Ok, in my last post, Claudia had just turned 4 years old. The following weekend we threw her a party. It turned out wonderful. So many of our family and friends came out to celebrate and we had beautiful weather. Claudia did very well and had a great time. She even opened her own presents. We were wary about how that would go, but she quickly got the hang of it!
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| This is the cake that I made for her party. The inside of this one was also polk-a-dot (like the one I made for her actual birthday). Sadly I don't have any pictures of the inside (so if anyone has any, please send them to me) |
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| I also made cupcakes! |
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| Feeding her cake :) Thank you Ben Schoenfelder for capturing some beautiful moments! |
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| Here is my lil Claudia with my cousin Claudia! So beautiful to see them together :) |
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| Doing her favorite thing! |
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| Happy girl with her Daddy! |
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| Trying to get a family pic with this many people is near impossible! Claudia decided she would rather steal my dad's hat and put it on me :) |
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| Present time! |
Claudia got many great gifts from her family and friends, I don't think we have even taken all of them out of the boxes yet as we are quickly running out of room in our little house!
Can you believe that Claudia has already been home for OVER 6 MONTHS!!!??!!! It is incredible. I am amazed at how far she has come, I know that I say that a lot but it is soo true!
BEFORE:
When we first met Claudia, she was a frustrated little girl who was unable to express herself without hurting herself or others.
She very rarely smiled or laughed unless she was eating.
She did not like to be held and most certainly would not cuddle for very long at all.
Claudia could take only a few steps on her own and was very unsteady on her feet. She did not like to walk very far while holding hands and would tire very quickly.
Claudia was not very interested in many toys at all and it was difficult to keep her occupied. She threw everything! She was unable to keep herself occupied and required constant attention. She tried to eat crayons and when she would try to color, she would dot the page.
Developmentally she was somewhere around one year of age.
NOW:
Now, Claudia is often found smiling and giggling. She loves to look at herself in the mirror or in pictures and videos. She usually laughs when she sees herself.
She still loves her food and is slowly getting better at using utensils although she would still rather use her hands.
Claudia will often ask to be picked up by Jason or myself and enjoys it (especially when her Daddy swings her around while holding her). She still does not often like to be held by others and we are OK with that, it shows us that she has bonded with us! I can ask Claudia to cuddle with me and she willingly climbs into my lap or lays down next to me.
Claudia is walking! She can walk and turn around all on her own now. She is getting more and more stable in the grass everyday. Claudia is also exploring her independence with walking as well... sometimes when she needs to be holding our hands she does not want to. Her walking pace is getting faster all the time and she will soon be running. I think she is now walking more than crawling or bear walking.
Claudia has many toys that she plays with now and even does quite a bit of pretend play with her dolls. She is picking up on games that require skills and for her to think a little more. Claudia still likes to throw things but not quite as much as she used to. She has also learned how to use crayons much more appropriately over the last few weeks!
We believe that Claudia is developmentally reaching her "terrible two's" now. She is starting to throw short tantrums when she does not get what she wants. She knows what we ask her to do and has a very good understanding of English. When we ask her to stop doing something, she gives us "the look" haha.
Claudia amazes me every day! She continues to watch other people and imitate them. She has a very good memory and will demonstrate things she saw days ago. We are very encouraged by the progress we have seen in the last 6 months. I look forward to hearing what her teacher thinks once Claudia goes back to school. She is a totally different child!
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| Loving her car rides! |
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| Showing off her walking skills (and running away from Daddy) |
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| My little book worm! |
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| I hope she can read to us soon! |
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| Either kissing her doll or knocking heads with it (she thinks it is hilarious to knock heads with people! Thankfully she is gentle about it) |
And here is my sweet little girl walking! (Don't mind her belly sticking out... it means she is finally growing out of her 18 month clothes!)
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