Palm Sunday at the Pichners

We headed to the Pichners on Palm Sunday for a pre-Easter celebration. Claire got into the egg hunting (helped her hone her skills for the Whitcomb event the following weekend).  

Next year, we expect to see Claire and Hazel playing a bit more than this year.

Easter at the Whitcombs

Great weather this year allowed the kids to enjoy ample time outdoors searching for their eggs. Thanks to her cousins for letting Claire get to the easy eggs on the ground. And big thanks to big sis for helping her find her eggs!

Future Artist?

This is what happens when dad tries to take a quick shower and Claire gets artsy. Good thing it's washable markers. She did it two days later on her socks. Hmmm.... where will we find marker next? Any bets? I've got a bet that the wall is her next canvas. 

  

Separation Anxiety

Mom and Claire started swimming lessons last Thursday evening. Claire was hesitant to go in the water at first and did not release her vice grip on mom for most of the class. She isn't comfortable reaching out for toys or being on her back, but did enjoy sitting on the side of the pool and jumping (or sliding) into mom's arms. At the end of class she was very disappointed to be leaving and let everyone in the pool area know by crying as loud as she possibly could. 

Claire has added a few new words to her vocab, most notably 'Jordan'. Of course, it doesn't sound like Jordan, more like 'dough-dough' but it is reserved exclusively for her big sister. She is working on other words and often has the sound of the first letter down but not the whole word. 

We seem to be battling some of the 'steps' we skipped as a babe. As of late, she has been having separation anxiety from mom. Mom thinks this may have to do with her having taken a vacation for 4 days without Claire. Now, whenever Mom leaves the room it is an experience. Putting Claire to bed at night has taken on a whole new level of patience as we are reverting to the 'cry it out' method with a nearly 22 month old. Hopefully it won't take her too long to get back into settling in on her own. 

Earlier in March Claire and Dad met up with Lexi and Susie for a trip to the Children's Museum. This place has become one of dad's favorite locales during winter. 

Here is a picture of Claire and Lexi from last year, when they first 'met' each other.

And here are Claire and Lexi, nearly a year later. My how big they have gotten. 

Are they planning a road trip? 

It's instinct

There really was no need to explain to Claire what she needed to do in these boots. She was a natural.

'No'

Claire has mastered the word 'no'. She hasn't really applied it, except for a couple times. Mom learned this while asking her not to do something. She asked Claire what mom said and Claire looked right at her and said 'no'. Hmph.

She is also saying 'oh my' and 'all done'. Dad mentioned that it seems like her vocabulary is beginning to expand. We expect full sentences any day now.

Mom & Claire had a girls weekend last week. Mom had to laugh when Claire pulled out her Sesame Street jammies (size 3T) and wanted to wear it over her clothing. It appears dressing up begins at an early age. She is following in the footsteps of cousins Alex and Ryan.

More firsts

Mom read about kids who might potty train early, she prayed that Claire might be one of them. She may get her wish, but doesn't want to get too hopeful.

We introduced the potty in mid-January since she was showing interest in the toilet and her two favorite books were potty books. We took the 'no-pressure' approach and placed the potty in the bathroom next to the 'big toilet'. We began with her sitting on it fully dressed and slowly introduced taking off her diaper and having some 'potty-time'.

This evening, Claire was having potty-time while mom gathered her bath toys together. Perhaps it was the running water, perhaps it was just timing, but Claire used her potty. Mom wasn't even in the room! She was across the hall in Claire's room and when she returned to the bathroom Claire had put down the potty seat and mom noticed that it was wet. Hmmm... we should leave this up, she said to Claire and when she lifted it she noticed Claire had used the potty! There was much cheering by mom and dad and Claire beamed as we jumped around celebrating her continued development.

In all reality, we fully realize that 20 months is a bit early for this to be more than just a random occurance but we'll take what we can get.

This is the first week without our nanny. She moved back to NC and we will certainly miss her. We thank her for all she has done for us and for Claire, teaching her how to sign 'more' being a key communication piece in our lives.

In other news, Claire had her first big haircut last week. Her big sister noted that the day would finally come when we would need to cut the mullet. Mom made the executive decision to even out her hair and give her a bob. Dad commented that she looks chunkier and mom said she looked like a different kid.