Clara's Blog

I went to see Dr. Jim on Friday. The office is pretty neat. They have toys that we don't have at home and some fish. There are also babies and girls there - and I love that. One little girl played peek-a-boo with me and I had to tell Daddy about that again and again.

Anyway, Dr. Jim says I'm growing really well. I'm still really tall - a little more than 33 inches! I also weigh more than average but I'm not as heavy as I am tall. I'm about 25.5 pounds. (26 after pasta or pizza or burritos, haha). My head is 48.4 centimeters but I haven't learned the metric system yet so I don't know what that means.

Dr. Jim asked Mommy how many words I say and she had no idea. Mommy and Daddy started a list after my appointment. They didn't count my "special" words that I kind of make up but they counted names and they came up with 25. Of course, I say A LOT more than that but they just don't understand all of my words yet! That doesn't count all my signs which are really great for telling stories. I know lots of animal signs so I can tell Daddy what happened at the zoo.

Oh, did I mention they gave me shots again? Well, they did! Shots hurt! I cried. I forgave the nurse pretty quickly, though, and stopped crying like a brave girl. I turned down the cookie and took a pretzel. Mommy took me back to see my fish friends before we left.

I didn't feel very well all weekend...between the shots and my molars STILL coming in, I am feeling pretty icky. I still had fun times, though, like going to OMSI with Dad and blowing bubbles with Mom.

Okay, enough from me. Watch out for nurses with needles! Run!

I had a GREAT Thanksgiving. Mommy made a big turkey breast and a bunch of food but we stopped by Nate and Nicky's house (they are friends of Uncle Todd's and now friends of me). They have two cats and a dog! And fish! I was way too excited to eat. Mommy and Daddy took turns eating while I explored. It was really great. There were a bunch of nice ladies that liked to hold me too. I couldn't really ask for more! Except maybe Flash (the awesome dog) should have come home with us.

Mommy and Daddy were so full that they had salad for dinner at home and we had another Thanksgiving (with only our animals) on Saturday night. It was yummy but I kept wondering where they put the salsa and cheese!

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Mommy and I went to the zoo again. I had a great time. My very favorite animals were the cougars (same as last time). They like to sleep really close to the window so I can see them. The last time a young female cougar named Chinook was the only one in the window but this time she had a friend. After I see them, I like to sign "cat" and "sleep" and "cat" and "sleep" again and again.

I also REALLY like the owl. I can say "owl" easily because it is one syllable but "cougar" is harder. I just say "cooo" or do my cat sign. Mom and Dad know the cat sign better than "coooo". I also got really excited when I saw a swinging monkey. When I tell Mom about that one, I say "sssssssss" and sign "monkey." When we visited the sea lions, I think it was their lunch time because they came out of the water and made LOUD noises. I can make the noise too!

I think our new bedrooms might be done for Thanksgiving. It's still kind of a mess but it all looks much better already!!



Speaking of Thanksgiving, happy early Thanksgiving everyone!!

We had so much fun today! We went to a park and saw a bunch of friends from bike races and from Daddy's work and Momma did a muddy running race with them. Daddy and I took some pictures and cheered for everybody. I really liked visiting with Doug and Shari and everybody else. Momma ended up running with a nice man named John and it was fun to watch him follow Mom downhill and watch Mom follow him uphill. Daddy and I also visited with some very nice doggies (I got to throw a ball for a Labradoodle!), watched some kids playing soccer and we saw a squirrel up close. It was really interesting to watch it eat a nut.

After the race, we had to go straight home and nap. After my nap, though, Daddy and I went for a bike ride and got bagels and coffee. I really liked hanging out in front of Peets Coffee on Hawthorne and watching the people go by. There are lots of interesting things to see.

In other news, Paul is still working upstairs but we're hoping he'll finish next week. Maybe by then, we can stop sleeping on the pantry floor! I will try to sneak and take a photo of the sleeping set-up and post it when no one is looking. Scout will help me, I'm sure. He is good at doing sneaky things.

I am also learning more new words recently. I am into new words these days. A big one I learned last week is GIRL. I have a book called Daddy's Girl and I like to say girl and sign book to get Momma or Daddy to read it. And read it again. And again.

Talking is so cool.

It's loud around here and I'm not the only one making noise.

Well, not just me and Scout and Tux like usual. My new friend, Paul, has been making all sorts of loud noises upstairs. All the furniture is rearranged and things are starting to look really different.

Momma and Dad say that I'm going to have my own room. That's pretty neat - I am wondering if I get to decorate it with my favorite things. Dogs, cats (especially cougars and cheetahs), birds (especially ducks, planes and owls), balls, bubbles, horses, frogs, monkeys, flowers and anything else I forgot. I will have a smaller room than Momma and Dad but I will have a bigger closet than them - maybe I can fill it with flowery dresses!! That would be so cool!

Did I scare you?


As usual, we've all been very busy! Just before Halloween, we went back to Flying M Ranch. I got to see my horse friends, watch Daddy race his bike and we all dressed up! Daddy was a lamb, Momma was a doggie and I was Spot from my books. Scout was Scout. Momma gave him a break from the costumes this year.


On Halloween, we went to visit Marjon, the salon, the coffee shop and our nice neighbors Rita and Jim. It was kind of like treat or treating but it was mostly visiting. Rita is so smart - she had stuffed animals for babies that don't get to eat candy.

I'm sorry I didn't get to trick or treat at your house!