If you need a laugh...

When we say bye to people Claire's started to say, "See ya next time I see ya!" instead of bye!

Today Claire was holding her baby doll and using her shoulder to hold her yellow Barbie phone on the other side. Then she puts her fingers to her lips and shushes her baby. Then she said, "Baby, you needa stop talking now. Mommy's talking on the phone." Hmm. I wonder where she's heard that one? ;)

Funny Sayings

Claire sat up in bed and said, "Bees don't have toes." Ok. That was random. What was she dreaming about? LOL!

Later, we were doing a dolphin puzzle. I was talking about how dolphins have fins and flippers. She said, "Dogs and cats have tails! People don't have tails. They have butts." She's very observant.

Late this afternoon, folding the third basket of laundry, she observed, "Mommy, why you doing laundry all the time???"

On a random note, I've noticed when she helps me make food, she tries it. Tonight I just had her help dump in ingredients for meat loaf. She was thrilled to help and excited to try what she had made! She ate almost an adult sized slice of meatloaf! :)

Feeding Baby Brother

Today completely out of the blue, Claire lifted up my shirt and tried to feed her baby brother a cheddar bunny through my belly button. She's so sweet trying to share. ;) I explained that he won't be able to eat or drink anything other than nummies for a long, long time! She seemed satisfied when I told her that she could tell him about her food or show him food, just not feed it to him.

On another note, she continues to leave the "l" out of clock. So if you hear her talking about her "cock" puzzle, it's just a clock puzzle. And although when she talks about a "cock-a-dile" it may sound like a racy 900 number, she's really just saying crocodile.

30 Month Update

Well Claire has officially turned 30 months...or exactly 2 and 1/2 for those of you who are not so math-inclined or don't have a toddler. ;) Here's some things that she has been saying and doing lately:

Instead of "No" she will say, "I don't think so."

She has started to say "notice" like, "I noticed Belle on that!" which cracks me up because "notice" seems like a big word.

"Goofy." She will usually say this like if her socks are twisted. She'll say, "Mommy! My socks feel goofy!" She is very dramatic when it comes to clothing.

We've enjoyed the little snow we got this week. When we came in and took off her boots, she goes, "I got wet socks from my pee." I started cracking up. They weren't pee-wet. They were snow-wet. That's what you get from boots that are 2 sizes too big. :) Yup. Garage sale boots for $1 and they will totally fit next year as well. It's not really worth buying boots in her current size for wearing out in the snow for 10-20 minutes a pop for maybe 3 times a week or snow. And if she'd stop crawling around in the snow, then the snow wouldn't get in there!

She calls everyone her "best friend" including certain toys and books as well as people.

Her questions continue. She wants to know "Who is that from?" regarding all her books and toys...I think it is a carry-over from Christmas!

She'll ask "Who got that for me?" It's enough to drive me batty because she'll ask about the same items over and over...yes, repetition helps them learn alright.

But, she wants to know more. She will ask silly things like, "Who bought the table? The chairs? Who bought the ceiling? The bath tubs?" etc. etc. naming everything in sight Goodnight Moon style.

Then if we go to someone's house she will ask about all their stuff when we get home, "Who bought Christopher's bathtub? Who bought Christopher's potty?" etc. etc.

She wants to know how old everyone is. "How old is ___________?" She wants to know all the ages of the Princesses. I've decided that they are all 16. Ha. I don't know why she is so obsessed with them. She's never seen one of their movies, just a Sing-along that's 30 minutes! Hmm...maybe one of these movies would entertain her long enough for me to get some scrapbooking done?

She of course still wants to know everyone's name, or she wants to name them. Girls will be named "Sarah" because she likes that movie The Labyrinth" even most boys will be named this as well. She has a book called "Dragon Tales" and loves the book because it has a squeaky caterpillar on it. There is a character named Cassie in it, so she has named one of her night-night babies "Cassie." I think it's a TV show or movie too?

Her favorite book is currently Just in Case You Ever Wonder. I like it because it's God-centered, but not overly dry. There are 2 pages about "monsters" which she absolutely loves. I'm not sure why, but I guess it's something fun?

If she wants me to see/do something, she'll say, "Come on. Let's go. It will be very fun! No monsters! I'll protect you!" This is of course, totally from the book!

I'm glad she's developing other favorites. She seems to have a favorite book for a week or so and then shifts. She is also wanting me to listen to her read. She'll say, "NO! I gonna read it to you!" Then she will tell me what she remembers, which is really cute to hear what the important parts are that stick out in her mind. She will also ask me lots of questions. I guess I tend to do this a lot because I've gotten tired of "reading" the text. So she'll say, "Mommy, now point to the cow jumping over the moon?" or "Where is the little gray mousie" or "How many mittens hanging up?" about Goodnight Moon.

We have since installed door knob covers around the house. I'd always strongly discouraged her from even touching the doorknobs or letting her see "how" to open the door knob...but yes, oh can she open them all now. It took a little bit long to open the side that pulls out toward you. It's easier to push the door open.

I got the knobs installed because I NEEDED her closet locked off. She wants to change her clothes all day. My next project is to shift a dresser that's in our master closet into her dresser. And ahahha...she won't be able to open it for awhile. It pulls very hard, and the drawers are heavy. Then her current dresser will be the baby boy's since it's smaller, and well, he'll be smaller for awhile!

She can also turn on/off the sinks. She may have actually been able to do this sooner, but I never let her since I was "afraid" she might burn herself or something. Ha. This time of year it takes awhile for the water to get WARM let alone HOT! I figure I may as well try to teach her as much as I can before the new baby!

We've also put the trash cans back in their old positions. We had set the bathroom and kitchen wastebaskets up on the counter when she started pulling up. I'd tried putting them down before but she would either throw toys in them or try to take out stuff...yuck! Now she understands NOT to take out a half-eaten cracker if it's in the trash. Knock on wood. I'm sure this one won't be flawless.

She follows directions really really well. She will set the table for me and LIKES to help. She gets mad if I put the plates on the table. She wants me to then take them off and give them to her, which cracks me up. Sunday, I made omelets for my parents and she even set the table with extra places!

She wants to help me fold laundry so I've been trying to teach her to fold towels/washcloths, which is something I know will come in very handy!

She wants to hear about her baby brother all the time! I told her we have to wait until a little bit after Easter when it starts to get warm out and the flowers and trees start to green-up again. I'll tell her that he can't eat any food or drink anything other than nummies. She goes, "OK! I'll share." And then...melt my heart...she goes, "I'll feed him my nummies" and points at herself! That was so cute! I see lots of doll-nursing going on in a few months!

Mobile stuff...she loves to run in circles still. She likes to put a little blanket down on the floor and call it her "jumping spot" and then will jump right on that spot...handy! She has taken her little bikes out in the snow and is pretty good at scooting them along despite the extra blockage from the snow. We're still working on pedaling. I think that's a 36 month milestone?

She LOVES ring-around-the-rosie and sometimes I wish I'd never taught it to her ;) Ha! She loves to jump in the pool at the Wellness Center. She can jump with 2 feet just fine, but jumping forward off the ledge is a bit trickier. She kind of just steps off it. Sometimes when she runs she gallops which is really funny looking!

I've been trying to film her singing her ABCs but she's a little stinker. She will just say "ABCs poop. ABCs pee!" when I try to film her singing it. I've tried filming behind her when she's busy, but she always catches me ;) I think she knows that it makes me ticked.

It's amazing how much she has changed since a year ago last January! I'm sure it will be just as amazing as we move forward another year.

Now we're starting to think preschools...she'll be old enough for any of the 3s classes in the fall. So I'm wondering to start her now, or wait until she is 4 and start her then. I know she would LOVE preschool. I remember absolutely LOVING preschool myself. My favorite preschool memory is of a "Lollipop Tree." My teacher, Mrs. Brown, read us a story about a tree that grew Lollipops. Then she had us go outside and...there were suckers tied all over the tree!!!

I've thought about just continuing to do crafts and things with her at home for another year and then starting, but I think I need to talk to some more moms about how old their kiddies were when starting preschool. Thoughts? Leave me a comment.

Dusty

I was washing Claire's hair tonight. She wanted to know why I was washing it. I said it was dirty. She asks, "My hair got dusty in it?"

I feel the slacking coming on

So I've been pretty good about posting lately...I feel some major slacking coming on, however. LOL! It usually comes and goes in spurts. But for today, I have 3 little stories about Claire to share.

1. We were at Wal-Mart today. I was buying tp. Claire noticed the bears on the package and got excited! She asked, "Mommy, what that for?" I said it was toilet paper. And recognizing now what it was, just inside a plastic wrapper, she excitedly and very loudly, yelled, "OH! THAT FOR WIPING PEOPLES CROTCHES." Dear Lord. Luckily the aisle was empty, but I'm sure that the staff in the Sporting Goods heard her.

2. I was buying a package of hamburger meat. Claire goes, "I NO LIKE MEAT." This was wrong because she loves hamburger meat. I said, Claire, you like this when it's cooked, it turns brown and is HAMBURGER MEAT. So she laughed and goes, "I kidding." I don't know where she got that, I don't exactly make it a point to kid around with my 2 year-old.

3. Yesterday, I had to take my ring to the jewelry store because I moved some heavy boxes and managed to bend it. So they have a bunch of Grandfather Clocks in there. Claire got so excited when she saw them. She started singing, "Hickory Dickory Dock." Then she goes "WHERE MOUSEY GO?" and started looking for a mouse in all of the clocks. Too cute!

2 years & 4 months Update

Claire has been saying a lot of new things lately and picking up on more than I want her to. I guess one thing is for sure. Having a talking toddler this age really makes me aware of what I say a lot. Apparently I saw "crap" and "retarded" a lot. And I do mean A LOT because she says it "A LOT." She also says "Oh my God." So we've been trying to teach her "Oh my goodness" instead and silly for "retarded."

Oh, and she can open doors. CRAP! She just started doing this in the past week. Joshua actually showed her. I was getting sick of her getting stuck in a room and freaking out. It does take her some effort to open them and she is usually very noisy. She doesn't like going into dark rooms, so it's nice that our light switches are still too tall for her to reach. She can reach the lights at my parents house, however. So I'm a little hesitant about our next visit home.

However, she really does mind well and listen. We can have the box of tissue on the coffee table again, and she won't pull them all out! YAY! We have breakable Christmas ornaments on the trees, and she doesn't touch them! If we are out and about and there is a tree like at a store or the library, she will tell me what to do. It's pretty hilarious. "Mommy, no touching those. Those glass. You break them! No touching! Just look!!"

She has discovered the joy of gum ball machines. She calls them "Gumble Balls" which I think is funny because she can say gum ball when I correct her, but insists on gumble balls. Apparently it's much more fun.

She will say "Bless You" or "Gesundheit" when someone sneezes. When she sneezes, instead of saying "Bless Me" she says "Gesundheit me," which is just too darn cute to correct.

Apparently I say "correct" and "fine" a lot. She will say those and it just sounds really goofy coming out of her mouth.

Yesterday we saw Disney's The Princess and the Frog movie which she loved. It's the first time we've been to a movie since she was 12 months old. Ha...we saw the Batman move The Dark Night. We don't go to movies very often anymore. LOL! Anyways, the Princess in that movie is called Princess Tiana. She keeps calling her "Princess Ti-Indiana." I don't get why she is lengthening some words and making them longer than they are.

Oh my. I just jinxed myself. Saying she never touches the ornaments that have been hanging up for over 2 weeks...and she just walked in playing with a Hallmark ornament shaped like an ice cream cone pretending to eat it. "Mmm. This ice cream cone so delicious." I'm like crap...can't write about anything...dang kids will be sure to prove you wrong. Can she read my mind? HOW DID SHE KNOW. She says stuff tastes "delicious" and "glorious." Josh says "glorious" a lot and it's just so funny when she says it.

And speaking of trouble, she knows when she's in trouble. This morning, she jacked a candy cane off the tree. Except I was loading the dishwasher and didn't know it. I just heard some grunting and plastic noises and I almost *knew* that it sounded like the plastic cellophane of a candy cane wrapper, but I was like totally doubting it...no. Well, sure enough, she came into the kitchen, SO SO PROUD of herself. She goes, "LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" She had broken the crook off and managed to get it out and was eating it. That requires talent. Candy cane wrappers are freaking hard to remove! I go, "Where did you get that?" and she sensed she was in trouble. So she goes, "I don't know. I don't remember." Right. So I asked her to show me and she showed me the spot on the tree where she got it off. Dang it. Yesterday we saw Santa at the mall after the movie, and she got a candy cane from him, so she made the connection. Before that she didn't "know" what a candy cane was, although she loves peppermint circle candies.

Speaking of hard candy, she loved the movie popcorn...another choking hazard, I know, but seriously...I think the advice for the age on popcorn and hotdogs is something like 6. She's got a good gag reflex. :) I just looked up some choking hazard foods. Apparently, I'm a major violator. LOL. I don't always cut up her grapes and apples anymore. I've also given her nuts. Yikes. Maybe I should cut back? Or am I just being paranoid. I know the Heimlich maneuver on toddlers. Finger sweep time... I do like this advice that NO SOLID FOOD should be given to an infant before 6 months. But people interpret this as something like the Gerber Stage 3 with "chunks." No really, solids are anything, including rice cereal and purees! Claire ate nothing before about 18 months...and I do mean nothing other than my milk. I joke that candy was her first solid. She snitched it off the table at Holly's bridal shower last Jan. and has never turned back.

Other funny/cute things that Claire says a lot now, "Hmm, let's see" and "Actually." And the questions, oh the questions, "What are we gonna do today? What're gonnna do tomorrow? Where Daddy at? It 5 o'clock now? Daddy working now? What Daddy doing at work today? We go eat lunch with Daddy today?" (we try to a couple times a month). And in the car, "Where are we? Where're going? What that? Lookie!" She loves all the Christmas decorations if it's dark out, especially inflatables. I personally would never have an inflatable, but there seem to be a lot around town. She wants to know everyone's name.

We were at the bank and she pointed at the bank teller and asked me, "What him name?" Amazing, he understood and said "My name's Mike." And she was thrilled that he understood. So she goes, "OOOH! Hi Mike! Mr. Bank Guy." I tell her people's names are whatever their jobs are. LOL. So now everytime we go to the bank, they laugh because she called him "Mr. Bank Guy." I suppose I need to work on my proper terms too, like, um, teller?

I also love the assumptions that she has started to verbalize. Like when we were fingerpainting, she goes, "Daddy want to fingerpaint." I told her Daddy was working right now and couldn't fingerpaint with us. So she goes, "Daddy have no fun." That cracked me up.

Another thing along with the washer/dryer, I've figured out that if I've moved some stuff that was on the side of the machine, she can actually start the machine after we load it. Once in awhile she doesn't want to help. She'll say something like "You can do it Mommy!" LOL! Hopefully, I'll have her fully running the laundry running through by April (yeah right...)!!!

She is exceptionally good with names/faces, as I am. Hey, I absolutely suck with math and figures, but give me a set of 150 students, and I will have all of their first/last names memorized with correct spellings, including my class that had 5 girls with the same name my last year teaching before I went on maternity leave (Katelyn, Katelynn, Catelyn, Caitlin, and Caytlin). Ahh yes, that was fun. I usually impressed the pants off of my students by knowing all their names before any other teacher, which I do like to brag about because I had 99.9% of the time had previously no other way of knowing these kids' names. Now, I will admit my math skills lack, and I always made mistakes on things like when I graded papers. So to remedy this, I told them to always double check their papers and if they found a math error, it would obviously be corrected, plus a bonus point for my mistake. OOOH. This got them to actually look at their papers instead of chucking them right in the trash. But back to Claire, she remembers everyone's name and all those dang character names from books/shows. It amazes me. And she has started asking for friends to come over and play. "I have friend come play today?" It's so cute.

Josh is watching the football game right now, and I'm hearing my fair share of "OH CRAPS" as Claire chimes in along with Daddy. Her other favorite is "Pwnt!!!" check out the meaning of that here.

As far as other developments, we've started leaving the baby gate to the stairs down. We took down the one by the TV that was blocking off all the DVDs and rock band drum set stuff. She no longer finds great joy in emptying books/DVDs off a shelf. I thought that stage would never end. She kept climbing up the back of the loveseat and over to get back there. I'd be putting laundry or something away and all of a sudden, I'd hear her beating on the drumset, so I realized she'd gotten back there. I've also started pulling out all those mother-effing outlet plug covers. I don't know why I ever put them in. She never once was interested in the outlets. Apparently it's just something you think you need, but you don't. Who knows? I'm having a boy in April. He may think it's great fun to stick things in the outlets. Ack.

Well, I better stop my form of 'productive procrastination' and start folding some dang laundry.

You Remember?

Today, Claire and I were reading one of her Care Bear books. I was asking her about the colors in the rainbow, and she said, "I saw rainbow outside!!! You remember?!?" I thought that was so cute because she actually remembered! We haven't read that book for awhile so it's neat she's starting to make associations like that.



She also loves to play hide and seek. She'll hide under a blanket or rip off a couch cushion to hide under, and yell, "Wanna come find me?"



She loves FRUIT SNACKS! We went to her "Uncle Alex's" birthday party Friday night where she danced around to us playing Guitar Hero...or was it Rock Band...I don't even know....She kept yelling "MORE Fruit nacks, A-yex!"



She LOVES to be read to. She used to say, "Read on me" but she is finally starting to say "Read TO me." She loves it when we play with her, of course. She will ask "Wanna play w/ me again?" the second I stand up.

Josh just got home from work and she asked him, "You have fun at work?" LOL!

Little Pitchers Have Big Ears

So, Josh came home from work. We were chatting about someone. Nobody any of you would know, so don't try to figure it out...but anyways, Josh said very loudly, "She's such a crack-head!" And guess who heard? Claire! Claire says just as loudly, "NO DADDY! YOU A CRACKHEAD!" So then we start cracking up. I said, "Oh my God! That's hilarious!" So then...Claire goes, "Oh my God!" "Oh my God!" "Oh my God!" no fewer than 50 times...we really have to start watching what we say! And that is a confession from a Mommy-blogger today.

Completely random things Claire has said lately!

So, Claire has been saying more incredibly cute stuff, as usual! I had someone ask how old she was at the Bellies and Babies Expo. She goes, "I TWO!" They thought she was 16 months. Seriously???...she would be the tallest 16 month old ever, because she already is like the tallest 27 month old.

So Josh showed her some of the Transformers movie. That's totally the kind of movie she needs to be seeing. Of course, when I was like 9 months pregnant...and I do mean a full 40 weeks, we decided to fit one last movie in...and it was TRANSFORMERS! But anyways.. She keeps saying "I like good robotses! I like Opimus Prime! He good! I no like bad robotses!" I swear, she sounds just like a little Gollum with that fun-plural form!

Then yesterday, when we were eating dinner, she wanted to announce she was finished with eating. She'll usually say something like "I full! I all done! I want down! Wash my hands!" Nope...yesterday she looks at Josh and says, "Daddy, you wanna eat my crumbs!?!?!?!" Yum...just what he wanted. Cold, already been chewed Claire crumbs!


Oh...and have I mentioned I have bronchitis...yup...great, huh? So Josh got it first and gave it to me...and I took Claire to the doctor too, but she was "fine" even though she was coughing, it's just a cough. Her lungs sound great, etc. That's seriously like the third time I've taken her to the doctor for a cough and she's been fine. Argh. Buy-buy copay!!! Oh, also...did I tell you I took her to the doctor in May for "wart" on her foot...yeah turns out she was in a size 5 shoe...and was supposed to be an 8. It was a callous. And my, those 5s were getting very hard to put on! It's October and she's already in a 9. This girl needs to slow down!!! I don't think I posted about that at the time because I was mortified and embarrassed, but now ... like anything else... over time... it just becomes hilarious. So anyways, the story about coughing, is Josh and I joke to each other to STOP COUGHING. Well now Claire is saying it to us. "DADDY STOP COUGHING."


One last story...the other thing we joke about is it always being the other person's fault about...whatever. So now Claire will say "It's your fault! It's always all your fault!" That's actually the first thing she said to me this morning, and then starting laughing hysterically. She knows how to make me smile!


And today at Gymboree, she learned the words "parachute, pizza cutter, and GYMBO the clown!"

Tea Parties and Play food

Claire got a tea set for her birthday, which she is madly in love with. She enjoys pouring tea for anyone who will pretend to drink it. She likes to put food in her play microwave that is part of her kitchen and heat up food for us. :) Yay for leftover play food! Ha! I asked her if I could have more tea today, and she said "Of course, Mommy!" I started cracking up.

She likes to plate play food and then serve it to me. I have to wait for the ok though. I started to "eat" something too soon, and she screamed, "NO! It not hot Mommy! I heat it up! It take 3 minute!" She held up three fingers as she put it in the play microwave and pressed the play buttons.

She also likes to sit her baby in the highchair and give it food to eat. She crams the food in their mouth telling it to "EAT BABY!"

She also says "Go ahead" to me sometimes on the stairs when she doesn't want me to hold her hand.

Another fluke...I think she may be starting to "read." We have a plain green bib that says "POOH" on it. I haven't put it on her for months and don't ever remember telling her that it says Pooh. There are no Pooh pictures or other characters. It just says Pooh. Well, I put it on her for breakfast since we were at the bottom of the bib pile(...I need to do laundry!) She looks down, points at the letters, and says "POOH!" It sort of creeped me out. But we have several Pooh books...but I think she actually recognized the word from her Potty seat, which says "POOH," and I do remember pointing out the letters to her and saying Pooh. So is that reading or just matching a word? (Or is that all reading is?) I also have her pick out her name tag at the library when we go for story time.

Chatty Claire-sey

Claire has really started to ask me questions which are cute and annoying on a level. Here are some of her favorites:

• What you doing?
• How are YOU!?
• WHERE ARE YOU? (Our house seems so big to her!)
• Go get mail now? (LOVES to help me get the mail. She figured out she can push her shopping cart out to the mailbox and "carry" it in for me. One or 3 babies usually rides along.)
• Go bye-bye now? (LOVES to go anywhere?)
• Take bath now? (Would swim all day if I let her!)
• More candy? More candy? (We normally don't have candy around the house, but we still have like 80 lbs of it left from Josh's booth at the Schmooza Palooza. I'm hoping Halloween will get here soon, so we can get rid of it. Hiding it doesn't work anymore. She knows it is still in that cupboard. Although, she doesn't like nuts or Carmel stuff so that limits what she will eat! I actually am too nervous to give her nuts still, but she doesn't like Twix or Milky Ways...I think the carmel is too gummy for her.)
• Go to Leche? See babies? (She loves going to LLL to see babies! I can't wait till she gets her own baby in April. I totally see her calling it her baby, too! hehe!)
• Daddy be home soon? (Sometime she will say this before even getting out of bed in the morning, but she knows Daddy will be home eventually!)
• Call Holly (or whoever) ? (She loves to hear people talk and gets a huge grin on her face. Sometimes she will be quiet but she knows there is someone talking to her!)
• Not a question, but tonight I made a quiche for dinner. Claire was super pumped to try the pie. Little did she know it had ham, cheese, eggs, and veggies, and nothing sweet about it. :) "No want this one. Want Chalk-late one Mommy!!!!" The funny thing is I can't remember ever making a chocolate pie in the past couple years....we must have had one someplace that was chocolate or she wouldn't know what PIE is. I hate crust in general so pie is something I don't really make, and if I do, it's like a quiche with only a bottom crust that I don't have to eat.
• I go Home Depot? (SHE LOVES THOSE ORANGE CARS. Seriously...I need to see about walking home with one one of these days. KIDDING. But it's probably only about a mile. Totally do-able. :) Wouldn't that be something walking around the neighborhood on a daily walk with an orange shopping cart car from Home Depot. Hehe.)
• I go story time? (Her other favorite obsession. PLUS she loves to look at the fish they have there.)
• OUTSIDE? OUTSIDE? OUTSIDE? (Started asking for outside about this time last year. LOVES the outdoors. We hang out on the patio at least once a day in addition to walking. My brother David asked why I was so tan when I saw him at the Popcorn fest. Ha. I have a toddler and no fence. :) That says it all!)

Little Misunderstandings

Here are a couple funnies I had to post about before I forget!

Friday we had a rainy morning. We went out to get the mail, and it turned into a worm hunt. Claire had a blast looking at them, esp. if they were moving and wiggling around. Then I made her some Ramen noodles for lunch and cut them up. They are VERY squiggly noodles. She looked funny at the bowl and asked in her little toddler questioning voice, "Those WORMS Momma?"

The other story is also about food...kind of. She had a wad of dried oatmeal on her cheek, but she wasn't letting me wipe it off. She likes to run away screaming, "No wiping my face!" So I just left it, but then she felt it and kept touching it. Finally, she goes, "Momma, I gotta pimple." I thought this was hilarious too.

Something in my butthole.

Claire new favorite song to listen to in the car is Savage Garden's "I WANT YOU." An oldie, but a goodie. Check out the music video if you haven't seen it in awhile:

She will say "Mommy make louder! Mommy play "chica cherry!" Mommy start over!" She loves it!

Today Claire was saying, "Mommy my butt hurt. Mommy someting in my butthole." So I thought she had pooped her pants. Nope. Or maybe was TRYING to poop. Nope. She had a giant wedgie. I said, "Claire! You have a wedgie." So she goes, "What's my wedgie?" Yes, important things to learn. I explained wedgies are when clothes go in your buttcrack not into your butthole...ahh...fine nuances...lol...

Last night we had grilled cheese and soup. She was eating with a baby spoon. She wanted a big spoon. So she goes. "Mommy, I wanta different spoon. This spoon sucks." Yes, she said sucks. It was actually pretty funny.

Funny Sayings

I am sure as time goes on I will have more and more funny things to share that Claire has said! Here are a few stories:

At the grocery store while picking out produce, the sprinklers came on. Claire excitedly exclaimed, "Mommy! It raining in here!!!"

I sometimes make rice for breakfast and put cinnamon and sugar on it, but Claire likes hers plain. She saw me sprinkle cinnamon on mine and said, "Mommy, I no want dirt on mine!"

I was in Claire's way. She wanted me to move. So she said, "Mommy! Move on back!" A little too much "Wheels on the Bus" perhaps? LOL!

Yesterday we visited Fair Oak Farms http://www.fofarms.com/ which really easy to find right of of I-65. We were able to watch a calf being born. It was amazing! When we got home, the first thing Claire said to Josh was, "Daddy! I saw baby cow come out mommy cow!" I would totally recommend going there! Check the hours to make sure you are able to take a bus tour as that is included in the museum price. I'd also advise going when it is nice out so you can take advantage of all the outdoor kiddy rides, which are included.

Claire has developed a sense of privacy. I still keep her in diapers/pull-ups but she goes on the potty several times a day (both #1 and #2). I am just too nervous about cleaning up accidents. Anyways, if she wants me to leave she will say something like, "No see me Mommy. Go away. Go in kitchen Mommy. Eat food. Turn around. Don't see me! No looking at me."

When I help her get dressed, she loves to say "Where Claire go? I hiding!" when the shirt covers her eyes. She has been able to put on her own sandals since we visited Holly and I got some Velcro one she can fasten. She will ask, "That foot Mommy? It go there?" to make sure she's putting it on the right one.

She LOVES going to the library story time. It's very exciting as we are now in the Toddler Group versus the Baby Mother Goose Group. It's a little longer and the kids get to make a craft. She has used a glue stick for the first time! When we pull in the parking lot, she goes "STORY TIME! READ BOOKS! SING SONGS! SEE FISHIES! PLAY TOYS! I WANT TO GO IN HOUSE MOMMY!" She loves the little play house and Lego table at the library, since those are a couple things we don't have at home. We definitely can't skip story time. She loves it way too much!!!

Her appetite has increased immensely. She can say "I'm hungry. I'm thirsty! I want more food please!" One of her favorite foods is corn-on-the-cob. I'm sure it's because corn is sweet. But it was really funny as she had corn this past Saturday night, and when we got back to my mom's house. She ASKED me to brush her teeth. She goes, "Mommy, brush teeth? I have corn teeth." She meant she had corn IN HER teeth, but it was funny the way it came out. She is starting to use more and more "little" words like prepositions (in, on, under, etc) and articles (the, a, an) which are really making the longer sentences flow.

We have shared about the baby with her, of course. She will say, "Mommy have baby in tummy. I be big sister soon!" She of course, is probably clueless as to what this really means, but we have several months to go!

She also will say "Good morning; Goodnight; Sweet Dreams!"

Empty Driveway :(

Our driveway feels empty after having Matt and Brooke here for a few wonderful, fun-filled days. Here's some shots from yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeinvector/3821540631/
Claire keeps saying, "Matt Brooke Camper Gone." "I miss Matt Brooke." "I miss Matt too." "I miss friends." She gets it already.

Funny from last night: we were eating hambugers fresh off the grill. I gave Claire several little hunks of meat. She wanted more. I asked her if she wanted more hamburger. She said, "NO! MORE MEAT!" Lol. It was the only meat we were eating. She'll get that soon enough!

Going Shopping!

Claire loves to go shopping with me! She also loves to "pretend" to go shopping. She is really getting into the imaginative play. She will load up her cart with a baby in the seat, her purse, and usually her sippy, then pretend to "buy" stuff. She will also say "I check out now" which totally cracks me up. Check out this video:

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!!!

Amazing Verb Usage!

Here are some sentences that Claire has said that have amazed me:

• I finding book.
• I making dinner. (Playing with play food!)
• Daddy mow grass.
• Mommy take shower.
• I drink white milk.
• I take bath!
• Holly sexy!
• I love you TEDDY BEAR too! (she will say "I love you ............ too" to about anything she likes)
• Mommy garage sale!
• I sleep bath tub. (She wanted to pretend to sleep in the tub! LOL!)
• Daddy fix boat! (Blow-up toy boat had deflated!)
• I want story-time now!
• I want sad baby book. (She is very interested and concerned about books that have pictures of sad people, esp. if they have tears.)
• I want Gobi! (She says "Gobi" for spaghetti. She is getting the G and I sounds.)
• Kiss boo-boo. Fall down.
• Bump head.
• I naked girl! (when naked)
• Our neighborhood! (when we pull into it)
• Terrible, Horrible (at Alexander's expense, if you know the book!)
• I want nummy milky!
• Daddy car all gone!
• Mommy! Phone ringing!
• Mommy! Pizza! (If the doorbell rings! Hmm...maybe we order pizza too much!)
• I want bite chicky!
• I want bite cereal!
• I want bite crunch! (for captain crunch)
• Richie help pedal! (Every time we play on her new trike bike! She remembers!)
• Opa pull wagon! (Again, amazing memory for her little mind!)
• Daddy working?
• I hunggggggggggrrrrrrreeeeeee! (hungry, but always drawn out!)
• Good girl Mommy! Go on potty! (that is always hilarious!)