Clayton is 1 year old!

I can't believe it, but Clayton is 1 year old.
He isn't walking yet, but he is cruising around the furniture like a pro. I think he'll start walking when he forgets and lets go. He has the balance, but not the confidence. He also can climb like you wouldn't believe he pulls himself up onto chairs, tables, and anything else that will stand still. As for verbal development he 'says' some words like 'stinky', 'no', and 'dada', but his most impressive feat is the way he sings "Diego, Diego, Diego, Go Diego, Go" from the show's theme song. He doesn't enunciate the words very well, but he is pitch perfect on the melody.

Get Out Of Bed Sleepy Head

So this morning I had let Clara sleep in for a while, but Clay and I decided it was time for her to rise and shine. I let Clayton wake her up... she can be kind of grumpy with me, but not so much with him.  This first picture his him trying to say "shhhhh" with his finger in front of his mouth.

Ah-ha... target acquired!

Shhhh... you have to approach the subject with caution.

And now....ATTACK

Success!

 

Once everyone was awake, the playing began...

Its Fall

Fall is officially here. The weather is cooler, the days are getting shorter, but most importantly the leaves are falling. Today I decided to tackle some of the raking with my trusty side-kicks.

So, Clara enjoyed this a little more than Clay.  Here is a picture of him ready to come in!

Playtime with Paw-paw

Clayton has really started to take up with his Paw-paw. Here is a little video of some of their fun and games.

Just a Little Bit of History Repeating

So many, many moons ago (think 1991), my little brother created his own snow storm inside his bedroom using baby powder. I was 12 at the time, but I still remember clearly walking into his room and seeing him squeezing the powder bottle with glee through a dusty white plum of the stuff. Given this memory, you would think I would have been more careful where I left the powder after the kids bath tonight, but...

Apparently, poor Pluto had the dusting of a lifetime. I vacuumed everything up as best as I could. Including vacuuming Pluto himself, but when I tossed him across the room into the toy bin he still made a puff of powder when he landed.

Playing in the Tower

Clara and Clayton had a great afternoon playing on their tower toys. I was fortunate to have the camera both close at hand and charged so I filmed some of their fun. I can't tell you how much I enjoy watching them interact.

 






Also heard today (but not caught on film) was Clara's new excuse for everything - I'm just pretending:
Clara: Mom, you so crazy!
Me: Clara, it's not nice to call your Mom crazy.
Clara: Oh, Mom, I just pretending.
But what was great was the sarcastic attitude she had during the exchange. Boy am I in trouble.

Mossy Creek Festival

Yesterday Grandma Dayna, Grandma Selma and I took the kids to the Mossy Creek Festival in Perry, GA.  It is a rustic arts and crafts festival.  Clara enjoyed the petting zoo and her first horseback ride.  The petting zoo was a nice cap to our latest school lessons about farm life. Clayton liked riding up front in the double stroller where he could flirt with passers-by and see all of the action. 

 I've never seen a tortoise at a petting zoo before, but Clara liked this one...

 

 The bunnies weren't to interested in the food Clara had to offer.

 This turkey was the scariest of the animals in my opinion.  Every once in a while it would stick its neck out and gobble really loudly without any warning.  But even though it startled me, it didn't phase Clara.

 Clay didn't come in the petting zoo, but he did have a great place to watch with Grandma Dayna.

 

 Did I mention he really wanted in with us...

 Clara really liked her first horse ride.  A few of the kids got a little scared when they were lifted onto the horses, but not my little trooper.

 

 

 Clara and Grandma Selma taking a little break from all of the walking.

 Clay riding up big and tall in the double stroller (thanks, Kelly).

 Peek-a-boo!

Clayton is 10 months old

So, Clay is now 10 months old. He is amazing and doing very well. Physically, he is crawling everywhere very fast, pulling up on furniture (or me if I stand still), cruising around the furniture, but not walking yet. He can balance standing up for a second or two, but then sits down so he can start crawling to his next destination.

He has 4 teeth (2 center bottoms and two vampire fangs on top), but I think the 2 top centers will be in soon. His gums are pretty white up there and he has been a little fussier than usual, which I hope to attribute to teething.

With his 4 teeth he eats just about anything...crackers, apple slices, mac and cheese, corn dogs, pickles, pizza, fajita beef. OK, that doesn't make his diet look too balanced, but that is just a sampling. Basically he will gnaw on whatever I'll give him. And he still nurses, but mostly for comfort. But boy does he find it comforting.

He baby babbles a lot. His favorite 'words': Dada, no (which he pronounces do), and occasionally a bye-bye accompanied with a little wave. He also likes to squeal...a lot. Whenever he gets excited or wants my attention he will scream the shrill little squeal and then smile at me looking very proud at the noise he has made and his ability to get my attention.

My favorite thing about him right now is that he is getting more interactive with Clara. He watches everything she does and tries to imitate a lot of her actions. They are starting to play together, and Clara has even told me he is her best friend (along with Aidan and Mei-Mei).

Having two children close together in age hasn't been the easiest decision to live with as a nearly single parent (Patrick is still gone in Sacramento and has been since the end of April, but should be home for a visit in November), but one of the main reasons we wanted to have our children close in age was the hope that it would foster a close relationship between them. So far, that seems to be the case, and it warms my heart to see them enjoy each other.

All tied up

So, what have we been up to lately (since it obviously hasn't been blogging)? Well a few weekends ago we had our multi-generational family garage sale. Here is what that looked like:

And this last weekend I went to a community fair in Jackson, GA with my mom, grandma, and kiddos. The one thing that I saw that I really liked were hairbows for Clara, but man were they spendy. And being as crafty as I am, I said to myself, "Self, you could make bows for Clara at a fraction of the cost" and after spending about 3x what a bow costs on supplies I've managed to make this:

But on the bright side I have tons of left over materials and will be able to make many more; both for Clara and possibly to sell at the next consignment sale I participate in.

Mom painted my hallway for me during the garage sale...we sort of hid out in the house while Dad and Grandma worked the crowd... the painting (and the kids) gave us a nice excuse to stay inside.  And speaking of kids, they are still doing great.  Growing, playing, laughing and learning.  I may be going crazy trying to keep up with them, but we are having a fun trip to the nut house.