11.21.17 - I love being a mom.

Both Clara and Jane are growing fast. Jane had her 6 month checkup yesterday and she is 96% percentile for weight, 89% for head circumference, and 68% for height. My big girl, and such a cuddle. And Clara is finally moving into 3T clothes. We found out last week that since her failure to thrive diagnosis in March (when she was 3.9% for body weight) she's moved all the way to 25% at her 2.5 year check up. The GI specialist was pleased and called Clara's growth "amazing." So that was very encouraging.

Clara watches the morning rain.

Lately when Clara watches her Youtube playlists she keeps looking at Jack or me or both (whomever is in the room) to make sure we're watching too. She really wants us to participate. When I notice her looking at me I try to sing or count along and she gets really excited. She also tries to quote all her videos all while looking at me about every two seconds to see if I can see what a great job she's doing. It's adorable.

I love when she gets home and wants me to pick her up, or when she wakes up and wants to cuddle with me for a while. It was so recent that I could pick her up as a little toddler and hold her on my chest, and now her arms and legs are expanding around me when she hugs me. It will be the blink of an eye before she's getting difficult to pick up, and before she's too old to want to cuddle anymore. When I think of how long a lifespan is, 10 years of maybe cuddling is nothing! Trying to soak it all in.

Trying to give both girls attention at once.

I wonder if it will go as fast for Jane or any potential younger sibling when we aren't scrambling constantly to make rent. Every evening Clara watches tons of videos while I try to catch up on domestic stuff because I was working all day and Jack is always slammed with school. On the one hand she is learning her vocab mostly that way, but I wish I was spending more time with her. I love how she mimics the vocab in the exact tone and cadence of the speaker, and I love how proud she looks when I show I heard her or when I sing along with her.

Most weekday mornings I try not to wake Clara up when I go to get Jane to nurse before they go to Beth's. I especially hope Clara stays asleep on Tuesdays, because that's the morning I have to get the girls ready by myself (Jack is already at clinicals by 6 a.m.) This morning, though, Clara woke up as soon as I came in the nursery, so I got her up and gave her a sippy cup of milk. She stayed in bed drinking it while I took Jane in my room to nurse, but eventually Clara came into my room too to hang out. I asked her "Where's your cup?" and she got a big grin and ran into the nursery and came back brandishing her cup. I said "good job!" but before I could continue she responded, "Where's'a bwanket??" So I repeated her: "Where's your blanket?" and she ran into the nursery and brought back her beloved Maurader's Map blanket. I asked "Where's Bobo?" and she corrected me with "Where's wabbit?" So I conceded, "Where's rabbit?" and she ran into her room and came back with her little stuffed bunny rabbit. Then she climbed into bed with Jane and me, wrapped herself in her blanket, and layed there drinking her milk while I rubbed her leg with my free hand. It was a very sweet moment.

She got situated with her blanket and then layed there asking me for books.

In other sweet moments, I love when Jane stops fussing and grins at me as soon as I start singing to her. I also enjoy that I can put her on the floor in my room facing the apparently fascinating rocking chair, and she will scoot around down there for up to 20 minutes just hanging out while I work on the work laptop.

I've noticed lately Jane is getting very interested in anything I eat. She leans forward and stares at whatever food I have and then carefully watches as I put it in my mouth. It's probably about time to rock her world with the joy and glory that is food.

Jane in a onesie inherited from Rocket, of course. A very Papi onesie.

Clara is getting quite good at saying "I want" before naming the object she wants. Most commonly she says "I want juice (or cup)," and especially "I! Want! COMpooter!" (Her way of saying she wants to watch Youtube videos on the computer.) Unfortunately she also puts "I want" in front of things she doesn't want but is just observing, such as "I want clock" or "I want moon." We are trying to teach her to say "I see" instead. She'll get there eventually.

The speech therapist also recommended we teach Clara more hand signs. I found a children's educator named Patty Shukla who has a whole series of videos where she does basic signs. The last two weeks or so we've made this video part of Clara's bedtime routine:

We put her in PJs, brush her teeth, and then watch this video and practice the signs together. She loves it. She mostly watches Jack or me (or both) do the signs, but she tries a bit to do them herself, and sometimes during the day she starts singing this song and trying the signs again. Of course that's a far cry from using the signs in context but it's a great first step and certainly doesn't hurt. I find I am starting to use the sign "come here" a lot, and trying to be consistent about any other signs I know, like "stop," "water," and "sit." If nothing else, it can't hurt to know them.