Lovin' Life

My life gets better everyday. It's amazing. Clare is setting a record pace. She is using every opportunity to prove me wrong. Let me share some recent examples:

1. I love shoes. For myself and Clare. I also prefer her to wear shoes in public, just cause I'm crazy like that. She thinks shoes are stupid and spends the majority of the time trying to kick them off or get them in her mouth. On Monday we had to go to the mall and it was pouring buckets. So, I park 9 miles from the actual mall, load the fat kid in the stroller and go running in. We pull into the second store, when I see that she only has one shoe on. This is despite me putting her Nike sneakers on, because they stay on her feet the best. They Velcro in like 3 spots. I know she had both on in the parking lot, because I've learned to check when I pull her out of the car seat, 'cause she's sneaky like that. So, that means it's somewhere in the 9 miles of parking lot. I suck it up and realize Clare has won this round and continue shopping, because at this point, what else are you going to do? It was a card store, and I was so busy having a conversation in my head about the lost shoe, I walked around the store like 5 times, lost and muttering to myself in search of birthday cards. Thankfully a customer, seeing how crazy I am, notices me and tells me that she was just across the mall in Things Remembered and someone had turned in my daughter's shoe. So, back across the mall we go, to get the shoe. That would be one of the 3 (yes, THREE) times I picked up Clare's shoe from a store, the floor or the foot rest of the stroller, before I thought, maybe, just maybe, I should GIVE UP and realize, Clare is not wearing shoes in public. So, Clare is awesome at taking off shoes. Especially in crowded public places.

2. Clare is also awesome at taking off bottle caps. Chris recently showed me this trick, where he hands Clare her bottle and she feeds herself. I tried it several times yesterday, and she laughed at me. She either threw the bottle across the floor or ignored it. Chris hands it to her and she holds on for dear life. We had a fairly rough day yesterday, so I gave her a bottle and went back into the kitchen while talking to Aunt Becky on the phone, to turn the flame on under the pot. I came back in and within 5 seconds, Clare had figured out how to get the lid off the bottle. She had dumped milk all over her, the floor, the blanket. The best is that she thought it was funny. It's a fantastic talent. She had 2 baths yesterday, as a result.

3. Clare thought it was amusing that I would like to change her diaper. She thinks holding still (like napping) is for wimps. The moment I suggest either, she wiggles and giggles all over. She is super proud of herself for being able to crawl sideways and backwards, as well as roll all over, so she would rather show off than get her diaper changed. She also can pull herself up, occasionally. She only tries this talent if there is an item of serious danger to her that she would like (cleaners, scissors, electrical outlets). Very delightful.

4. I've been telling people about my genius daughter. She has this ring toy and she can put the rings back on the post. It's a very clever little trick for her age. I've called everyone who will listen. I've called Chris no less than 10 times, telling him how she did it again, she's so amazing, blah, blah, blah. Then last week, I put her on the floor while we are are on skype with my family to show them. She looks at me like I'm nuts and eats the post. She acted as if she had never even seen the toy before. This weekend, Chris's entire family was over (Nana and PopPop, Great
Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins). Every time I pulled it out, she either refused to touch it or looked at me like I was crazy. It's almost like a game to her, making me look crazy.

5. I showed Nana our new bath time routine. Clare takes a bath in the sink. It's perfect. We have a little silicone mat I put down and she fits in it. She outgrew her baby bathtub and is too wiggly for the real tub. So what new fantastic talent did she show Nana? Ready? It's a good one? She pooped in her bath. It was so disgusting. I wasn't even sure what to do with it. She was playing with her cup and rubber ducky and then she got real still. And focused. So, I was suspicious and had Nana lift her up. Sure enough, poop. In the water. It was amazing.

So, if the last story was a little TMI, I'm sorry. These are just the little joys in my life now. I just have to share. Now you are up to speed on her latest and greatest. I'll be sure to post pics later in the week. I have a great one of her "eating" pastina.

So, Clare is great. She is demonstrating her new talents often. She is clearly an awesome genius, who is way smarter than her Mom.