Claire and Hannah

Hannah came over to play with Claire Monday night while her mommy was at a meeting.

They enjoyed some story time

And playing together

Both girls thought it was quite fun for Hannah to kick her legs quickly while Claire tried to catch her foot

Claire wanted to see if it really was fun to look at the ceiling

16.5 Months

We've had a busy few weeks!  I took Claire to Chattanooga for a few days to visit with family.  While there, she enjoyed playing and exploring.  She learned how to say "Uncle" for Uncle Logan.  She enjoyed floating in Aunt Mary Leslie's pool.  For several days after we were home, she would see her pool float and say "pool" then "Uncle" then "ball."  It was the first time I've noticed her trying to retell me something she remembers--playing in the pool with Uncle Logan and a great big beach ball.

Summer is winding down and some of our fall activities have started back up.  Last week we started the toddler Kindermusik class.  I'm not teaching this year, so we're just attending a class.  Claire surprised me by being clingy and not participating.  I'm not sure if she was intimidated by the older children or was bothered that I wasn't teaching or something else.  I think it'll take her a few weeks to get used to things, and then she'll be fine.  I have also started teaching three piano students one morning a week, so Claire went back to the church childcare where they missed her all summer.

Claire is hitting some big milestones verbally and intellectually.  I think the most surprising to us has been how she is learning her colors.  In this order, she knows: purple, pink, black, white, and blue.  She not only answers when asks, but she often points them out on her own--especially purple.  The other colors are coming along.  I think she recognizes them (can point to the correct one) but isn't able to verbalize yet.  

Claire is also learning her ABC's.  She's gotten A through F down and we're adding them one at a time.  As with some colors, some of the letters sound alike when she pronounces them, but she can pick out the correct one when asked.  She has even started pointing out the letters on her own.  This morning she showed me the "D" in "dolly" on her doll's tummy.

She is also beginning to put two words together a lot more.  She's said "uh-oh ____" (Elmo, blanket, book, etc) when something falls, "pink bow," "pink ball," "Mama car," "Mama shoe," "Bye bye ____," "Night night ____," "Elmo sit," and "Monkey sit."  When we say "I love you" to her, she will try to say it back, but it sounds like she is saying "I know!"  She's been requesting music these last few days, calling it "Mic" when she points to a radio or cd player.  She has started saying "OK".  It sounds like "I'll go" but I figured out that this is what she's saying because the converation will go something like this:

Claire: Up. Up. Up. Up.

Mommy: Claire how do you ask nicely?

Claire: Please.  Ok.  Please.  Ok.  Please.  Ok.

She still loves her books and now has many words that she will say in the appropriate places.

I got her a little stroller for her dolly.  She understood what to do right away and switches out different dolls or stuffed animals for a ride.  She get a little frustrated because her navigating isn't great and needs some help turning around when she's reached an obstacle. 

You ok down there dolly?

Here we go!

Nat nat Emo and Mama

Claire has become very proficient at putting Elmo to bed at night. With little or no prompting, after she's been dressed into her pajamas, she knows it's time to put Elmo to bed and tuck him in with a little blanket. Sometimes he even gets a kiss and a hug before the closet door is shut and Claire comes to the chair for her bedtime stories.

Two weeks ago, we attempted to film this adorable little routine while it was still pretty new to her. She decided that she didn't want to perform for the camera - in her own adorable way. We'll try to get a newer video of it soon, now that it's practiced to perfection.

Also, Amanda bought some squishy bath letters and numbers so that bathtime is more educational. As of tonight, Claire is reciting Aay, Bee, ace, Dee, Eee, and ffffffffff.

One More Video

Here is Claire at the petting zoo.

Spray Ground, Petting Zoo, and Baccu!

Last week we met two of Claire's Kindermusik friends at a nearby "spray ground."  I tried taking Claire a few weeks ago, but she hated it and wouldn't let me put her down.  This time was slightly better.  She played for a few minutes but was pretty clingy after that.  I imagine that she will love it next summer.

Claire with her friend Michael

Claire really enjoys the petting farm part of the zoo.  She likes to walk around to all the different animals (mostly goats).  She even wanted to give them all a kiss!

We're working on getting her to go up and down the steps by herself. 

And here is a picture of me last week, at 26 weeks pregnant.  Currently at 27 weeks, Baby Boy is approximately 2 pounds and 14.5 inches from head to toe.  He'll be here before we know it!  His furniture has arrived in the Atlanta warehouse.  As soon as we get the guest bed moved out, we'll have it delivered and start getting nursery #2 ready!

And finally a video.  This is Claire's reaction to the vacuum cleaner (pronounced "Baccu!").  She gets very excited and very loud when I turn it on.  In this particular case, Claire is distracted halfway through by her Mickey Mouse towel drying in the bathroom.  Claire has a new fascination with Mickey which is strange because she's never seen him on TV and the only thing we own with his picture is this towel.  After our adventure at the spray ground, Claire noticed that her towel and Michael's towel both had Mickey pictured.  Her first pronunciation sounded like "newman."  Now it's transformed into sounding more like "money," which is pretty ironic.  I'll give the Sesame Street and Disney people credit--for a child who doesn't watch TV, she sure is taken with particular characters!

All By Myself!

Claire is getting to be such a big girl!  Here is one of many times this morning that she climbed up and went down the slide all by herself.

Sixteen Month Pictures

Relaxing with Daddy and a good book

And I just can't resist posting a few more Elmo pictures!

Sixteen Months

I'm pretty sure I say this every month, but Claire continues to amaze us in how she grows and develops and learns!  She's adding new words every day and understands so much of what we say to her.  For example, the other day I asked her where her hair bow was, and she smiled walked around the coffee table and pulled it out of the drawer where she had hidden it.  Likewise, when Matt asked her where she hid the washcloth before bath time, she walked out of sight and returned with the washcloth proudly held high (then proceeded to play a giggly game of keep away!).  Claire is constantly pointing out all of the things that she can say.  When I go to get her up in the mornings, she is anxious to point out her blanket, flowers, the wall, the picture of daddy and mommy, books, and her sheep.  She will often repeat a word until I acknowledge that it is indeed whatever she's calling it.

Thanks to a certain book at MM and Pops' house and some coaching from Matt, Claire is a little confused about elephants...she thinks they say "ah-choo!"  It turns out that trying to retrain her at this point is difficult.  Whenever she sees a picture of an elephant, she proudly says "ah-choo!"  Hopefully she'll get it before Kindergarten!

Sometimes Claire can be a little prissy.  She gets upset if she sees a hair bow that is not in her hair!  I gave her an old watch to play with and she loves to put it on and walk around with her forearm pointed up so it won't fall off.  She also really likes to wear her little sparkly sandals.

I'm working on improving her independence before baby comes.  One of the things we're working on is going up and down the stairs by herself.  She's fine going both directions but is very slow and easily distracted.  Claire goes down the stairs by bumping down one step at a time on her bum.  Before starting her descent, she will sit down cautiously several feet away from the top step and then scoot over.

The affection toward Elmo continues.  Elmo now sits on the table during the meals "watching" Claire eat.  Claire brushes his teeth when she brushes her own.  Elmo doesn't leave the house, so we make a show of putting him somewhere and saying goodbye.  She doesn't mention him when we're out and about, but as soon as we're back in the garage, she starts asking for him.  Elmo also doesn't sleep with Claire.  We put Elmo to bed in the closet.  After showing her how only four times, now we can just say "Claire, can you put Elmo to bed?" and she will go to the closet, put in him a little plastic container, cover him with a blanket and say "Night night."  It's adorable!

Claire still eats very healthy and in large quantities.  An example of her daily menu (from yesterday actually) breakfast: banana and handful of cheerios; lunch: two chicken nuggets, a slice of whole wheat bread, about a quarter cup of mixed veggies including carrots, peas, green beans, and corn, and about half a cup of grapes and melon; dinner: two baby-sized grilled chicken strips, about a quarter cup of peas, a few slices of zucchini, and a little cup of yogurt.  She also had cheese and raisins as snacks during the day.  We know it seems like a lot, but she eats so healthy and doesn't drink any calories - just water!

The bedtime routine is facilitated by Matt most nights.  Brushing her teeth is still something she asks to do.  Favorite bathtime activities include lining the toys up along the side of her tub and playing with her foam alphabet numbers and letters.  Bedtime is 8:00ish and she sleeps until 7:30ish.  Claire usually naps starting around 1:00 and sleeps an hour and forty-five minutes on average.

Books are still very much a part of Claire's playtime.  She just LOVES being read to.  We have read all the books so many times, that we frequent the library and used book store to find new additions.  Other toys she enjoys include her piggy bank, the pop up animal toy, and her doll.  She has started giving her stuffed animals kisses and hugs.

One cute thing she's doing is that whenever she sees or hears a telephone, she puts a fist up to her ear and says "no no no."  I'm not sure if she's saying "phone" or just knows that she's not supposed to play with them!

Claire is still in 18 month clothes (some don't fit anymore - the rest are reaching their limit) and size 4 diapers.

Videos

First, we have Claire showing off her talent of using her fork, or "gook" as she calls it.  She really concentrates and often will ask for her fork if we didn't give her one.  These grapes aren't too hard, but she requested one when she was eating peas the other night.  Bless her heart, she tried and tried to stab those individual peas each time!



Next is Claire with her Elmo.



And finally, Claire babbling something.  I have no idea what she's saying, but it must have been fun for her!

Catch Air

This morning I took Claire back to Catch Air, an inflatable/indoor playground place.  It has a great toddler area and she has a blast exploring.  I was glad I remembered my camera this time!