daddy.  She will do things for him that she'll NEVER do for me (like eat dinner!).  I love watching them, and I"m so glad they're so close.

Clara's imagination is really blooming.  She loves her stuffed animals and they are her "babies."  She likes to name them them after her friends.  She puts them to bed, feeds them food and chews them out ("Stop it.  Now!").  She also loves her blocks.  She likes to build things and then show me and Jordan.

I could go on and on all day, and you'd  only see a fraction of her sweet personality.  I am so grateful she is mine.  She makes me smile every day.