This past week has been hell for me — not only was am I ill with a cold, Aerin has suddenly become super clingy with me. For instance, I’ll be standing behind her and she’ll start screaming because she can’t see me. I can’t even pee in peace because she’ll be trying to climb all over me.

J and I call her “mommy’s creepy stalker” because she literally follows me everywhere and wants to know what I’m doing at all times. 

If you’re a parent, I’m sure you’ve seen this viral picture by now.

They say that I should cherish these moments. And as much as I hate to admit it — because I’ve never been much for physical affection and she is really starting to annoy me — I know that I will. Just last month, when she got sick and refused to sleep in her crib, I would take her blankie and wrap it around her, holding her tight as we both dozed off on the couch. This is exactly what I did with Claire for the first 2 months of her life because it way the only way she would sleep. And holding Aerin like that really brought back those memories…I found myself feeling nostalgic.

Little A’s starting to become more and more confident with her walking. At the beginning of last week, she was 20% walking and 80% crawling. And within just a week, those numbers have reversed. She still wobbles and falls a lot, but you can tell that she’s starting to prefer walking to crawling and that she’s quite enjoying it.

I really need to get a video of her walking because she walks like a zombie: unsteadily with her arms held out. Sometimes, we’ll tell Claire that her little sister is chasing her (which prompts her to squeal and start running away) and we’ll sit back and laugh at the scene that unfolds because it looks like a zombie attack.

And here’s the second picture I’m using from How to Be a Dad.

Claire, on the other hand, is really starting to come out of her shell and has started to be much more outgoing. She’s turning out to be quite a sassy girl; although her vocabulary is still limited, we can understand what she’s trying to say most of the time and we’re constantly amazed by her wittiness and sense of humor.

She’s become quite a chatterbox lately, and likes to narrate whatever is happening at the moment, or whatever is playing on TV. This can get pretty tiresome because she’ll keep calling your name until you acknowledge what she’s said. 🙄 At the same time, I can’t help but be proud of my little girl for having such keen sense of observation.

She also wants me to read everything to her. Even the copyright information in books and nutrition labels on food! And I don’t know how she knows it, but she can somehow manage to tell if I skim through it or skip around — she’ll promptly ask me to read it again.

A recent funny:

Me:  What are you doing with your rubber fishies?

Claire:  I’m giving them a bubble bath!

A few minutes later…

Me:  What are you doing with them now?

Claire:  I’m cooking them! Ha ha ha! (evil laugh)

Claire still has some trouble sharing with her little sister, and we’ve been patiently trying to teach her to be more generous with her toys. (“Isn’t it more fun playing with others than just by yourself?” or, “Your little sister likes you so much that she always wants to do what you’re doing!” or, “Why don’t you teach your sister how to play with this?”)

They’re boh such stubborn little girls that it can get ugly when they butt heads. What will usually end up happening is that Aerin will run to me in tears while Claire will throw herself to the ground in full tantrum mode. But sometimes, I am able to distract them both with a song.

Here’s our little performance of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” — Claire’s a lot better with the cues when I’m doing the dance along with her, but I was taking the video. (Please excuse my off-key singing…I have a cold!)

Aren’t they just the cutest?