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"