Cousins
Spending Labor Day in Bethany Beach, DE with my family meant that Clara got to log some good quality time with her cousins John and Emanuel (just 10 and 7 months her senior, respectively). And boy did Clara take full advantage. There was some YouTube train video viewing on Aunt Emily’s lap (yes, they’re all obsessed with watching live footage of trains chugging along)…
…and reading together on Grammy’s lap.
Though perhaps the best moment was the debut of “The Clara Hug,” which John was introduced to first…
It starts off innocently enough, but soon crosses the line from hug to tackle. Clara topped off the uncomfortably long embrace with an equally elongated “oooooooooooooooooooh” sound effect (which we hesitate to admit is kinda her interpretation of a kiss). Thank goodness John is a good sport.
The whole event went on long enough for me to snap about a billion pictures and for poor Emanuel to start to feel left out of the cousin lovefest.
Don’t worry though, he got his own “Clara Hug” the next day. It just wasn’t caught on film because we were too busy cry-laughing.
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Hahah – that is hysterical. Love the pictures!
My son’s version of this is with kissing – you ask for a kiss, and he comes at you, open mouthed, and pushes his mouth into your cheek. There is no puckering involved (and thankfully, for once, no teeth) just lots of breathing on your face. And us trying not to cry-laugh because then he stops!
So cute! Gosh I just love babies. Mine girls 9 and 5, so I really miss those days!
Too cute! YAY BETHANY! Our family has a house there, so we go at least once a year. It’s such a cute little town. Have you tried “The Blue Crab”? I worked there the summer between undergrad and grad school. mmmmm crabs . . .
Yes, so good!
xo,
s
So cute!
That is sooooooo cute! I cannot wait for Finn to start giving hugs (-:
This is precious! Clara is a lucky little girl for having such a close knit family.
I cannot handle the adorableness of the Clara Hug.
You MUST start Googling now to find out where/when Thomas the Train “Day Out with Thomas” is coming your way! It’s a full size Thomas who pulls you on a bunch of other cars behind for a 20 minute ride. Plus they have train play areas, bouncies and all sorts of other fun stuff. It’s little kid train enthusiast heaven!
Ooh sounds like it’ll be quite the hit!
xo,
s
She has the sweetest spirit! Looks like y’all do such a good job with her if she is that loving!
I die.
Cousins are the best kinds of siblings/friends!! BTW, I’m digging Clara’s stylish capri/tunic outfit- she certainly looks like she belongs to you guys, with that color scheme of white, gray, and grayish yellow. :)
oh way too cute! You cannot believe the amount of “Ooohh!”s coming from me :)
She has grown so much and is just too adorable! I love the tackle/hug!
Aww. Baby hugs are the best. they might be the most honest of all hugs. Ha. :]
Love the Clara Hug! So cute!
love, Love, LOVE the baby toes in the last pic!
Hahahaha!! Love it. My own little girl (Greta, 18 months) is a little over-bearing when it comes to showing affection to her cousins and other kids. It’s so funny and cute, and we are just keeping our fingers crossed that she doesn’t grow up and turn into that girl on “Superstar” who says, “I don’t have a best friend! Do you want to be my best friend!?” to random people she just met. Little much.
Clara looks like her Grammy in that picture!
They are all so cute – I wish I grew up with cousins close in age. Hopefully the boys play well with her for a while!
OMG I would have died laughing! Too stinkin’ funny/cute! :)
I love the Life section, so fun! I started reading for the home improvement stuff right after we bought our house but now that we have a dog and a baby girl these are my favorite posts!
Aww! That is adorable, The Clara Hug. Sounds like a real brand name for something! :)
Too cute. Thats so funny my son is OBSESSED with watching trains on youtube too!
Clara is adorable! Love the behind-hug/attack.
I can’t believe I got first comment so late in the day!
That hug is a-freaking-dorable. If I ever have a baby, I want it to be a girl, and just as sweet as your Clara. She makes my uterus ache!
I love this “life” section…Clara is too sweet :)
so cute! loving the hugfest!
Oh my goodness, Clara is one of THE cutest babies I’ve ever seen! She just looks so full of personality and so sweet! I just can’t believe how big she is getting either!
Funniest. Thing. Ever!
Bianca’s currently obsessed with everyone kissing — we get kisses, her toys get kisses, her toys kiss each other… the funniest one was when her Green Bear (about the same size as she is) had to kiss our 6-inch-tall Conure parrot who got thoroughly blatted into the floor! That poor bird is such a good sport with her, or maybe he’s learned he gets extra special scritches/treats after she’s tried to sit on him, etc :-)
That is too cute! I want a Clara hug :-(
Oh my god, Clara hugs are the cutest.
My 26 month old little boy also LOVES to watch video footage of trains chugging along on you tube! He’s probably been obsessed since 17 or 18 months now. And it’s so funny to watch him navigate the iPhone to YouTube and the train videos he likes!! He also likes Thomas and all his friends and has a train table he got for his birthday – he would prefer to spend hours driving trains around the tracks! We recently rode a big steam engine and he’s still talking about riding the twain ;)
The only thing I want to suggest about this section is that you can’t navigate anywhere else when you’re in Young House Life. The header for home, FAQ, Mood Boards etc. isn’t on this page. I would love for an easy way back to the home page rather than hitting the back button multiple times.
Thank you!
Thanks for the suggestion, Sarah. If it helps, you can always click on the header image at the top to take you back to the main page.
-John
Oh man…I’m such a n00b. Actually, clicking on the header didn’t take me back, but clicking on “Go back to Young House Love” works. (Hanging my head in shame).
Oh sorry, I misunderstood your question. Yes, clicking the header just takes you the main Young House LIFE page, but clicking the button above our picture will take you to Young House LOVE. Glad we got that cleared up!
-John
She’s so cute! My parents have a ton of pictures of me giving cousin hugs like that when I was around Clara’s age.
On a totally unrelated note…have you guys seen these? http://www.hearthsong.com/product.asp?pcode=3798 They reminded me of your photo project with Clara, except for non-Photoshop users. ;-)
Yes – so smart! Glad it gives everyone the option to do a photo project (and save themselves the photoshop time).
-John
We were in Bethany this weekend too! We stayed in The Purple House (http://www.resortpointe.com/rentals/01.php) to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday, and it was such fun! We ate at the Blue Crab on Sunday night, actually, and on Monday we went to the New Orleans Jazz Funeral for the end of summer. Love Bethany!
Ok, the “Clara hug” is far too adorable! I don’t even know your daughter and I still died laughing…
Oh my, her standing on her tippy toes to deliver her “Clara Hug” is soooo cute! What a sweet girl :)
The cousin love is so sweet. It brings back memories and me and my cousins. I’m the only girl out of 5 cousins and they spoiled me (still do) to pieces.
HilARIOUS. She is such a cutie. We get kisses from Benhat sometimes deteriorate into biting) but not yet hugs. He will hug/tackle his friends, though. SO funny. And he kisses all his guy friends, which has us cry/laughing constantly! As in, grabs both cheeks with both hands and lays one on them. SO funny. Love reading about Clara, she is so cute.
What IS it about littlies and trains?! I have another train obsessed toddler too. Ikea do a great little wooden trainset – it’s for slightly older kids, but Mr 19 months loooves it. Those Clara hugs are worth bottling! So gorgeous!
I’ve noticed this for a long time but this absolutely adorbs outfit demands a comment – that girl is super well dressed! You guys do a great job with her wardrobe!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’ve been having a super crappy week and this is just so freaking cute that it made me smile.
Also, I agree with the previous posters about her awesome and cute outfits. Suri has nothing on her!
Awww…cute cute! Cousins are the best. My daughter Ruby has those pj’s in the first picture. Aren’t they adorable?
So cute. The tiptoes, the unbridled affection, no shame in putting the love out there! She is so sweet, and has clearly learned that her love is a valuable gift! What a gift to have close cousins!
It’s nice to know we’re not the only ones to head to YouTube for toddler entertainment/education! Gymnastics, trains, fighter jets, classic musicals, ballet, soccer, Sesame Street and so much more…we’ve watched it all thanks to YouTube!
Awww! I want a Clara hug! She is soooo precious. I don’t know how yall get anything done around the house living with that precious lil bean!!
oooohweee, all those little toes in that last picture just about kill me. So, so sweet. http://www.amandadovewells.com/?page_id=45
Look at her standing on her tippy-toes! How friggin cute is she?!
Too. cute. for. words.