Claire Bear - 21 Months

Our little "Claire Bear" turned 21 months old a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe her 2nd birthday is now in sight; I am so not ready to be planning another party. Claire has been such a joy these past few months, although it also seems that the Terrible Two's have arrived slightly early. She has progressed so much in 12 weeks; new words enter her vocabulary every day and her favorite things to do have started to evolve. This is what Claire has been up to lately:

• Saying lots of new words including: house, dirt, up me mease (help me please), sip, zipper, doot (coat), shoes, ready - go, and uh more (one more). Our favorite is "note" and "neat", which means "no" and "eat". It's so funny when she says "no", because if it doesn't come out as "note" initially, she'll eventually add the 't' and it sounds like "no.....te". Hilarious!

• Frequently talks about moving vehicles and traffic lights. Buses, cars, and trucks are her favorites and if you come upon a red light while driving, she'll tell you when it turns "geen" and will then say "go". In fact, if you slow down at all, or for heavens sake actually stop, you will hear screams of "GO" until you do.
• Loves nursery at church and if you say the word church, she'll quickly respond with "bubbles!"; and while in church if the organ starts playing, she'll look at you and say "go!".
• LOVES putting things in the washing machine - I really need to lock the door because it has become such a nuisance keeping her away from it all and putting away the random things I find inside (my cleaning supplies that are in a nearby cart, her clothes, and one time I counted 7 books)
• Speaking of "note"....that is the answer to EVERY question. You ask her anything and she'll answer with "note". There is only one exception; she has lately become obsessed with wearing two bows in her hair (she asks for three but I've drawn a line) and if you ask her how many bows she has she'll respond with "two bows".
• Can sometimes count from zero to five if she's on her game - she tends to skip 4 most of the time
• She hates getting her hair brushed and frequently cries when I attempt to
• Going to museums and the library - you all know from previous posts how much she loves going there

• Nice and Naughty - lately everything is about being nice and naughty and she definitely knows which is which. She can say both of the words and if she hits something, she will say "naughty" and then shortly after say "nice" because I frequently tell her "we never want to be naughty....we always want to be nice"
• Thanks to 'Signing Time' she loves to seep (sweep) - this is the only show she is interested in. I try not to let her watch too much TV (30 minutes tops), but she really seems to learn a lot
• Temper tantrums have arrived - the other day when I made her come inside after playing on her friend's toy car she threw a HUGE temper tantrum and was screaming for 15 minutes. I am so not excited about the terrible two's up ahead

• Says the names of her favorite people all day long: howie (halle), emma, vivi (vivian), mormor, farfar, khoe (khloe and kari), and a few days ago she started saying "avey" (avery)
• Can recognize every letter in the alphabet and she loves to say "b", "c", and "e" when singing the ABC's
• Grown to love "sawberrie" (strawberries). A couple of months ago, I gave her some strawberries and she refused to eat them. Because I don't want to become a short order cook, I spent what seemed to be a half an hour getting her to eat them. She eventually did (I'm glad I stuck with it) and ever since then she has loved strawberries

We love our "little bear" so much! She definitely keeps me on my toes and I look forward to every day I get to spend with her (I also look forward to my time away :)).

21 Month Bear Picture

(to view the series, click here)