Months 21-22

She loves dancing in circles and falling down on purpose, Disney princess movies, Popsicles, being chased, donuts, covering her face to sleep

- She likes to play in her room with the lights off.
- Every night when reading stories, she plays a "night night" game with Andrew. He will say night night and close the door, and she will shout "night night" and he will peep back in. She loves it.
- "My Nannie" came to stay with us for a couple of days.
- We took family pics in August. Worst idea, but we did get some great pics!
- She referred to herself by her name. She pointed to me and said "my mama" and then pointed to herself and said "derr". Close enough!
- Anytime she dances, she falls down (on purpose).
- She got her top incisors (completing her teeth other than 2 year molars) by mid August.
- She startles easily. If she hears a loud noise, her eyes get wide and she runs. She usually shouts out the name of whomever made the loud noise. She loves to be scared.
- She interacts and laughs at appropriate parts in movies.
- She is getting very good at saying and identifying colors.
- When she says "I don't know" and "where did he go" she puts up her hands and says "no" or "go". So cute.
- She would play on our bed all day if I'd let her.
- There are several words that stand for multiple things. Bup: cup, book, block, bird, help, up. Mao/moo: Mail, spoon, balloon. Mimmie: Minnie, swimming. Ninnie: kelly Anne and ice cream. Baba or dede: universal word for anything she's unsure of.
- She says "yeah" in the cutest possible way.
- Her new go to is to say "owwie" or "Tay" after she does anything that purposefully falling down or splashing, etc. It's very important that her audience responds with "are you ok?" Or "I'm sorry!"
- She picked up a little summer cold (runny nose).
- She was sweet at Uncle Matt and Aunt Kristi's baby shower.
- She started saying "m'on" for come on. She will say "daddy, m'on" and signal for him to come with her hand.
- She wants to go to bed at night now. I'll be rocking and ask "are you ready to go night night" and she quickly replies "yeah"!
- We got to watch and play with Ethan and Macy for a day.
- She's going through a picky eating phase.
- She started KDO (along with Tuesday morning bible study, small group and church). She doesn't do well at all at drop off! I'm hoping she becomes used to it very soon!
- She can jump multiple times in a row getting both feet off the ground.
- On a bed or trampoline, she jumps really high, gets her legs in pike position and lands on her bottom.
- Her favorite game is "get you" where we play chase or tickle.
- She's going to be a big sister!
- She is not sleeping well if she goes to bed a little later
- She likes to sleep with her pillow on top of her, but doesn't want blankets. She's no longer in the sleep sack.
- She learned to do "knuckles".
- Her new most used word is "na-by-da". She says it with a very serious face when she wants something. I have no idea.

Top Products: 20 months

- Good bibs. She's independent when she eats and that gets really messy!

- Big toys: Kitchen and accessories. She plays with her kitchen every day without fail. Cozy coupe and/or other riding toy. Baby doll stroller and shopping cart!

- Little people toys. She loves them and carries them every where! They are small enough to take places for entertainment.

- A backpack instead of a diaper bag. It's easier to tote around while chasing a toddler.

- Crocs and/or Keens (or an off brand). They cover her toes and are easy to slide on. They're water proof and she can run in them.

- Some kind of play equipment outside. We have a kangaroo climber and a playhouse (found on a yard sale site). Andrew recently built her a swing, too!

- Playtex (insulated) sipster cups. They don't spill and they keep drinks cool! That deserves a gold medal!

- A good time-out spot. She's a hitter, so it's hard for me to hit (spank) her for hitting. Time out has been a game changer!

- Educational things. She now copies or tries anything we do an say. Shape sorting, color matching, animal sounds, letters and beginning sounds, counting, etc. Books are always great and easy resources! There are also tons of APPS! (Right now Claire finds videos that she likes on YouTube...whatever.)

Months 19-20

She loves: Minnie, jungle animal YouTube video, bubbles, swimming, swinging, Ariel and Ana, the color yellow, her kitchen

I wish I had one word to sum up her personality, but I don't...maybe "unpredictable"? Sometimes she can be the sweetest, easy going, tender hearted little thing. Other times, she's so moody. When anyone new speaks to her, their instant reaction is "please don't cry" or "oh no, I made her mad" because she makes the face. She's so stubbornness can be rotten. BUT she is who she is, and LOVE HER regardless!

1 nap around 12:30
Bedtime around 7:30/8:00
Wake up around 7:45

18 month appointment stats:
- 26.6 pounds
- 33 inches
- Verbal and physical skills are right on track!

- At swimming lessons she learned to: stick her face and ears in the water, blow bubbles, kick, splash (needs to work on kicking and splashing at the same time), lay on her back (hates it), go under, kick up from under water, getting in and out of the pool safely.
- I'm bad about adding "ok" to end of phrases [put up your toy, and then we will go outside, ok?], so now Claire has taken to saying it "tay".
- Top left canine broke the skin on 5/25. Canine teeth are busting our rears!
- We went to Benton, Lake Degray, and Conway for Memorial Day weekend. We had the best time catching up with everyone. Claire tubed for the first time!
- She's been waking a lot more than normal and is almost inconsolable. It's before we go to bed, so I just bring her into the living room with us. If I try to lay her down she screams and says "wok" for rock. She had her fist night terror-like episode.
- She says "wowwie" when she's trying to get past something/someone or when she accidentally runs into something. (I take it for both sorry and excuse me.)
- On 6/4 I had the sweetest time rocking her. She was so still and was looking right up at me rubbing my face, and whispering her gibberish. It was like she was saying "I see you, mama. I love you." I couldn't help but cry and think of how much I love her and how thankful I am to be her mama. I hope she always looks at me that way, and I hope she also knows that I always see her, too.
- When she wants the phone, she holds her hand up to her ear like she's talking and says "ho?"
- She knows how to ask for things. She will say words and then "mama" or "daddy". She'll also get our hands and put things in them when she wants us to do something.
- I noticed the bottom 2 incisors broke skin on 6/8.
- She's been using a certain (made up) phrase a lot "baba,lala,mama,Tay?"
- She's very into imaginative play. Minnie and baby are her favorites and she likes to pretend to feed them, make them blow bubbles, change diapers, stir and eat.
- New words are toot, shirt, truck, Ariel (and the tune that she sings), stir, stick, "side" for outside, got you, tree, fish, orange, memelow (watermelon), "daday" for pancake, door, rain
- When you ask, "what do you say?" She says "peeeeees".
- She can recognize a star, every letter is "I", every number is 2 or 9
- She will only eat yogurt if she feeds herself.
- Hit a sleep regression.
- She calls both her milk cup and a chip a "bup".
- Swims like a champ in her puddle jumper
- Had a long weekend in Russellville with the girls! (Duffields, Carters and Coopers)
- The "no" attitude and the tantrums at bedtime are about to do me in.
- When she falls down or hurts herself, she says "Tay" for "I'm ok"!
- She dropped a sticker I gave her and I heard her say "oh no! Ariel where are you?" (In her own special way)
- Give her a spoon and something to stir and she's good to go for a while.
- We went to stay with Matt and Kristi for the first time, and made a trip to the Tulsa zoo. Claire loved the elephants, but it was SOOO HOT.
- She now calls Brody "bro bro"
- She has correctly identified the colors yellow, blue and orange
- We spent July 4th weekend at Bogg  Springs.
- She's gotten really good at saying "thank you" without being asked. She will sometimes say "please" without being asked.
- We finally got the swingset built and  put together in our backyard!
- Still working on the discipline thing...
- She loves putting things into other things. She puts Weebles in bowls, little people in her bus, snacks from one container to another.
- She sings "let it go" by hold her arms out and saying "gooooo"!
- While reading her First Words book, we got to the flower page and she said "wowie, lellow, dar" (flower, yellow, star).
- Went to her first movie. She lasted 45 minutes.
- Pooped in the potty!! 7/13
- She calls animals by the sounds they make.
- When she pretend plays, she talks in a really high voice
- Says "thank you, mama", said "mama bite nana"

Pensacola Beach - 17 months

My mom, sister, niece, Aunt, Claire and I went to Pensacola beach for a long Mother's Day weekend. The weather and water were perfect (a little cool at times). It was the perfect little get away.

Mom and I rode together. We split the trip down with a night in Jackson. Claire did so well in the car! We flipped her car seat around so that she could watch movies. I brought toys and snacks and we hung out in the backseat. We stopped when we could for her to get out and stretch her legs for a few minutes. We found a McDonald's with an outdoor patio that was perfect for us! She's not a car napper, but 30 minute naps seemed to be sufficient since she wasn't exhausting herself with playing all day. She was wired and crazy in the hotel at Jackson. She didn't want to fall asleep, but ended up going down around 10 and was up at 6:30.

Once we got to the beach on Friday, we unloaded and dressed to go out to the beach for the afternoon. When she first saw the water, she hesitantly walked down to it and said "whoa" the whole time. She was perfectly content sitting on my lap and watching the water. Annie and Michele got there later in the evening to play for a while and then Aunt Mary got there in time for us to enjoy a dinner at Red Fish, Blue Fish. Claire didn't want to sit in the high chair and was crazy at dinner (she was very tired and we were approaching bed time), but we all enjoyed a delicious seafood meal and then headed home for bed.

Saturday was perfect. We all slept well and got up to enjoy a delicious breakfast together. Without rushing, we put on swimsuits and sunscreen and loaded up the beach gear in the wagon. We were on the beach by 9:30 with very few other people. The highs were in the high 70's with a little breeze and calm, clear water. Perfection!

For Claire we brought: beach blanket, small umbrella, sand toys, personal toys, snacks and water. She wore swimsuit, cover up, sun hat, crocs, and sunglasses. She really didn't like the sand to be on her, so she was content staying on the blanket, a chair or a raft. I joked that we could leave her on the blanket, run up to the condo, and she would stay right on that blanket. She loved walking out into the water (carried) even though it was COLD! Claire and Annie played together so well and I got some good time with the women in the fam! The two baby girls and I went in for lunch and nap time for Claire. Michele came in to make lunch for her, mom and aunt Mary to enjoy on the beach. We joined them after a great 2 hour nap by Claire. We joined them back on the beach and stayed out until time to get ready for dinner!

We got dressed and ready for Peg Leg Pete's. We took some mother/daughter pics during our 2 hour wait! This night was a rough because dinner went way past bedtime and Claire was acting up and Annie was so tired. Annie slept with Michele this night, and for good reason because Claire was up a lot crying and coughing and ended up sleeping with me.

Sunday morning, Michele and Annie had to go home. The day on the beach was practically the same as Saturday, just missing Annie and aunt Chele. I went in at lunch to feed Claire and lay her down, and my mom let me go out and enjoy beach time without her while she stayed in during Naptime!!! I napped. Best gift. Again, we stayed out until dinner. We stayed in the condo to eat up extra food so that we had less to take home. We began to pack up. Claire had another coughing fit, but after some Zarbees, she slept well.

We left by 8:30 on Monday morning after one more walk out on the beach. To say that Claire dos well would be an understatement. I don't think she cried once. There was a little whining, but nothing bad. She watched Sesame Street and Mickey. We had toys and snacks. We still stopped every so often to walk around and eat. She messed her diaper 3 times that we had to make special stops for. One place that was great to walk around was the visitors center in Lake Village! So nice and perfect for a busy toddler to roam. We beat all nasty weather and missed any heavy traffic. It was a smooth 12 hour ride. We made it to Russellville around 9. We left to come back the next morning and again, she was great!

I think the greatest thing we ever did was flip that car seat around!!!! (All the praise hands!) I was so proud of how much Claire enjoyed this trip!