From May 17th:
Claire woke up this morning and wiggled her way (pants-less) into our bed. She was in a great mood, which is not always the case for her when she first wakes up. When we said "Happy 1/2 birthday!" she grinned and replied, "Now I am a big girl, just like Gracie!"
That sort of sums her up right now - a big girl, and so, so much like Grace. In preparing to write about Claire at this stage I went back and read about
Grace when she was two and a half. I was surprised at how many things between the two girls are identical, and even more surprised at how much I had forgotten about Grace at that stage. So since I know my memory is not even close to perfect, I should document as much as I can about Claire right now...
A few quick stats: Claire currently weighs 30 pounds and 35 1/2 inches tall. She wears anywhere from 2T-4T depending on the brand and style and is somewhere between a size 6-7 in shoes.
Sleeping: Ugh, where to start. Really I shouldn't complain because Claire is a great sleeper - meaning she goes to bed when we put her down (usually 8 pm) and sleeps through the night (usually 7:30-9 am). I've been a little frustrated lately because naps seems to be hit-or-miss... but still much needed. She typically naps 1-3 hours during the day, but on days that she plays through her nap or we skip nap for another reason, she is a bear from 4-7 at night. Our bedtime routine is pretty simple, but she does love to blow kisses and have us all catch them. Sometimes they go up to the ceiling, sometimes they get stuck in her bed, but she loves the game of us "finding" the kisses that are scattered around her room (or the house).
Teething: Claire had her first dentist appointment back in April. The dentist told her she had very nice, clean teeth. She was thrilled. She hasn't yet gotten her 2-year-old molars, and the dentist did think that was a little strange, but he didn't seem too concerned. I guess we'll keep our eyes open for 4 new teeth to pop up anytime.
Moving: Not much has changed in this department since
her 2 year post. She still climbs. Still jumps. Still dances. Still runs. Still falls. Still crashes. And still keeps up with Grace. She continues to be daring and fearless. She is tough and strong. She is quick and athletic. She is fun to watch.
Talking: It is hard for me to even pinpoint funny things Claire says. She talks non-stop. She is never quiet, unless she is asleep or eating. The first thing we hear in the morning is, "CAN I GET OUT MY BED NOW?" and once she is out we hear, "I'm hungie, daddy." Two things we hear often, that we love, are "I'm closing with my lips closed" (meaning: I'm chewing with my lips closed) and "I'm so heavy I can carry this" (meaning: I'm so strong I can carry this heavy object).
Art: Claire loves projects. Though this does make her easy to entertain on rainy days, she doesn't like any of the simple projects any more. Everything must be messy and involved. Playdough, painting, and
cutting are her favorites at the moment.
Learning: Other than arts and crafts, and reading books, we don't do "school" with Claire. She is picking things up here or there, mostly from Grace. At this point she knows her alphabet and can identify all upper case letters and probably over half of the lower case letters. She is starting to show interest in phonics, but is only sure of 5-6 sounds. She counts to 20, but leaves out 13 and says 14 two times. She knows her colors and shapes. She loves puzzles, and is pretty good at the 24 piece puzzles. She is also getting her opposites down pretty well.
Potty: At this point Claire is 100% day time trained. I can't remember the last accident she had, I am totally confident in her ability home and away, and I love not carrying a diaper bag anymore! She hasn't quite mastered the night time, but we are working towards that. She does sometimes wake up to go in the middle of the night, and 2-3 mornings a week she is dry, but I'm not ready to do the laundry on those other mornings. She cries most nights when we put the diaper on her because she wants to just wear panties. She usually says, "I have a fwedgie," and will waddle around for a minute until the cloth diaper isn't bugging her anymore. We know she is motivated to be in panties, so I'm sure we'll get there soon.
Playing: Right now Claire's favorite toys are the doll stroller, her little bike, the 28 car, legos, the play kitchen, her slide, the kitty house. She also loves anything that comes out of the art cupboard and/or game cupboard.
Claire-quirks: Here are some things that don't really have a category... just funny things about Claire right now.
- Instead of saying, "I can do it" or "I will do it" Claire yells "I COULD, I COULD!" as she runs to help.
- She is totally independent and doesn't want help from anyone, but she does want to help everyone else.
- She would live in just undies if we let her.
- She hates having hair in her face, and welcomes the offer from almost anyone to fix a fallen do.
- She loves her special stuff - Big Guy, her blanket, etc.
- I love the way she runs - head down, chest out, arms back and swinging wildly with her palms facing behind her. She moves every way but forward, and somehow manages to still be pretty quick.
- Have I mentioned that she is independent?
- Sometimes she will mess up what she is trying to say and then makes a funny noise that is between "puhffsss" or "ugh" or "doh." This usually happens while she is praying.
- She loves her classes - especially Marching School (BSF) - and adores her teachers. We ran into one at Skate World the other night and she hasn't stopped talking about it.
- She uses "oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Oh, OH" as a filler when she is thinking before she answers a question or if she is trying to finish what she is working on before doing what we are asking her to do, or if she is trying to answer a question and can't come up with the words.
- She also says, "no, no, no, no, No, NO" if she is trying to get one of us to stop something she doesn't like or get Grace to stop bugging her.
- She likes having kids around that are littler than her. She talks to them like a little mommy, "oh, honey, don't touch that."
- She has a little bit of crack showing all the time. We joke that she could have plumber's crack while wearing overalls.
- She loves Grace fiercely, and is also her biggest rival. Anything Grace can do, Claire can do just a little better... or so she thinks.
- I love how she forms sentences - just a little off. "That is for to throw away."
- She doesn't recognize any specific ways to say in the past - she lumps everything together and says "lasterday" for everything.
- She learns to talk from Grace, and therefore says many things like Grace: breem (bring), youchother (each other), etc.
- I love how she says hospital - it always comes out "hostible" no matter how hard she works at it.
- She doesn't like clothes, and like Grace, she would live in undies if she could. If I ever ask her to go get dressed she will say, "Why? Where are we going?" She'll say the same thing if I go into her room in the morning dressed in anything but sweats.
A quick interview - Claire's current favorite:
Book: Very Hungry Caterpiller (she can "read" the entire story... very cute), the song ones
Game: "Um, the dice game is my favorite game. Mommy, can I play dice game?"
Person: "You are my favorite person... Now can I play the dice game?"
Place: "Magnolia park. I like to go to Magnolia park."
Toy: "A ball is my favorite toy. Your medicine ball is my favorite toy." Totally not true, since she isn't allowed to play with it.
Movie: "Chocolate and the Factory" - I think she must mean Willie Wonka, but she's never seen the whole thing.
Activity: "Oh, I like painting."
Song: "Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho-saaana"
Number: "Four is my favorite number."
Color: "Red is my fav..." and we lost her - distracted again by something way more important that mommy's questions.
