They grow up so fast

Clara has been our budding little girl as of late. I don't know if it is because I am more observant of her since the scare we were give last month, or if it is because she is just developing very quickly lately. After 5 clinic visits in 10 days a few weeks ago, we have seen our baby start to turn into a toddler.

While I am here, I had better explain the scare and the 5 clinic visits. It all started with her one year check up. They said she was fine, but small and we needed to have her legs looked at because her feet point outwards. Luckily, the Shriner's were having their free once a year screening clinic at the Salem hospital in two weekends so we didn't have to go to Portland. She checkout fine! All joints are aligned but it could take up to another 2 years for her feet to point correctly, which means she may be a little slow on walking.

Between the first visit and Shriner's, the poor little thing had to get 4 immunizations (our doctor doesn't do them because his practice is too small to stock them, which means another stop), and blood work done (which we had to squeeze from her finger because she is so tiny she didn't have nice surface veins). And then came the call, the doctor wanted us back for another visit. They said everything was fine with the blood work, but all of you mothers out there can imagine what went through mine and Jeff's heads for two days while we waited for the appointment. What was wrong, why did he call us back??? It turned out her size may be an issue. She has always been small, but her growth curve had dropped, she was 3 lbs and 2 inches smaller than what the smallest healthy girl of her age should be. At lease she was behind in both areas, which means she is well proportioned. On recommendations from the Shriner's doctor and our doctor we need to get her in to see a pediatric gastroenterologist to be checked for nutrition absorption issues (with the family history, there is a good chance she may have Crones or Celiacs), but this means a trip to Portland to either OHSU or Emmanuel. We are giving her a break, but we will be pursuing this soon. Please pray we make the right decisions.

I will now move on to the budding little girl we see before us. She is truly a joy to have. In the last month she has had her top two teeth finally come in. She can hold on to fingers and walk fairly well, but she has a long way to go. With her confidant crawling, she can get anywhere and into anything. She can pull herself up on anything and most of the time figure out how to get back down.

Our home is filled with 5 words from Clara:

• "Washish?" ('What's this' while pointing to anything she wants to know the name of, has yet to start trying to say the words back)
• "Atish" (her attempt at 'Atlas', our 20 lbs cat - also means any other small furry animal, i.e. rabbits, kittens, my in laws small dog, it is also what all animals say)
• "Da-da" (said anytime Jeff is in sight, at home, or anytime she is handed a phone - may also mean mom, we're not sure)
• "Ooo-oo" (as in pretty, anything becomes a bracelet, necklace, hat, or ring, and I mean anything! And they all make her look pretty, she shows she knows this by saying so.)
• "Boo!" (I have never met a child who loves to play peek-a-boo more than Clara. She says boo at everything, i.e. taking her shirt off, when you open the car door, when someone new walks in the room, when there is a blanket over anything that is removed. The word is can be accompanied by her covering her temples and the quickly moving her hands, this is an attempt at covering her eyes.)

She can also sign 4 words: more, please, all done, and thank you (which she usually blows a kiss with, very cute!). These take a little bribing, but we can usually get her to do them. Her preferred answer is to shake her head "no" at everything, and still expects to be given food. She thinks saying "no" is funny, and whining is a much better way to go.

We are working on pointing to facial features when asked, but currently everything is an ear.

The mile stone she accomplished this morning almost brought tears to my eyes, because..... well, she is growing up! Clara, at 13 months, accomplished spoon feeding her self most of her breakfast. She actually stayed clean and only dipped her finger in her bowl once. It took her along time to finish, but then again she has always done everything very slowly.

Our talented little one!

Clara is truly a blessing. I hope you have enjoyed the up-date as much a I have enjoyed remembering every little thing about her.