Claire at 19 months

A Big Girl
I will never forget the Thanksgiving that my Grandpa said to me, "You're a big girl.  You're built like my mother- she was big boned like you."  I was 16 and mortified.  This was the most insulting comment you could have given me.  I had not yet figured out that it is awesome to be a big girl.  These days, I'm quite okay with it. I found a nice tall boy so that I can still wear heels.  I can reach tall shelves, and I don't feel too nervous going walking by myself.  Late pregnancy doesn't seem to be as uncomfortable for me as it is for other women because the baby has somewhere to go. There are a lot of benefits to being a big girl.  Somehow I have to let my daughter in on the secret of being happy "big," because chances are, that's where she's headed.  At 18 months, she was in the 95th percentile for height, and was off the charts (just barely) for weight at 31 pounds.  She wears a size 3T now, and jeans are out of the question- they just don't make it around those thighs.  She towers over her peers in nursery.  Sometimes she gets confused for an older child, and people get frustrated when she acts like a one year old.  She sure is a cute big girl, though.

The Picture Problem
Jason has complained that I'm not posting as many pictures of Claire on Facebook these days.  (No one else is complaining.  I'm pretty sure every one else is grateful that the online shrine to our firstborn has slowed down.)  The reason the pictures have slowed down, though, is that I'm finding it a lot more difficult to photograph a toddler.  Everything I get these days are blurry action shots.  Claire is a BUSY girl.  The latest problem is that when I tell her to come here, she runs as fast as she can in the opposite direction.  She thinks its funny.  Any advice on how to deal with that?

Go go go!

Talk, talk, talk
Claire's verbal vocabulary is still limited, but it's increasing daily. Her favourite thing to talk about is animal sounds.  She excels in this subject.  If only they offered it as a college major, she'd be all set.  First sounds- Sheep (baa) Cow (mnoo) Cutest sounds- Lion (wawr!) Cat (neow) Pig (I don't even know how to spell what she does.  She's trying to copy the more realistic back of your throat oink, so it is kind of a -ka ka) She still hasn't mastered dog, but in her defence, there are so many options, she is understandably confused. I'm thinking that would be, like a 400 level class. 
Claire has also started COUNTING!  Or at least, she's starting to understand the timing and intonation of counting.  She will sit down and very deliberately hold up one finger and say something like "bee...bee...BEE!" and then jump up and do whatever action she was gearing up to do.  Sometimes the second bee will become "Doo" if we prompt her with "one."  Occasionally she counts higher than three, but the numbers and the ending stay the same.
A few more recent words- Nak (milk- obviously) Oo-pS (emphasis on the S- so cute) Map (thank you Dora) Blue (which she can correctly identify 2 times out of 3.) 

The Evolution of Hugs and Kisses
If she is in the right mood, Claire will hug and kiss anyone (or anything) you tell her to.  This is really convenient in situations like my brother's wedding where she was constantly meeting strangers who turned out to be related to her.  When she gives you a hug, she leans her head in and, quite loudly, says "AWE!"  It's pretty much the most adorable thing ever. Her kisses used to be big open mouths, but she has figured out the pucker.  I'm glad she has figured this out, but I'd be lying if I said I don't miss those big wet ones.  She recently mastered the kissy sound, which she now sometimes does a good 6 inches away from her kissing subject, deciding that the sound is all that is really required.   We have told her that there is a baby under my belly button, so she now frequently lifts my shirt to say "herro baby!" and give it a 6 inch away kiss. 

Before she mastered the pucker.

 Nursery
We were nervous about taking Claire to Nursery (the LDS Sunday School class for toddlers- they can go at 18 months.)  She had a lot of separation anxiety at around 17 months.  We started to occasionally go visit just to show her the toys and her friends, and she liked it, but if we started to sneak towards the door, she flipped out.  We were in Arizona visiting family when she finally turned 18 months, so we were too chicken to try out nursery in a strange ward. Finally the day came when we could drop her off.  She screamed for 10 minutes after we left.  Then she was fine.  And she has been fine ever since!  This last Sunday, she saw her nursery teacher in Sacrament meeting and followed her all of the way to class without even looking back to say good bye to me!  She absolutely loves seeing all of her friends- June, Tony, Wesley, and Zachary.  She loves her teachers who spoil her rotten.  And we love going to a meeting at church without having to chase her!

Scribbling
Claire loves pens, pencils, crayons, markers, stickers ("stickies!") and anything she can get her hands on to decorate a page.  She marked up her drawing table (which we weren't really worried about) and the wall (which we were) a couple of times.  Together we cleaned the wall with a Magic Eraser (an amazing thing) and we talked a lot about colouring only on the paper, and she seems to have figured it out.  We still monitor and occasionally have to correct, but for the most part, she only colours on the page.  She has a nice firm grip and draws good solid scribbles.  This teacher/mom couldn't be more proud. 

Claire colouring with her friend Wesley at a recent activity at the mall

Reading
Claire likes quick books, but won't tolerate long stories. That is, unless it's Clifford or Blue's Clues.  Then she will demand that you read the long stories cover to cover over and over.  When she sees something that she knows how to say, she will say it AT THE TOP OF HER VOICE until you acknowledge that you also see that thing.  "DOGGY!!" she screams in my ear every time we turn the page and find a doggy.  (Coincidentally, there are a lot of doggies in Clifford and Blue's Clues books.)  I'm trying to get her to sit and enjoy story time at the library, but so far she just weaves in and out of all of the obedient children sitting on the carpet, and goes and gets into the librarians things until she gives me a dirty look.  I wish I could just tell her to read Clifford books for half an hour. Claire still likes TV, though!  I'm hoping she gets some vocabulary from those, too.

Keeping her entertained- watching Blue's Clues on Jason's phone

 We love Claire!  She is such a blast!

Way too personal

I've let some time pass since my last post.  I need to do some catching up.  For example, our awesome creation, Claire, is such a blast at a year and a half.  More on that coming up.  I've also been busy creating for my calling and for our new home.  I may or may not get around to telling you about some of that.  But guess what?!  I've got another creation to tell you about!  BABY #2!!  I'm about 14 weeks along now.

I'm sure you want to know every little detail about our efforts to get pregnant, right?  No?!  Too Bad!  (Or you can just skip this post.  In fact, that would be my recommendation if you're the type of person who gets uncomfortable talking about things like... menstrual cycles.  You know who you are.  Just scroll on down to the next post.)

If it was up to Jason, I would have gotten pregnant again 6 weeks after delivering Claire.  Poor guy isn't going to get the 8 kids he was hoping for. Maybe next time he won't wait until he's 31 to start looking for his wife...Anyway, I told him that for every 9 months that I'm pregnant, I must have at least 9 months NOT pregnant.  So, true to my word, I put all of the birth control away when Claire turned 9 months old.  There was only one problem.  I was nursing Claire, and I still hadn't started my period.  Nothing to chart, no sign of any impending fertility.  I kept on hoping that somehow I would get pregnant during my very first postpartum cycle (you hear about the girls who do.)  I'd randomly stress out that I was pregnant and look for little symptoms.  I got my first bladder infection during this time, and I was sure I was expecting, because I'd read that they're more common during pregnancy.  The doctor was able to squash that hope pretty quickly, much to my disappointment.

 I decided to stop nursing when Claire turned one.  Honestly, Claire and I both loved nursing, and it was really hard on both of us.  I will probably end up nursing my last child until they're 5.  (Not really.)  Weaning was sad, but I don't have any regrets.  Claire got a good year of breast milk, which I feel was enough for her.  And by that time, I was as anxious as Jason to get Claire a little sibling.  I was completely dry for a month or two before my body finally decided it could care for another baby.  My first period was a HUGE relief and also a little disappointing.  I started charting immediately (I highly recommend the book, "Taking Charge of Your Fertility.")  The next month was less of a relief and more of a disappointment, but we continued on.  It takes most couples a few months to get the timing right.
 
According to my charts, I found out that I was due to start my next period right before Christmas.  I knew I shouldn't, but I started to plan that I would get pregnant that month.  I bought a pregnancy test and a little gift bag, and I created fantasies in my head of giving Jason the positive test on Christmas morning, and telling both of our mothers at a family dinner that we had planned for early January.   (Jason's Mom would be with us in Arizona for a wedding.  How often are both of our mothers in the same place at the same time!?  Never!  It was going to be perfect!)  When my period started on Christmas Eve, I cried for about an hour.  Even more disappointing was when I realized that Jason and I would be apart during my next fertile window, which would probably mean another month of menstruating and this time it would be ON MY BIRTHDAY (Jan. 25- one month after Christmas.)  It definitely put a damper on Christmas.

Of course, we decided to try the next month anyway.  We went to Arizona for the wedding, and he returned to Canada right away to get back to work, while I stayed behind to visit with the family for five extra days.  According to the charts, those 5 days were critical baby making days, but the tickets were already purchased, so we worked with what we had.  As my friend put it, we had a nice good bye when he left for Canada, and nice hello when I came home, and we hoped for the best.  I wasn't very hopeful.

But then... the day before my birthday, my period didn't start.  I started to hope just a little bit.  At 5 in the morning on my birthday, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.  So I snuck into the bathroom and took that pregnancy test I had bought before Christmas.  Positive!!  How's that for a birthday present?  Sweet angel baby made 33 my very best birthday ever.

Claire holding a positive pee stick back on January 25th and Harvey#2 captured sneakily at our first ultrasound