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| "I am two!" |
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been a week since Clara's 2nd birthday. I wrote the post about our trip to D.C. on Clara's birthday, and I was really excited about writing this post, but came down with a fever, cough and sinus cold the day after her birthday. This is the first day that I have felt like doing much of anything. The illness really wiped me out, and I had to miss a week of teaching. Anyway, I am feeling pretty good and am ready to write.
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| April 20th, 2011 |
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| One year old! |
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| 2 years old! |
Our sweet little Clara turned 2 years old on April 20th. I remember wondering last year on her first birthday what she would be like at the age of two. So, what is she like? She is sweet, loving, feisty, stubborn, independent, curious, intelligent, beautiful and full of life. She talks and sings a lot, and her true love right now is ballet and dance in general. She also has a love of books. I'm glad that Joey and I read to her from the very beginning, because she loves to be read to, and she is also very good at pronouncing words and recognizing letters and numbers. She lets us know when she is not happy, but she also has moments of sweet compassion and tender love which sometimes bring me to tears. She loves animals, and she loves to be outside.
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| Hanging out pre-party! |
We had a small birthday party for Clara at our house. Clara loves the "Hello Kitty" cartoon character, so we made that the theme of the party. I made the mistake of googling "Hello Kitty Birthday Party" and found out that people go crazy with the theme. We kept our party pretty simple, although I thought the cake was really cute and fun. Clara was happy the entire time, and when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her she had the biggest smile on her face. Joey made macaroni and cheese, and we had a fruit salad and a veggie tray. The weather was a little cool, so we kept the party inside and hung out in the big front room of the house. It was a good time.
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| Chocolate on the inside. Yum! |
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| Getting ready for the party |
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| "Happy Birthday to You!" |
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| The cake table |
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| Make a Wish! |
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| Cake hangover |
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| Opening present |
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| Clara and friend. |
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| Awesome Clara sized umbrella. |
And so another year of Clara's life has begun, and again I find myself wondering what my little girl will be like at 3 years of age. She is going to change a lot this year, especially in the language area. I find myself trying to slow down time as the baby side of her slips away and the little girl side comes more and more to the surface. But I guess in the eyes of a parent, your child is always your baby. I think twenty years from now I will still look at my little Clara and see her big blue eyes, soft pink lips and round baby face.
I don't know how Joey and I were so lucky to be given such an incredible gift from God. Happy Birthday baby girl. We love you so much!!!
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| Clara's gift from Mommy and Daddy: A 1/32 size violin |
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| It still looks big next to her! |
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| Some post-party music |
