Happy Birthday, Clara!

Today we celebrated one year that Clara has been making her mark on the world. Being a weekday, we couldn't do anything super-special (Mario had to work, of course). However, I invited my friend Sheila and her daughter to spend the day with us.

After the girls had breakfast, we walked to the playground in the Alameda. For the first time in weeks, Clara's swing was free (the only piece of play equipment she is able to enjoy). We hung out by the swings, watching Katya and Sheila try out all the other stairs and slides.

Clara was just about finished with the swing when a class of second-graders came to the park for recess. They started flirting with us from a distance with shouts of "Hello!" "Hello!" What's you name?" "Hello!" A few kids got a big more adventurous and asked a number of questions, especially about Clara. Once they found out it was her first birthday, they got really excited and sang her both "Las Mananitas" and the Happy Birthday song. After that, they got really friendly and Clara decided she was a bit overwhelmed. I thought it was pretty cute.

On the way home, both girls zonked out and continued to sleep for an hour once we were home. Awesome. When they woke up, we had macaroni and cheese for lunch (Clara's new favorite) and then we went to the patio to play until both Katya's and Clara's dads came home.

Once Mario came home, we sang her Happy Birthday again, I tried to teach her how to blow out a candle (but she didn't catch on at all), and we attacked the cherry cake. Despite all the sugar, she was more than ready for bed and out by 7:30.

But before she crashed, she did want to share with her admirers her thoughts on the significance of being able to count her age in years, instead of just weeks for months.