Carrying on a conversation

I was driving home from work the other night and decided to call home to check on my family. Jeff put me on speaker phone and before I know it, I am having a 5 minute conversation with my daughter! She was answering my questions about her day and when Jeff would prompt her about something, she would tell me about it. I don't know when Claire became such a chatterbox, but I have a feeling she is going to be quite the talker! She is saying 3 and 4 word sentences now. After I hung up the phone, I almost started to cry. My little girl is growing up too fast.

We got to take our first dip in the pool on this past Wednesday. The water was chilly when we first got in, but we quickly adjusted. Claire had lots of fun and she even let me pull her around in the pool while she lay on her tummy.

Claire got to spend the past 2 days with her Daddy. The first day Jeff taught Claire to count to 5. The second day Claire wanted to learn more so Jeff taught her how to count to 10! When I got home from work, she was very eager to show me how she could count to 10. She sometimes needs help with 6 and 9, but otherwise she does excellent! We are so very proud of her and how much she is retaining every single day.

Hold Me

Our little love bug

Easter egg hunting

Claire was able to go to two egg hunts this year. We had one with our neighborhood mom group and then we went to one at a church today. Claire got her picture taken with the Easter Bunny which went about as well as when she had her picture taken with Santa Claus!I knew I would have to hold her for the picture, but as I was walking with her up to the Easter Bunny, she grabbed me super tight and clung on for dear life! I am not sure why I continue to torture her with pictures with large dressed up creatures, but for some reason I do!

ABC

We have been working diligently with Claire on her letters. I find it fascinating how quickly she learns something and then is able to recall it. A child's brain truly is a sponge that is wanting to absorb anything it can. I have been working with Claire on spelling words as well. So far we are just working on three letter words like cat and dog but she is catching on quickly. I still have to prod her a bit but she does remember how to spell them. I guess the hardest part of being a parent is going to be to keep up with our daughter.

"Help you"

Claire is very big into doing everything herself. Today she wanted to practice buckling herself in. When she gets stuck or unable to do something, she says "help you Momma" which is her way of asking me to help her.

Claire is usually scared of the vacuum, but today she wanted to help empty it and put it away. Maybe we are getting closer to not being scared of the vacuum anymore!


We went for a walk to get the mail. Of course we could not leave the house without Claire's purse. She had to carry it the entire way to the mailbox and back!

Claire loves to play "hiding". She usually will cover her face with her hands and say "hiding". Then we have to try to find the place she is "hiding". Today she thought it was fun to actually hide and would go behind the bush and peek over the top.

Playing with friends

Claire and I have been spending lots of time with friends over the past few days. Here are just a few of the fun photos we were able to take while enjoying the beautiful weather outside and the friendships we are building.

Learning my ABC's

I have to brag on Claire a little bit. The other day Jeff told me that she knows most of her letters when going through her ABC book. I have admit that I was skeptical. "She is not even two" and "when did she learn them" were the two thoughts that went through my mind. He tried to get Claire to show me how smart she was, but Claire was not in the mood that evening. Well, today I thought I would give it a try and test it out. While she was eating lunch, I took the letters we have for the refrigerator and pulled them one at a time out of a bag. To my surprise, Claire was able to name all but six of them on her first try! She blew me away! I cannot believe how much she takes in every single day and how much she can remember! Hope you enjoy the pictures of our smart girl!

My busy day and a half

Mommy has been keeping me busy learning new things. Yesterday she taught me how to use my fork to eat noodles.

It takes lots of practice, but after many tries, I finally got a noodle!

Next, Mommy had me go outside and sweep the porch. I think I need a broom that is my size to make the job a bit easier!

After my work was done, Mommy took me to the park to play. I love to climb on the park equipment and swing.

Finally, after a busy day, I wind down with my milk and "baby" while watching a little bit of Elmo on Sesame Street. I love Elmo!

Becoming Daddy's girl

Claire's nighttime routine has always been a special time for her and I. We say our prayer with Daddy, then go upstairs to brush teeth, say a few more prayers, and rock while I sing "Jesus loves you" to Claire. This is my time to cuddle with my little girl and just relax and enjoy the moment. Well, the other night everything changed for me. I went through the night routine and when I got to Claire's bedroom and ready to rock with her, she said "Daddy rock". It broke my heart because I didn't get to see Claire all day due to work. What made it all okay though was seeing the huge grin on Jeff's face as he walked into Claire's bedroom and she reached out for him. I told her I loved her and said my goodnights before heading downstairs trying not to cry. It was very difficult for me to not have this time with my baby but it was also awesome to see Claire and her Daddy rocking to sleep.