My parents ran a half marathon in Bryce Canyon so we drove down to watch and did a short hike with the kids afterward. The views were spectacular and the kids loved playing on the rocks and in the water. Here is Clementine with the grandparents. So cute!
Clementine at the Liberty park water feature. I don't know what Bea is doing in the background there.
There isn't much difference between summer and winter in our family because we're always getting out and finding things to do. With my kids getting older and also living in a new city, it's been extra fun finding activities to do in our new environment. I have the advantage to have friends and family who already know a lot of the fun spots to take kids, and since Clementine is more mobile she's been able to enjoy exciting new adventures, most of which include being in the water. There is a water feature at Liberty Park in downtown SLC that is a pint size representation of all the rivers and canyons that flow down through the mountains here for the kids to play in. It's basically a tiny man made river system starting with fun waterfalls and fountains and converging to create a pond. I think it's the most creative thing I have ever seen and the kids had a blast playing in the streams.
Getting better at walking every day! Although she has a bloody toe from being at the pool sans shoes. I try to keep shoes on whenever possible.
She loves her swimming class with Mommy. It's fun bonding time together, even when the pool is freezing. Brrrr.
You might be wondering what she's wearing and it's a new Cost Guard approved flotation device for little kids. Granted she's just a little bit too little for it, but she'll grow into it soon enough. It can replace a life jacket which kids find so annoying. I have all three of my kids in these when I'm alone at the crowded pool and they don't mind wearing them at all. The fountains at our pool turn off and on when a button is pushed and is on a timer, so Clementine's favorite little fountains will come and go and when they stop, she crawls away, but soon the come back on again and she speedily returns. It's like watching a game of cat and mouse as she comes and goes. Also, there's this huge bucket that fills up and spills out over the whole fountain area every 15 minutes or so, which sends her running, but never reaches where she's playing. It's a great pool and is really close!
I had to go to Costco on Saturday because I had to pick up photos for this cute photo thing I made for Justin for Father's Day. It was basically DAD spelled out in those paper block letters that they sell at craft stores painted yellow with each kid holding one letter. So Henry had one D and Clementine held the A and Bea the last D. The photos weren't so fabulous because it was the middle of the day and there were some shadows, but the mountains behind us were really nice and I think it was fine for a last minute thing. I put them in an IKEA triple frame and then sent a photo of it to Justin. Well, I was standing in line to check out after having eaten a super spicy piece of peppered Jerkey and my mouth was on fire, so I walked briskly to fill my water bottle up with some more water and as I was walking in my cheap China Town slippers, I totally slipped and fell right in front of a billion people!!!! Luckily I'm a pro at falling down since I'm accident prone and didn't even get hurt one ounce but it was really embarrassing. The weirdest thing is that no one came over to help me up. They all just stared at me with open mouths and probably didn't want to lose their place in the snack bar line. haha.
Thank you Alissa Packer for sharing your letters with me!! You're the best neighbor!
Memorial Day was for Clementine "learn to walk" day. She did nothing but try to walk, fall and get back up again until she was walking across entire rooms. She was so cute and dedicated to it. I just love kneeling down to her level with my arms outstretched to embrace her as she reaches me with a huge smile.
She's also become a lot more snuggly lately with me. She will kind of embrace me and squeeze me sometimes and even puts her head on my shoulder. She loves being kissed all over her face, which usually prompts her to hug and snuggle me. I'm so happy!
Clemmie also is talking a lot of baby jibberish just like Henry did at this age. She repeats a lot of words like "daddo", "aye-lo"(maybe hello), "Bea" and "wooh". It's so cute to see that she's trying to communicate with us. She has officially started to sign as well and does "all done" and "drink" very regularly. I'm trying to get her to sign "food" and "more" now and with those four I think I will be happy if she doesn't learn any more, even though I will try many others. Those are the core signs, I believe, every baby should know in order to keeping crying to a minimum.
You were born on May 24th, 2010 after an hour and a half of labor and delivery and flew out before my OB even entered the room. You weighed an ounce shy of 9 lbs and were my largest baby by far. As a newborn you were my most cranky baby, but grew out of your crankiness by about 14 weeks and became an easy going and happy little girl. You remind me in so many ways of Henry when he was little: you don't like to snuggle, you love to sit up straight, you sleep all the time, you say a lot of sounds, you look most like Henry to me, won't ever stop wiggling, and are completely independent. You were so sleepy as a baby that some days you would sleep for 22 hours per day and the two hours you were awake consisted of nursing or screaming to go back to sleep. When you were just 6 weeks old you took your first flight out to Utah and then a month later we went to California. Little did you know, but your mom, dad and aunt Lucy conjured up a 5 week long travel schedule when you were just four months old and you ended up traveling to Puerto Rico, Lake Tahoe, Boston, CT, and Block Island with various road trips to DC, NYC and amish country and two more flights to Utah to top off your travel season. I thought Henry and Bea were world travelers, but you exceeded their first year's travel schedule before you were 6 months old. I think the grand total comes out to about 25 flights if you count layovers.
Your favorite things are your fuzzy purple blanket that auntie Trixie made for you, fluffy dogs that you can nuzzle your face into, stealing your sister's blankie, swinging, being chased as you crawl up stairs, doing patty-cake and being tossed up in the air. Your favorite foods are strawberries, grapes, and anything that has a lot of flavor like Chinese food and roasted vegetables. You love babies and are quick to find other rogue babies crawling around the chapel during church to join up with and then start pushing the organ pedals during Stake Conference. You also love your siblings even though they're both so obsessed with you that you always end up either being tackled or getting everything you touch ripped away from you. You have started to learn to fend for yourself and protect your treasures. You almost constantly have a smile on your face and have two teeth just emerging on top and three teeth on the bottom (don't know where the fourth bottom one is). You also love taking baths and put up with a lot more abuse in the tub just so you can stay in the bath longer with your brother and sister. Unless you're hungry or tired, you will let anyone hold you, especially if they have a beard or glasses or something else you can grab. You are a super grabby baby and can snatch anything off the supermarket shelves or glasses off your face in a millisecond if I'm not careful. You also like putting sunglasses on your face and think it's really funny. Every day you wear your hair up in one pony tail right in the front of your forehead so your new hair can be included with your very long baby hair to make one nice little tail and then I usually put a rather large bow on top that melts everyone's heart. Your hair is a nice golden blond but I'm sure it will turn lighter this summer just like the rest of the kids.
Terrified of her Birthday Cake
Things you don't like include spiky grass, the flame from your Birthday smash cake(which made you scream bloody murder) and getting your fingers messy with frosting. You were afraid of both baby smash cakes I made you! You also can't stand Bea's really hard hugs and being sat on and any other torture dished out by Bea. Generally though, you like most everything.
Second Birthday in Utah. Thanks Jessie for the adorable outfit!
The person who adores you the most is probably your brother, Henry, who says he wants to marry you someday. I told him to wait a couple years and see how he feels then. lol. He's always very gentle and kind and always tries to include you in everything he's doing. He defends you from Bea(BK) and is always thoughtful and helps you when you cry. Every time you speak baby talk, Henry decides that you actually say something real like, "mommy, she said car!" or "she said Amelia! Clemmie is a genius baby!" He is very proud of you and so is Bea now that you have started walking, even though you prefer to crawl still. You started walking about a week ago but are pretty timid about it. I can't wait until you're walking for real so I can put you in all the cute dresses I have for this summer. Whenever I do put you in a dress, you do the funny crawl with your bum up in the air since it's hard to crawl on your knees in a dress.
Just starting to walk
You haven't slowed down your growth from when you were born and are now in the 99th percentile in height, 75th percentile in weight, and 75th in head size(Bea and Henry were under 40th at this stage) so you are still my largest baby. I had to buy a double stroller just because you were too heavy to hold. I usually like to carry my babies until they can walk, but you're the "Giantess" and mommy's arms are tired.
Can you hear me now?
You are about to welcome another baby girl into the family sometime in mid October, which I'm so excited about. I know you will be a loving big sister(right?) and will love having so many sisters surrounding you. I just pray that you will all get along and love and treasure each other all your life and in the eternities.
A rare photo with Daddy
The things I love most about you is your willingness to smile and reluctance to cry. I think if Bea didn't bug you all day long, you would never, ever cry. You are so excited when I get you up from your naps and in the morning. Even if I leave you in your crib for an hour after you wake up, you just roll around, cooing and playing until I come to get you and then you greet me with a huge smile and giggles. I love your giant chubby body, especially your legs and I love to tickle you to hear your sweet little laugh. I love your short golden hair in the back and how it looks like a stylish little short haircut. I always love seeing the world through your eyes as you discover new things and find delights in the simple things in life. You have been such a blessing in my life and I am so blessed to have you as my daughter. I enjoy every moment being your mother and I hope you will always know how much love I have in my heart for you. You are my sweet, darlin' Clementine. Happy Birthday my little girl.
