Update Update Update... of Claire, of Course!

I have to say, it's hard to just take pictures of Claire. She is just so fun and so talkative, I want to take video ALL the time! Caution: SUPER long post... seems like I've been doing huge not-as-frequent posts lately...ahhhh....

Here's a little summary of some funny things she's been doing lately:

And here's her first time at the McDonald's play area:

And finally, here she is on this makeshift "slide" Jordan devised in our living room one day (it's a shelf). She had a BLAST.

Other funny things she's been doing:

* Lots of times when we wake Jordan up for work (since he sleeps during the day), it's hilarious because she insists that he put on his "whap-tee" first thing. Those are his "glasses." Haha! It's like he isn't Daddy unless he has his glasses on, so she'll keep saying "whaptee, whaptee, whaptee" until he concedes.

* Claire is a master of animal sounds. In fact, the other day, I'm on speaker phone with my mom and she won't say "hi" to Grandma, but when I ask her what a tiger says, she has no problem growling for Grandma. It was really funny. She also growls for bear and lion. She calls Elephant "Ellie" and does the "sssss" sound for snakes (which she LOVES to see at the zoo!). She also of course, continues to make the appropriate sounds for pigs, cows, ducks, horses, sheep, and birds. Grandpa Taylor also thinks it's fun to get her to say "baboon." She says it so cute :)

* Claire loves reading books. Seriously, I want to get more books just because I AM so sick of them!! She gets upset when we're done reading books and need to brush her teeth.

* When I put her to bed, I sing her a couple of songs... if she's upset about the fact we aren't reading books still, "Baby Beluga" and "Going to the Zoo" songs (Raffi) totally make her happy :)

* Every night we say prayers. That also always makes her happy if she's upset about going to bed. I sit beside her crib, put my hand through the bars, and hold her hand. She repeats a lot of the things I pray for, like "thank thee for grandma and grandpa, mama and daddy, Jesus, etc." She is soooooo cute.

* Jordan taught her to say "uh-oh" when she drops something. Now, she says it all the time, and it's ADORABLE. She'll repeat it over and over again until she can pick it up or someone picks it up for her.

* Jordan also taught her what it "sounds like" when you go nigh-night :) She now is a pro at making SNORING noises!! It's so funny. I'll have to get that one on video--and uh oh too!

The beginning of the terrible 2's:

So, apparently, they begin at 15 months, according to my Toddler 411 book. Good thing...I thought Claire was just jumping the gun!!

* Notice how I said "if she's upset" at like every transition point in her routine? Haha... yeah, kids this age have a hard time with transitions. It's a fact, and Claire is definitely no stranger to it :)

* It's tantrums a plenty at our house... she freaks out when I put her pants on--pants, skirts, shorts, etc. Even when I give her options, like they say in Love & Logic. Any suggestions?

* Things she used to eat...well, it just depends on the day!

* Playing with other kids...she's still trying to get the sharing thing down. When a kid is smaller than she is, she bullies them, and when that kid is bigger, they generally bully her. Guess it's the age!

* Claire used to like to brush her teeth...now it's like I have to pry her mouth open! Ah! But you know, it's just one of those non-negotiable things!

Well, I needed to record her "terrible" behavior so I have her gratitude one day for putting up with it, haha...jk. Just keepin' it real!!

She really is SUCH a sweetie though...despite any tantrums or "bad" behavior...she is loved 100% and every time we say prayers at night, I just can't help but think about how grateful I am for her.

Claire at 12 Months!

Our little lady is a YEAR OLD. I can't believe it. It feels like I was just pregnant...gag me. What a great result to those awful 9 months though!

First, the stats:

1. Height: 29.8 inches (73rd percentile)

2. Weight: 18.6 pounds ( 13th percentile)

3. Head circ.: 17.9 inches (64th percentile)

So she's a tall skinny little munchkin with a medium sized head :)

Here are a few things she's doing right now.

1. Claire does NOT understand any part of the word "NO." She gets into everything anyway.

2. Claire doesn't seem to like to eat her vegetables sometimes, but is fully interested in eating drywall. Loves it. Caught her 3 times. Finally taped up the small hole we need to patch in the wall.

3. She walks now! Just like Frankenstein. (my dad started that one) No joke.

4. Claire absolutely loves getting into drawers and cupboards, of course, like all kids her age! She opens the drawers, proceeds to chucking all of the drawer's contents on the floor, and in this case, she gets in:

5. Her favorite thing to do is feed other people. I gave her a fruit snack at Walmart the other day, and she was offering it to a little kid like 6 feet away. It was cute. She's definitely into sharing...on her terms at least! :)

6. And this is how she eats: When I put small pieces of food (cheese, turkey, little vegetables, etc.) on her tray, she will put one in her mouth, then take another and chuck it on the floor. (it's like "I'll eat this piece of cheese, but not that one) This will go on with her eating one, chucking one or two, etc. etc. until she's done, at which time, she will pull on her bib like she wants to strangle herself, to tell me to take it off and get her out.

7. Also about eating: she will try something, spit it out, put it back in her mouth, spit it out again, put it back in...and on and on. Until it either ends up on the floor or she's swallowed it. That is how she gets to know new foods I guess!

8. And again about eating: She LOVES Gogurt. And loves to eat it, get her hands all sticky, and rub them all over in her hair. This usually means more than one bath a day. But it's funny, when I just try to wash her hair out, or comb it with a wet brush instead of bathing her, her hair smells like "cotton candy" all day long...it's a great shampoo alternative. Here she is below, not with Gogurt in her hair though (fortunately, this was dinner, so bath time was inevitable afterward), but some nice greasy pasta... (sorry not a great quality picture)

So I guess if you want to know what Claire's had for dinner, all you have to do is smell her head.

9. Claire sometimes cries when Daddy goes to work. :(

10. Claire has really started to get attached to her little pink dollie and pink teddy. She wants them in bed with her, and likes to give them loves :) It's very cute. In this picture below, she is giving loves to her little barking puppy. One of her favorite Christmas presents!

11. Claire loves playing in her car seat. Hates getting INTO it to go places, and cries half the time, but loves just playing in it at home, rocking it back and forth, etc.

12. Claire knows where her bellybutton is, and will point to it when you know, is not on the SPOT :), and she SOMETIMES knows where her eyes, mouth, and nose are.

13. Words: Claire can say Daddy "dah-eee," and says Mama, eyes, and ya! Pretty sure she has NO idea what she's saying, but it's still fun :)

14. She now drinks whole milk and is drinking more and more of it. Her appetite is increasing as well, so maybe she'll pack on the pounds soon! I am weaning her now, and she is down to one feeding in the morning and one at night. Hopefully will drop the morning one next week to get her weaned completely pretty soon.

Anyway, enough TALK, here is a nice little video of Claire's best and funniest moments of late:

We sure love our little baby girl. She is the sweetest, cutest, most amazing piece of our lives.

*Stay tuned! Birthday post coming up next!!

And now for JORDAN'S Family Christmas

Ok, I promise, this is the last installment of Christmas. I have New Years' to blog about already!!

First things first: The most beautiful girl in the world, on her way to Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's house for Christmas Eve. She is in her (gifted by Grandma) "My First Christmas" outfit :)

And here's Grandma. She spoiled Claire ROTTEN!! :) Here she is with a HUGE handfull of Skittles in her little hand. She ate them ALL. It was a great night!

And here she is with the Skittles again. We are awesome parents.

And here's our little cutie, Sam, Jenn's little boy! So adorable! And HUGE--like, he's REALLY tall. He's a few months behind Claire and way bigger! (not that that's hard, I guess, this IS Claire we're talking about!)

And my three beautiful sisters-in-law, from left to right: Jessica, Katie, and Camille!

And here's Camille with Jenn's little girl, Ava. She's getting so big!!

Ummm...we all got these socks for Christmas. They're pretty suhweeeeet!

And speaking of sweet, here is my SWEET husband. (I know what you're thinking..."gag me")

He is doing what he does best: Hanging out on the computer. Fixing stuff and whatever else he does. That's his idea of FUN!

And here's me with Jenn's other little girl, Lexi. Well, she's not that little anymore... She got a "money tree" for Christmas...cute idea!! (that's where the skittles came from--they were in the money tree pot, you know, like in lieu of "dirt")

Family picture time! This is the best we could get :)

center;">And I tried for a LONG time. I wanted to get a CUTE picture like this one of my friend, Megan's boy, Porter But alas, she would NOT cooperate!!

And now here is a taste of what Claire thought about her new little puppy toy :) Right now, whenever you ask her "what does the doggie say?" She like hyperventilates. You will see it here. It's so funny!

And here's Jenn and little Sam!

And Jessica and me. Being our usual dorky selves!

The Three Amigas! Jessica, me, and Camille

Claire just being cute. As usual.

She (and I) was very excited about the set of Baby Einstein books Camille got her!

And Claire got this super-cute hat that has a matching sweater. So fun!

And finally, Ava got one of those sit and spin toys that we all know and love from our childhood, right? This one is more hi-tec, of course, and plays music :) Claire loved it too. It's hilarious how Jessica is saying "weeee!" as she goes around and Claire is imitating her. So fun.

Such a great time!!! Thank you, Dan and Lenore, for the Best Christmas Ever! (well, until the next one, because they are ALL the best :)

Christmas with MY Family.

Ok, we're doing a post for each of the families. Don't be alarmed when you see like NO pictures at my parents house...sorry guys, I kinda forgot about taking pictures after getting there and eating all that delicious food...

But FIRST: Check out the awesome apron my Mom made me!! Fof, I LOVE it, and have used it a LOT this year... and yes, Heather, I know it's "frufru" and that I am to blame (I helped my Mom pick out the fabric, pattern, etc. and according to her, I "made" her make one for all of the girls in the family...whatever, there was NO forcing here...).

So here we are at my parents' house. Yes, such a great picture. But when you don't have that many... My mom, Claire, me, and Laurencita.

And here is a great one of Lauren and Claire...what is Lauren so afraid of? :) Getting her picture taken, I'm sure...and she not even a teenager with braces yet!

And finally, here's Claire opening her very first Christmas present!

That Hawaiian counting book...she LOVES it. She loves to pull every single little loose piece out of it and get them lost! Don't worry, Mommy has found them all.

Jordan and me with Grandma Fern...yeah, this is the best picture we had :)

And cousin, Kiera, is taking Claire somewhere here...hmm...

And here's my honey (pictured with Jay and Claire) in a nice little Santa hat! Great look for you, babe!

And here's what we got my parents for Christmas. As you can see, there are MANY picture frames that still need to be filled!

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great Christmas!!

Time for Solids

Claire is now eating solids. Check this out:

She likes the typical foods babies like: sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, peaches, etc.... rice cereal, oatmeal (with the fruits in it). We did try to feed her GREEN BEANS the other day. I wish I had her FACE on camera!! Her eyes became really wide and she had a look of TERROR on her face, like "Mom...what are you trying to DO...KILL ME???" Seriously, it was like I gave her arsenic or something. We'll have to work on those green beans. Maybe mix them with carrots... Any advice is definitely appreciated! What's really crazy though is that she likes.......drum roll..... PRUNES. Yes. My child. It was so funny! She couldn't get enough of them! That was good bc she was constipated and needed them. They came in looking like chocolate cake batter (yeah, that's what they look like...NOT what they taste like!) and went out looking the same, actually, in her diaper the next day! Definitely digestable but totally GUH-ROSS!!

She still needs to open her mouth wider, so we're working on that. Still likes to suck on the spoon, ha ha... Since this video she has gotten a lot better and we have switched to the plastic bibs--omigosh, SO much better--the kind with the little pocket that catches stuff! I have also started MAKING baby food!! I know, I'm seriously a domestic goddess. I just use the wand and puree carrots, green beans (the poisonous stuff she CAN get enough of), sweet potatoes, peaches, pears, and frozen peas (yeah, in baby food they use the canned variety--GROSS).

The Little Talker.

Pretty sure there is no way she'll be a "late talker..."

Claire's First Giggles

Well, Jordan first heard her giggle yesterday when we were at Kohl's. He was feeding her his pinacolada slurpee...yes...that might explain the weird diaper changes she's had lately... Anyway, she LOVED it, and would pucker up her lips to receive the slurpee straw each time he pulled it out. It was really cute...and at one point, she giggled in anticipation, he said. I missed it!!

So, my mom and I recreated the giggles that evening...that's my Mom "making a fool" of herself :) haha... Not sure who's laughing more though--Claire or US!

More Claireisms

A couple more funny things I know Claire is going to want to read about when she's older :)

1. Claire's favorite radio station: 87.9, a.k.a., in Utah, "static." We discovered this when she was upset in the car, and we didn't have the cordless drill handy.

2. She has become a bit of a drooler...although it's not like it drips off her chin. It forms bubbles on her lips. Jordan calls her "bubbles" sometimes.

3. When Jordan puts her in front of the mirror (held like "Superman"), she starts talking to her image...it's pretty funny! She also "talks" when she's in her Baby Einstein gym. That's the video I posted, above.... (not her BEST speaking "performance," but the only one I've gotten on video so far!)

4. I don't know if all babies do this, but when she's hungry, she may cry a little...softly or be fussy...but ONCE I lay her down on my lap to get ready to feed her, it's like the anticipation is too much! She starts screaming! Fortunately this is short-lived since I can generally get things going quickly from there.

5. Claire really likes to suck on her hands. She'll sometimes try to fit BOTH fists in her mouth!

6. She can't stop wiggling. And she has also begun to roll on her side...she lifts her legs and throws her body over to the side!

7. When Jordan feeds her, she still wants to be in the same position she's in when I FEED her...the BREASTFEEDING position!! So, she twists her body until she's chest to chest with him, and he she ends up cocking her head back at the crook of his arm, and he feeds her the bottle that way! SO funny... It looks so uncomfortable too! But, that's the way she likes it!

Smiley Claire

Like I said...I haven't been able to get a STILL shot of her smiling, but a video will work!

AND, just in case any of you thought her smiles are because of GAS, (Kika :P) check THIS one out! She is TOTALLY responding to her mommy :). On purpose.

I really do enjoy her.