Funny Story 2

Claire has always liked paging through my books. But today was the first time she had something to say about them.
She was paging through one of my books and all of a sudden yelled in a very upset voice, "Can't find 'em!!" A few seconds later, she again yelled, "Can't find 'em!" So I asked her what is was she couldn't find. She responded with, "Pictures! Pictures gone!"
She continued paging through the book with commentary like, "Oh Noooo...pictures missing!" and "Oh Noooo...they disappeared!"
Guess she's not ready for the non-picture books yet!

Baby Beluga

Here's Claire's latest song. And this is the first song I've actually gotten on video, as she usually gets stage fright when she sees the video camera!

To help you understand her, here are the words: (and you might need to turn up your volume)

Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea, swim so wild and swim so free

Heaven above and the sea below, just a little white whale on the go

Just a little white whale on the go

Funny story

Claire was playing with her kitchen and toy food this afternoon. She hands me things and giggles while I pretend to eat or drink. She handed me a french fry and as I pretended to eat it, I hid it in my hand. She saw that it had disappeared and then she looked at me with a shocked look on her face and yelled, "Mommy, NO eat!! It just pretend!"

After the rain

22 months

22 months old today. Seriously? While it seems like it was only a minute ago that I was holding my brand new baby, it also seems like she's been here forever. I can't even remember my life before her. She's growing up so fast and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

This kid is a talker. Non-stop. She pretty much consistently talks in sentences now. She even tells stories. She spent yesterday with Daddy visiting family and when she came home she told me about the whole day. She told me everything she did, everyone she saw, and everything she ate. And the only prompting I gave her was, "What did you do today?" It's awesome to be able to communicate so well with my not yet 2 year old.

One of the best things is to listen to her after she's in bed. (I started turning the baby monitor on again since she started potty training, so I would be sure not to miss a call for the potty at night.) She will lay in her bed chatting away about her day, people she saw, things she did. It's cute. And she talks in her sleep. I've known this for awhile, but since I've been having the monitor on a night I'm hearing it a lot more often.

One of the cute grammar mistakes she makes is with the use of me and you. I suppose from listening to me talk, where I always refer to her as "you" and I am "me", she thinks that she is always "you." I hear a lot of "Mommy, help you!" or "Please open this for you" or "Carry you, please." It's too cute and funny.

If she's not talking, she's singing. She knows the words to so many songs. At night before I put her to bed, I always sing a couple of lullaby's. Lately she's been singing along with me. It's so sweet. She also demands that Daddy and I become instant songwriters as she'll randomly ask for the "airport song" or the "apple song." She'll just pick some random object and want to hear a song about it. If we come up with a song she approves of she asks for it again. If she doesn't like it, she'll say "No, try again." She only needs to hear a nursery rhyme or short song once and she'll remember the words.

Her memory still continues to amaze me. Like with songs, she also seems to memorize books after only reading them once or twice. She has a much better memory than me. She also remembers things or events from months ago. Just the other day she started talking about a little girl she played with probably 6 months ago. Is that even normal? Sometimes I wonder about her little brain, it's really quite incredible.

She has now discovered the power of band-aids. She got a little cut that required a band-aid for the first time. Oh, she was so excited to see the Care Bear band-aids that I had on hand. The cut was on her thigh, so all day long she was walking around pulling up her shorts so she could check to make sure the band-aid was still there. And ever since then, she asks for a band-aid every time she has an owie. She bumps into something and it's, "Mommy, need band-aid!"

The whole "terrible twos" thing is starting to become very real. Whether it's because of all the traveling, interruption in routine and sleep, or just her age, her temper is sure showing up more often around here. Some days (and thankfully not every day) the switch flips and she goes from her usual sweet, cuddly, loving angel to a possessed, tantruming toddler with horns and a pitchfork tail. Of course I knew it was coming. And I'm going to just be happy that, as of yet, it's not an every day occurrence and it's usually over quickly. It's good for her to have independence and her own opinions, right? Who knew someone so small could have such strong opinions on certain things. I'm constantly reminding myself to have patience. Lots and lots patience.

As she nears her second birthday, I'm realizing that Claire is in fact going to grow up. She won't be my silly, curious toddler forever. I know there will come a time that she won't look at me with big eyes and a proud grin because she put the puzzle together or she won't demand hugs and kisses before bedtime or she won't cuddle up with me for hours of book reading. So I'm going to treasure every moment, meltdowns and all.

Future Olympic athlete? Musician? Artist?

All this talk about the Olympics has got me thinking...

When did the parents of these athletes realize that their child had this talent? I mean what if Michael Phelps' mom never took him to a swimming lesson when he was a child? How many people out there had the potential to be an Olympic athlete, or for that matter, a musical genius, or a famous artist but never had the opportunity for this talent to reveal itself? Or does this type of talent just show itself somehow?

Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? What if I have some undiscovered talent?

What part of who we are today...our careers, our hobbies, our passions, have to do with our parents' choices? How do I know what Claire should do or try? What if I mislead her? I can only sign her up for so many different classes/sports. What if I miss that one thing at which she could be great? Or will I just recognize some hidden talent in her at some point?

And then where is the line between encouraging her interests/talents... and pressuring? If she loves something, will she always love it? And if she wants to quit something, do I let her?

Just one more thing to add to the challenge of parenting. But I suppose I have lots of time to try and figure it all out.

I'm so jealous...

of this hair! Unfortunately I think Claire is going to have my thin, fine hair but at least she'll have curls! I would love to have natural curls like this!

Meltdowns and hugs

As I mentioned before, Claire's temper tantrums (or meltdowns as we like to call them) are becoming more frequent. It can be the littlest things that set her off. And then she's screaming, crying, falling on the floor. If I try to pick her up, I'm met with pushing, shoving, arms flailing, legs kicking. The funny thing is that they are so short-lived and seconds after just pushing me away, she will all of a sudden wrap her arms so tightly around my neck, lay her head of my shoulder and cling to me as if her life depended on it. And she will stay that way for several minutes, just wanting to be held until her sobbing has subsided. It's almost as if she's apologizing to me for the meltdown. And it works. There is no way I could stay frustrated with her when she's hugging and cuddling me so sweetly.

Lake Life

We're home! Here's a few more pictures from the week at the lake cabin. Grandma and Grandpa K. and Aunt Kristin, Uncle Brady, and puppy Lucy were also there. Claire got lots of attention, she got to play in the sand and water everyday, and saw lots of bugs! She had a great time! It was neat to see how much more there was for her to enjoy this year compared to last year. And I'm sure every year will be a little bit more fun.

Enjoying toasted marshmallows with Grandma

Swinging with Aunt Kristin

Catching big bubbles with Grandpa

Playing Apples to Apples, which everyone seems to think is sort of a stupid game...yet we always manage to have a good time playing it! It might just have to be a traditional game we play just once a year.

Beach Bum

Enjoying Hackensack

Catch of the Day

She liked looking at the fish, but wasn't too thrilled about holding it!

Up North

We're up north enjoying some relaxing days away.

Claire got to meet Paul Bunyan. (Click on the picture to see a larger image of Claire's cute smile!)

This girl loves bugs, spiders, snakes and now frogs!

She spotted a family of young loons on the lake.

Table dancer

The little monkey decided to climb up on the table when I wasn't looking! Now that she's figured it out, how do I keep her from doing it again?! (and yes Grandma and Grandpa P., her new S.D. T-shirt is a little big!)

The following pictures show what happened immediately after I took her off the table. Temper, temper! And unfortunately we've been seeing a lot more of this side of Claire lately!

Such a parrot

This morning as I went to get Claire out of bed, I said my usual "Good morning" and she quickly responded with "I sleep good." Which made me realize that I say the same exact thing every morning..."Good Morning. How did you sleep?" Only today she didn't wait for me to ask.

There are other things that I'm starting to realize that I must ask much too often as she now answers before I can even ask. She'll trip, fall, bump her head, whatever and she'll look at me and say "I okay!" in anticipation of my "Are you okay?" She'll yawn and quickly say, "I tired" before I can even ask, "Are you tired?"

There are other things that she has heard me say too many times that lately she just says them for me. I'll pick her up and she'll say "Getting heavy!" After she's done on the potty, she'll say "Good job, Claire!" After an unsuccessful try at something, a puzzle or whatever, she'll say "It okay. Try again."

She also gives herself warnings. If she grabs something off the table that she knows she shouldn't have, she'll say, "Not a toy." She tells herself "Be careful" while climbing maybe a little too high. She'll pick something up and teasingly pretend to put it in her mouth, only to tell herself, "We don't eat that!"

She always asks to do things at the most inopportune times. She wants a bath as I'm making dinner. Or she wants to go to the park right before nap time. To which I always responded, "Not now. Maybe later." Now all I have to say is, "Not now" and she'll finish with the "Maybe later." Unfortunately she's starting to use this one against me.
"Claire, it's time to get ready for bed."
"Not now. Maybe later."

"Time to get dressed."
"Not now. Maybe later."

"Help me pick up your toys."
"Not now. Maybe later."

Back home

Last year at Wall Drug

This year

We're finally back home after 11 days away. We had a great visit with all my family in South Dakota. But we are glad to be back in our own beds, even if it's only for a few days before we head up north for another getaway. Unfortunately flights to Rapid City were all oversold, so we ended up having to drive the 9+ hours out there. (we put 1200 miles on our car with this trip!)We made the most of the long drive and made a lot of stops and did some sightseeing. Claire was actually wonderful on the ride out there, we didn't even have to use the DVD player. The drive home was a little bit rough as we were all exhausted and ready to be home.

Claire was pretty good the whole time we were out there, taking naps and sleeping in her own bed (things she did not do last time we visited!) We were able to do a lot of sightseeing. Claire's favorite activity was feeding the trout at the fish hatchery and we even went there twice because she kept talking about it. Nate was able to fly out and stay for a couple days too. Tuesday was my parent's 36th wedding anniversary and they stayed home and babysat while Nate and I spent the afternoon/evening out and celebrated for them! And of course Claire got spoiled by everyone and we had twice as much stuff in our car on the ride home with all the new toys, books, and clothes.

Lil' Cowgirl and Mount Rushmore

Storybooks and Dinosaurs

Yesterday we went to Storybook Island and Dinosaur Park. Two of my favorite places from childhood.

Sitting on the dinosaur's tail.

Reptile Gardens

Grandma took us to Reptile Gardens today. Claire had been so excited to see alligators, but it only took a few minutes into the alligator show before she pulled the "No like this!" So we skipped all the shows, but there was still lots to see. There was a fairly large iguana that was walking back and forth in its cage and she just thought it was the funniest thing. She kept saying "Oh, silly iguana." Aside from the snakes, the iguana was her favorite animal, I mean reptile.

Giant Tortoise

She loved the snakes! She spent a long time sitting in front of all the cases watching the snakes. She was laughing and talking to them. Good thing I was with her and not her daddy..he hates snakes!

She also got to touch a snake and decided that it was "so soft." Grandma bought her a toy rubber snake in the gift shop and she hasn't put it down since, it even took a nap with her!

Water Fun

It's been so hot here the last few days, we haven't spent a lot of time outside. However today Claire got to spend some time outside playing in the water with her cousins. She's been having lots of fun playing with them the last few days and working on her sharing skills (which aren't so good!)

Claire and Owen were ganging up on Ella and squirting her with the sprinkler!