Claire - 2 Years

Claire Campbell, you are 2 years old! You are growing so quickly. You're such a hilarious, sweet, intelligent, independent, and beautiful kid. Just when I think I can't possibly love you more than I already do, you do something new and adorable and my love grows a little bit more.

Your stats:

Height: 36 inches - 94th percentile
Weight: 30 lbs - 91st percentile (I think you may actually weigh a bit more, but you were getting over a tummy bug.)
Head: 20 inches - 99th percentile...Your reign as Big Head Todd continues!

You're still wearing some 24 month clothes, but mostly 2T and even some 3T. You wear size 5 diapers.

Here's what else you're up to these days:

- You are talking up a storm! Everyday you say some new word or phrase. It's really amazing to watch you take on new language.

- You know all your colors and quite a few of your letters. Your doctor says the colors are a 4 year skill?!? You're obsessed with colors and love to color...maybe a budding artist like your Daddy? I really don't like when people brag obnoxiously about their kids, but these posts are really for you to look at someday and know what you were doing. You blow us away on a daily basis! You make all sorts of multi-step cognitive connections. It's just really incredible to see what you can do at just 2, and to imagine what you'll be doing in the future. The other day you drew the letter N (not sure if it was intentional) and pointed at it and told me it was an N. I attribute it all to the ABC book we read daily and all those letter apps on the iPad. People can say what they want about kids using technology, but you have certainly benefitted from it.

- You're very busy and love to play! Right now you are really into playing with your babydolls and your new toy kitchen. You also love your toy cars and reading. You're really into watching toy demonstration videos on Youtube...who knew there were so many of those things? Above all, Mickey Mouse (aka "Ninny Now") is your absolute favorite thing in the world!

- You're a bit of a wild child! You are always on the move and constantly getting into stuff. When we're out at places with other kids, you're always the one leaving the spot everyone's at to go explore in another area.You definitely keep us on our toes! A couple weeks ago we went with Pinky, Aunt Dizzie, and Gracie to the movies to see Paddington Bear. At first, you sat in your seat and watched the movie. Before long though, your wild child (and lack of a real nap) kicked in and before long, you were crawling up and down the aisle pretending to be a cat and then I chased after you as you crawled down the steps headfirst. As your Pinky used to say about me, you are "spirited", and I often find myself conflicted over how much to reign you in and not wanting to squelch your spirit.

- You are obsessed with brushing your teeth. Not a day goes by that you don't go pull your toothbrush and paste out of the bathroom drawer and carry them around to play. You have multiple toothbrushes...several dummies that you can drag around with you and gather all manner of germs, and then the real one that's kept just out of your reach on the bathroom counter.

 - Most days you take around a 2 hour afternoon nap. We put you to bed for the night between 8-9 pm and it usually takes you a long time to fall asleep, so your wake time really varies. Right now, it's usually 8ish, sometimes 9. Right before James was born, you jumped out of your crib and we had to convert your crib into a toddler bed way before we planned (nice timing, kid!). That really turned your sleeping habits on their head...you started exploring your room and playing for hours, sometimes falling asleep on the floor. You took a long time to go to sleep before the bed switch, but this definitely increased it. Thankfully, you now stay in your bed for the most part.

- You've handled becoming a big sister beautifully! I really worried about it, because you would get pretty upset everytime I held another baby when I was pregnant. But you've always been really sweet and welcoming to Baby James. I can't wait to see y'all play together soon! 

- Your current nicknames are NerNer (see below), Clairebear, Tootie, and Toot.

- We had a great time celebrating your birthday! Gigi and Poppy came and spent a few days with us, which was super fun! On your birthday, we went to a yummy breakfast at Kerbey Lane and to the Austin Aquarium (we went there on your first birthday too!. That evening we had a small family party, Mickey Mouse-themed, of course. It was a wonderful day celebrating you!

You say so many hilarious things and I have to document them:

- "Daddy, a hot!" means you want a fire in the fireplace.

- "Purple-pink" is what you call your beloved purple nighttime paci and many other things that are either pink or purple.

- "Yaya" means Santa...we still sing "Santa Claus is coming to Town" and Deer aka "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" every day. I kinda hope this lasts all year long!

- "NerNer" - this is how you refer to yourself. I think it's your way of saying Clairebear, which you're called frequently. You started saying this a lot around the holidays and it took us about a month to figure out what you were saying. I can't tell you how much it makes us giggle! NerNer baby = Claire's babydoll, NerNer paci = Claire's paci. So so cute!

- "Yook" is look. All your Ys are Ls right now, hence you say "Heyyo" for hello. You're really into asking people to look at something. "Poppy, yook", etc.

- "Happy?" or more recently "What happy?" is your way of asking what happened.

Claire, you are an absolute joy to us, and we love watching you grow into the amazing little person you are. Not a day goes by that Daddy and I don't talk about how wonderful you are and how much we love you. You will always be my baby, no matter how old you are.

I love you to the moon and back!
Mama