Stuff Claire is saying (and what it means)

Claire is talking full-time. We always knew that once she started, she would not stop. Pretty much ever. We are there, and it's pretty fun. She has so many thoughts going on and is very interested in sharing them. Sometimes, it's pretty clear what she means, and other times, it only makes sense to Brad and me (and sometimes, it makes no sense to anyone). Before I had a toddler, I always thought it was funny how moms could make out what their kids were saying when what the kids were saying sounded NOTHING like what Mom interpreted. I get it now. I'm actually to the point where I find myself saying the words that she uses- because it sounds normal to me now. How did this happen?

Here is a sampling of how our days go:
To get the day started, Claire enjoys a sippy cup of warm gok (milk) and a bowl of oat-no (oatmeal). Brad then changes her dypuh (diaper) and puts on her hat, boo (boots) and haddah (headband), even though we aren't immediately going anywhere or even changing her out of her jammies (she is really into accessories, y'all).

These boots are well-loved.

One of many headbands.

Mommy comes downstairs and is greeted with a "MOMMY! UPUPUP!" before even getting off the stairs. Kisses are exchanged (and a mini-nose wiped this time of year) before launching into a list of potential activities for the day (list generated by Claire, not Mommy...Mommy just wants breakfast). First request is always Doh (Curious George, not play-doh. We haven't embarked on that childhood adventure yet.). If Mommy doesn't respond to her request for Doh, she immediately follows up with Hunny (Hundley is George's dachshund friend). 

Mommy counters with the suggestion of reading (I try to limit tv to in the evening when I'm cooking dinner and need a distraction for the Bear). She begins listing some favorite books, which typically include Cow-we-you (Corduroy) and Skeeeek (Babylit The Hound of the Baskervilles is a book of onomatopoeia, one of which is "screech." That one took me a while to figure out.).

Reading "Bossy." Mommy can only read this one so many times before getting sad and missing Bossy too much. Note the necklace...I'm telling you: accessories.

After reading those (plus a few others), Claire begins asking for a sack (snack), and Mommy redirects with other suggestions (because it is not even close to time for snack yet). Claire asks (enthusiastically) to go ahSIE (outside) to blow bubbos (bubbles), look at twees (trees) and watch skuhs (squirrels). Sometimes we do this, depending on the weather, and other times, we stay inside for warmer activities, like cah-yee (coloring) or stuck-uh (stickers). When she's bored with that, she'll ask to spend time with or call various friends and loved ones, like Wichee (local friend named Richie), Nana, Poppy, Gah (Gran), and Pah-pah (Grandpa). 

Around mid-morning, Mommy <finally> agrees that it can be snack time, so we put on a bob (bib) and begin going through the list of snack options: cacky (oyster crackers), wingy (raisins), seerio (Cheerios), yogi (yogurt), appy (apples), namia (bananas), and pow pow (fruit pouches). Oh, and of course, wah wah (water, not to be confused with Way-Way...who is Aunt Ray Ray).

A yogi day.

Found "A seerio!" under the fridge.

Our day continues with more play time, errands, general housework, lunch, and naptime.

Post naptime, it's time again for a snack, but this snack is usually served in her COP (snack cup...but always said loudly and emphatically). Before it's time to watch Doh while Mommy cooks supper, we may go ahSIE to the park to play on the sie (slide). Claire always asks for sahns (songs) so that she can dass (dance). The song asked for is usually Essa (Elsa = "Let It Go"). We also sing songs that she learned from the local library programs, like "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Guy Skuh" ("Gray Squirrel"). Sometimes, if she's feeling ambitious, she'll ask to watch Diddio (Veggietales "If I Sang a Silly Song") instead of Doh (I usually decline, as we like to save Diddio for special occasions). 

At dinner time, we put Claire (who calls herself Care- minus the "r" sound- by the way) in her see (seat) so that we can pay (pray). She demands hahn (hands to hold for praying) and always says, "Ah-men!" Her favorite item to see on the table is buh (bread...but can also "bird" if she sees one outside). After dinner, she immediately asks for a baff (bath) and to play with ties (toys) in the tub. 

Following bathtime, she likes to help bush (brush) her teeth and hair before heading to her room for a stowee (Bible story). We read a story from her Storybook Bible and pray for friends and family. Then it's time for kisses! And saying night-night (which can also mean Goodnight Moon or the "Goodnight, Junior" song from Veggietales- it's all about context clues) to owies (owls on her mobile), turning off yights (lights), and pointing out the fuh (fan- not to be confused with flower or fire). She snuggles up to Mimi (Lambsy) and Fotsi (Flatsy) and drifts off to sleep.

There are many other words that are said throughout the day (MANY words). Some words are said only in certain contexts (like tactoh- tractor- at Gran's and Grandpa's house or tuck- truck- while driving down the interstate), and some things are mentioned very randomly (like gassies- glasses); this is a list of her regularly scheduled vocab. I know there are things I'm forgetting. Hopefully, I'll remember them before she grows a little more and her language grows with her. I'm honestly not in a hurry. She's growing fast enough as it is. Oi.

Gassies.

Insta-updates

I realize that this doesn't exactly count as a real post, as it doesn't contain any interesting information. However, I realize that not everyone who reads this follows me on Instagram or is a Facebook friend...so I thought I'd post some pictures that I've put up on those sites recently with a few captions to keep you updated.

I found her trying to shut herself between the storm door and the real door. She was very determined and very much didn't want my help.

This outfit is very Claire. What does that say about our future?

Putting herself away...?

Trying on some glasses to see if it helps her look smarter. I think yes.

She gets bored on long car rides.

Dancing to Christmas songs

Brad and I were able to go to a performance of The Messiah at the Duke chapel. It was fantastic! I got a picture of the MASSIVE Advent wreath. It was about four feet in diameter.

Fifi needed a bath. Apparently.

Reading Bible "sto-wees" on the bathroom floor while I cleaned.

Reading a book...in the play place at Chick-fil-A. Obviously the place for a reading nook.

First time on a rocking horse. She was in looooove.

Claire playing with a tiny puppy. Claire was fan...puppy was a little terrified.

Dressing up as either Mary...or a babushka. It's a toss up.

Happy weekend, everyone!

She's a collector.

A few weeks ago, I introduced Claire to stickers. It was pretty immediate love. She is very into "stuckas." I bought a variety pack and stuck it in my purse for situations like church services or car seat hostage situations. 

Our church in Boston always gave everyone sticker name tags, and the church we have been visiting quite a bit here does, as well. She likes to pull off hers, mine, and Brad's to play with every week. It provides quite a bit of distraction during the service, so we're cool with it.

Well, for the first time in forever (much like Anna from Frozen), she stayed in nursery for the entire time this week. This is very much a victory. And...when Brad went to pick her up, her jacket (which she was inexplicably wearing...I'm assuming she asked to wear it. She does that.), she was fairly covered in name tag "stuckas" that she had been collecting off the backs of the other kids. Those name tags came home with us.

Bless us all.

Traditions

I read an encouraging blog post the other day about moms creating traditions for their small children. I have a small child, so I find things like that terribly interesting these days. This time last year, I didn't worry about creating traditions with Claire; she was too little to know or care about it. This year, she is still too young to fully understand much of the Christmas season, but she is definitely able to take in quite a lot. So, I've been trying to thoughtfully and carefully sort through all of the stuff that we could be doing and choose the things that I think will be meaningful to us, teach something to Claire, and prove to be sustainable. We've landed on a few activities that I think we can maintain through the years, knowing that other things can be worked in for different seasons of our life. 

The first thing we knew we wanted to do was go through the Advent readings suggested for The Jesus Storybook Bible. We read a "STO-WEE!" with Bear every night anyway and are Church calendar followers, so this seemed like a perfect tradition to put into place. I found the reading list posted online, and we do one reading each night. She is getting more and more into STO-WEE! time, and we are enjoying watching her connect with the process. We also have an Advent calendar (like, a REAL Advent calendar...the kind that celebrates/counts down to Jesus' birthday. Not just a fancy countdown system to the day that we open presents. Those jokers are all over Pinterest, and I take issue with the fact that they are called "Advent" calendars when they have no connection with celebrating the advent of Jesus. Sheesh.) that we updated daily. So far, we have two stars in place. I think tonight might be an angel. We'll see...

We also knew that we wanted Claire to participate in giving each Christmas (not just to family and friends). To that end, we decided that we will help her pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child every year, as her way of giving to children on an international level. Obviously, this year that meant that I packed a shoebox for her. I had a lot of fun with it. I'm looking forward to when she can give her opinion on what should be in the box (heaven knows she has LOTS of opinions). 

We also want to make a habit of helping her to give locally each year. This year, we chose Salvation Army. I think she will enjoy putting money in the buckets, so we are going to pull out the amount we want to give and let her stuff bills into buckets around town. The organization we give to may change each year, but Salvation Army is it this year.

Those three things are the things we decided on as our yearly activities. There are definitely other things that we're doing to be merry and bright, like watching Eloise at Christmastime and Curious George's Christmas movie, decorating (and undecorating and decorating and undecorating) the lower levels of the tree, and listening to Christmas music. She'll be joining us for the Boswell Family Christmas Eve party (dressed in her Who costume, of course) and I may even let her eat some sugar this year.

I'm interested to see how our Christmas traditions evolve over the years, but for now, that's what we are doing. It's working, so I'll keep it.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to celebrate with the ones you love. I, certainly, have a ridiculous amount to be thankful for, and the 10-hour (each way) car ride to Alabama wasn't nearly enough time to list them all!