Who needs a sippy

Claire has grown up. Dad initiated the no sippy at the dinner table routine and it appears to be working out quite well. She is certainly drinking more milk at meal times. She handles it well and likes the reactions from mom & dad. 

Her top two teeth and one on the bottom have finally broken through and it appears another one is on it's way. 

She began 'seperation' time at ECFE this week. Dad and the other parents (read moms) head into another room to chat about what's going on with their toddlers and the kids stay with the teachers to play. Some kids had some anxiety but Claire didn't even notice dad was out of the room. She also reacted well when he returned. Instead of being upset she told him (through her gestures) what she had been up to - a good sign.

Winter in Minnesota

When the weather goes from -30 to 40 in three days, what is a parent to do?

Dad handled the -30' days by taking Claire to the Conservatory to breathe in some nice humid air and check out the flowers. Unfortunately, or fortunately for mom, the sunken garden was closed for replanting so we'll have to head back again soon. Claire enjoyed watching the koi and running around in a nice warm environment.

Running through the mist (actually the lens fogged up but it seems appropriate!)

Look mom, I can fly!

Pondering life with the plants.

The weekend brought a sharp swing in temps and we felt like spring had come early (until today). We headed out to Amery to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday and since it was so warm out we spent part of the afternoon outside. Claire had a great time experiencing a number of new activities with her cousins. We also noticed that when we sat down for dinner, she was none to happy to be at the 'adult' table with mom & dad. We have realized that one of us is going to need to sit with her at the 'kids' table next time. She kept looking at all of her cousins, wondering why she wasn't sitting with them.

Getting a tow from mom/dad. Ain't it the life.

Getting a lesson from cousin Adam on how to make a good snowball.

Taking her first trip down the sledding hill.

Getting a ride back up the hill.

Heading down the hill with mom.

Sitting on snowmobile.

Taking her first ride on the snowmobile with dad. Mom doesn't think she has ever seen dad drive a sled this slow.

Colds, teeth and other fun stuff

Claire has been battling  yet another cold, her third of the season this week. Sorry to those who were with us on Saturday, she apparently came down with this on Saturday evening after not napping all that well during the day. She had a fantastic time at Sarah & Peder's gathering, nevertheless. All that girl power was quite a sight! 

In general she has been a busy girl since the new year began, heading off to play at the Children's Museum a couple of times and visiting with Grandma Jackie and Papa, recently. Mom & aunt Karey are pretty certain she said Hazel's name after a recent visit. She handed Hazel a toy when mom explained who it belonged to and said something very close to her name. She can be very shy when she first enters a new situation but warms up to people quickly. She has certainly determined that she is often the center of attention and will purposely do something funny to see what reaction she is granted. 

Soon, mom & dad may not need to cut up her food. Claire is cutting 4 new back teeth, two on top & two on the bottom. We didn't even realize this was happening. She is such a good natured kid. Despite cutting 4 teeth and having a cold, she still runs around like a mad woman and tears after the cat. 

She has been determined to put on her own socks, but can't quite get the hang of it. She also likes to try and put on her running shoes.

Trying to put on her shoes.

Deciding they seem to go on the horsey much easier than her own feet. 

Christmas Wrap Up

Trying to play with the walker. Hazel fits in it much better :)

Yea! It's the ABC song!!

A semi-decent shot of Claire and one set of the cousins. 

Claire checks out her new kitchen with dad. 

Petting Zoe dog with dad's help and playing with the fridge magnets with Uncle Pat. 

The holidays are over and we're settling back into our rhythm. Claire was a trooper, despite being seriously short on naps. Mom was probably a bigger baby than Claire. 

She enjoyed seeing much of her family over the three day Christmas adventure. We started out at the Whitcomb's on Christmas Eve day. Claire got outside for a bit but it was quite cold so she stayed inside the house and received several kisses from Zoe dog and enjoyed checking out Grandma Jackie's toys upstairs. She was very happy to see fridge magnets as one of her gifts. Claire can often be found in front of Grandma Jackie and Papa's fridge playing with the letters. 

Due to the excitement of the previous day and a short nap in the car, Claire didn't last too long at Great Grandma Shirley's house the next day. She had a fun time playing with Garrett and checking out Ron's train set. She promptly fell asleep once we got into the car on the way to G&G Pichner's. 

Friday brought her cousins and big sister to Faribault for another day of celebration. She was delighted to have a whole new host of toys to play with and was excited to receive more fridge magnets (the leapfrog kind) so know she can make super long words. 

She has started to show more interest in learning about potty training so we've been reading potty books on a regular basis and mom bought a potty at Target today, which will be slowly introduced into her pattern. 

Holiday Gal

Who is this man??

Claire visited Santa last night at the mall. We waited in line for roughly 45 mins (well, one of us waited in line while she ran around with the other). She did the crying and get me the heck out of here thing but we were able to get one image where there are no tears. Of course, we didn't realize we could bring our camera too (hey, mom is new at ALL of this stuff) so we have nothing to post. Mom is going to attempt a photo shoot with Claire after she wakes from nap so hopefully some holiday themed photos will be posted soon. We'll see how the photo shoot goes...

In other news, mom forgot to post earlier this week that Claire can blow her own nose! Since mom has been sick for nearly 2 months and Claire has watched her numerous time with the tissue she quickly picked up how to blow her nose. There isn't a lot of force behind the blows but she is using her nose. 

She also helps mom/dad put her lotion and/or wipes up on the shelf after a change. Such a big helper. 

18 month stats

Claire visiting the zoo with dad. Cool animals!! 

She's onto us. Claire does not dig going to the doctor any longer. She knows the shots are coming. Today's appointment started off OK but once we sat her on the chair it went south. Quickly. She knew that something was up... After mom took her off the chair and was holding her, she offered her doctor green bear, a sign that she had slightly forgiven her for poking and prodding. The nurse who gave her the flu shot and the other shot, not so easily forgiven. Not even the kitty and Dora stickers did the trick. 

Mom doesn't have the exact stats in front of her (she will update the post tomorrow) but she does remember that Claire is roughly 31 inches tall and is in the 46th percentile and weighs 22 lbs which is somewhere around 17th percentile. 

Our doctor said that she wasn't too worried that Claire isn't speaking yet as she witnessed how well Claire listens and understands. She was a bit concerned she might have a hearing problem but has come to the conclusion that Claire is simply developing her mobility skills more quickly than her verbal skills.