Clara 3.5 years

Earlier this month Clara turned 3.5 years old! I thought it would be fun (and beneficial for the sake of this mommy's memory) to dedicate a post to our biggest girl at this point in her development. Throwing it back monthly update style with a few new categories that are part of her daily life today.

Loves. . . riding carousels, watching Daniel Tiger, swinging, bouncing on her bottom, snuggling in mommy and daddy's bed, playing in a big bed of pillows, light up toys that play music, taking a bath, chewing on anything and everything, watching twinkle lights, running over to us and snuggling on the couch when we yell "Cuddle Monkey," eating berries and drinking milk, watching fish swim in an aquarium, climbing the ladder and sliding at school, exploring wide open spaces, being tickled, "playing" the piano, and just being too darn cute for words!!

Does not love. . . the happy birthday song, loud/unexpected noises, when we have to clean her face after a meal, when Camille gets too up close and personal, when Camille is too loud, walking long distances, eating vegetables (although have no fear, we sneak em in!!), and kids screaming.

Sleeping habits. . . She no longer naps on weekdays due to her school schedule, but occasionally naps on the weekends. During the week she goes down for bed about 7:30pm and wakes about 7-7:30am. It is common for her to wake up in the middle of night, about 3-5 times a week, and just play in her bed until she gets sleepy again. She is usually up for 1-2 hours and then just falls back asleep. We hear this is a common issue with special needs/Cohens children.

We transitioned her to a toddler bed this past weekend. It is going as expected. Friday night was awful, Saturday night was awesome, and last night was just O-K. I took lots of pictures and documented the entire thing the past few days, but you know that thing when you think you've uploaded pictures from your phone onto your computer so you then delete them from your phone but they aren't really on your computer for some odd reason??? Yeah . . . that. Post to come. If I ever find my poor, lost pictures. 

Eating habits. . . She is a great eater! Her favorites are any type of fruit, especially berries, bananas and/or avocados, noodles w/ spaghetti sauce, ravioli, and chicken nuggets/meatballs.

Development. . . She is working so hard, all day, everyday. She has a long list of goals, but here are the most pressing: fine motor (things like using her fork independently, holding a pencil and scribbling, etc) gross motor (climbing stairs and like tasks), communication (responding to name, responding to basic directives, making choices via pointing and PECS), peer interaction, and mental comprehension (identifying matching items in a group, identifying family members in a group, etc).

Daily routine. . . During the week I wake her at 7:30am if she is still asleep, she attends school from 8:30am - 3:00pm, then home to play until dinner between 5-5:30pm and bed around 7:15-7:30pm. Weekends are more flexible since she is able to nap for a few hours and stay up later in the evenings.

Private therapy schedule/Regular Dr appts . . . Weekly speech therapy where each week she rotates working on PECS and oral motor function (well, until a few weeks ago when insurance said no more sessions until 2016, not ok, blog post for another day), quarterly occupational therapy or on an as needed basis, and 6.5 hours of ABA therapy a day via school. She sees her eye doctor every three months to check for retinal dystrophy, and also receives the VEP eye exam every six months.

Adventures. . . CT trip in October, field trip to Dewberry Farms with her class a few weeks ago, and upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities with both sides of the family!

And another throwback. . .  to baby Clara. . . HOW WAS SHE EVER THIS SMALL???

Happy 3.5 years, Claire Bear! You are pure joy!