Around here lately: May 2015 edition

Things that have been happening around here lately...

A rare moment of sleeping in the car...

A few weeks ago, we went to Chick-Fil-A for a family breakfast. Claire was particularly cute that morning and won over the admiration of two older gentlemen. They chatted and smiled and waved throughout breakfast. Before we headed out, one of the men walked over and handed an intricately-folded napkin. When we unwrapped it, it contained a dollar. So sweet.

First "popsicle" (frozen watermelon)

I know I've written before about Claire's propensity for speaking out- LOUDLY- in church. Not too long ago, she latched onto the liturgy preceding communion, which includes the line, "Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of Power and Might." During a quiet moment, she decided to yell out, "HOLY GOD!" It's just so unfortunate that yelling out those words could sound a little inappropriate, if one does not have the correct context in mind.

Growing up too fast there, Bearsy.

On our trip to Alabama, I overheard Claire squeeze her little plush duck and say, "I hold you, Duck. I hug you."

She has caught on to saying "Bless You!" when she hears someone sneeze. It's so cute. Sometimes, I fake sneeze just to hear her say, "Bwess you, Mommy."

She has also stopped saying "I wuh wuh" for "I love you" and has started saying "I wuff you." I wuff it.

This was definitely a "two-year-old" day

There is one particular Claire quirk that has been unbelievably endearing over the past few months. I don't remember exactly when she started it, but I hope it never stops. I got in the habit of telling Claire that friends would be joining us for dinner whenever we invited company over. She would then address those guests as "friend" while they were at our house. Example: "Fwin, you yike biskies?" ("Friend, do you like biscuits?"). We had a couple of new friends stay with us a couple of times over the past two months, and Claire used this habit very effectively to win them over, lock, stock, and barrel. Example: Claire spilled her milk, then looked at the husband and said, "Fwin, you spill milk?" ("Friend, do you spill milk?"). It's so exceedingly cute.

To reinforce to us that she hears and files away EVERYTHING WE SAY, she has started saying, "Sweet dweams, baby. Sweep tight!" to her baby doll when she puts her to bed. 

Because we have a two-year-old in the house, there is a lot of time-outting that goes on around here. Our system is that she will sit in time out until the timer on my phone goes "beep beep beep," then we discuss the reason she was in time out. This happens so very regularly. A few days ago, I was working in the kitchen and Claire came in, sat her stuffed Olaf (from Frozen) down in the middle of the floor and said, "Owaf, sit til timer beep beep beep" (Olaf, sit there until the timer goes beep beep beep). Apparently, time out is making an impression of some kind...

When I start fretting about her getting too big, I make her sit next to Big Bear to give me perspective. Whew.

A couple of weeks ago, Brad's aunt and uncle were in town and visiting for a few hours. They brought some little happies for Claire to open. Completely out-of-the-blue, instead of responding with her usual "thank you," she enthusiastically shouted, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" She had never done that before, and it was hilarious. 

We often hear her telling her dolls and animals "That's RIGHT!" (imagine a vocal lilt on the RIGHT). Not sure where she got that; perhaps I tell her that things are RIGHT. Maybe?

Wearing Daddy's shoes.

And finally, I brought home an OLD SCHOOL telephone from my Granddaddy's house. Claire uses it to call the Magic School Bus...just like the kids at the end of each Magic School Bus episode. Smart girl.

I turned 30 this week, so I will be getting a post about that up soon. I'm excited about heading into my 30's, especially with a little who says the darnedest things at my heels.

Love her.