14 Months

I was just looking at my monthly post from last August – I was shocked that two months had gone by already! I laughed at my last year’s self…little did I know I would blink and Clare would be 14 months old. The first three months have a kind of surreal sluggishness about them. They seem to go so slowly, but before you know it you’re back at work and then suddenly a year has gone by and you’re chasing a toddler with an attitude around the house. Sometimes I miss last summer.

Anyway. Clare is 14 months old! She is very opinionated and likes to shake her head no. A lot. She has recently started shaking her head yes, so that is something. She is still talking in a language only she can understand, but it has gotten a lot more complex over the last few weeks. Her new word this month is “hi”, which she says about 423 times a day. She also loves to sing. She sits in my lap and sings along with me. I have it on video, but I don’t want to subject everyone to my horrible singing voice, so I am not posting it here.

She has started climbing on furniture. My heart is in my throat at least 15 times a day. She took a hard fall yesterday and bruised the top of her ear, but after a bottle (yes! Still with the bottle!) and some rocking with Daddy she was feeling much better.

She is loving the summer fruits (as am I), and raspberries are her absolute favorite. She also loves opening and closing the raspberry container. That is her latest thing – opening and closing doors, lids, whatever she can find. She also enjoys taking things out of the laundry basket, toy box, closet, etc., and then putting them back in.  She drops food onto the floor from her high chair, saying “uh-oh.” I don’t love that game as much.

She is scared of dogs. I don’t know why, but whenever she sees a dog of any size, her lower lip starts trembling and I know the tears are coming. It is not a terrible instinct, I guess. At least she won’t be going up to strange dogs anytime soon.

She says “ooohhhh” whenever she sees something new or exciting. You know, like the garage door opening. Or the lights in the Lowry Tunnel in Minneapolis. Or a tree.

Do I dare mention her latest sleep schedule? No, I do not.

Grandpa Ralph is her new favorite. She only has eyes for him whenever he is around. She cried when he left our house yesterday. It was pretty cute.

Clare is a shoe girl. We were getting ready to go out to dinner last night, and Clare pulled her jelly sandals out of the closet and insisted that we put them on. She held them up to her foot and was babbling in a very commanding voice. These sandals don’t fit her very well – they are too long, and too tight over the top of her foot. She doesn’t care. They do look cute on her, even if she can hardly walk in them. A true woman.

She loves talking on my cell phone – she holds the phone up to her ear, and her voice goes up and down as she has a conversation with whoever she thinks is on the other line. When someone is actually talking to her on the phone, though, she gets really confused. She looked behind the phone for her Aunt Katie the other day.

I cut Clare's hair last week. Just her bangs. It looked a little funky at first, but seems to be growing out okay. She could hardly see, though, so it was time.

I am going to say this despite laughing at myself for being amazed at two months going by last year – can you believe it is August already? This is the time of year that I always start to get a bit tired of summer, despite enjoying the fresh sweet corn and peppers and zucchini and all of the other wonderful summer foods. I can’t wait for the crisp cool air, the apples, the butternut squash, the PACKERS. Summer, I am done with you. The only problem is that after fall comes winter. The less said about that the better.

"You won't believe what happened to me today. Get this..."

"Yum. Lettuce is good."

"Wait, why are you putting this away? I want to play in it now even though I've refused to go near it for months."