23 months!

In one week from today exactly, Claire will turn the big TWO! WOW! She has become such an incredible little person. But along the same line, she has changed me so much. I wasn't the same person. I wasn't a Mommy before. Now I see the world with Mommy eyes. Everything looks more dangerous...AHH!
Claire still loves her car. She loves playing with her little toy cars too. Actually, she loves pretty much all her toys. Well, except for stuffed animals. I even try to play with them with her, and she doesn't dig them. I wonder if she'll get into them more when she's older or if they were invented as Goodwill fodder.

CHEESE! Claire will push her car over to the door and knock on it and say "CAR! OUTSIDE! NOW!"

Last night we went to the local fair. It was interesting. First of all...the fair is really super tiny. There are like 4 food booths...the parking is free...and it's free to get in. So basically these things tell you the fair will be what you pay for it. Crappy! The parking lots are jammed and muddy. There is nobody directing traffic. There is no place to park. Since it's free everyone goes there. We parked in an ultra-muddy spot. Yay for gas-guzzling SUVs...they are good to park in the spot where little cars can't park. So we wanted to go to show Claire the 4-H animals, which she totally loved.

We saw geese, chickens, rabbits, llamas, cows, calves, sheep, pigs, and lots of interesting humans. I think the carnies should count right in with the interesting ones. I also enjoy looking at the 4-H displays. The 4-H hall is really tiny, too. You can't even see half of the stuff because they have it all piled on top of each other.

We walked through the "commercial" area...Claire got a sucker and a free balloon. We walked around the rides as well, but decided Claire would probably freak out on them. We tried to put her on a ride at the store recently. She loved sitting on it until we put the money in to get it moving. Then she freaked out. I even tried to sit on it with her, but she was not having it. So maybe by next summer she will be begging to go on them. She didn't even seem interesting in trying to go on the rides. I was pointed at them and asking her if she wanted to ride them, but she just clung to me tighter.

So we had fun, but didn't spend a dime. Claire let go of her balloon and was sad...I'll have to get her some helium ones for her birthday. I was asking her about the animals today when I was getting her dressed (something I like to talk to her about in the morning...what did we do yesterday?) and all she kept saying was, "Balloon, bye-bye! Up in sky! All gone!"

So speaking of talking about stuff, she is just saying all sorts of location names now...now she is saying bathroom "Bafroom"; office; carpet; driveway; patio; porch; hallway; kitchen "Kitch-en"; "MY ROOM!" She also says "baby gate." Yesterday, she said "I OPEN BABY GATE" behind me...sure enough...she was halfway down the stairs...unaccompanied. YIKES!

She has caught on to not only verbs, but how to use them with the -ing and -ed to a degree.

She might say: "I see boy mow" or "I seeing boy mow" or "I see-ed boy mow." It amazes me how she is picking up on this. I am still trying to do some baby signs with her because everything I've read has told me physically doing the sign helps them reinforce their language skills even more...plus I just think it's fun! She loves to move, especially with all her songs that require motion. Some of her favorite songs are the one involving movements...think "Wheels on the Bus"; "Itsy-bitsy Spider"...etc.

I am always working on manners with her. She is consistently saying "No thank you" and "Please" as well as "Pretty Please". Now I am trying to teach her "Yes please" instead of just "YES!" She is so fun to talk to, and I feel like I can have a real conversation with her.

When Daddy comes home, she tells him immediately the most important things. "I FALL DOWN (by) STOVE!" She wanted to tell him that she got hurt and wanted to make sure that Daddy knew!

She totally has her favorite books...still those involving people or animals! She is very interesting in those portraying sad babies...ESPECIALLY if they have tears. She will kiss the picture then hug the book to her chest and say "BABY HAPPY!" Then she will turn to the next page and smile and pat the happy face. She has such an interest in crying, too. If we are in a store, she will say "Baby crying!" Sometimes it's way off in the distance and I won't even notice it until she tells me.

She is also in love with airplanes, trucks, and cars! She gets excited to see "big trucks" like semis if we are on the highway. She also tells me every day when the mail comes. She has great little ears for the mail truck. She also gets a special kick out of the garbage truck when it comes weekly. One day I left the car door open to go to the end of the driveway to get the mail. Normally she will just get on her little bike or follow me. Well, she climbed into the car, climbed over the seat and sat in the drivers seat.

It was hilarious. She patted the steering wheel and said "I drive Mommy car! I DRIVING!!! I DRIVING" Then she wiggled the steering wheel back and forth. She always wants to go bye-bye. Of course, it's because anywhere we go is usually fun! Well...I can't believe she is going to be 2 next week. TIME IS FLYING!

Oh, and she is cutting another tooth on the bottom! Her teeth have been late at coming in. Last year at this time...she had only 2!!!