Me: Claire, why do you make such a mess?
Claire: I don't know, Mommy, but you're welcome!
"Look, Mommy! I have glasses just like Daddy!"
Claire seems to have this idea that, sometimes, when we tell her "no" to a certain request (i.e. can she watch Curious George), it's because we don't understand how to bring about the outcome she wants. For example:
Claire: Can I watch George?
One of us: No, Claire, not right now.
apparently what Claire says in her head: Oh goodness...here we go again. They don't get it. I'll walk them through it, bless them.
Claire (out loud): Mommy, could you come in here? Could you get the remotes? Could you use the remotes to turn on George? (all said very patiently and, perhaps, ever-so-slightly patronizingly)
when asked to say the 23rd Psalm for my in-laws while FaceTiming: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, and He gives me M&M's."
Brad and Claire play a game where Brad "steals" her nose and transplants it to other places on her head or puts it in his pockets. She always responds: "Can you put it back on my 'nother nose?"
One afternoon while Brad was at Duke, Claire looked at me, touched her nose, and said, "Daddy took my nose to Duke with him today." I later learned that Brad had "stolen" her nose earlier that morning and had forgotten to give it back to her. I guess he really did take it with him.
Dress-up and pretend games with Daddy.
Claire: "Mommy, Can I wear your water bottle top like a kingdom?" (I think she meant crown)
Me: "It's your guitar!"
Claire: "It's my okawaywee!" (ukulele)
"The sun came out, Mommy. It means I'm AWAKE!" ahem...she had already been awake for a while.
Claire: "Okay, okay. Chill down." a combo of "calm down" and "chill out." Phrases she hears regularly.
Claire: "Let's go get in the ELLIGATOR!" (pretend that we're riding in an elevator by shutting ourselves in the coat closet)
Claire: "Mommy, I'm so SCARY!" (she actually means that she's so scared. We're working on it.)
Just in the past month or so, Claire has become very interested in Baby Sister. She asks a lot of questions about her, wants to meet her, and has started making plans for her. Some excerpts:
"Can Baby Sister come to dinner with Daddy's friends?" (when we had some of Brad's students over for dinner)
"Can we make cookies for Baby Sister?"
"Can Baby Sister come to my birthday party?"
"Can we show Baby Sister the snow before it goes away?"
If you remember from this post, Claire has decided that New Baby will be bringing her (Claire) a "happy birthday cake." We are encouraging this idea, because we are thinking it will help New Baby buy Claire's affection, and we are all for that. Since that post, Claire has specified that she wants a "pink cake with blueberries and strawberries." We've also begun suspecting that Claire believes that she baby is actually baking this cake while inside Mommy's tummy. As in, that is her sole purpose: to bake Claire's cake. I got confirmation of this the other day:
Me: "Claire, what do you think Baby Sister is doing today?"
Claire: "She is making a cake in Mommy's tummy!"
after being told that she can't touch/hold/play with some item: "Mommy, please share."
visiting with some acquaintances who have a 9-month old: "Mommy, the baby is crying. Can I pet her?"
while fighting croup: "Mommy, can you feel me better?" (roughly translated: can you make me feel better?)
while chasing after Brad: "Wait for me, Mister Daddy!"
"Oh, look! The hearts are dancing!" (referring to our Valentine's heart garland blowing around when the heat turned on)
Rather than wishing everyone a "Happy Valentine's Day, " Claire wished everyone a "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY CARD!!"
Brad and Claire have tickle fights regularly. It's their thing, and it's terribly cute. However, Claire has a habit of slipping into screams, rather than laughs and squeals. With the state my head has been in for most of this pregnancy, I can't handle the screaming very well. So, Brad started telling her, very seriously, that "screaming kills the fun." The other night, they were playing, and she'd been given a few "kills the fun" warnings. Brad set her down (not to quit the game but to take care of something else), and she looked at him oh-so-seriously and asked, "Did the fun leave, Daddy?"
to Brad at breakfast time: "Would you like to sit at my little table? I've got a little seat!"
This is an every morning ritual. Brad is an awesome dad.
while wiggling her hips to the beat of the Curious George theme song: "Mommy, my bottom is kind of dancing!"
commenting on the size of an egg we cracked into a bowl: "That sure is a biggie one!"
declaring her need for hydration: "I, Claire Elizabit Boswell, need some water!"
to Brad: "Did you get some coffee, Sillypants Daddy-o?"
again, to Brad: "Could you sit next to me- Claire Elizabit Boswell?"
Me: Claire, you need to wait patiently.
Claire: I don't want to wait patiently. I just want to wait.
while tucking me into my bed (pretending): "I'll give you clean water and a loving home. You can relax." I look at her with a very confused face. "It's from a episode of George, Mommy!"
Loving on her bottle of Pedialyte during her first ever stomach bug.
Claire really loves spotting American flags. She doesn't really understand that it represents the country we live in or anything; she just really likes spotting them. We were randomly watching an international speed skating competition one day and explained to her that one of the skaters was from the United States. <blank stare> We switched to "she represents the American flag." So, while the race was going on Claire sat there chanting, "Go, Flag, go!"
(We're planning to work on her "USA! USA!" chant before the Olympics.)
We have several plastic place mats that are maps: one of the US and one of the world. Claire calls them "place maps." I think it's pretty appropriate, actually.
"Look! I'm wearing Big Bear!"
After I had been fighting a week-long headache-migraine marathon, I was just struggling. So hard. One evening, I was lying on the couch, and Claire asked me what was wrong. When I answered that I wasn't feeling well, she replied, "Jesus will love your heart, and Claire and Daddy will take care of you. Don't worry."
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