Exactly one year ago today, I began to go into labor with Claire. Sure, we were sent home from the hospital at first, but we returned 10 hours later to be immediately admitted and our Claire Emmanuelle was born at 9:35pm on September 30, 2010.

I can’t believe my little girl will be turning 1 tomorrow.

J and I have been astounded by Claire’s growth — both physical and mental — in the past couple of weeks. J’s parents, like most grandparents, were concerned that she was not eating enough when they arrived. As a result, they have been feeding her like crazy…she now eats two bowls of congee in a sitting and has gotten a bit chubbier in the process. We’re pretty sure she has shot up vertically too, which will be confirmed when we go in for her 1-year checkup.

Claire has also been picking up things much faster than before. For example, a couple of weeks ago I noticed her observing me as I combed my hair. When I handed her the comb, she started to comb her own hair…and as I leaned forward she reached up to comb my hair too! She has also recently started to grab tissues and napkins to “clean” surfaces, attempt to play fetch with Comang, and imitate facial expressions, body motions, and sounds just after seeing/hearing it once.

Additionally, she is starting to do things that we can’t figure out where she picked up. Earlier this week, we received a toy present that had a old-fashioned phone receiver on it. Without our prompting, she immediately picked it up and held it up to her ears. We were absolutely dumbfounded, because we do not have a regular phone in the house. (Just in case you were wondering, she has been holding our cell phones to her ears for quite some time now. Perhaps she saw an old-fashioned phone receiver on TV?)

And while she has been dancing along to music for months now, she is now adding funny facial expressions and arm movements to her repertoire. Just last weekend, she was hanging out with her Auntie Annie when she started dancing like she was in a rap video…

I love her more than words can say.

As for BebeDeux, I am now 35 weeks along in the pregnancy and feeling quite uncomfortable. I will not run through my list of symptoms again, but suffice it to say that my own mother has told me repeatedly that it pains her to see me like this, and is pressuring me to get my tubes tied!

While I may be in discomfort, BebeDeux continues to do fine in the womb. She is measuring exactly on target (Claire was like this too, so I am thinking that she will be about the same size when she is born), and is head down and rear-facing, which is the optimal position for birth. According to the doctor, I have a very healthy supply of amniotic fluid and placental tissue. And with my blood pressure continuing to stay exactly at 100/60, in conjunction with my passing every test they throw at me, the doc tells me that I have nothing to worry about.

I was finally able to take an updated belly shot yesterday. (You can kinda see my ombre dye job here too…unfortunately, I have not had opportunities where someone could take a picture of my hair in good, natural lighting.)

Unfortunately, I do not a belly shot at 35 weeks with Claire to compare this to, but looking through my archives, my belly seemed to have stopped growing at around 33 weeks and I think the same may go for BebeDeux as well. It’s funny, because my MIL thinks that my stomach is too small for this stage in the pregnancy and is always trying to get me to eat more. Meanwhile, my mother thinks that I am once again getting too big and urges me to keep moving around despite my hip pains.

I can’t believe there’s only about a month left until we get to meet BebeDeux! We still haven’t done, or purchased anything for her arrival yet. It’s time to get cracking!