Two

Two years ago today my life was forever changed. Miss Clara Joanne was born. This time last year I spent a lot of time reflecting. And even more time (if that's possible), creating a fun and memorable first birthday party. You may remember it.

This year I have again done some reflecting. Birthdays seem like a natural time to slow down a bit - to think back on the happenings of the past year - and to celebrate what is in store for the year to come. But I must admit, I have felt guilt at times over the lack of time/effort/energy devoted to the Claranator on this 2nd birthday. I've likely set myself up for many guilt-ridden birthdays in the future after her 1st birthday party. If only I would've known this last year. I might have toned it down a bit ;).

Thankfully our delight in Clara is not proportional to the time I spent birthday planning. Our sweet girl brings more joy to life than I ever thought possible in the days before she was born - and even what I imagined a year ago.

A few months ago I asked Jonathan if he could come up with one word to describe Clara. I, of course, had given it plenty of thought and was happy about my choice. In just a few seconds (which is quite fast for my deep-thinking, slow-processing husband), he said, "that's easy: bright". Which was, ironically, my same word.

bright

-adjective

1. radiating or reflecting light; luminous; shining: The bright coins shone in the gloom.

2. filled with light: The room was bright with sunshine.

3. vivid or brilliant: a bright red dress, bright passages of prose.

4. quick-witted or intelligent: They gave promotions to bright employees.

You can't sum her up any better than that, I think. And the really great thing? Clara actually means "clear, bright". I know, we picked the perfect name. Or did she just grow into her name? I've never been a big meaning of names kind of girl. I may have just become one.

Here are just a few tidbits about our little two year old. Entirely random little things:

*She is social. Like really social. She loves giving hugs and sometimes doesn't have a great idea of "personal space". This can be a problem when she interacts with more "space conscious" little ones, like her cousin. She also has this crazy aptitude to remember names. On the way to Kindermusik last week, she started listing off kids I hadn't even remembered were in her class. Upon our arrival to class, Clara proceeded to hug all her classmates, and even ran to greet one little boy by name (whom I had, again, forgotten). Oh my. My mom tells stories of me as a toddler, asking little girls to "be my fwend" at the park all the time. This may prove interesting over time.

*She LOVES music. This, again, is no surprise. She has loved it all along. What I am absolutely eating up lately, is how singing has become such a part of our daily routine. Clara can match nearly any random song to whatever activity we may be doing. Putting on shoes? How about Shoe shoe, how do you do? The toast coming up? Pop goes the weasel, of course. Passing a grassy field? Walking in the green grass. And then there is the song she sings at any dull moment, which is Go round the mountain (not to be confused with She'll be coming round the mountain)You haven't heard of it? You're really missing out.

My new favorite thing - in the music category - is listening to her sing her way to sleep. It's quite hysterical. We left her at a friend's house to attend a concert last week and we returned to a "wow, Clara definitely likes to sing in her pack and play" comment. I'm really hoping the singing doesn't stop for a long time.

*Her eating has improved exponentially. I re-read my post last year and am so glad our picky eater has almost entirely disappeared. She certainly has her preferences, but she will try almost everything - and eat a surprising list of food. Her favorites? She asks for tuna and pickles and nearly every meal (no, I don't give them to her every time). She's never met a fruit she hasn't liked. Pizza is certainly a hot item. But so is curry, veggies with some kind of "dip", spinach and seaweed, and scrambled eggs. She loves scrambled eggs. Oh, and of course she loves sweets. Surprise, surprise. We are still limiting them, but it's getting more challenging! I also wanted to point out two special features of the Claranator when it comes to eating. #1. If she likes something, she consumes quickly. If I placed a cup of crackers between her and her cousin, she would eat about nine before her cousin finished her first one. #2. She audibly lets you know when she's eating something she likes. As she chews she makes this "mmm" kind of purr. I've grown accustomed to it - but a friend pointed it out again to me at a play date last week. Pretty ridiculous. And cute.

*If she could live outside all day long, she would. Every day, multiple times a day, she asks to go to the park. And I'm convinced if I ever left the door open, she would be outside and running down the sidewalk before I had the chance to say "hippo". I actually have some serious fears about her speed and desire to go after what she wants. She does not understand streets and cars in the least - it's the highest item on my agenda in the coming weeks!

*She continues to have quite the tenderness towards her daddy. Maybe it's the fact that it's all fun and games from the second he gets home to the second she goes to bed. She can barely contain her excitement once we finish dinner. Can we play outside? Make a ramp? Draw a picture? Go for a bike ride? The fun had with daddy is basically limitless. The daddy/daughter official dates are starting to emerge around here - and I, personally, love it.

*Up until a few months ago, Clara was not much of a cuddle bug. She'd always fallen to sleep without rocking - and I usually let her cry herself back to sleep if she awoke early in the morning or from a nap. It was never a long, torturous cry, and she was such a great sleeper (she still is). But lately, a few times a week she'll wake early from her nap and cry "mama, mama, mama". And I've been giving in. But the great part about that is that she'll crawl into my arms in the chair and fall back asleep. Sometimes for as long as an hour. Some days I'm thinking of all the things I could be accomplishing during that hour - but most days I'm savoring the cuddles and taking a little snooze myself ;). Maybe after being the very scheduled, nap nazi, I am just realizing my little girl is getting so big - and way too fast?! I don't think there is anything better than a sleeping little girl on your chest. So I'll savor the moments for now.

*The questions have started coming. For now they are mostly, "what's this". I'm trying to teach her to say "who's this" when asking about a person. We'll get there. The funny this is that I've already been stumped a few times. Like when she pointed to this strange yard machine at the hardware store. Or a small plant of sorts that I didn't recognize. I anticipate this will only get harder.

*Books are still her favorite "toy" probably. She loves anything by Sandra Boynton, and knows most by heart (and of course I could recite them in my sleep too). She's starting to have the attention span to read Dr. Suess and my new favorite series of all (thanks to Carly's recommendation), Read Aloud Bible Stories. So good. I get excited just thinking about some of the books she'll start enjoying in the future.

*She's started to have a few melt-down moments and showing her just about two side. These mostly happen when leaving the car cart at the grocery store (new moms - steer clear of these for as long as humanly possible), leaving the park, or getting into the car when she'd rather be pulling her red wagon. I'm learning new strategies that avoid these lovely events. Mostly, if I give her warning and let her "kiss the slide, the swings, the car cart, and the wagon goodbye", she is okay. But she has started testing boundaries more and more. Wanting to see if mom and dad are really serious when they say no. It has made parenting all the more an adventure. We're learning as we go (don't we all?), and are doing our best to stay consistent and compassionate. Let the fun begin!

And that, folks, is our Clarabelle. There is much more, but a mom has to stop somewhere, right?

On to the party! This year the goal was to simplify. I'm not certain that was accomplished. Maybe it was in terms of preparation, but not necessarily in number of guests. Example: Uncle Trav was in town since KKI is hosting an event at the Bing tomorrow night. He didn't have individual transportation to the party, so if we wanted Trav to come, we also got six bonus party guests. So seven extra Bloomsday finishers joined our post-Bloomsday brunch party in pale yellow style.

We crammed right in to our cozy home and it worked out well. Funny that in the end we could've celebrated outside since the day was so lovely. But one never knows what to expect from a May 3rd Spokane day. Rain? Wind? Snow? All three? So we played it safe. Maybe next year we'll try for a park celebration again.

We kept the food quite simple. No six layers of rainbow fondant cake for us this year. Just these lovely cinnamon rolls, frittatas, and plenty of fresh strawberries. Ironically, when asked what she wanted for her birthday, Clara could only come up with one answer: cake. And she didn't even get her wish. While she was consuming her cinnamon roll at rapid speed, I'm not sure she was disappointed. There will be plenty of cake in her future, I can guarantee that. But it's not every day that one receives a very first pioneer woman cinnamon roll.

This year we splurged on what is probably the only new toy she's received to date from mom and dad (I honestly can't think of any other toy we've gotten new?): a vintage wooden kitchen. And she loves it. The first thing she made? Cookies for her beetle. I'm not joking. She has this beetle obsession (I'm sure I'll post about this later). I'm focusing on her kind heart - sharing her first batch of birthday kitchen cookies - and not on the part about a creepy beetle.

Some close friends and family came to celebrate with us - including my Aunt Gayle from Colorado and Uncle T (and crew) from Cali. Everyone showered Clara with lots of love. Thank you all!

And that basically summarizes our day. It was (mostly) simple and quite lovely.

Here are just a few from our simple pizza dinner from today. We had Anna, Aaron and Sophia over - as well as Kelly and Norah (they couldn't make her Sunday party). Is it just me or does Clara all of the sudden look like a two year old today? So big and so full of life.

Now I just need a little more time to let it sink in that I have a two year old. Wow. She's a joy and a gift. A bright light. And I am thankful for her every day!