A Big Girl bed...already?

Can you believe that this little monkey climbed out of her crib already? At 19 and 3/4 months she scaled that sucker. Jon put her down for a nap(which is not always a desire of Claire's), next thing he knew, he heard drawers being opened and closed..
Darn that kiddo...that meant conversion #1 happened a little earlier then we hoped. AND by the way little Miss Claire just thought it was the neatest thing not to have one whole side of her crib....that is until the lights went out...

The transition from crib to day bed has been okay at best. She was extremely stressed out about it at bedtime, thrashing about and such. It took a little over an hour the first night to get her to bed(which is not like her) . She refused to nap the first week. The problem is that Claire does not like to be rocked to sleep, she just likes to go to bed, no real fuss. She might cry for a few minutes but then goes off to sleep. If we stay in the room she thinks it's playtime, so we kinda have to just put her to bed and walk out. I stuck it out and kept putting her back in her bed. We did end up putting a toddler rail thingy on the bed to give her more security since she's still so young. Then we got a tap light for her room and tried to be consistent. Almost two weeks later she will take a nap and tonight it took her a total of 2 minutes to drift off. Love it. And I love that she can get up by herself go to our room and wake us up with Claire Bear kisses...

Where have we been?

Well....Claire has been catching up on the latest gossip..
Taking the time to help out her Mommy....
Trying on the latest fairy fashions....
Then taking a quick dip in the local pool.....

18 months....

Can you believe that this little angel is already 18 months old...seriously the time is just flying by as if it didn't matter anymore. I wish the wait had gone by this quickly.


At 18 months Claire is a jibbering and jabbering away. Not that we understand what she's trying to say. We understand a word here and there, but it's so cute to listen to her have a conversation with herself and laugh at what she's saying. She's 24 1/2 pounds and has grown 3 inches since her 1st birthday. She's in the 75th percentile....
I just can't believe how much she's grown..she runs around like an energizer bunny, doing exactly what she's not supposed to do. I'm so exhausted and deliriously happy at the same time it's dizzying. She's continuing with her post bath/milk snuggle which is really nice b/c Jon's not up yet, so we're not competing for her.
She's learned a few signs and will use them at times. I haven't been able to get her to learn any signs that are very helpful though.
She has this horrendous habit of putting her hand down her diaper. We tried ignoring it, so as not to "create" a reaction that she looks for...that didn't work. So we tried to reprimand her and tell her not to do it..that just made her do it more....we tried to ignore it again...until the other day when hand went down the diaper and came up with poop on it.....
Not cute!
So we thought that yes it's early, but maybe she's not too comfortable with stool in the diaper...so we bought a potty. The kind you put on the toilet. So we came home, propped her up on her new Dora toilet seat, gave her a magazine and sat on the floor in front of her. She sat there for a bit having fun...we were talking and laughing...then she did it. She pooped on the potty!! Yay!! We are under no delusion that this will happen again anytime soon. We're not going to push it, but we are randomly putting her on the Dora seat.
I can't believe she's talking, running, throwing tantrums, learning new skills, and pooping on a toilet...wasn't it just last week that I was waiting for that call!!??

The beach is officially open!!!

The weather is warm, the sun is out and that can only mean one thing for this family....It's beach weather. Okay so I know we've already been to the beach this season, but the beach is "officially" open. And the water wasn't too bad. Actually a lot warmer then I thought it would be. Not that Claire cared. Once her feet hit the sand, she ran to the water. Yup that's my girl...teeth chattering, but she didn't care....It's beach time!!

40 minutes

I got 40 whole blissful, wonderful loving minutes snuggling with my little angel tonight. She normally doesn't do that(except when she was sick). She's usually running all over the place, not giving us a mere second to sit down.
I've always felt that Claire bonded very well to us..but I've seen such strides in her trust of us over the last several months. I'm not sure what I was expecting. I guess I didn't realize that I would still be seeing measurable moments this long into her being home with us. I mean I knew that it was a process, a process that took time. Maybe it was my naivety. Maybe it was that after such a long struggle to have a family I didn't care what it took or what hurdles we had to go through as a family as long as we had our complete family. I just figured we would handle what ever problems or struggles we/she had and that was it. But truthfully I don't think I really thought that after being home this long I would notice anything that any other non adoptive parent would notice(***by the way she's been with us now longer then she was in the orphanage***) But tonight was one of those moments that seemed pretty significant to me. Aside from the time when she was sick and would cuddle, she really wasn't much of a cuddler. When it's time to go to sleep, she never liked being rocked. She liked her routine..stories, prayer bear, music, crib. And I was okay with that, I figured maybe that was just her. But tonight, so peaceful, she laid on my chest, calm, passive, and we just talked and laid there. Then it hit me..this was a MOMENT. Wow..really she wanted to love on me. So I didn't move and just soaked it all in. Jon got up and I told him what happened and so as I turned around Jon was lying on the couch...what...he was supposed to be getting ready for work...
what are you doing?
I want that..I want her to cuddle with me...
So I tried to lay her on Jon's chest...
Nope she didn't want it.
I picked her up and again she just snuggled into me..that's when I knew for sure. Tonight was my MOMENT...tonight was about Claire and me.....

Is that a bunny on your back

Easter came and went in a flurry of white fur. Claire totally got the looking for eggs gig. She's at that perfect age of putting things in and out of a basket. Her Easter was complete with 4 wardrobe changes and lots of family.

She wasn't afraid of the bunny at her Grandma's church.

And she loved waking up to her basket

Then of course......we have to clean up!!

And the Doctor said....

WAIT...I won't give you any hints as to what we did that might have been pushing it a little bit yesterday...
but doesn't fresh air and sunshine help anything....
So I won't tell you, but she really does like it there...and after being cooped up in the house she really wanted to get outside....

okay, so maybe not, but she didn't "appear" as bad on Sun"day" and her fever for the time was at bay and we had family in from out of town that had never met her(or Jon for that matter) and well maybe we shouldn't have, but we did...

Anyhow, after white sores showed up on all over her tongue last night and the fever revisted, and she was up all night miserable and crying, and wouldn't eat, we headed to the docs first thing this a.m. Poor baby! Once he actually(and quite gently I might add) pried her little mouth open, we saw sores on her tongue and back of her throat..did I say poor baby..

So she has one of two things 1)cold sores from being sick ..OR 2)hand, mouth and foot disease....seriously....I had to look that one up....
So doc gave us some meds in hopes that it's cold sores and if not.....we'll be waiting for the sores on her hands and/or feet...either way I guess we'll motrin her up and wait for it to run it's course....But seriously? She only went to daycare for two days?...and now she can't even go tomorrow.....

Last night I was holding Claire as she was hunkered down on my chest...she was crying and I could just feel her pain...tears welled up in my eyes, b/c there was nothing I could do....I really felt like a parent last night.

What did we get out of school?....

Hmmmm....well after two whole days of daycare....
Claire learned how to pick her nose......and share it.....lovely I tell ya, lovely....and she doesn't just pick her nose now...she digs for the good stuff!!
And we also won, one sick little kiddo.
(See Mom I really do listen...notice the cold wet washcloth!!)After bragging on our little healthy Claire Bear, she has had an on again/off again fever since Friday....then we thought she was alls better so we may have pushed it a little too much today. Ooopsss... Now I'm seeing white spots....uggghhhhh......off to the pediatrician early Monday.
Even though our little angel is sick we must look at that silver lining....

1. when she is sick....she doesn't want to run all day and will actually lay on the couch and cuddle
2. and cuddle
3. and cuddle.

Even though neither of us is getting any sleep, we do really relish the hugging and holding. I've said before that Claire is a Daddy's girl, but I've noticed now that she's sick....the bonding runs deep on both sides. And that's a good thing too...

Where's your belly?

So is that not the cutest flippin' picture....all you have to do is just ask "Where's your belly"...have camera ready...and viola...you got it(actually my friend got this shot for me)....But I just love it. She'll also lift up your shirt and attempt to give raspberries on your belly...complete with loads of spit and a lots of laughter.

Some changes....

• Claire is growing growing growing, babbling and having conversations with herself...

• She also has a temper to make her Momma proud...really love that she's independent and feisty although it does try my patience sometimes. I really thought we had a couple more months until the tantrums kicked in, but oh well.
  
• She does push us, and we try to win, sometimes we do...sometimes not so much.

• Working at night and taking care of Claire during the day has taken a bit of a toll on Jon...getting by on very little sleep just isn't working as well anymore especially since his job is working him way more hours then they're paying him for(but that's another story)..

• ...so we've decided on daycare...ummm I mean "school" twice a week.
  
• Yes it makes me feel better to say "school" vs. daycare. Plus she is starting to relate to dogs more then kids...like putting the cheerios on the coffee table and then eating them off sans hands with only her mouth...yes humorous, but seriously I never thought we would repeat 15 times a day to our daughter..."Claire!! NO!! You are not a DOG!!"
  
• Her face always lights up whenever we're around other kids...we've said it before, we think she misses other children, so we bit the bullet filled out 15 pages of paperwork(ummmm...yes really that many pages) and she starts "school" tomorrow.
• On her orientation day, she wiggled to get out of Jon's hands and beelined to the other kids, kinda thought she could at least have taken a second look back, but not our Miss Independence
• Then she snarked another kids snack....see picture above..
• Still totally in awe that we have a little kiddo!!!
  

Driftwood beach

Well our normal beach raised it's entry fee from 50 cents per person, to $3.00 a car. No biggie....except the fact that between Jon and I both, we only had the dollar that we thought was needed to get into the beach...how sad that we didn't have $3...seriously....how do two adults with one crazy child not have more then a dollar, but that's another story....
So we had to venture to our back up beach...the driftwood beach...which by the way has had some major erosion, two new entry cliffs and a ladder to access the white sands...so Daddy had to carry Claire down a ladder...but what a fun day b/c no one else was really there...

She is getting so independent...wanting to do it all...all by her big girl self.

I just love love this picture....Daddy and his girl!!

J-E-L-L-O

When you thing of Jello, can't you just hear the old Bill C*sby commercials with jello and all the laughing smiling kids? Everytime I think of it, I sing the jingle in my head. I had given jello to Claire once before, but I fed it to her..this evening she wanted me to put it on her tray so she could feed herself...Seriously though once she felt the jello in her little hands, it was a giggle fest.
What followed could've been a commercial for Jello.





Who'd of thought that the highlight of my day would be watching my little girl eat jello, but it was.

Ed's Oyster Shack...

And the verdict is.....

She likes Oysters too...
It's so weird to me that it was one year ago that we got the call about our wonderful child. It amazes me that fast forward and we're hanging out at the oyster shack like the past year wasn't the culmination of so many hopes and dreams for us. So many years whenever one of my Bf's was is town, we would all gather at her parent's house and they would host us "kids", treating us to oysters, food, drinks, and at times karaoke(ok I think that was for them...and for our entertainment)
Jon and I were always the ones without a child. So it was so cool to finally be able to have her with us....like we were never really without her. So fun was had by all as we celebrated my friends Birthday.
On cue from her Daddy, and everyone's camera in hand...Claire was delivered her first oyster..and as if it would have been any different...she loved it....
Then of course, she was off to play with all the other kids....Awesome days!!

Back yard fun

Claire knows that Daddy is sleeping behind that window...Did I mention she's a Daddy's girl!!
See all those teeth...they're coming in droves...
This is as close as I could get to a "fall" picture....try not to notice that we have no grass...I won't mention to those northerners either that it's February and it was like 80 this day(last week)
I've been trying to figure out the manual modes on my camera..I thought this was a pretty pic.

Next week will mark 1 year since we rec'd that fateful call. You know that call, the one that dropped your stomach to your knees. That call that changed your life forever. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about that call. Saturday marks that day and lucky for us one of my BFs will be in town for her birthday and we're all hanging out. We'll get to introduce Claire to "Ed's oyster shack"(Her Dad has a whole set up in their back yard). Funny as it seems, hanging out at the oyster shack with our child is something we dreamed about. Don't laugh, we have simple dreams. Til then....

15 months old

Lessons from Daddy...
Proof to others that she really does cry,
Her new obsession...the phone!!!

Our little girl is growing up so fast. She doesn't even seem like a "baby" anymore. She just feels and looks like a little person to me.

At 15 months she is really asserting her independence. She already pitches fits. And yes I do let her cry. Sometimes I just have to ease her down to the ground, let her have her fit and walk away. Sometimes I find it pretty humorous. Other times..not so much.

Her teeth are growing in like weeds. She has 12 already with two more looking like they want to surface. She babbles and talks although we don't understand a lot of it. She has the Dad, Daddy, Da, DaDa down pact. She also has the dogs names down, and a few other words. But Mama, Ma, or Mom is seldom heard although she was saying it in Taiwan. She runs and climbs and falls, and is still full of laughter. She knows how to play hide and seek. And my favorite is when she runs away from me, arms up in the air screaming and laughing when I say "I'm gonna get your toes!!"

She still captures my heart every single moment of the day.

Zoo Day=Family Day

I'm a zoo geek, really I am. Actually I'm pretty much a geek at heart and now that I have a little one, I can indulge. Jon had not been to the zoo in about 20 years..seriously, borrow kids like I used to do and go. Since Jon and I work opposite shifts we try to reserve Saturdays for "family day" and do something outside of the house. No housework(trust me it shows) no yard work(shows there too) but just some good old fashioned together time. And so the adventure went...

Next indulgence....date night? We'll be trying that one soon!!

Where does the time go?

How is my child growing so fast? Why does is seem like just yesterday that we were in Taiwan meeting this wonderful child for the first time. Then I look at the calendar and 6 months have passed. Seriously...6 months!! Does that even seem possible?

In Florida we really don't have much of an opportunity to "bundle up", so when we got a cold snap, I took that opportunity to put the hat on that her Aunt gave her. Seriously...is that not too too cute!
Our house has been overrun by baby stuff(YAY!!!) But that also means we are running out of room. The old hand me down dinning room table has been kicked to the curb...and now Claire has a playroom. She loves it and we love that our living room isn't an obstacle course.
And I never thought I would love to put her hair in the "Pebbles" ponytail...but it just makes me giggle everytime I do it.

Piggy Tails

Until recently Claire has been a bit hair challenged. But alas that is no more. With a little bit of spit, hair pulling, scraping, and straining...we can now sport the piggy tails. Weep with envy gals..