Conversations with Claire

Now that Claire is becoming more and more verbal, it's fun to chat with her and explore new words and check in on what she knows.  Below are some videos of Miss Talkative...

When discussing the weather and other things "outside," Claire can pick from a variety of words to say.  Here she chose, "bubble," which is her favorite outside activity.

Her most used word to date is "hi."  She says this warm, heartfelt greeting to everyone.  EVERYONE.  Nice lady going up the escalator as we are going down the other side.  Older man at the Botanic Gardens watching his grandson playing.  Sweet little boy sitting next to us at our Christmas Eve service.  It usually accompanies a wave.  And, this greeting is typically repeated a few times, many times done so as she moves closer (and closer) to her new friend.  To say that Claire is friendly and interested in people would be quite accurate!  I don't have a video of her saying hi to a new friend, so this video of me encouraging her to say hi to herself via my phone will have to suffice.

Teaching Claire new words is always fun.  She was walking around the other day saying something that sounded like "popcorn," so I decided to practice this word with her over lunch.  (We love popcorn in this house and have made it a lot lately, so I'm not surprised if this is where she got it from.  However, I also wouldn't be surprised if she was just throwing a bunch of sounds together and I wanted them to be "popcorn."  It's one of my favorite snacks and if it made it onto the list of Claire's first 30 words, that would be incredible.  Here goes nothin'.)

As I said before, Claire is quite verbal.  She can say over 20 words...many of these are clear enough to understand even if you're not her adoring and prideful parents.  Avery was actually very verbal, but Claire may have her beat in this category.  We'll have to see if this Chatty Cathy stays a Chatty Cathy.  Speaking of our Chatty Cathy, the below video showcases Claire throwing her real words out the window as she retells an apparently fascinating tale to me.

In other news, Claire loves slides.  Claire loves slides like Avery (still) loves swings.

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I sent Jeff this video and he thought it was great.  Then, he teased me that I was singing the words wrong.  If I had a nickel for every time I sang lyrics incorrect, I would have enough money to buy an island.

Letter to Santa

If this letter to Santa doesn't have Avery written all over it, I don't know what does.  What was intended to be a letter to Santa asking for what she wants for Christmas ended up pretty much being a letter of interrogation.  And, you can bet she already has a long Elsa dress and more high heels than me (but clearly, more of each is only necessary).

Boy, Avery, you make me laugh!

(Avery's 3rd grade "buddy," Paige, wrote this letter for Avery verbatim.  I can only imagine Paige's face as Avery was rattling off all the questions in her mind!)

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Get in my belly!

Interpretive Dance

This kid.

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And, then there's this kid...

One Year For Claire

My little love!  Can't believe it's been one year since I met your sweet, kissable face!  You have become such a fun little girl -- full of personality, full of love.  You enjoy giving kisses to anyone, animals and people alike.  You play so well independently.  Often times, if it's quiet during your independent play time, I will find you on the floor looking at books and many times, talking and pointing to the characters.  You also love to play with your sister, and in the past few months, you two have become quite the playmates...playing together in the playroom by yourselves is something you both now enjoy.  You are a funny little one who likes to make us laugh by doing silly (and many times, messy) things!  You are easy to laugh and smile, and you love being around people!

Claire Bear stats at 12 months:

Weight: 22 pounds (78% tile)
Length: 29 inches (34% tile)

Other updates...

Walking: She nailed this right at 12.5 months.  One Monday she was taking 2 to 3 steps and by Wednesday, she was walking all over the place like she had been doing it for months.  She is gaining confidence every day and starting to get more adventurous with steps, inclines and climbing.

Talking: She still has a lot to say, but now we're able to make out real words here and there.  Mama, Dada, AaaAAA (Avery), up, hi, uh oh, cheese (cheeeesssssse), balloon (ba-on), touch it (tutchit), all done (a DUN) and Emma (a sweet girl who lives in our neighborhood and who Claire adores) come out of her mouth often.  She learned the word balloon during the birthday month when we seemed to have endless balloons in the house.  

Some of her likes:  Playing outside, picking flowers, playing with (and trying to eat) bark mulch, chase, reading, songs and dancing, feeding herself, giving high fives and kisses, and walking.

Some dislikes: Driving in the car (unless we blast nursery rhymes), being confined or cramped in any way (can someone have claustrophobia this young?!), when we take her away from anything she is loving at the time (rummaging through unlocked cabinets wanting to throw our dinner plates on the ground, for example), when Avery can't or doesn't want to play with her (and Claire reacts by hitting Avery and/or pulling her hair -- we are working on this  :) ).  Ha!  Definitely full of personality.

Our Claire!

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Chubby baby legs.  Yum!  Avery is on the left, Claire is on the right.

BIG 5!

She's five and loving it!

I don't know if it's all this birthday/childhood nostalgia that has me thinking this way or what, but I truly feel like Avery has grown up a lot since turning five (yes, that was only 44 days ago, I know -- a lot can change in a short period of time, right?!).  She is 100% kid...acting and thinking like a little person through and through.

Here are some photos of Avery's birthday celebrations!

Birthday dinner with our family...

She even LOOKS 5!

Legoland the day after her birthday with just Avery, Jeff and me...

Disney on Ice with Danda and Papa...

Birthday party with all four grandparents....(and pretty much no pictures of them...whoops.)

A new water table for the girls!

I love this picture of Avery and Papa!

And, of course, her friend party with Elsa!

Birthday video!  Well, the entire video was over 6 minutes; below are just little snipits I thought were funny and cute.  Avery liked making this video and wanted to answer more questions.  I'll have to come up with some more questions and ask her those on her half birthday.  ;-)

Happy 5th birthday, my love!

Avery,  you have such a sensitive heart and mind.  It's a beautiful thing, but can also throw some challenges our way.  You feel and think so much....at times, I feel like it's more than a young child should experience.  But, as you get older, I see this part of you making you that much stronger, compassionate and confident.  You are such a blessing in my life and I love you more than words could ever express.

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Acting, thinking and looking like a five year old means... you're a five year old in every sense!

Life Lately

Life lately...as in life the past few months!  Talk about being MIA.  All is good here; life just got busy and once I realized how overdue I was on a blog post, I felt overwhelmed and kept pushing it off.  Well, I can't push it off any longer.  I mean, this is the girls' baby book and I can't just go dark on them during this part of their lives.  You only turn ONE and FIVE once, so you better hope your mom doesn't slack off!

BUT, their birthday blog posts will come another time.  Haaaaa!!  I want to put heart and soul into it and right this second isn't the time.  I need time for that.

Okay!

Here are some highlights from our summer activity!

Sadly, our neighborhood said goodbye to two amazing families in August.  Over the past 2.5 years, we became not only great neighbors, but lifelong friends.  They will be missed during our day-to-day neighborhood activities, but there's no doubt we will make points to get together for many years to come!

Terraza Strong!

We spent many afternoons enjoying pool time!

Okay - not a pool day, but a beach day...and a buddy picture.

During our summer break, Avery took two dance camps.  She enjoyed herself and picked up some fancy new dance moves!

Once of the highlights of our summer vacation was taking a trip to Maui with Jeff's parents, his sister and her family.  It was a wonderful week and while Jeff and I may not have had lazy days on the beach drinking Mai Tai's, it was a fantastic week spent with our loved ones.

Yes, Claire's head is touching the seat in front of us.  Sleep when you can, where you can on a 6 hour flight, no?

Photo courtesy of my 4-year old.  And the drink I'm holding...a mojito!  Wahoo!

Claire was captivated by her dinner date one night. 

Thanks, Uncle Pat, for feeding and entertaining Claire Bear!

Despite our efforts telling her the sunset was beautiful and her sister was smiling, Claire was NOT having it.  

I mean, really?  Hot model poses, if I've ever seen them.

Claire learned to kiss on this trip...and hasn't stopped since.

...at least Avery is smiling. 

Avery and her best friend.

Vacation over.  Simpsons out!

Helen, Rose and Auntie Michel's Visit

At this point, Rose was over it while Claire was just getting into it.

Here are some random photos that I've captured on my trusty iPhone recently...

Danda love. 

This is definitely not my iPhone photo.  Thanks, Uncle Fred!

With a face like that, you don't need to smile.

During a play date, they asked for a "tv" in their "hotel room."  I nailed it!

Matching shirts and cute headbands.  Sweet sister photo to capture it?  Yeah, right.

If you can't shake your tail feather with Danda in a driveway...

...why bother shaking it at all?

4th of July!

Doing a book report at the library...

Totally sitting in on another kid doing a book report at the library... I could tell her to give them some space or I could just take a picture...

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A new spin on an old toy...and a slo-mo video about carnivores...