The Green Goblin

Clara and I just had a huge success this week that I wanted to share with you all! I've been kind of concerned/just sort of noticed that Clara doesn't play independently with her toys very well. For example - it seemed that for most of her playpen time she would suck her thumb and stare at the ceiling. Or, I would have her hang out in the living room while I'm cooking dinner/doing chores and she would very obediently respect the boundaries I set up, but just stand right at the edge and stare at me. When I went to the Growing Kids class last weekend, our leader talked to me about blanket time - where the kidlet hangs out on the blanket with a toy or two. Lo and behold, blanket time is just what Clara needed! Its crazy, the blanket takes up probably 80% of the floor space she had been given the freedom to have before, but now she just sits contentedly upon the blanket and Plays with her toys. Reads her books, talks to her baby, rolls around totally self-entertained! It is amazing how profoundly she responded to having her boundaries reigned in a little bit. It's the coolest! And, we went to story time at the library for the first time ever yesterday. It falls smack dab in the middle of her morning nap, but, all in all, I'd call it a success! She had a hard time sitting in my lap/paying attention the entire time (mostly, I think, because it was during nap time) but I'm thinking about bringing a blanket for her to sit on and see if we have more success with that. Anyways, fun times!

Here are some pics from this morning. Clara's wearing her new pea green velvety jumpsuit she got from her Nana for Christmas - we're moving into 24 mo clothing! (At her last checkup Clara was in the 90-95% for height!)

Strollin' in the neighborhood, taking advantage of the melt we had last weekend

I'm so in love with her cold noses and cheeks!

Hangin' in her Favorite chair - she's so good at getting in and out All By Herself
(what a big girl!)