18 to 22 months old, and a new haircut

Need a toddler fix for the day?
I’ve got one to share!  And in the photos, you can never hear her cry.
Which means you also can’t hear her laugh or blow a kiss “mmwah!”

So just imagine that it’s a whole lot of loud, with cuddles, some baby slobber, toothy grins, and running around like a wild woman…to keep up with the big kids.
That’s the Clara gist.
We just love this girl.
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And I can’t believe that in 2 months she will be 2 years old!  What?
I miss the monthly updates I did the first year of her life so I had to recap this snippet in time.  Because it’s fun to go back and see how she’s grown.

And today she’s miss independent.

[who still needs her paci]

…who loves to wrestle with dad, jump on the trampoline, and wave hi and bye to anyone (or anything) she sees.

She’s into everything.

And I’m having that a-ha realization, that if you have all your kids close together in age, it’s chaos at the start but then they begin to play well with each other.  And they’re into the same toys and projects at the same time.  At least that’s how Lucy and Owen are (21 months apart) and it’s fabulous.  But then there’s a 4 year gap between Owen and Clara.  And of course she wants to be like them, and gets personally offended when I tell her no.  So I spend a lot of time moving things around the house to places she can’t reach, and doing small activities with her while the other kids are in deep-play with something that she might “mess up”.   And such is life.   In a couple years, she’ll keep up with them.

Thankfully the big kids include her when they can.  And Clara hangs out on the trampoline with them like a cowboy on a wild bronco, bouncing and flopping around, and loving it.

For now she’s just in that transition from baby to kid.

Gone is the 12 month old:

Arrived, are the chins.

And a whole lotta hair!

So, to help her look like an almost 2-year old I chopped off the mullet and gave her a bob.
We all love it!


What a difference a year makes.
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I sort of miss the whispies hanging around her ears and neck.  They were fun to play with.

But she’s still the same Clara she’s always been, with the goofy faces.
She’s just got a “style” now.  And that’s really fun.

Here’s the old 12 month recap.
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Here’s the little monster today.

Thank you for making life better Clare bear.
We love you!

Read about the first year here:
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months
5 months
6 months
7 months
8 months
9 months
10 months
11 months
1 YEAR OLD!

  1. It’s hard to believe how fast they grow up. I love her new little hair cut, so grown up!

    • 2) Poppy

      Clara I have followed you since you were born and I just love you.please carry on updating us with pictures dana!!!
      👶

  2. She’s so cute! And her new hairstyle is so elegant. My Zuzia is 8 months now and I can’t wait to see her in few months!

  3. 4) Jen

    Clara is such a cutie, actually all three of them are. My husband and I have 4 kids together ages 7, 5.5 , 4.5 and 2 all very close in age Stan (the oldest) just turned 5 when the youngest was born. Matt is 2 and you would think he was 5 they way he plays with the big kids and just like Clara takes a huge offense when I put the Ka-bosh to things he can’t do. He wanted his hair cut just like Stan so he every morning he waits to me to spike up Stan’s hair so he can have spiky hair too. If I forget about him I hear “My hair! My hair!…. up up” until I do it.

    I can’t believe she is almost 2, I love her little bob cut 🙂

  4. Such a little cutie. Our Clara is 7yrs old now. 🙂

  5. 7) dannyscotland

    She looks so much like my own little baby daughter it’s crazy. Mine will be 2 in January. It’s not fair how fast they grow. Clara is beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us.

  6. oh gosh, I totally love this! What a little cutie. Seriously you guys make the cutest kids. And that bob, so sweet!

  7. She is looking so much like your oldest. wow!

    and hey, was that a hint in there… suggesting that your oldest 2 are 21 months apart and Clara is almost 2 and the older ones play so well together…. 🙂

    LOL

    Happy Bday Clara!

  8. ok, lets say it in unision— awwww…. seriously though she’s a cutie. and congrats o making it (almost) 2 years with 3 kiddos!

  9. wow she has seriously grown so fast!! what a cutie pie, love her new haircut, she looks like a ton of fun!

  10. 12) brooke

    Love the hair! My baby girl will be 2 in february as well. I’m really tempted to cut the mullet, but I think her dad would cry if I did.

  11. 13) karla

    Love it! WE call Norah Claire claire bear too. So so sweet. She is a doll.

  12. Cute bob! She looks like so much fun! Natalie’s hair is coming in weird still. ha. I can’t wait for a full head of non-baby hair!

    And I can’t believe our babies are almost 2. We are pretty sure Nat’s our last, so I thought I would be sad for the baby stage to end, but I’m kind of excited for her to start keeping up with her brothers too. If I could omit the whole potty training part, 2 and beyond is my favorite.

  13. Yummy baby!! Love me some Clara doll!! 🙂 (P.S. L just got her first hair cut, too–just like Clara’s bob! Cutest, cutest.)

  14. 17) Melissa Fennell

    I still remember when you announced your pregnancy! How is she almost two?? She’s such a cutie!!!

    Thanks for being my “mom-of-three-who-still-sews” role model! My third daughter is just two months old and I tell myself that if Dana can do it, I will too.

  15. My 19 month old just wrote on a door with sharpie…man I know how the “into everything,” thing is! (Don’t worry, the marker came off with a magic eraser in 5 minutes flat!) She’s a cutie! I can’t believe she is that old already. I love her haircut—very cute! And those bows are fantastic!

  16. 19) Jessica

    Oh my goodness, your daughter is adorable. 🙂

  17. 20) tukimu

    I have never seen beautifull baby girl like CLARA DOLL 🙂 in my language Maşallah to your girl.
    kisses…

  18. 21) Vik Ki

    love your blog… see your little girl growing up… ^.^

  19. 22) Sarah

    What a sweet little girl… Makes me think, “maybe we could do three…?!?”. Congrats on the almost two years mark!

  20. This post really got me! Why do they have to grow sooo fast?!?… I love her hair cut! Too cute!… Did you make the triangle leggings?

  21. Dana, I can’t believe she is two years old already. I remember when you were pregnant. Wasn’t that yesterday? 🙂 She has grown into such a real cutie.

  22. Oh so cute pics of your little girl. Wished I had so nice pics of my girl. It´s so interesting to see the little face change inbetween these months. Time goes by way to fast. ;D

  23. Wow! She is realy turning into a girl now. I like her ‘new’ hear, it makes here more girly :). My youngest turns two in a month, so he differs only a month with Clara. And at this age baby girls turn into little girls and baby boys turn into little boys.

  24. Sweet little Clara!!! My Larrame is almost 19 months and she has the mullett – waiting for her curls to reach the top of her head…so we have a LOT of whispies hanging around her ears and in her eyes…lol…good thing she keeps “hair-bows” in! Since she’s the youngest of 4 children (all others being BOYS) and 5 years between the youngest boy and her, it’s hard to keep her out of legos and markers. This is the 1st Christmas she’ll get age-appropriate toys and I can’t WAIT! She’s VERY INDEPENDENT which I thought was the “girl” in her and am so THANKFUL that your little Clara is the same way! I miss your monthly updates but this few months at a glance is DEFINITELY some good scrapbooking material…I think that’s what I’ll do!

  25. 28) Bree

    Thanks! I’ve been missing those monthly updates.

  26. 29) Amanda

    She looks just like Lucy in that last photo! The 12 month and now comparison made me gasp. I have a 10 month old little girl right now and I can’t believe that at this time last year she wasn’t even born. And next Christmas she’ll be walking and talking! Slow down!

    • 30) Darci

      Just when I had decided she looks just like Owen, I saw the last pic and then thought ‘she’s so Lucy!’

  27. 31) claudia

    Why yes, in fact, I DID NEED A TODDLER FIX! lovely! And her perfect little hair cut! Gah!!! What fun! My own is now just shy of 18…years…old…., I am not sure how that happened, he just got here, I am sure of it… College is nipping our heels! Such joy and fun with every year (yes! EVEN THE TEEN years!!!) Every now and then I still see a tiny hint of baby face, ahh, a gift!

  28. She is so cute! Our little niece just turned two and it was fun to go back and look at her one year old pictures and compare how she is now. So much changes without you really realizing!

  29. 34) Judy

    Oh my!! How ADORABLE is she!!!! Thanks for sharing! I only have 1 and he is 13. I miss the younger years (not that these years aren’t great too!!).

  30. Wow, what a neat timeline of pictures. Clara is such a doll. Your children are beautiful. Love the month-by-month pix and seeing her brownish hair turn totally blonde! Her bob is just perfect!

  31. 36) Erin

    Hi Dana! I just love your website and get to it as much as I can. I also have 3 kiddos with the first two boys being 13 months apart and then a four year difference when the third boy arrived. He is 18 months old and definitely feeling the same way Clara is and takes it very personally when the big boys are allowed to do something and he isn’t! We too recently cut the mullet! Thanks for the update, adorable pics! Happy Holidays!

  32. 37) Carolyn Thornley

    Amazing! That was fun to recall how she looked each month. Growing up, isn’t she?

  33. 39) Marta

    What a beautiful baby you have!!and beautiful pictures, they´re all fantastic.

  34. 40) Nancy

    She is adorable!!

  35. 41) Wendy Colgrove

    Post request? Gift ideas for sewers!!

  36. 43) Diane

    I can’t get over how much she and Avery look alike! And it sounds like they are both in to the same amount of trouble!! 🙂 I love your dark grey wall color. Did you love it in your house? I want to do that color but I’m worried that because we have such a small house that it would make it too dark. But I love how it looks in these pictures!! Fun post!

    • 44) Dana

      I know! She and Avery could be sisters :).
      I love the dark gray! I only have it on one wall so it’s great. I wouldn’t want a whole room in that color.

  37. 45) Mary Kay

    It is amazing how fast they grow – how lucky she is to have all these photos to remember her first year of growing up. She is just adorable Dana – I have so enjoyed watching her grow on your blog! May you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

  38. 47) Kristen

    Please tell me that you have an amazing pattern for those baby mocs!!!!!?????

  39. Dana she is so cute! I think that I found her twin, my fourth son, who just turned two! LOL! He has the same bright hair, big blue eyes and smile! So fun! Thanks for sharing the fun pictures (and of course all of the other stuff too!) You ROCK!

  40. 50) Lisabeth

    Where has the time gone ?!?! I feel like you just had her ! She’s so big ! And her haircut is darling !!!

  41. 51) sue

    adorable! that first haircut is the saddest. when my SIL cut off my grandson’s gorgeous baby curls, i cried! he looked too grown up. it’s been over two years, and i still want those curls back! oh well. and yes, having them close together is chaos for the first 20 years (hahaha), but it’s so rewarding to see them play as best friends (and fight!) and grow up as best friends. nothing warms a mother’s heart like that…..
    keep up the great work, dana! 🙂

  42. 52) amy

    She is so cute! I think she is just the right 3rd child, a mix of both older kids…I see both your older kids in her face.

    amy

  43. 53) I don't like this kid

    Oooh this baby gimme the creeps…

  44. 54) Pops

    Hey “I don’t like this kid”
    Clara is our God and saviour and protecter…
    Don’t diss her

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