I somehow lost track of time while writing Claire’s blog over the 6 months, and I wanted to revisit the idea again. I’m not even going to try to catch us up on the last 6 months since so much has happened, so we’ll just start from here and I’ll drop some tidbits in here and there about things that happened during the lapse.
Jeff and I have decided that Claire definitely inherited his memory. She picks things up faster than I would expect a two year old to do. About two weeks ago she started singing this song “The A goes ah” and then sings all the letters and the sounds they make. Last week I just checked in with her and sang some letters, and she knew all the sounds the letters of the alphabet make! And when we sing a brand new song (like in her Kindermusic class), she starts singing along on the third verse. It just amazes me, because I can’t even pick up on it as fast as she does. She is very blessed to have that type of memory. Makes us wonder who’s going to be teaching who though!
This last weekend we went to a puppet show at the library (which she loved), then went to the park to feed the ducks and throw rocks into the lake. It was a beautiful day in Seattle, and it was the perfect early evening to be at the park. Claire had so much fun running around the park and remembered hanging out there even though it had been about 5-6 months!
Oh, some news, in case you didn’t know…I’m pregnant! I’m 8 weeks now (due Sept. 19) and doing great so far. I think we picked the perfect time to get pregnant again, as Claire is already very motherly with friends (and dolls), so we think she’ll be a perfect big sister. We’re very excited about this new chapter to add to our lives. I have an ultrasound picture on the refrigerator, and Claire looks at it every day and says it’s a baby and then pulls up my shirt to look at my belly. So cute! Much different this time around being pregnant. Lots to think about, but much more calm about the idea of having another one.
We’ve learned a lot about Claire since she’s turned two. The terrible two’s aren’t as bad as we thought they’d be. I know that Claire picks up on things quickly and listens very well, and I think the combination of that, and Jeff and me working well with helping her through these tough times, has been great. I’ve read a lot about how to handle situations, and we seem to nip each new issue within a week of it popping up. The toddler bed was probably the one that took the longest, but it taught us a whole new level of patience. Right now we’re really focusing on giving her choices, and when things go awry, to redirect, redirect, redirect. These days there’s so much information out there on the web to teach parents how to parent the best way for their kids, and it’s been a blessing for us to have that at our fingertips.
The latest task with Claire is potty training. Here’s my take on it…I think it would be great it she was potty trained, but at the same time, it’s also not as easy to just run errands when she’s potty trained. I guess I just think about her having to go on a regular toilet without her little lid. Kind of messy and hard. I know we’ll figure it out when the time comes, but I’m okay with not pushing her on getting potty trained right now. She does it when she wants to, and sometimes pees 3-4 times a day on the toilet, other days not at all. I ask daycare every day if she goes, just so I know where she’s at with them. One of her teachers actually said that she thought it was great that we’re not trying to push the potty training thing and just letting Claire take the lead. We think that when Claire’s ready, she’ll let us know. I don’t want it to be a battle.
Claire’s daycare has taught her so much already. It’s a Christian daycare, but they aren’t pushy. The do teach a little bible story class each day and how it relates to their lives. It’s funny, because when Claire plays with her toys at home and they’ll be “talking” to each other, and their names are almost always Mary and Joseph. They also sing prayer before lunch at daycare “The Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seeds. The Lord is good to me.” Claire and I now sing it every night before bed. She’s so animated with it and loves singing it.
I think she has the characteristics to be an actress or singer or some type of musician. She LOVES singing, and picks up songs immediately, and she loves reading books and being really animated with them. She tells you what’s on the page (even if it’s not what the words say), and hs a happy face one second, and sad the next. She seriously cracks us up.
Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, Claire got a bag of gifts from grandma and grandpa. She carries that bag everywhere and takes out her “hearts”. She wears her necklace everywhere and is so girly with all of it. Thank you grandma and grandpa!
Okay, promise to be better about these updates.
Until next time!
