Joy

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Pudding Paint

When I was little and my mom would make pudding paint. It was a rare and special occasion and didn't even know that it was pudding until years later when I asked. I found some disgusting banana cream pudding in my pantry that I obviously bought by accident so I decided to let Claire have a try at it.

It started out with one finger, very precise and clean.Then both hands got in on the action.
She was having fun and had no idea she could eat the pudding.Then I told her she could eat it. After some coaxing she finally took a taste.She liked it - a lot. The painting came to a screeching halt and all she did was feast on it.
Notice how the bowls are pretty much empty. We had to move dinner time back a bit.
One more taste for the road.
All done! Claire hates it when her hands are dirty and says. "Hans?!" until we wash them. After a little while of scrubbing I gave up and she got to take her beloved "baff".

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

"I Go on Walk?"

Claire loves to go on walks. Every day, several times a day, she asks to go on a walk. (and to take a "baff" for some weird reason.) On our typical Monday at Nana's, we went for a walk in the late afternoon - mostly so I could get my much needed exercise. It was sunny out so Claire sported her lovely sunglasses she got from Miss Kris at church. She wears them on all our walks. She also got some new flip flops that day at Target. They were only $2.50. Every year, I try to get some from Old Navy but they sell out before April and I just don't think about flip flops when it's barely 72 degrees out. (that's still very cold to me)We stopped along the way to look at the baby ducks. This mother had 22 ducklings with her! I have never seen so many with one mom. Claire thought they were cute and it was her first time seeing real live ducklings.

We usually let her get out halfway through the walk and play on the playground. She is not much of a player and mostly stands around looking at the other kids. She gets scared when the big kids come up the same time as her and threaten her plan of action.
She's not that into slides anymore.

She recently started jumping off of things and this surprised me when she jumped off a chair the other day. She gets pretty good air. (for an almost 2 year old)
Swinging still takes 1st on Claire's list of things to do. She says "High! High! High!" until you get her high enough. She doesn't understand how to pump her legs yet.

Probably the most exciting thing for her though was when we went potty and afterward we discovered the park bathroom had a Claire-sized sink. What joy! She LOVES to wash her hands and she washed them for a very long time. She was delighted.

She has a fascination with bubbles - any kind, and most of her bath time is spent creating and destroying them.
Yep, it was a good day for Claire.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Easter

Easter this year was so much fun for us. It started out with an Easter Miracle! Claire's huge, black, lip scab came off and didn't leave too much damage behind. I was so happy.After our church services and Claire's nap, we headed over to my parents' house for the afternoon. My Aunt Faith, Cousin Marisol, Steve and Michelle and Bud were all there. We did our typical meal tradition of ham, scalloped potatoes, carrots, rolls, orange fluff, etc.
Claire is an excellent eater and eats whatever we give her. I'm so glad we won that battle back when she was little. No picky eaters are allowed in our family! After she was done, we let her have a Jell-O egg. She didn't quite know how to eat it and kept gentle squeezing it in her hand.

After dinner, Claire had her first egg hunt. Last year, she was too little to understand and we were all a little disappointed she didn't perform. (even though she was only 10 months and we were just lucky she was walking)
Easter 2009This year, we practiced the concept of putting eggs in the basket ahead of time and she did so well! We were all pleased with her enthusiasm... especially when she found out there was a Reeses Piece inside. (yes, 1) She ran around so quickly and with so much gusto that you'd think she had competition. She kept shaking the eggs she picked up to make sure there was a candy inside. If it was one she had eaten already, she would just toss it back on the grass.She didn't notice that eggs kept falling out of the basket as she ran, thus creating the never ending egg hunt. Uncle Buddy helped her take the grass out of her basket to make more room.
That's a lot of eggs! (yes, a lot is two different words.) When she was done, she came back to show us her loot. Then, Nana gave her some Easter gifts.
She got a set of her own golf clubs!When we go over there on Mondays, she always sees my dad hitting his golf balls and wants to try. Uncle Buddy tried to show her how to use two hands but she still prefers one.There were all kinds of little goodies from Nana.This is her first encounter with a PEZ dispenser.Aunt Faith and Marisol gave her a cute little bunny.Sharing a candy with her Poppy.
We later had dessert, and watched as Claire danced to her favorite, "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce. (Which is always an appropriate Easter activity.) It was a fine, fine day.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Claire's Top Book Picks

Claire loves to read... since we want to encourage this, we never say no to reading her a book when she asks and we usually read for a good hour or more everyday. We have moved from board books to 'peek-a-boo' or 'lift the flap books' and from those to regular short stories. Her absolute FAVORITE books that we currently have are the Little Rabbit series by Alan Baker. We only have 4 in the series but Claire is hoping she gets some more for her birthday.

These books have an easy to follow story line, fun ideas, and darling pictures that she loves. Her favorite of the three that we have (all found at thrift stores) is this one.She likes books about farms - she loves to make the animal noises...and she can relate to any books about chickens and eggs...I love how at the end of every Little Rabbit book the rabbits say goodnight and go to bed.

In this book, Brown Rabbit reads one of his recipes books and makes Jell-O for all of his friends. He works hard all day to get ready for their arrival. They play, eat, and then of course go to bed.

In this third one, we see the rabbits' time schedule as they prepare for
Gray Rabbit to come for dinner. They clean, go to the grocery store, take a break for lunch... Claire loves the mouse in all these books too. Especially on this page.They cook and then spend time with their friend. One thing Josh and I noticed is that these rabbits take their food seriously.

Good-bye Little Rabbits! Good-Bye. I'm sure we'll be seeing you several more times today.