When we were young, my Mom kept a notebook where she would write down some of the funny things we said. She brought it out at a family home evening, one time, when we were older, and read us the entries. It was hilarious. We loved it. Well, all of us except for my youngest sister, Nathalie, who was still young enough to be saying some pretty funny things. From then on, whenever she said something silly and we laughed, she would start crying and say "Don't write it in my funny book!" So... for your sake, Nathalie, I am starting this funny book for Clara. Now all of the pressure is on her and we can stop recording your funny blunders. :)
Really, we are writing this so that we have these fun memories recorded for us and for Clara. Since she is already almost a year and a half old, we are playing catch-up with this first one. It is a bit lengthy, so casual Sherwood blog readers, feel free to pass.
February, 2008: We don't give Clara sugar very often... in fact, hardly ever. She has a very big appetite and I am afraid if I give her some, she won't want to stop. Today she saw me eating a cookie, so I let her have a little bit and then put the last bite in my mouth. She saw that, pulled my mouth open, and jammed her little fist in all the way to the back of my throat trying to pull that cookie out!
Easter Sunday, March, 2008: Today Clara walked to the shelf next to the piano and pulled out one my vocal exercise books. She sat down and started singing to herself while she turned the pages.
April, 2008: Whenever Clara gets ahold of a phone (or anything that resembles a phone), she holds it to her ear (backwards) and says "Hewo?"
May, 2008: When we sing "old macdonald had a farm," Clara will follow up with "e-i-e-i-o." Not on pitch, yet, but still very cute. If she hears the melody or one like it on a musical toy or something, she'll chime in with "e-i-e-i-o."
May, 2008: Clara has a happy dance. Every time she gets excited she runs in place really fast, waves her arms, and laughs.
June, 2008: Clara is loving books... her attention span is getting longer so sometimes she'll sit through longer portions of the story. She has favorite pages in lots of her books. In "The Berenstein's B Book" it is at the end, when the baby birds balloon breaks. She says, in a REALLY high voice, "Oh Nooooo!" In "Inside Outside Upsidedown" she loves the page with the Mama bear on it. The words to the story are..."Mama, Mama, I went to town, inside, outside, upside down." Always, after we read a couple of pages at the beginning of the book, Clara will skip forward to that page and say, "Mama, Mama" then look at us to finish the words on the page. We wish we could catch these moments on video (we've tried), because her voice and expressions are just so cute.
June 18, 2008: Today Clara and I met Greg at his office for lunch. We ate at a picnic table outside. After lunch, we saw her step aside and "do some business" in her daiper. She walked to my diaper bag, pulled out the diapers and wipes, handed them to Greg, said "poo-poo" and then laid down ready for a diaper change. The funny thing is that she had never done any of these things before... never said poo-poo, never acknowledged a dirty diaper, never stopped doing what she was doing for a diaper change, and today she did them all at once.
June 29th, 2008: Clara doesn't like to ride in the trailer behind our bikes, so we have just started putting her in a seat on the back of my bike. She loves it and now often requests a "wide" (ride). Today we were in the car and Clara saw a motorcycle driving by. She got very excited and said "Wide!" "Wee!" Also, a few days ago, she saw some street sweepers in a parking garage downtown and said the same thing about those.
June 30, 2008: The other day Clara wanted me to put on a funny hat. I did so and then made a silly face, gave two thumbs up, and said "Alriiiight!" Today, while Greg and I were in the kitchen finishing dinner, she quickly ran out of the room, then ran back in with a pair of sunglasses on (upside down) and her two pointer fingers in the air (her version of two thumbs up) shouting "Alright" (in Clara's dialect Aw-wiiiiit). So hilarious.
June 30th, 2008: Clara can't wait to go in the nursery at church. Today, she sneaked in there 3 times... the first time she knocked on the door and they openened it and she ran in. The last 2 times the door was cracked and she pushed it open and ran in. By the 3rd time, the nursery leader said she could just stay. She and Greg spent the last 30 minutes of church in there and Clara had a blast... stealing snacks, singing songs, playing with toys, and chasing bubbles.
Clara got her first haircut... this is a "before" photo... she was getting a major rat tail, so I finally got brave and snipped it off. (I don't have a photo from after the haircut, but- I promise- her hair looks much better, now).