halloween - better late than never

We started out Halloween evening with a sad little ladybug...

An ear infection will do that to you.

But, a little Tylenol, and she warmed right up to her costume. 

And the ensuing trick or treating (one neighbor + Daddy).

                                        

Although last year's costume was hard to beat, I think she makes a sweet little ladybug! 

Oct. 31, 2012

Claire Talk

Claire's vocabulary has just exploded lately. I just love her sweet little almost two-year-old voice.

Some of my favorite things Claire is saying these days...

• "Garaff" - Giraffe. Claire's favorite.

• "I getch you!" - I'm gonna get you! Momma's favorite.

• "Ephan"- Elephant

• "Funneee!" - Pronounced correctly and usually when other people are laughing. "Mama, funneee!"

• "Happee!"- Love this one. Usually a request for "If You're Happy and You Know It."

• "Klay" - Claire

• "Momma sit", followed by "Dadda sit", "klay sit." Claire is nothing if not equal opportunity. Everyone has to do everything every time. (Also interchangeable with "Momma sing" or "Dadda eat".) Sometimes even "Graceeee" and "Tannuh" get turns. 

*No, I'm not going to even acknowledge the lapse in blogging over the last few months. I have a toddler.

claire tidbits - 14ish months

Just a few things I want to remember about Claire at this exhausting fun age (14 1/2 months)...

...Dog is absolutely her favorite word. Although she says it like "Doeg." Precious. And most any creature is a dog. She also says Dada (repeatedly), Uh-oh, Dis (This) and we've heard Duck a few times now. Her daycare teacher says she can say Ball but we haven't heard that. She'll occasionally bust out with a Mama, but usually only when she's upset that I took something away or walked away. Claire also tries to repeat Thank You when we say it first, but I think only we can understand that one.

...Speaking of school...it took a few weeks for Claire to get used to her new school, but she is loving it now and so are we. She walks in each day like she owns the place! And I think she might...her teacher seems to love her as much as we do!

...Claire is loving her Loveys these days! Thankfully, she doesn't seem to be attached to any one in particular - she just likes to drag whichever one is nearest (or both of them) around with her and sleeps with one every night. I think I am going to order an extra of my favorite just to have on hand - we already lost one at Kohl's when visiting Grandma and Grandpa.

...Claire has stayed with Grandma and Grandpa twice this year already, most recently while we went on a cruise for a week. It took her a few days to adjust, but I am100% certain that she missed them when we got her back. In particular, she bonded very well with Grandpa. They loved playing piano together.

...Claire likes to brush her hair and play with her toothbrush. She's let me "brush" her teeth, but mostly she just plays with it.

...Reading is So. Much. Fun. Especially the same books over. and. over. again. I could recite Llama Llama Red Pajama in my sleep. Board books are our favorite. We could use a few new ones...and a bookshelf to store them on.

I could just eat that little belly up.

...Baby girl weighed 20.5 lbs at her appointment last week. She eats, but she's still so petite. She wears 12 month jammies and 9 or 12 month outfits. I'm not buying any more 9 months, but the 12's are too big still. She definitely grows out of the pants (length) first. 

dear claire

Dear Claire,

Sweet baby girl. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sleeping through the night last night for the first time in a while. Please do it again tonight.

I love you,
Momma

PS - Also, can you work on not screaming as we approach your classroom door at school? I think you're scaring all the kids that are already there. Please and thank you.

#15

This post is a little belated, but Bob and I had the opportunity to take a little trip to Miami earlier this last month. It was much needed.

The purpose of our trip was a little game called the BCS National Championship. You might have heard about it.

We're very aware that non-Alabama fans are sick of watching us go to that game, but as this was their third time in four years, Bob and I felt like we HAD to go this year or risk not getting to go for a long time. Or ever.

Thankfully, a good deal on tickets and grandparents willing to play babysitter allowed us to do so.

It was a short trip. We flew to Orlando to save a little money and rented a Ford Mustang to drive down to Miami.

We beached.

We ate.

We tailgated and ran into old friends.

And, we won!

Definitley a trip for the books. Not sure if we'll make it to another National Championship game (we'll see!), but I am SO glad we went.

the weekend

This weekend was...fun and exhausting.

Highlights:  Drinks with this girl at a new (to me) bar in East Nashville. Warning: Drinks are strong.

Dinner and dessert with this girl and that girl (and their hubbies). You know it's a good night when multiple bottles of wine are consumed, almost everyone cleans their plate and EVERYone orders dessert.

In between, Claire...

...stayed up late all night to make sure Daddy drank his water...

 

..stayed in her jammies all day b/c Mommy was tired (and prayed for springtime)...

...snuggled in Mommy's bed after Daddy had gone to work b/c Mommy was tired...

 ...and tested out Tanner's bed since he wasn't using it...everyone but Claire is tired.

Oh, and grew two new teeth and refused to sleep. :)

month by month

Here it is...in hard evidence...the proof that my little baby is no longer a baby. I am so glad I did these. It really is amazing how they change in just a month.

Cross-eyed Claire and new to this photo taking with a bear thing.

I got it now, Momma.

I think months 4 and 5 are my personal favorite. 

All of a sudden, she looks like a big girl in month 7. 

Too cool to look at the camera in month 9.

I'm ONE!

denial

I'm in severe denial. Y'all, my little girl is a whole year old. Twelve months. Actually knocking on the door of thirteen. I feel like I just had her and she is already on the verge of walking...eating like a big girl...forming opinions...and making them known.

In my mind, it seems like I'm always a few steps behind with her. I think she is doing so good and is so advanced (b/c really, what mom doesn't think their kid is brilliant). Then I visit the cursed hallows of the Internet and find out that other moms have been doing that for months. To me, one year old is still so little to be doing some things. And, trust me, I know that kids do things at different ages. I'm not in the least bit worried about Claire. I'm worried about me!

Case in point right now: the sippy cup. All you non-experienced moms out there or mommas-to-bed, I ask you: At what age do you drop the bottle and switch to a sippy cup? My thought has always been one year. So here we are at one year, and we commenced Operation Sippy Cup this weekend. After a brief meltdown, a skipped meal and a couple of different kinds of sippy cups, we thought Claire had it.

She finished out the day on Saturday using sippy cups and had no problems on Sunday. Sure, she wasn't drinking as much as she might have out of a bottle, but it was enough.

Monday came. Refused her morning cup. Refused all cups at daycare until around 3:30. Teachers were worried so they called me, I was worried. She finally gave in around 3:30, but that was it. We gave her a bottle last night and again this morning because we don't want her to get dehydrated. Sent her to school with milk in sippy cups and back up bottles in the diaper bag just in case. Wish us luck.

Back to my point. I'm in denial. As much as I want her to make the switch seamlessly and as much as I can't wait to quit washing bottles, I can't believe she's old enough to do these things.


Y'all she ate macaroni, meatballs and green beans for dinner the other night. She's not big enough! But she scarfed them down.

And she's quite the little dancer. If You're Happy and You Know It and The Itsy Bitsy Spider really get her moving.

I know I'm biased but I love, love, LOVE this kid. 

claire - twelve months old!

Claire at twelve months - December 24, 2012

Claire's last monthly update. Wow, that was fast.

Weight/Height: At her one-year appointment, almost two weeks after her birthday (holidays!), Claire weighed in at 18 lbs, 8 oz and is 28 1/4 inches long. She's lost a little weight since her (unofficial) weigh in at 11 months, but since the Dr. is not worried, I won't be either. She's consistently around the 10 - 25 percentile for height and closer to the 10th percentile for weight. It's official - she's petite.

Clothes: Claire is still in 9 month sleepers and is pretty solidly in 9 month clothing elsewhere. She can fit in a few 6 month and, likewise, a few 12 month things but I'd call her size 9 months. She'll be switching to 12 month jammies as soon as Mommy can buy some. Let me tell you, Mommy almost had a meltdown at Target and TJ Maxx when I couldn't find any footie jammies in 12 months. Thankfully, I looked online and they still come in size 12 months, because I am NOT ready to put her in 2 piece jammies.

Eating Habits: Right before her birthday, we made the switch to whole milk. She's tolerated it okay. She won't drink it cold yet, so we're still warming it and it seems to have upset her tummy a bit, but it's hard to tell if it's the milk or other things she's eating.

We don't feed Claire much baby food anymore b/c she won't let us! She prefers to feed herself, so we try to make things she can eat too.

Sleep: Claire still sleeps pretty well at home. At school and away from home? Not so much. On a good at home weekend, I can expect her to nap twice during the day from about 1 - 3 hours. She goes to bed around 8 or 8:30 and sleeps til 7:30ish if I don't have to wake her up for school. On school days, she naps a stretch of about 1 - 1 1/2 hours and then, sometimes, for 30 minutes to an hour when we get home.

Teeth: Claire finally has her first teeth! The bottom two front ones have come in and her little toothy smile is precious!

Biggest accomplishment: The day before her first birthday, Claire took a couple of steps. It's a complete fluke, and she hasn't done it since then, but we're still proud!

Likes: 

• Dancing
• Food, especially bread
• Her musical seahorse
• People watching when we're out
• Bathtime- LOVES bathtime
• Her red rubber duckie
• The puppies - and, specifically, patting the puppies. 

Dislikes

• Having her nose cleaned
• The end of bathtime when Mommy pulls the rubber duckie out of her hand and leaves it in the bathtub
• When Mommy or Daddy leaves the room 

Favorite Moments: So many this month. Claire's first birthday and party top the list for sure. Visits with family. Time spent together as a family at home.

Doctor's Orders:At her one-year checkup, we were given instructions on dropping the bottle and switching solely to a sippy cup. Mom and Dad are THRILLED about this. 

Other Tidbits:

• The delay on this post is reprehensible. I'm not sure if it's because I am in disbelief that my baby girl is 1, or if it's that I'm just tired of doing these. A little of both, I do think. I know I will be glad to have them one day though.

Comparison: