Claire Turns 3

Claire's name means "bright" and that couldn't be more fitting. She has brought so much brightness to our lives since the day she was born. She is an absolute delight and a treasure. These 3 years have flown by and she has long since been a baby. I'm feeling all those familiar pangs of sadness over the feeling that her childhood is on an accelerated pace. Oh, if only they could be little just a while longer. Claire has for so long seemed beyond her years. Again, she's very bright. She has always spoken so clearly, but she also expresses herself in ways that seem so mature. Lately she has told me things like "I love spending time with you, Mom" or "you're my best friend" or "I love helping you" and it makes me so happy. Claire adores her people. She loves pretending to be kitties with Nathanael. She loves getting sweetness from Sam. And she sure is a daddy's girl.

Claire knocked out potty training by about the start of the school year. On Nathanael's first day of school, she was wearing panties for one of the first times. She told me she needed to go potty as we were walking him in and I got distracted and forgot. Suddenly I remembered when I saw "the look" on her face as she wet the carpet in the atrium while we were having juice and muffins with the other moms. Once she mastered it, though, she didn't want any help. She even takes care of the paperwork, years sooner than the boys. 

She's been working on learning her letters for quite some time. We use foam letter stickers and associate each letter with someone special's name. It seems to be working well that way and she's mastered A (alligator), B (Benny), C (Claire), D (Daniel, as in Daniel Tiger), E (Evan), J (Julie), K (Kiah), L (Lola), M (Mimi), N (Nathanael), O (Owen), P (puppy), R (Robin), S (Sam), T (Tessa), and Y (Yaya). 

Every time we go to the library, Claire automatically picks out two movies to take home. Generally they are Dora the Explorer, Caillou, Daniel Tiger, or something similar. She knows how to get them started all by herself in the computer or tv. She also can get herself onto her favorite website, PBSkids.org. She would spend the entire day gazing at a screen if I didn't pull her away. 

She has watched so many episodes of Daniel Tiger that she has a special song to go along with just about everything she does during the day. Once when I was sad, she laid in bed beside me and sang "it's ok to be sad sometimes. Little by little, you'll feel better again." When she's cleaning up, there's a song for that. When she's going somewhere, there's a song for that. When she's frustrated, there's a song for that. I love to hear her sing. She also pretends she's going places on the trolley through out the day, or playing with Daniel and his friends, or that she IS Daniel Tiger or one of his friends. 

Claire loves to have her nails painted, but will often immediately pick it all right off. She loves to be involved when I'm baking, digging her little fingers into each ingredient to take a pinch. She loves to color and does quite well. She's recently started drawing people. It seems much earlier than the boys did, and she did it all on her own. She draws a head with various features and legs coming directly out of the head. She enjoys doing stickers and puzzles. She also LOVES to play outside with Nathanael, particularly "pedaling" on the street. 

Claire still isn't completely proficient with sleeping. Perhaps it's because she still sleeps in her toddler bed, and needs something bigger and more comfortable. At any rate, she still winds up in our bed most nights. I don't completely mind. She is a total cuddle bug, and more times than not she sleeps cradled right up in my arm, pulled against my body. Most nights I put her to bed. Her bedtime routine, with very little variation is (after all the typical bedtime stuff) 2 stories, read in the glider in her room, followed by her closing the door and turning out the light, and then I sing to her, sometimes until she falls asleep. The songs are a pretty standard selection of Primary songs. I need to re-familiarize myself with more so I can add to our repertoire. Some nights I feel pretty impatient with the process, particularly when I'm on my own to put all three to bed, but I try to enjoy it because it's precious time that won't last much longer. 

Still her favorite animal, Claire lives and breathes kitty. This has been ongoing for quite a while. Her favorite stuffed animal is a ratty old white kitty, named Kitty Kitty, that she got for her birthday last year. She's always excited to see the cat at Mimi's. For her birthday, her friend Brielle even brought one of her cats to our house for Claire to play with. She (and Nathanael) were delighted! 

Claire still loves babies. Another Daniel song, she often sings about adding a baby to the family and looking forward to meeting the new baby. Her cousins Scarlett and Tessa are both becoming big sisters and Claire often asks if we can get a baby sister. It kinda breaks my heart that the answer is no. I would sooooo love another Claire. 

 I think Claire is pretty special. She has added some very needed brightness to our home. She's a girl who loves to have fun, loves to be silly, loves to smile and laugh, and loves to love. She makes life oh so sweet. And I kinda think she's a beauty queen, to boot. 

Claire's 3rd birthday interview:

How old are you? "3"

What is your favorite color? "Pink and purple"

What do you like to eat? "Cheese and cheese and cheese"

What do you like to do with Mommy? "Go shopping"

What do you like to do with Daddy? "Do stickers"

What makes you happy? "My piggy bank makes me happy"

Who is your best friend? "All of my friends"

Who is your favorite friend to play with? "Tessa and Brynn"

Where is your favorite place to go? "Tessa's house"

What do you want to be when you grow up? "A baby" A baby? "Yeah" You can't be a baby when you grow up. "What can I do when I grow up?" Do you want to be a mommy? "yeah" And take care of babies? "yeah"

What is your favorite animal? "The giraffe at the zoo"

What is your favorite song? "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"