April's Awesomeness:)

Bzzzz the Bee from Preschool
Clare hanging out in the car before a play date
She has "that look" because she is going to open the door and she knows not to.
Clare playing hockey at the Children's Museum during our play date with my friend Lauren and her adorable son Shane. Shane and Clare are about 2 months apart (ish) and it's really great when we get together! Shane is going to a Big Brother a month before Clare so I anticipate lots of fun play dates for the Speaker/Miller households.
Clare and Shane at the News Desk
Clare trying out the fashionable hard hat in the Construction Zone


Proof that my black thumb can raise a plant. I've been killing flowers and plants since college and haven't attempted anything living (inside) since we bought this house. This flower was a bulb and it sprouted up quickly.
One of Clare's painting from home that we sent for Birthday wishes.
St. Patty's Day before school
Chris took this pic on Sunday morning. Play-doh is an outside toy, which Clare failed to mention to Chris. So, she helped herself and he thought it was funny she had to move my book Parenting a Strong-Willed Child.
Clare checking out her "new" castle. Uncle Steve and Aunt Sherry's family has out grown this outside toy and so they kindly sent it our way! We were thrilled and Clare LOVES the castle. She can see it from her window in her room, so she often asks to go see it after nap!



St. Patty's Day Preschool ARt

More Preschool Art (stained glass shamrocks)
Nana and Pop came to visit and they brought Clare's Easter basket! Clare had just woken up from nap (hence the bed head). She was VERY excited.

Testing a Peep. It was a huge hit and it's really in Clare's best interest to LOVE it. Because Chris and I can't stand Peeps so it's a safe bet we won't steal it from her Easter basket for ourselves:)
Bitty Baby and Clare


A great pic of Clare's Shiner:( Clare got a black eye on Thursday of last week. She bumped her eye into a side table and the result was the bruise seen above.
Aunt Jess and Clare (or "my Jess" as Clare calls her)
More Aunt Jess
Post shower and a milk cup
Clare did this all by herself. I came in to see her on the table centering the tiara on her head in the mirror. She was saying "I wish" and waiving the wand in the mirror.
Watching herself
Mommy finally realizing to stand next to the mirror to get good pics.

Chris and I took Clare to the Children's Museum on Saturday night. Per usual, it was a huge hit!
Daddy and Clare playing hockey
Daddy getting ready to teach Clare how to aim the puck at MOMMY:(
Really trying to hit the puck
Driving the ice cleaner (Zamboni?)
Chatting it up as Daddy aims the camera at her while she plays News Desk. She like seeing herself on TV. Shocker.
Playing Princess in the castle.
Clare loved this game. It involved a pulley (see the rope she's holding) and a bucket to transport the ball back to the top of the series of tubes/path. Chis showed Clare and she figured it out quickly. She even could "trouble shoot" potential issues after seeing it once (if the bucket was perfect, etc).
Ball pit


I thought my Title fit my Cheesy Bulletin Board theme:) Plus April is awesomeness:)

Clare has been receiving bi-weekly speech and we've learned that the gist of her speech is....wait for it...your gonna love it....she speaks too quickly;) LOL. So, perhaps from modeling my speech (just a guess). It is something she would eventually out grow, but therapy will help speed up the time frame and give us tips and such to help her overcome it more quickly. Clare gets frustrated when you can't understand her. Plus, communication is so essential at this stage in the game. Overall, we are so glad that Early Intervention pushed her through (since she passed the eval and wasn't qualified).

Preschool continues to be great. Clare LOVES school still and I think she's only sad she can't go more often:) Two weeks ago, Clare was counting (hidden in the ottoman like any normal child) and kept going after 10. Apparently Clare can count to 15 (or 18 as we've heard a few times). We had no idea. She also can count to 10 in Spanish. Also eye opening, as she did it in the tub the other day. She sings lots of new songs and such. I'm so glad she started "school" early, because she has just continued to blossom.

At home we've started working on shapes and early letters (writing). She has the letter C down and sometimes L, but it's a slow go. She is more interested in telling me what to write or draw.

I think Clare's second ear infection is on the horizon, so I'm sure after our Preschool Early Intervention Meeting tomorrow we'll be heading to the Dr.'s (just a guess).

This Thursday is the big day!!! We *should* find out if Wild Child #2 is a boy or girl:) I'll be sure to post an update if I don't talk to you before Monday:)

Hope everyone is doing GREAT!

March Madness

This is the big box Clare's bed rails were shipped in. It was about 4 feet tall and Clare marched around with it on top of herself, so that just her feet poked out the bottom. We, being good parents, spent most of our time video taping this from the kitchen and laughing as she bounced around into furniture. This was the "after shot" when she fell.
Clare (::gasp::) on the table! She was busy checking herself out in the dining room mirror. THIS is my life.
The only after pic worth showing of Clare's first haircut. It was 40 solid minutes of crying. Clare was NOT a fan.
The weekly Letter P= Weird Potato guy at school
Clare's first Valentines Day art project (awwww....). It was so cute!
@ the Delaware Children's Museum! We had a really great play date with our friends Megan and Sophia.

Clare following Sophia. This climber is similar to one (though this one is huge, 3 stories high) at the Cleveland Children's Museum that Clare wouldn't TOUCH. Clare was only willing to check it out since Sophia went first.

The water table was being cleaned when we arrived and was dry/out of order. I was very excited, as I HATE the water tables at these places, primarily because they are Clare's favorite and she always walks away soaked! The guy that was fixing it saw us about an hour later and let us know that it was all fixed! Clare seemed to process this ASAP and went high tailing it back. Sophia was willing to take adorable pics, Clare was busy splashing her neighbor.
Clare's big girl room bedding
Back wall of Clare's big girl room
The growth chart in Clare's new room
Our guest bed/Clare's bed. This bed slides out to make a regular king bed (the drawers are real storage and hold all the linens and such). So our out of town family and friends can still come visit at Casa de Miller (and please visit SOON!).
Mr Lion Clare's favorite lovey:) He made the move from the "baby bed"
Clare's new armoire! Nana and Pop bought her a present for her big girl room. And Nana has also helped fill it:) Clare is one lucky girl!
The Easter Bunny at Grandmama and Grandpa's house must have heard about Clare's new room. He sent her Easter dress early (for pics) that MATCHES her new room! Can't wait for pics next week.


Long update ahead!

Clare officially moved into her new room on Friday and the transition went smoothly. We still have a video monitor and audio monitor to ensure that she understands no playing at bedtime. I'm sure that trend will end, but so far it's went well. She seems to still instinctively know which is my morning and wakes up one (or two) hours early. Since daylight savings is next week, it will work well for school, but it's a tough transition now. It's due to the room being significantly more light with the window treatments. Boo to sunlight! We still have a few minor details to finish up before the room is done. Hopefully on April 7th we'll find out whether or not the nursery light fixture (which is VERY girly) is staying or moving. Chris is pretty excited to move it if need be.

Preschool is going well. Thursday was a pick-up with NO stories, so that was a good sign. Clare loves school and asks us every day when we leave if that's where we are going. It's really great to see her at pick-up every day playing with other kids and doing lots of fun stuff.

We had a great play date today with my friend Megan and her daughter Sophia at the Delaware Children's Museum. Clare and Sophia are 10 days apart, so it's so cute to see them together. Sophia is a WAY better listener:) The girls had a great time running around and the Mommies had a good time catching up!

As most of you know, Clare was identified with a speech "issue". It's not a delay (or apraxia or intelligibility or any other "issue" with a name). We contacted her Dr. and she felt it was fine but told us if we were concerned to contact Early Intervention (EI). We did and over the last month we've had an evaluation and endless meetings. Clare is going to start receiving Speech Therapy soon from Early Intervention. Hopefully we can get the crux of the problem quickly and resolve the issue. Because it isn't "typical" and there are no identified underlying issues, it may be a little tough. Clare's strong-will is a topic of many conversations about her speech, but the issue is deeper than just her being stubborn! So, we hope to have more information as we work with a Speech Therapist/SLP.

The subchorionic hematoma that was causing me to be high risk this pregnancy appears to have resolved itself! Which is fantastic! 16 weeks was the magic number and I'm 15.5 so it couldn't have come at a better time! 2 weeks symptom free starting last Thursday will be a great sign (as they can reassert themselves). Our 20 week anatomy scan (4-7-11) will be with the Maternal Fetal Medicine center for one more peek at the baby and the SCH.

So, all is well here! Chris is relived to be finished building furniture for Clare's new room and excited to have a small break since work is so crazy for him!

Lots of Love!

April