18 Month Photos

My mom met Claire and I at Picture People in the mall this morning to have Claire's 18 month photos done. This was probably our most challenging photo session yet. She wasn't too into just sitting there and looking pretty. Fortunately, after much coaxing by grandma, some toddler-enticing oversized number blocks and a little Justin Bieber's Baby bribery, we got a few good shots. I took some quick shots of the prints on my phone so they are not the best quality but....check out this cuteness:

I just cannot believe she's already a year and a half old. She's growing so quickly. This is such a fun age, especially during the summer. I love my girl and I know I will cherish these photos for years to come!

Bye-bye to Bah-Bah?

First thing in the am, she asks for her bah-bah and drinks it in her crib.
Before her nap, she lets out an excited squeal for her bah-bah.
In the afternoon, she sometimes asks for a bah-bah to sip while watching tv.
Before bed, she always takes a bah-bah. Always.

I have major major major anxiety over taking away Claire's bottle. At 18 months, she still takes 3-4 bottles per day, totalling 20-24 ounces of milk per day. And apparently, that is like the worst thing ever. I cannot even tell you how many people have said things like:

She's still on the bottle? 
She's howwwwww old?
You know that will ruin her teeth, right? Hope you want to pay for braces.
Bottles are for babies and she is a toddler.
She's not a baby anymore.
Why do you let her have that much dairy? It's too much for her system.
Why don't you just take them away?
If she won't drink milk from a sippy, then tell her she gets no milk at all.
You're the mom!

And it goes on and on and on and on. Honestly, I just really don't see why it's such a big deal? Think about the fact that she's been drinking milk since she was born. Why, because she is all the sudden considered "too old" according to google or my pediatrician or my coworker's friend's sister, should I take away her bottles? If I were still breastfeeding, nobody would be telling me to wean because of her age (or they all would but thats a whole different issue!) It just seems unfair, like I am forcing her to grow up too quickly. I try to live by the if it ain't broke, don't fix it mantra. 

My anxiety is not only because the bottle is her last baby item, but also because she will only drink water in addition to milk. She rarely drinks juice. If I take away her bottle, she won't drink anything else out of a sippy. What happens if we successfully wean from the bottle but she refuses to drink any milk from a sippy? Or, even worse, what if she wants the milk heated in the sippy cup like her bottles are? Isn't that like basically like giving her a bottle, just in a different form? See! There are too many variables...and it's stupid. What happens if her naps get all screwed up because mama took away her pre-nap bottles. It's like taking away her comfort. And for what? I just mull it over and over in my head trying to figure out what I/Claire will gain by doing this and I cannot think of many pro's. 

Sometimes this mom-job is seriously irritating because everyone else thinks they can make better choices or can do a better job raising your child than you can. I still maintain I know my child best and will ultimately do what I feel is best whether or not Dr. Sears agrees with me. Take that!

Gymboree Class 2

On Monday, we made a special trip to Gymboree while Grandma Karen was in town. To my surprise, Claire tackled a few more challenging obstacles this time including climbing the wooden incline with pegs that you have maneuver around and the woven rope incline that you must climb like a monkey without letting your hands/feet fall through the holes. This mama was very proud! She worked well with some of the other kids while on the trampoline or the modified child-friendly teeter totter.

She only participated in about one-third of the group activities, opting to ride the rocking horse or crawl around popping bubbles that had landed on the floor without popping. She enjoyed the parachute game, huddling underneath with the other toddlers squealing with excitement, and the crazy clown hand puppet the teacher brings out every time. It is pretty creepy in my own opinion but those kids go ape over it.

On a funny note, Claire makes it clear when she thinks the group activities are stupid. Her face says it all:

What are all you people doing? 
Don't you see they have a rocking horse and a mini trampoline!?!
::insert scowl face here::

Just like the first class, Claire enjoyed getting her boogie on to the music, running around on the magic green carpet pumping her arms in the air and bobbing her booty up-n-down. Both Grandma and I would say Claire's second class was successful. Cannot wait to see what she can impress me with next week. That girl is just so smart!

Gymboree Class 1

Months ago I purchased a smokin' Groupon deal for Gymboree classes for Claire. I had always wanted to enroll her but the class rates were not exactly paycheck-to-paycheck budget friendly. So, once I saw the deal, I knew it was my chance. Yesterday was our first of five Learn and Play 4 classes and Claire had a blast!

Learn and Play 4 is for 16-22 month children. Being 18 months, Claire seemed to be within the average age and really excelled in an environment full of similarly-aged children. She made efforts to engage with other kids in activities and tried out her abilities to share, wait her turn, work as a team. The advantage to these classes is they allow your child the freedom to explore and learn at their own pace. The instructor did encourage open play for exploration but also incorporated interactive activities with the parents and classmates. The parents are encouraged to take a step back, watch them blossom and only intercede when necessary so the kids can feel safe and uninhibited. It's also encouraged not to make your child participate in any activities they do not want to. This is supposed to be a fun environment, not a forceful one. Claire was clear about which group activities interested her (the musical ones) and which ones she wasn't comfortable with (she didn't want a stranger to touch her in any way). During one segment, the instructor blew these amazing hard-to-pop bubbles and Claire went crazy locating all the bubbles that had landed on the floor and toys around her, careful to pop each one she found. Too funny! She also kept returning o the mini trampoline with a handle bar and the plastic rocking horse. Rock, rock. Rock, rock.

Needless to say, I am so thankful to have purchased the Groupon. In addition to the five 45-minute classes, the deal includes unlimited open gyms (unstructured drop-in play times) for 5 weeks and a lifetime membership ($40 fee waived!) including exclusive discounts to Gymboree children's clothing stores (to-freaking-die-for adorable) with the option to enroll Claire in more classes when we become millionaires in the future. Cannot wait for next week. This time, we are taking Grandma Karen!

18 Month Checkup

Today, we visited Dr Nielsen, Claire's pediatrician, for her 18 month well-baby check. We left with a clean bill of health, new stats, a couple post-shots bandaids and some sought after advice regarding Claire's aggressive nature and her preference for bottles over sippy cups. Here's her new growth information:

In 3 months, she sprouted up 1.5 inches standing tall at 33 inches putting her in the 85% for her age. She also gained exactly 2 pounds weighing in at 23 lbs 12 oz putting her in the 43%. As usual, her large brain-filled noggin measured in at 46.25 centimeters putting her at 60%. That girl and her noggin! 

As far as her intelligence, she seems to score very high. Children her age are expected to know a minimum of 8 words and when we counted a few months back she was up to 77+!  We sure think her fascination with books really are advancing her communication skills! In other good news, Claire passed her autism-signs test today with flying colors as well as her 18 month questionnaire assessing her communication skills, gross and fine motor skills, problem solving abilities and her personal-social interactions. The only behavioral issue noted was her aggressive tendencies. My girl often bites, hits, scratches, pinches and pulls hair (either her own or other's) when she is frustrated or tired. It's now time to start really enforcing those timeouts and nip this in the bud. 

Our other issue to start focusing on, besides starting the potty-training process, is trying to get our strong-willed girl to start taking milk in a sippy instead of a bottle. She is still drinking 4 bottles a day(!) and, at this age, should really be using sippy cups. Most kids her age drink milk with their meals much like how adults drink liquids. Claire, on the other hand, still takes a bottle first thing in the morning in her crib, before her nap in her crib and before bed in her crib. YIKES! Since the only liquids she will drink are water and milk, she associates a sippy cup and milk with a bottle. Looks like I have got my work cut out for me. 

Claire received the first of two chicken pox vaccines and the first of three Hepatitis A vaccines. She yelled, screamed and cried - it was tragic but short-lived at the promise of a sticker reward :) Overall, clean bill of health for our long and lean girl. It's a good day! 

Happy Father's Day!

I think my friend said it best:

NOT BECAUSE HE HAD TO,
BUT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO.

Kevin is that father. You know, the one that you compare your fathers and husbands to, the one that makes all the rest look bad. He is such an attentive father, very present in his daughter's life. Never has he refused or ignored when she has asked him to read her a book or to wrestle on the living room floor. He races home from work and instead of walking in after a long day on his feet and kicking back with a beer, he helps to feed, bathe and then plays with his daughter. He never acts like he doesn't have the time for her and I love the way he loves her. Kevin is more than anything I could have anticipated when it comes to being the perfect father for a little girl. She gets to grow up feeling loved, cherished, adored, valued. I want that for her and I am so thankful to call him mine. Claire can't say it yet, but I know if she could, she would agree that her papa is the best. Just when I thought I couldn't love him more as a husband or a best friend, we had a daughter and he became a father. I love their bond.

 

At Kevin's request, his Father's Day was pretty low-key this year. Woke up early and got the gym out of the way, took care of Claire while I went to church, watched a couple soccer games while Claire napped then headed out to my parents for a BBQ with the family. Claire and I showered him with a couple gifts including a new golf shirt, a box of golf balls and Claire's custom-made "Best Dad in the World - hands down!" sign to hang above his dresser. It was a relaxing Sunday just like he wanted.

So, on Father's Day, and every other day of the year I just hope I remember to tell him often enough just how much his time and sacrifices mean to his daugher and his wife. Don't know where we would be without you, Kevin. Happy Father's Day!

Who she is right now: 18 Months

She plugs her ears when I vacuum and runs screaming from the hair dryer. You point it in her direction to blow the warm air in her face and you get looks that could kill. This girl is sweet but, to quote a popular country song, there's a "little bit of devil in those angel eyes." Hitting, biting, pulling hair - let's hope it's just a phase. My mom says Claire is just a girl who knows what she wants and won't take no for an answer. Usually, I can appreciate and even admire that quality but when it's a toddler that wants to color on your Mac with a sharpie it's not so endearing. Oh, and when she gets scolded? She pinches and/or bites herself or pulls her own hair. If this is any preview of the terrible two's, we are going to have our hands full.

In a typical day, drawing and playing with her baby are the two alternating activities of choice. Diaper baby, feed baby with bah-bah, rock baby in her Elmo chair while swaying forward and backward singing Rock, rock. Rock, rock. She hits baby on occasion, too. Aggressive one, that Claire. While baby is in timeout, we switch to coloring by Claire asking to "Draw?" while pretending to draw on her own chest. She obviously made up her own sign language for this and it's super adorable. So, we bust out the color wonder (mess-free) markers and restaurant-crayons to scribble all over paper (and often other non-paper items). When coloring in and out of the lines gets boring, I draw shapes and teach her what they are called. So far heart is the only recognized shape but it's a start.

Clothes just seem to get in her way, but nothing is worse than diaper changing. Apparently the little miss believes her time is too valuable to be inconvenienced for the replacement of a soiled diaper. Who does this kid think she is, Beyonce?

Everyday her speech seems to be improving. Uses new words multiple times per day and has established nicknames such as "Pate" for Peyton, "EEEE" for Ethan, "Moonma" for Grandma and "Bampa" (said in a whispered, breathy tone) for Grandpa. It's too freaking cute. If I could bottle it up, I would be a millionaire. "No" is the answer to almost any question you ask her unless it involves the word treat. My girl is an M&M fiend and is learning quickly that "teets" are pretty cool.

She is still into books, but before she used to always request demand that you read to her. Now, she will often sit and flip through the books by herself, looking at the photos and making up her own stories. It's always nice when I have a dishwasher to unload or am trying to make her lunch. When she wants you to read to her, she still picks a book, sits in our lap and pays the toll (a kiss) before we read. It's a small price to pay. We adore her thirst for knowledge.

Every single time she gets in the car seat, she asks for a snack. Fortunately we bought a carseat with not one but two cupholders. "Feeshes" (goldfish) and graham crackers galore. After stuffing her face and spilling just as many as she ate onto the floor, she gets bored and takes off her shoes and socks. It's quite a sight when she's wearing tights - boy does she get pissed when the tights don't ccome off like socks do. I cannot help but giggle.

Pudding Picasso

A couple days ago, Claire met chocolate pudding and it was love at first taste. She loved it so much, in fact, we reconnected the two again this evening and this happened:

Apparently, this time it was more fun to paint with than eat. And play she did. Mama and papa didn't even care because it was the first meal all week that they got to enjoy still warm and in peace. No mini, grabby hands stealing from their plates or sneaking half soggy food back into their bowls. It was a win-win.

Can you say bath?

Rose Festival 2013

To find some adventure on a warm Saturday evening, our family of three headed to the Rose Festival, a fair down along the waterfront in Portland. Since going to my first fair with my best friend's family growing up, I have always loved fairs. The rides, the games, those stupid cheap stuffed animal prizes, the horribly-delicious, ulcer-inducing food. Elephant ear, anyone?

Being our first time to fair with an 18 month old, we weren't sure if she would enjoy it or be too overwhelmed. She must have gotten bit by the same fair bug her mama did because she loved it! We mad our way down to the kiddie rides and bought some tickets. Almost as soon as my dreams of riding on the mini airplanes or carousel with my girl popped into my head, they were shattered. On the ticket booth window it read that children must be 2 or older to ride and no refunds will be granted. I thought no problem, she's tall for her age and can pass for two. Little did I know, whilst handing over a $20...once you get to the rides, they also have height requirements. What the? I suppose, looking back, I should have anticipated that but I didn't. I managed to sneak her onto the big slide. She rode down like a boss on her mama's lap yelling "weeee!" all the way to the bottom while her papa snapped photos from the base. I also half-coaxed, half-barged my way past a young carnie onto the fire truck ride. Claire enjoyed it also, minus the clunk noise it made after each rotation. She'd clutch me tighter and I'd smile bigger each time.

To spend the rest of our non-refundable tickets, we assisted Claire in some fair games. She won a squishy ball and a starfish stuffed animal. Neither of which have been played with since, but it was fun nonetheless.

A quick trip through the wild animal exhibit proved to be more of an education or us than her. She would point a the animals and imitate heir sounds while we carried her for safekeeping. She I'd stick her head through a gate near the baby lion cage (not in it) and got it stuck. That was the end of the animal exhibit.

Lastly, on to fair food! Papa was definitely in search of a good beer and all his mama wanted was a hot, cinnamony-sweet elephant ear. However, we decided to be the responsible parents we knew we should be and fill our bellies with dinner before dessert. A couple of pulled pork sandwiches, smoked mac-n-cheese and an ear of corn for the C Bear and a Rogue beer later and we were full. Claire and that corn on the cob, hold the butter and salt, were a match made in heaven. She even yelled "Uh-Oh!" at me in a sassy tone because I took a bite. Apparently, sharing doesn't work both ways with a toddler. Too funny!

We decided to rest our bellies and let Claire get her energy out and she definitely took full advantage, running all over the festival grounds. That girl can be so crazy. We ended the night with an elephant ear for mama, an ice cream cone (her first) for Claire which she wasn't too impressed with and the mother of all fair food hot apple pie fries for the papa. Too die for! We spent way to much in money and calories but the memories more than make up for it. Cannot wait for Oregon State Fair and the Clackamas County Fair in July!