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)

 

Happy Easter

A St. Patty's First

St. Patrick's Day is strange to me. Why do we even celebrate it? Why do we wear green? Seriously, what is the big deal? I really don't get it. Every year St. Patrick's Day is pretty uneventful, however, this year we just happened to go to a Jazz game. Claire's very FIRST basketball game. I told her where we were going early that evening and she would not stop talking about it. "Ba Ba?!" "Ba Ba?!" She talked about it all night. I couldn't believe how much she enjoyed it. All of the people, the loud music, the "buh" (bear), the popcorn, the blimp, and the dancers; she loved it all! I used to be a Jazz fan until a few years ago and now I don't even know the coach's name. Kind of pathetic. I really wasn't looking forward to going to the game since I refuse to watch them on TV, but Claire made it a blast! Honestly, I can't wait to take her again.

Below is a video of her baby "dancing"; something she LOVES to make her do:

Simple Things Sunday

These are my two favorite people! They always (well...usually...ha!) make me smile and I am so blessed to spend my life with them.

Photo taken on Erik's birthday, March 11th

Winter Wrap-Up Finale

During the last bit of winter we...

...found ways to amuse ourselves indoors. I tried to teach Claire how to hula hoop (it didn't work so well), she flew in the air with her Daddy and colored as many pieces of paper as I would let her. I tried to make it "green" by having her color on the backside sometimes but she wouldn't have any of it. She had to have a brand new piece of paper. :)

...went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum where Claire played for hours. She loved to pretend drive the car, push the miniature grocery carts around, scooting around on a tricycle, and organizing the fake vegetables (she takes after her mother). What I loved most was not having to find ways to entertain her every second that afternoon.

...ventured into our "front yard" and tried to play in the snow. Claire didn't like it one bit, which surprised me because every other time we've been in the snow, she loved it. Although, the snow was a lot deeper this time and she couldn't take a single step. Claire cried and cried and cried! What a waste spending 10 minutes putting on her snow clothes and then another 10 minutes taking them off. Ugh! Thank goodness I think winter is finally behind us.

Bring on spring!

Part 2....Winter Wrap-Up

What else kept us busy this winter?

Attending the World Mogul Championships at Deer Valley. The three of us had never seen a mogul event before and it really was amazing what these people can do. Although the incredible talent was fun to watch, two of my favorite aspects of our afternoon were going on the people mover (I had no idea they existed outside of airports...so cool!) and watching Claire's face as she was in utter amazement as she boarded her very first chair lift. Priceless! As expected, it was absolutely freezing so we didn't stay long, but it was definitely worth the hassle to get up there.

Chillin' out at home in our pajamas with our hair undone and our favorite toys. This is what Claire's hair looks like when we aren't visible to the general public (below left). I'm starting to wonder if she's going to permanently hold her chin up in the air since she's so used to trying to look between the hair. :) Claire plays with her drums to music on the radio any chance she can get and Khloe runs around chasing her favorite duck all while I'm trying to watch my favorite shows on DVR. No wonder I only hear half of them and constantly wonder what the heck is going on.

Erik took a short golf trip to St. George with his friend, Koo, who has become one of Claire's favorite people. She loves saying his name in her cute toddler way...imagine the sound of a bird "cooing".

A 'V Chocolate' factory tour with my Activity Days girls. The samples were delicious and to my surprise, Claire kept the hair net on the entire time! She has grown to not mind being passed around like a doll to all of the girls. They just love her!

An afternoon at the new Museum of Natural History with my parents. It was very interesting and I wish I could have paid attention more. Claire really enjoyed the taxidermy, but wasn't so sure about the human skeletons. Claire spent half of her afternoon sitting in various parts of the building in timeout, but the most amusing event took place when Claire refused (momentarily) to walk across a glass floor, which had bones underneath it in clear view. She was so confused because she couldn't see the glass. Hilarious!

A quick dip in my parent's hot tub. Claire loves the water and I can't wait to take her swimming this summer. I hope she's as adventurous as she was last year.

Going to every library toddler class in a 20 mile radius. I swear we've been to them all. :) Besides the dancing, story time, getting a stamp on her hand, touching all sorts of reptiles, and playing on a strange dragon...Claire loves to read. I don't think there are any toddler books we haven't checked out.

More yet to come.

Winter Wrap-Up....Part 1

It's always difficult finding ways to entertain yourself, let alone an antsy toddler, in these dreary winter months however, to my surprise, we've had tons of things to do. These are some of the activities that have kept us occupied lately:

Claire enjoyed her very first fort, made by muah. She loved crawling in and out of the couch pillows and coffee table, while holding tightly to the TV remote of course.

The World Cup Speed Skating Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval: it was a fun, free, and different way to spend our Saturday afternoon. Claire enjoyed running around, playing peek-a-boo through the barriers, and I enjoyed watching her sit in timeout for not obeying Mommy.

Multiple visits to Hogle Zoo for their free admission days; the last Wednesday's of December, January, and February. Claire enjoyed one visit with her cousins, who all happened to be wearing the same blue coats from Farmor and almost identical cream hats with ears on them. Adorable! Claire absolutely loves animals and on our latest visit she learned about the giraffe. "A Rar", as she calls it, have very long necks (she points to her neck too). I think she has been wanting to go back to the zoo because she says "a rar" randomly throughout the day....everyday. :)

Walks through Wheeler Farm: one of Claire's favorite things to do! She's even started saying "moo" as we drive by. Her favorite animal is usually the rooster, which in her language is either "ca ca ooh ooh" or "ca ca". Khloe's favorite animals are the bunny rabbits. A couple of months ago they got a new cage which sits on the ground...perfect viewing for little Khlo. She runs around the cage sniffing while trying to chase the rabbit. I wish I could let her play with one of them; they'd probably be great friends since they are basically the same size.

  

Playing with her rubber frogs that she got at her cousin's Valentine's Day party (top left picture). She is obsessed with them and very rarely lets them out of her site. She's lost a couple of them and frequently puts her hands up in the air and makes a sound that means "where did my frogs go?". At the party, she danced with her Aunt Liv, colored, sorted candy, and rode Soren's tricycle. She had a blast! That night, she also got some reusable stickers as a v-day present from Mommy and Daddy.



 

Stay tuned for part two of "Winter Wrap-Up".





Wishing You a FABULOUS Valentine's Day

FRONT

BACK

18 Month Portraits

Time sure flies by!

Thanks Mom, for getting Claire to smile so well. You are the best assistant ever!

Claire Bear - 18 Months

Actually, today marks Claire's 19 month birthday, but in order to keep my timeline correct, we're going to take a look back at the past "six months". Claire has grown up a lot since she turned one last June. She has definitely entered the toddler stage and left baby far behind. A few days prior to writing this post on Claire's recent development, I began to make a list of what she has been doing lately. I had about 20 things on my list when I realized that almost everything started with the letter "b". It seems as though our little bear has been in love with all things "b". Here are her latest obsessions:

• her Baby doll - she got this for Christmas from her cousin and she will not let it out of her sight (day or night) and if she does, she'll soon realize it and say "baby" until you at least tell her where baby is so she knows she's safe. :) She also loves to push her baby around in the stroller she got for Christmas.




Photo taken October (16 Months). Claire was borrowing her friend's stroller for the day and thought it was so much fun pushing Khloe around (this was before she got her own stroller and baby). 

• Brushes - apparently any sort of brush will do; hair brush, toothbrush, Mama's makeup brush....she loves them all! Although she hates having her own hair brushed.
• Broccoli - she'll often eat an entire plateful (I hope that continues)

• Blankie - much like her baby doll, she has gotten extremely attached to this and must have it when going to sleep.
• Bowls - EVERYTHING she eats must be placed in a bowl. If you ask her if she wants a snack or something to eat, she'll run to the Tupperware cupboard and say "bow".
• Balloons - I'm sure every child loves balloons and Claire is no exception. She finds them everywhere! On apartment signs and car dealerships we drive by, her favorite library books....she can pick them out from a mile away. She LOVES her "bawoons".
• Books - Claire loves to read and go to the library (which we frequent 2-3 times a week). Currently, she prefers flap books, because she loves to play peekaboo. A few weeks ago she started throwing her books on the ground an I told her she had to be nice to them so now she places them very gently on the ground. Adorable!

October (16 months)

• Belly Button - I don't know why these are so interesting, but if she spots the slightest amount of stomach skin, she will try and pull your shirt up to find your belly button.
• Bike - the bike Claire got for her birthday last summer has been wonderful! She rides it everyday and usually has to put her blankie over the handles and she gets VERY frustrated when blankie doesn't cooperate and falls on the ground or gets stuck under the wheels.

• Barrettes / Bows - she used to be really good about leaving things in her hair, but lately she thinks it is hilarious to rip out the barrettes and bows she finds on her head.
• Bye - Claire waves ALL the time and in the past few weeks, "hi" has become one of her most frequently used words. She will say "hi" to anyone she sees, and not just once.
• Babbles - she babbles constantly. Her favorite sentence is "duh buh duh buh duh buh". I wish I knew what she is saying in her mind. She babbles with such sincerity like she is actually speaking to you. So cute!
• "Big Girl Hair" - that's what I call it when her hair is in one ponytail...just like a big girl. Her hair has grown so fast; it's already a couple of inches down her back.
• "Baa" - that is Claire's favorite animal noise to make. She also says, "cock a woo" (cock a doodle doo), "roar" (dinosaur), "ooh ooh" (monkey), and tons more. 

Claire looking at the animals at the zoo.
She loves to go to the zoo, the aquarium, and Wheeler Farm.

I think that about sums up the "b" words. Here are some other things I never want to forget:

• how much she loves dancing - if she hears music, she'll start swaying back and forth and as of last week, she likes to make anything she can put in her hands dance...especially baby.
• how interested she is in throwing things away - whether it's throwing things "way" as she says (into the garbage), or putting objects away...she is usually very keen in doing it herself.
• how every liquid is "wa wa" - I never give Claire juice because I figure she doesn't know what she's missing, so everything is water. Even Mama and Dada's drinks are called "water" (even if they clearly aren't) so that she'll think we all have the same thing.
• her pointing - if Claire points to something and says "sis" (which means 'what is this?') , she will not let up until you say what it is. She also says "saa" for 'what is that?').
• her dislike for sitting still in cars or strollers - if you aren't moving, you can bet you will hear "go" over and over until you actually start going.
• her love for flags - just like balloons and airplanes, she will find a flag anywhere. If she's pointing at something in the car and says "na", there is probably a flag in the distance.
• how she insists on wearing sunglasses in the car and how I always have to wear them with her
• her love of saying prayers - obviously she doesn't say anything, but before you even mention the word prayer, she somehow knows to fold her arms. She also loves it when Khloe joins in for family prayer and we fold her paws together.
• her growing vocabulary - "gain" (again), "no" (an obvious favorite), "caugh caugh" (cracker), "haugh" (hot - anything with a bright light or warm is hot), "huh oh" (uh oh), "hey", and much more.

Even though Claire frequents the time out corner many times a day and makes me want to tape her mouth shut sometimes when I've heard her say "Momma" a thousand times that morning, I couldn't love her more. Generally, she is such a good girl and all the stuff I mentioned above is only a small percentage of the adorable things she does. Every day she learns something knew and amazes me in some way. Whether its gaining a love for tucking in her baby, surprising me with the knowledge of a new letter, or even getting a new tooth, I love every milestone she reaches, big or small. She is my best friend and I will love her forever!
  

To see her transformation, click HERE



More Celebrating

We had so much fun with my family in town from Arizona and Nevada. They are a blast to hangout with and Claire loves all of the commotion that comes with having them here. This time, in particular, she enjoyed playing with the Lego trees that her cousin, Connor, had used to create a battle scene. Every time he is here, I am amazed at the things he builds with Lego's. What an imagination! Claire also has a lot of fun with her cousin, Brooklyn, who is just a few weeks younger than her. It is so cute to watch them interact with each other even though they aren't at the age of playing together. They love to watch one another and steal the other's toys and baby dolls. The last night they were in town, we had a hot tub party with all of the kids. I love being with family and I wish they all lived closer. We miss them already!

Moving onto Christmas evening with Erik's family. Unfortunately, Erik's sisters had various conflicts so we weren't able to spend time with them, but we did make a stop at his parent's house. Claire opened more presents and practiced hitting a golf ball with her Farfar's new golf club. I think she's going to be our little golfer whether she likes it or not. :)

Christmas day came to an end, but it wasn't really over at our house. The next morning we went to Erik's aunt and uncle's house for the annual Christmas Morning Brunch (even though it wasn't really Christmas morning). As always, the food was delicious! Claire's favorite parts of the morning were playing with her Farmor's oxygen tubes (she thinks it is so funny to pull it out of her nose) and chasing her cousin, Emma, to give her hugs. They are adorable with each other! Claire's eyes light up every time she gets to see "baby Emma".

Unfortunately, a house full of little kids isn't the ideal situation for Khloe. She was chased around for hours and would jump on any adult lap she could find. I thought it was hilarious when she even jumped on Farmor's lap for a moment of relief. Later, she finally got a break and had a good nap. Kids make her very anxious and she was glad to have some peace and quiet.



We all really enjoyed having our annual Christmas Morning Brunch the day after Christmas. It felt like Christmas all over again. Who wouldn't enjoy another day with more food and presents? Claire sure did!

(Picture on left: a beautiful print with the words from the Proclamation put into the shape of the Salt Lake Temple. Thank you Tom and Kari! I love it!)

The time finally arrived when our Christmas celebrations came to an end. What a whirlwind! In my mind it was a total success. Claire was very good about signing thank you and we all couldn't have been happier. A smile on her face is a smile on mine. Can't wait 'till next year!