So I have recently moved to Envigado, Colombia with my family. I am only three, but I have already lived in three countries. I hope my dad will figure out where he wants to be and then I can figure out where I am actually from! Just before we left Canada, I received my official Canadian citizenship proof certificate, now I can get a Canadian passport like the rest of my family!

Colombia sure is noisy! People here are hard to understand, but mom and dad tell me that pretty soon I will be able to understand more of what is going on because I will learn to speak Spanish like most people who live here. Right now though it is a bit confusing - I just want to play with my toys. 

I am also going to school for the first time ever! I am in pre-kindergarten at the same school my mom and dad work at, and my sisters go there too! Everyday my whole family takes a bus to school, its pretty far, and we have to get up super early to catch our bust at 6am. I often fall asleep, and then I don't want to go to school 1. because I am tired and 2. because most things are in Spanish. But I have made a new friend at school who is teaching me the colours in Spanish, and my teachers are all really nice. My big sister Brynn also comes by everyday to check on me to make sure I am ok. Anyway, I just thought I would say hello and let you know how I was doing. Maybe next time I will write in Spanish!

 As you know, I have moved to Canada with my family this past summer, and I am now for the first time living in Canada, where the rest of my family was born. It is a bit colder than New Zealand, and we have already had snow, which was the first time I have ever experienced it. My dad was hoping to take me out to build snowmen. However, we were pretty busy on that weekend, and then it got pretty windy, so it was a bit too cold.  The snow is all gone now, but mom and dad are assuring me that it will return, and we will have lots of time for snowmen before too long. I am all ready for the snow whenever it does get here though, one of the things we did on the weekend it snowed was to get me brand new snow boots and a snow jacket! They are pretty big and puffy; I seem to get lost in them!

Now that we are back in Canada, my sisters and I are excited for Halloween and all of the Candy that comes with it! I am going as a giraffe, I am told each of my other sisters also went as a giraffe in previous Halloweens. I guess it is a Hartlen child right of passage. Anyway, I wasn't too wild about putting the costume on when it came time to go, but it was pretty cold and I was offered some M&M's so I eventually caved. I even put my Giraffe head on! Trick or treating was a lot of fun, I went with Aunt Amanda, Uncle Joel, aunt Amanda's brother Jesse, and his two kids and their cousin, we were quite the little posse. Aunt Amanda's brother Jesse was even dressed up as Batman, he is so silly!

I am now officially two! It is very exciting, and to celebrate my mom planned a monster party for me at a park here in Christchurch. Some of my other little person friends came, and we all had a fun time playing on the playground and splashing about in the pool! I got some really cool gifts from my friends, and apparently there is money to be spent from relatives back home, though I think my parents are still hoarding that.

Now that I am two, I like to sleep in my big girl bed, though I still like to wake up between 1 and 4 times a night just to keep my parents on their toes. The words out of the tall ones mouths seem more intelligible these days, and I often appease them by seeming to follow instruction. However, to let them know that I am still in control of this house, I only do this when I feel like it. That is all for me for now, I am off to watch Peppa Pig, and play with my new farm, read my new books, and play with my new unicorn in my new play tent, which I love, because the tall ones told the medium ones that they are too big to play in the tent with me, though the one they call Brynn likes to sneak in when I am napping!

It has been a while since I have updated you on my young life, so here are some quick words, I have many now. My vocabulary has been rapidly expanding over the past month or two, and I understand much of what is said to me, though I am still pretty choosy about which bits I acknowledge.

My cruel tyrranical overlords are currently trying to ween me off of my "babas" (bottle). I like this about as much as I like sleeping for more than four hours in a stretch, which is not at all! Through all of this my Beebee (blanket) and Peppa Pig remain my salvation to help me through this difficult time. I am determined to break my parents, my crying and general stubbornness I think has already worked on my dad, who is much quicker to cave to my demands of Peppa, up, down, babas - pretty much whatever i want! He is so weak it makes me sad. My mother is proving more challenging, and seems much more resilient with regard to this whole bottle weening experiment, but she will break - I can sense it!

I don't think I told you, but I am of course by now walking, running even. And I love to feed myself, in fact I prefer it most of the time. Despite my late night tanrums that are at present lasting hours, I do love my family. Although it may be difficult for them to see this at times. Perhaps I will change, if I feel like it.

So, I have had quite an eventful six months, and my parents say they will try and do a better job of keeping you all abreast of my development in these ever changing early years. 

I am only 11.5 months old, but I am already very well travelled, I was of course born in New Zealand, and have been now to Australia, and Fiji, where I spent my very first Christmas with my family and some of their friends. My time in Fiji was a bit stressful for me because I was in the process of growing three teeth, and now that I am home, I have four coming through the top with two teeth on the bottom that have been through my gums for several months now, it sure makes chewing my food much easier, and no more of that tasteless infant porridge, I get real food now!

Sleep is for the weak! I don't like to for more than three or four hours at a stretch, I might be missing out on something you never know! As soon as i returned from Fiji, aside from growing teeth, (just as my big sister was losing hers, I decided I was ready to start crawling. I am now motering around everywhere, and am having a great time hanging out with my two big sisters in our toy room. I am getting a bit fussy now, time for some snacks I think. Here are some pictures of me in Fiji taken at Christmas time. I am now approximately 70cm tall also, tall enough to reach our princess height chart, still a long way to go to catch up to my big sisters though!

Today we welcomed the newest, and final Hartlen addition to the Family.  She was quick and determined to arrive in only 30 minutes :-)

Clara Lloyd Hartlen
Born at 2:42 pm
3.32 kgs (7 lbs 5 oz)
53 cm long

Here I am, a couple weeks old, sporting many things Kiwi :-)