Constant Beginnings

Tooth fairies and losing teeth have been weighing on Claire's mind since beginning kindergarten. It is a regular conversation. She wanted desperately to lose one too. I simply kept telling her when it was time, she would. Low and behold, that "time" crept up on us like a bad dream. She took an apple off my desk after school, devoured it and soon after said, "Mom, my tooth is loose."  I shot her a look and Mya immediately says, "Oh, this can't be good." It was darling as are most things she says lately. Anyway, I did the check and yep, it was definitely loose. She continued to share that fact with every neighbor she encountered for the rest of the afternoon. We tried to call Chris, but he was in a meeting, so I encouraged her not to wiggle it until Daddy got home so he could share in the moment. Sadly, Chris didn't get home until 7:30 last night (we thought we had escaped incredibly long work hours when we left Korea, but no such luck). The toot...

whoa! times they are a changin. claire is growing up, just not out. she can finally wear 18 month clothes, BUT they are too large around the waist. lovely. maybe my mom can assist in fixing her pants when she visits next week. definitely a problem i'd love to have. she is getting to be a better listener, which is a relief to both chris and i. she still has her moments of outward protest, but we are doing many less time-outs. can't say enough, how happy that makes me. that being said, time-outs with claire are rather funny. she knows the chair to sit on and sits there until we have our little chit chat. claire is a quick learner. when we ask her why she is in time-out, her explanations always begin with "because," and followed by some jibber jabber, occasionally she'll have the right idea but generally it is jibberish. too cute. when we conclude our little chat with a friendly, "you need to listen to momma and daddy," claire ALWAYS responds, "ok....

        Claire has learned a few new tricks. She now waves and does "so big." She also has discovered the phone. She holds it up to her ear and "talks." It is adorable. I finally got pictures of Claire taking care of her baby. She actually pats the baby's back, too. This kiddo is way too cute!