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.