Snippets

Clara is an addict: a pacifier addict. She's only allowed to have it during naptime and at bedtime, and woe be unto the parent who does not have it immediately at the ready. A few nights ago Oliver was helping her get into her pajamas when she ran to grab the pacifier from the nightstand. The rule is that she needs to be completely ready for bed before she gets the pacifier (totally arbitrary, I know, but what's the fun in being the parent if you can't make up pointless rules?). Since she only had her diaper on, Oliver took the pacifier and handed the pajama top to Clara. A look of extreme horror spread across her face, and as she lunged across the bed, she yelled, "I NEED THAT!" Spoken like a true junkie.

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Anna has some truly goofy hair. The lovely mane she was born with has almost completely disappeared...except for a stripe right down the middle of her head. Think mohawk. These pictures will give you an idea, but you really can't get the full goofiness effect unless you see her in person. Fortunately it seems like it has stopped falling out and is starting to grow back in again, so I give her six months or so before it looks normal again.





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Anna has now mastered the back-to-belly roll - a full month-and-a-half earlier than Clara did, I might add. I hope it's not predictive of the timing of her future motor skills development; Clara walked at 12 months and I don't think I need a walker at 9 months. Anyway, if you lay Anna down on her back she flips herself over within a minute or two. The funny thing is that it seems she has now forgotten that she can roll back onto her back if she wants to; now when she ends up on her belly she chews her hands for a bit then screams to be flipped back over. Not a fan of tummy time, this one.

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Clara has a "mostly love, sometimes hate" thing going on with Anna. She gets annoyed when Anna grabs her hair or clothes (can't really blame her), but most of the time she wants to be doing whatever it is that Anna is doing or wants Anna to join her in whatever she is doing. "Mama, Anna lay down next to Clara," is a common request, and Clara frequently offers Anna a sample of whatever snack she happens to be eating that day (although this happens less and less now; instead Clara will say, "Anna no eat that. Too little." Who says kids never listen?).




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My dad and Sabrina came to town last weekend for a last visit before we leave Seattle. We were walking down the street at some point and Clara started complaining that her toes hurt. I mentioned that she's outgrown her sandals and I needed to go buy some new ones to get her through the rest of the summer. My dad looked down at her and asked, "Clara, should we go to Nordstrom tomorrow and buy some new shoes?" She looked up at me with an expression of glee and said, "Mommy, go to Target!"

My girly loves Target; she asks to go there almost every day. Whenever we run out of something she tells me, "Mommy, (whatever item) is all gone. Buy more at Target!"

(Just a cute picture)


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Lately Clara has been asking me to go to the temple. Several times a day she'll say, "Mommy, go temple? I wear my dress to temple. I wear my black shoes (her church shoes) to temple. Mommy wear black shoes to temple." I'm thinking we may make a trip over to the Seattle temple this week. Or I suppose we could wait until we're driving back to Utah and point out the eight temples visible from the freeway between Ogden and Provo.

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Anna is four months old now and is a funny little monkey. She's pretty even-tempered and much more mellow than her older sister. She definitely has her fussy moments, but is pretty content most of the time. She has a fabulous grin (although an elusive one when it comes to capturing it on camera) that lights up her face and a funny little chuckle of a laugh. She loves Clara and will smile and laugh at her, reach out to grab her clothes and hair (much to Clara's enjoyment), and likes it when Clara gets down to play with her. Let's see how long that lasts.

(This photo is almost two months old, but it's the best I have at the moment)