Clara and Chloe - best friends, worst enemies. They played, they yelled, they pushed, they shoved the usual dramatics ensued. We spread out our picnic lunch and the girls were kinda sorta eating and mostly getting up and running around in between bites. Then Chloe decides to run towards the wading pool... there are no kids at all today swimming so the life guards were all hanging out inside...of course it takes me a few moments to haul my butt off the grass to go after the two rascals. When I turned the corner I see the two little imps sprinting strainght into the water fully dressed wearing their shoes squeeling in delight!!! What a picture it was. I went in after them (took the time to pull up my pant legs first) and brought back to sopping wet happy two year olds.

Of course the story does not end there. I get the girls back, we take off their wet clothes and start packing up the picinc. Guess who takes a second run at it??? Yup, back in the water they went. I was kinda pissed off because we'd agreed to let them swim since they obviously didn't mind the cold water and they still took off and ignored our mommy yells to STOP!!! So, after the second dip I said no swimming and took Clara home (Chloe's mom also took her home). So there we are on a city bus with Clara wearing nothing more than a tank top and diaper and soaking wet clothes and shoes hanging off the stroller and me with my pants wet up to my knees (I forgot to pull them up the second time in!)

Clara's 2nd Birthday

Clara had three yes, THREE birthday parties this year. Yikes, how are we going to top that??

Well, this year for the first time I celebrated the 4th of July. Just to be clear, I am Canadian but this year I celebrated a different kind of independence day... it was Clara's 1st birthday!!!

I can't believe my baby is 1, I kinda feel like crying and smiling just by writing it down! Clara B spent her first birthday doing pretty much what we do everyday; playing, eating, trying to clean, etc. but today we had a big PARTY!!! We had too many people over and had a big ole BBQ in our backyard. She had a great time; played with her cake, and took turns convincing all of her guests to follow her up and down the stairs to our balcony (it gets boring fast - trust me)!

I just can't believe a year has passed already. I remember those first days at home last Summer when everything was weird - I kept track of how often she nursed, for how long, how many wet/dirty diapers she had... Now, we just wing it every day!

Her little personality shines through now without question. Clara B is truely a little person all unto herself and I am such a proud and lucky Mama to have gotten the chance to enjoy her for a full 365 days - I just can't wait to see what the next year will bring us!

Clara is One

Clara's Birth Day