2-year check-up

Today we went to see Dr. Rufa for our 2 year check up. We haven't seen Dr. Rufa since Riley's 18-month appointment back in March so we were a little nervous as to how Riley would act in the doctor's office. When I picked Riley up from daycare I informed her again that we were heading to see Dr. Rufa. She told me that Dr. Rufa was going to check her heart just like Dora does to Boots in the "Doctor Dora" episode of Dora the Explorer. So we talked the whole ride about what would happen at the doctors.

Riley did so great!!! She told Dr. Rufa about her Dora birthday party, about her cake and about what presents she got for her birthday. She let Dr. Rufa listen to her heart and then Dr. Rufa let Riley listen to her own heart. Of course there is the best part of going to the doctor for us which are finding out Riley's stats. One thing we do know is that she is tall and skinny (this definitely doesn't come from mommy's genes) and she has a "good size noggin" according to Dr. Rufa!

Head: 19.75 inches (97th percentile)
Height: 36 inches (93rd percentile)
Weight: 28lbs 12oz. (75th percentile)

Riley received 3 (yes 3) shots: Prevnar, Hepatitis A and her flu shot. She also had to get a second lead test. And while Riley wasn't a fan of the shots or getting blood drawn, she handled everything so well. Our little girl is grown!

Here she is, so proud of her battle wounds!

My 2nd Birthday

I celebrated my second year of life yesterday and what a great time I had!! I woke up in the morning to a living room filled with Dora presents! A playhut, a couch and a bat and ball - all Dora themed, it was awesome!


After opening and playing with my new presents from mommy and daddy it was off to Babcha and Pop's house for my Dora the Explorer Birthday Bash!! Mommy and daddy got me a bounce house for the party too - and you couldn't get me out of it!


I received TONS of cool presents. It's hard to pick a favorite because they're all so awesome.


We had cake and you guessed it Dora and Boots were on it. The cake was so delicious.


When the party was over we went home and had some yummy cupcakes that mommy made. She even put Dora candies on them...such a sugar high!


What a fun, fun birthday! I was so happy to have so many friends and family gather for my day. I can't wait to see what kind of party mommy and daddy have in store for me next year...I'm thinking live animals or maybe a fire eater!!!

To see more of my birthday party pictures and professional birthday pictures click on this link here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=244477&id=669006095&l=e645b908a0

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Today is my birthday! I am 2!! Can you believe that it's been 2 whole years??? Just take a peek at how I've changed over the past 2 years on the mornings of my birthday!

Wow - who remembers this scary moment on the day I was born? ~ 8/21/08

My 1st birthday morning ~ 8/21/09

This morning opening my Dora-filled birthday presents!!! ~ 8/21/10

I promise that before the weekend is over I will blog about my Dora themed birthday party...stay tuned!!

Notice the change??

I decided today that we needed to change the name of our blog from "Baby Clark" to "Life with the Clarks." Why the change? Well our baby is not a baby anymore. In a few short days our "baby" will be 2, and it's not really fair to continue to call her something she very much isn't! So today I accept the fact that my baby is a little lady and revel in how lucky I am to be her mommy.

Happy Birthday Dora!!

Today is Dora the Explorer's birthday! Riley absolutely adores Dora, so how could we not help her celebrate Dora's birthday??

We had cupcakes, lit the candles and sang Happy Birthday to Dora.


Then it was time to watch Dora's Big Birthday Adventure.


Riley kept cheering about it being Dora's birthday!


Riley got to stay up late to watch the show and danced around the living room when it was all over. Riley loved celebrating Dora's birthday and it has only made her more excited about celebrating her own birthday on Saturday.

Happy 10th Birthday Dora!!!

Picnic Time

Who doesn't love a picnic? We love Clark family picnics - where we stay in the air conditioned house, we don't have to deal with bugs and we get to watch Dora's Pirate Adventure (for the 10 millionth time)!! Only downfall is that Riley expects every meal to be a picnic - and it's hard to explain to an almost 2-year-old that a spaghetti picnic would just be too messy!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

I just wanted to take a minute to say a big, huge "THANK YOU" to my parents. As some may know, our brand new camera broke while on vacation back in June. While Jeremy and I wait for the return of our camera we have been using my parents camera to capture all of Riley's special moments. This means they have been without a camera for several weeks, and while I am sure they miss their camera I think they would miss Riley's blog posts even more!! So thank you mom and dad for the use of your camera - Riley may not realize how important these moments are now, but I know when she is older she will be grateful that we were able to show her growth and accomplishments through pictures that she can have for a lifetime. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

We didn't forget, did you?

A few weeks back I posted a blog about the steps Riley was going to take to become a big girl. So here is an update on those steps:

Step 1: Riley has been sipping from a straw cup since the day it was introduced to her. Even better, Riley now also drinks from a cup, no sippy, no straw. We do give her a straw cup most of the day, but snack time and sometimes dinner she gets a big girl cup.

Step 2: Riley has adjusted well to sleeping in her big girl bed. She sleeps in it every night and naps in it during the day.

Step 3: We pretty much use underwear or pull-ups these days. And while Riley is still not the most consistent potty goer, she does a pretty good job most days!

Step 4: Getting rid of the pacifier. Well Riley promised that when she turns 2 she would give it up - but we have begun the weaning process and she seems to not have noticed!! She now only uses the pacifier for nap and bedtime.

Initially I thought 7 weeks was ambitious - but now I see that with a mere 3 weeks until Riley turns 2, nothing is impossible!!

Riley's a-MAZE-ing weekend!

The past few weekends have been so busy with other plans, that we finally got in a weekend with some good quality family time.

Yesterday we headed out to Owasco Lake. Babcha, Pop and Uncle Matt came with us. We had a so much fun spending time together. We played on the playground, in the sand and went for a nice long walk. What a fun time!!

Today we decided to go to the new Sunflower Maze in Camillus. Riley had so much fun at the "sunny garden." She led us in and out of the maze. She even left with her very own sunflower.



It was so hot at the maze that we decided to treat ourselves to ice cream. We headed to Friendly's for Riley's very first hot fudge sundae. While she actually was not a fan of the hot fudge, she enjoyed her sundae.

As if ice cream wasn't enough, we came home and Riley helped me make some cookies. She is a good helper.

Riley's latest obsession - pink lemonade! Of course we don't really let her have it, I mean with this child the sugar is not needed, but on occasion she is allowed to enjoy the finer things!! :)

Barefoot Contessa, move over for the Barechested Contessa!!! Riley likes to wear minimal clothes while playing - guess they get in the way (but I do recommend that you wear a shirt while cooking)!!

Riley also ate her first chicken enchilada today. She scarfed down an entire enchilada (well the insides only) but she loved it!


And for dessert - the cookies that she helped me make and a glass of milk!


What a fun weekend, spending time with my little family is always the highlight of my day!!