She's Great!

When Claire gets excited she'll flap her arms and do this yelling "Ahh! Ahhhh!" thing. Most kids do it, but with Claire it's a bit of a crutch. We've been working with her (at home and school) to help her verbalize what she's feeling and minimize the arm flap/bellow.

This morning we were in her room. I was putting her hair up in pony tails while she was playing with her musical instruments. Something clicked in her brain and she started to get very VERY excited. As she was doing her "I'm excited" dance, I managed to get her attention, acknowledged her excitement and then asked "Do you know why you're excited?". Her response: "Because I'M GREAT!!"

I admire her self-confidence and hope she keeps it up as the years go by.

Dance for Me.. DANCE!!

The one bit about kids that I absolutely love.. and I mean LOVE.. is that no matter how fussy they may be, as soon as you start to sing a movement song (ex: Itsy Bitsy Spider) they suddenly join in either willingly or against their will. It cracks me up every time.

The other day Claire was zoning out on tv and so I started to sing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and without missing a beat her little hands began to crawl like the spider. All the while she was still zoning. It's just so strange!

Although my favorite time was when she was throwing one of her dramatic tantrums. I just stopped dealing with her and then started singing 'The Wheels on the Bus'. During her sniffles and sobs she began rolling her arms in a circle like the wheels of the bus. It was if she were 2 different people. The fussy side just wanted to continue throwing her tantrum, but the part of her that needs to show us her movement skills couldn't keep her hands from rolling those wheels on the bus. Such torment!!! Yet such delight for mamma.

Oh I'm going to miss these years as she gets older.

I Have Everything I Need

Last night Claire was watching 'Cars' downstairs. Upstairs, I was reading 'The Summer Tree' in the bedroom (quick side note: this book is really good. Of course it has to be the first in a series, which means I'll be buying the other books this week) and Casey was computing in the study. About 15 minutes into our respective activities I hear Claire call out "Daddy Daddy!!" and Casey gets up to answer her call.

Casey: "What is it sweetie?"
Claire: "Daddy! I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED!"
Casey: "Well that's fantastic. That's such a turn-around from your other self."
Claire: "Daddy! I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED!"
Casey: "Oh our lives are going to be so much easier now."

And to think she's figured this out only several weeks after turning 4.

Splinters and a 4 year old

I'm sure there are going to be future days that trump this one, but in the short time Claire has been in our lives, this one will most definitely be remembered.

The other day I noticed that Claire managed to get a splinter on her finger, right below the cuticle. You know the distance between your cuticle and knuckle? That's exactly where hers went, running parallel to her finger. And the best part was that the entire splinter was UNDER THE SKIN! No easy access. Since Claire ran from me the second I discovered this treasure, I knew that the delicate procedure was best left for the biologist, or so I thought.

Once daddy got home I showed him the splinter and immediately Claire started crying. Not a simple boo-hoo cry, but a red-faced flood of tears crying. Then once Casey started the removal process, we heard a scream from this child that shattered not only our windows, but those of our neighbors as well. But wait, it only gets better. Adding to the excitement, in less than a minute of this surgical procedure, Claire managed to work herself into such a tizzy, she vomitted up her dinner. I kid you not. All because of one splinter.

Once that mess was cleaned up we went back to trying to remove the splinter. After another couple of minutes I just told him to stop. I felt that we weren't getting anywhere and she just could not sit still. Besides that, her screams were deafening, and yet each time she released one we both had to stifle a laugh. Maybe it's because we were both going deaf in the process, but the blood-curdling screams were so ridiculously awesome it made us enjoy this horrific process.

Now she's walking around with a band-aid on the finger that we have to bribe to check each day. Love it!

Florida Fun

Last week we were in sunny Florida. Except it wasn't sunny for 95% of our stay, but we still managed to have a good time. Explored Orlando's "cultural" center that included the Orlando Science Museum. A quick side note about their "cultural" center. I put culture in quotes because it is quite a small area and not well marked. As we were driving up I-4, there was one sign saying "Orlando's Cultural Center" and then suddenly we find ourselves passed the exit and at the next clearly defined exit. That's right. The exit for this area is practically non-existant and unless you are really paying attention you'll fly right by it. Guess they're not big on culture unless it's Disney.

Anyway, there were some fun times had by the little one. Let's see. Friday night was bath night, which went a little something like this:

Us: "Claire! It's bath time."
Claire: "Noooooo! NO NO NO NO!" and so forth. Once she entered the tub it was nothing but a series of blood curdling screams until the washing was over. These cries were so bad, she almost vomited.

Casey: "There. All done. Do you want to stay in and play or get out."
Claire: *pause* "Stay In."

REALLY?!?!?

On another day Claire was in the bedroom and we're in the living room (we were staying at a Residence Inn so the rooms were like mini-one bedroom apts). Hubby and I were hugging. Claire sees this, jumps up off of the bed and yells: "Stop hugging! Stop. It." Luckily hubby's arms were long enough to reach the door and close it on her. Then from the other side you can still hear her saying "Stop hugging guys!" She doesn't like it when we show affection towards one another, but if she's the center of attention it's ace!

My favorite part of the trip was Claire's desire to hold in her bowel movements. Oh yes. We haven't seen this happen since our Cape Cod trip last summer. Unfortunately, this is a family trait from my side so I can completely empathize. We were going on day 6 when we finally bought some fiber and other items to help trick her into going. The evening before we were returning home, mother nature was making it known that Claire would not win this battle. Since we were down by the pool, I asked if she wanted to use the potty down stairs or in the room. Desperate for some comfort she said room and we flew down the hall and up the stairs. While holding her potty seat (I think she thought it was going to fall into the potty because every time she used it we had to hold the seat into place) she kept saying "No. No. No. No." then proceeded to punch my arm, followed by walking her fingers up and down my arm. This took place for several minutes when finally mother nature won and Claire turned into a perfect angel.

Luckily her punches aren't hard enough to cause bruises.

All in all we had a good trip.

My Toof!! My Tooooooof!!!!

"I need to catch a cloud for my pillow. *pause* Then the toof fairy will give me money. My toof is wiggling out!!!"

Me: "How much money will the tooth fairy give you?"

Her: "3 monies!"

Child is going to be R.I.C.H.

Claire has developed an obsession with the tooth fairy. I think it stems from an episode of 'Wow Wow Wubbzy'. Since then, she constantly talks about how her tooth is wiggling out. I'm curious to see if she'll be just as excited when her tooth actually does begin to loosen.

Hey Stranger

Since it's blatantly obvious I stink as a blogger, I think I'll just jot down stuff about my daughter and family happenings. That way when my mind is completely gone I can go back and either have the event hit me like a bolt of lightening or question whether my mind was actually in tact at the time of the writing.

What comes to mind now...

1. "parade" (pronounced 'ha-rade'). Notice the silent 'p'. Not sure how long this phase of pronunciation is going to last. I've tried reasoning, but it doesn't work so well with a 3, no wait, now 4 year old.

2. "Can I have a snuggle?" Helz yeah! If what I hear from others is true, I may not get this request from my little monkey once the tweens arrive. This may even last through the teen years. Going to remain positive. My child will be down to earth and will always ask me for a snuggle when she needs it. Stop rolling your eyes. Hey, quiet with the giggles.

More in a bit.