Baby Claire's Blog: 34 Things

Haven’t done this in a while, so here it goes! Claire is 2 years and 10 months old which is 34 months old. I am going to try to write 34 different things about Claire at this age:

Claire is a VERY (extremely) picky eater. On her menu each day are the same items – pancakes, Cheerios, raisins, Gerber puffs, bananas, Pop Tarts (her new favorites – chocolate fudge and strawberry). That is about it. Seriously.

She ate a plate of French fries at Outback for my birthday dinner. Almost the entire plate. She is starting to love French fries. Definitely gets that from her Mommy.

At night as I am putting her to bed, she asks for a “tiss” or a “buff-fly tiss” about 100 times as she has learned that I cannot refuse her any kisses or butterfly kisses, and I will keep coming back into her room to give her more on demand.

Claire loves water. Anything to do with water except to drink it.

She actually played in the sand for the first time ever at the beach last weekend. Normally sand is not her thing.

I have still not cut Claire’s hair. Not sure I ever will.

Claire’s favorite shows in TV are The Pajanimals, Elmo, and Wheel of Fortune.

Claire still loves music! She can remember and sing songs very easily. We currently have to listen to a Disney Princess song CD every day in the car and she is starting to sing those songs a lot.

When I get Claire out of her crib in the mornings, she greets me with either “Good Morning!!!!” or “Hey Suga!” (pronounced “shu-gah” - Southern for “sugar”).

Claire is OBSESSED with her Nook. She has to play with it every day. She loves the animal flash card app and the books that read to her including Rapunzel and some Candy Factory book. OB.SESSED. I compare this to the obsession we all had as kids when Gameboys came out with Tetris.

Claire will “eat” several apples a week. When I say “eat” she bites the apple and chews it up then spits it out. Or either just bites around the apple without biting off any pieces. The apples do not go to waste. Jack, our donkey, gets them as a treat!

Claire can operate my iPhone much better than I can. She can even take pictures of herself. So if you receive a random picture text or a hang up phone call or a random Facebook post, it’s probably from Claire.

Claire calls my mom “Franny” (Granny), my dad “Pig Daddy” (Big Daddy), and Trent’s mom “Ranma” (Grandma). She still calls me “Mommy” and Trent “Da Da”.

We currently have about 15 pigs in our front yard. They are not ours – they are just temporarily living there as a favor to some friends. But we are really enjoying them! Claire has a favorite one she has named “Potty” (Spotty – because he is the only one with black spots).

Speaking of potty, Claire is still not potty trained nor does she show any interest.

She is going through a phase of separation anxiety where she is always fearful I am going to leave her.

Did I say that Claire loves animals? All types of animals. We even have to stop and pet other people’s dogs on the beach and tell how “soft” they are.

Claire’s new game every night is to sit on the twin bed in her room and throw all of the stuffed animals off onto the floor to me. Then I she lays down on the bed and wants me to throw all of them back onto the bed on top of her to make a big pile.

Claire still weighs about 30-31 pounds, wears anywhere from a size 3T to 4T, and wears a 6.5 size shoe.

We are finally done with bottles!!!!!!!

Claire loves routine and repetition. Does not like change at all.

Claire has learned how to swim with her swimmies on. She can float around and turn in circles. She still has a long way to go to actually be swimming but I can let go of her in the pool now and swim together. She loves going “swimmins”.

I am reminded of what words or phrases I must say a lot. Now when Claire whines or fusses, she answers herself when I don’t and asks her self “what’s wrong?”

She still does not like to sit in your lap and have a book read to her. She does not have time for that.

Claire is going back to preschool again this year. She will (I think) be the oldest in her class again. It will probably always be that way unless a September baby gets in her class…

Claire still has really sensitive skin and can only use Aveeno products.

She has a beanie baby dinosaur she has named “Leelo” or “Lilo”. Not sure how she spells it. J

Claire can speak in a British accent. No joke. Her Nook has a few apps that have a British person saying the words on the flash cards. So instead of saying “car” like I do, she says “caaah”. Or instead of saying “scooter” like I do, she says “scootah”. Or “rooster” is “roostah”. You get it.

Fire trucks are still one of Claire’s favorite things. Tractors come in a close second. Does this mean she is going to marry a farmer/fireman like I did? J

Claire touched a real fish for the first time at the beach last weekend. Some man caught a flounder and she ran up and touched it.

Some of Claire’s favorite songs besides the Disney Princess songs, are “Rock A Bye Baby”, “I Love You, A Bushel and A Peck”, “You Are My Sunshine”, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, “BINGO”, “Jesus Loves Me”, “Wheels on the Bus”, “If You’re Happy And You Know It”. And she can sing all of them.

Claire is still a Da Da’s girl. She listens to everything he says and watches everything he does with awe. I, on the other hand, must not be that interesting – except when she thinks I am going to leave her somewhere.

Claire can count to 14 and still say all of her ABC’s.

At this point in Claire’s life if I had to predict what she is going to be when she grows up, I would have to say possibly a veterinarian, a 4-H agent, a musician, or an Olympic swimmer or runner.

This has been the best 34 months of our lives.