Almost every morning when Amelia wakes up she asks to see baby Clara (who she calls Baby Caca right now, because she can’t pronounce L or R). She will then ask to hold her. Sometimes if Amelia wants attention from Mama so she will say “Hugamama.” Then she will point to Clara and say “Baby Caca” and then point at Ian or whoever else is in the room and say their name, indicating that she wants the other person to hold Clara. If no one is there, she will ask me if I can put Clara in her bed so that Amelia can get a hug.
Amelia’s vocabulary is expanding rapidly these days and she now uses verbs regularly such as “bring baby” or “carry mama” or “run Mimi.” This morning she said “Dada upastairs shirt” because Ian had gone upstairs to get a shirt. And when he was having a shower and the water stopped running she said “shower stop.” She babbles constantly to herself but most of the time if you listen closely you can actually figure out what she is saying. I also think she can count. She knows her numbers in French and English but above and beyond that, I believe she actually understands that different numbers mean different things. If you ask her how many cookies she wants, for example, and give her an option of one, two or three, she will choose three. Today I asked her if she wanted one more cookie and she looked at me, thought for a second, and then said “two cookies?”
She can put on and take off her shoes, her rain boots, and her socks. I recently have taken to giving her a cutting board and some veggies or fruit to chop up to help me when I am cooking. She will happily stand on a chair next to me and cut food up and then hand it to me to put into whatever I am making (usually it is soup). Today while waiting for my Dad to get here she kept repeating over and over “Babu, where are you?”
Clara is also pure joy. She is very vocal (in a good way – she likes to talk to us). And she smiles all the time. This morning she woke up at 5 am and after I fed her she just stared at me and smiled. And then she started cooing. All the sleep experts say not to engage with your child during the night so that they learn that nighttime is for sleeping. But I couldn’t ignore Clara while she was beaming away at me. Plus even though 5 am seems early, Clara had just slept 6 hours straight (7:30 pm – 1:30 am) and then another 3 hours so I was feeling pretty rested. For the past week or so she has been doing at least one 4-5 hour stretch in the evening. Amelia was sleeping 7-8 hours by about 2 months of age so we’ll see if Clara follows suit.
Clara is very strong and has been holding her head up on her own since she was about a week or two. She also enjoys tummy time and can easily turn her head from side to side while it is lifted. We swaddle her when she naps or sleeps at night because it seems to make her more comfortable. But when she wants to she can easily get herself out of the swaddle. And somehow she always manages to kick her feet out of the Miracle Blanket. I actually prefer swaddling to the Miracle Blanket this time around. We have some very large swaddling blankets that have been great so far. Plus I believe they are more breathable than the Miracle Blanket.
Shoes: Little Soles
SO stylish Amelia! ; )