Weekly Fun

So, I know that you really only care about the pictures.  So, to save me some time, I'll just post the photos for now and update with the words in case someone actually looks back at the post.

No Break Time

So, being away from family I really miss my break time.  When Claire and I have nothing to do (that is code for "Claire has energy, mom is lazy and not in the mood to think of something creative) we used to go play with Jessica or my mom (this also allowed talking to an adult in the middle of the day...yeah, that was nice).  Now, I can't be lazy (unless I want to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for the bazillionth time...I've counted, we're pretty close to a bazillion). I also can't get much done around the house because Claire doesn't like me to be boring.  As a matter of fact.  I was shocked when we were at the park and I wanted to talk to a friend, so I told Claire, "Mommy just really wants to be boring okay?  I'll sit right here and watch you."  and she let me be boring.  If it looked like I was having fun, she would point at me and say, "Be boring!"  It was hilarious.  Anyway, normally she has to show me all the cool stuff she has/makes/sees.  Some of you may be saying, let her play outside. HA! She won't play outside by herself. I open the door for her, and she whines for me to go outside.  This gets me upset that she's whining and I really don't want to go outside now because I don't want her to think her whining is what would make me go outside. So now what?  Well, we can only take so many baths so we aren't bath painting on a daily basis.  Besides, that would start to get old and I wouldn't have it as my magic pixie dust anymore.  I really don't want to just sit her in front of the TV.  But I really really really just want to make my kitchen something I can stand to look at (so this eliminates any activities away from home)! I have found some ways that work: play dough and beans (mind you, I still don't have very long because she is always excited to show me something or have me "eat" what she has made, but if I can manage to work without drawing attention to myself, she can play for quite a while).

She helped me make the play dough which was really fun.  She only stirred for like, I don't know, 10 seconds, then I got to take over.  She did like kneading the dough, though...it was warm and squishy.  We actually made the play dough about 2 weeks ago, but it is still perfect dough. The recipe said it can last up to 6 months. I'll keep you posted on that.

The beans was more of a compromise.  We don't have a sand box; I didn't want to drive to the beach because Nathan was going to be home soon so we wouldn't have had much time anyway; but Claire got sand toys for her birthday and wanted to play with them.  So I opened a bag of beans and let her shovel them around to different containers to her heart's content.  I told her to keep the beans on her tray and to pick up any beans that fell on the floor (mainly so she wouldn't just dump them on the floor).  She does really well with keeping the beans contained and she LOVES to play with her beans.   She asks to play with them almost daily...no, I think daily. She still hasn't quite figured out the implications of bigger and smaller, though. She will pour the beans from a bigger container into a smaller container and just keep pouring even when the container is full...and now over flowing...and now I step in and say, "Oops, pick them up."  I need to get her more beans! I'm thinking of coloring some rice and throwing that in as an option.

 

We do still take a lot of baths, and I still like to stay in the bathroom or just make quick trips to put something away or grab something, but this actually a break time for me.  She will play quite contentedly in the tub singing, and talking to her toys, and asking me what number she is holding, etc.  But, this is a time where I can do my makeup (if it's a morning bath), or just veg on pinterest or facebook, or play a mindless game on my ipod. However, I do spend a bit of time blowing bubbles, or helping her paint when we get that out.  But she is just fun in the tub.  Sometimes I wonder if she is extra imaginative in there because it's always been a Claire play Mom just be life guard time.

 



In case you were worried that I don't take her to the beach because of my earlier comments, that's not true.  However, it's not always a perfect day.  We did have one day where the planets aligned ever so nicely this week.  The weather was nice and we had the opportunity.  Yes, she is wearing a long sleeve shirt.  It was chillier in the morning. No she is not wearing a swim suit.  Trust me, if you had your choice between a heated pool and freezing cold ocean water, you'd choose heated pool too.  She likes to play in the sand and watch the waves.  But if the water even looks like it will touch her feet, she runs.  It's quite fun to watch actually.

Extra silliness is stored inside until Daddy comes home.  She loves to be silly with him.  She really likes to steal his candy.  The best is Fun Dip because it makes her tongue change colors (Nathan is still a germ-o-phobe, fun dip comes with 2 sticks).

I also like when Nathan comes home.  Sometimes (emphasis there, he is seriously busy that I feel bad to leave) I get to go do something for myself like a girls night, exercise, or get my hair done!  I really wanted something new with my hair.  I was sick of it long because it was getting in the way if I left it down, so it was constantly up. And I'm not really good with hair, so I rotated through like 5 hair styles.  My hair was long enough that I was able to donate to Locks of Love.  I was really excited about that.  I am also pleased with the final product.

And this, well, this is just funny cause it's true.  I laughed when I saw it because Nathan is always asking where things are (or putting things away in the wrong spot). I just chuckle about it.

 

Have a marvelous week! Sorry that I was 2 days late on this post.  I'll try to get it together. :)



Claire Turns 2!

So, this week we've been doing all the turning 2 stuff.  Monday, we went to the doctor for our 2 year well check.  Claire did so good! We were reading Cordoroy Goes to the Doctor so she would know what to expect and know that it wasn't a big deal (she normally cries once she's in the room even if we're not there for her). When we got to the doctors office, we was so excited! There were cool toys all over and books too!  She loved it (I guess it was good we had to wait for a LONG time).  She seriously darted from my side so she could play and I took care of the whole signing in etc.  When it was our turn I told her we were going to play in a different room.  She bounced down the hall until we got to our room.  She stopped at the door and got worried when she saw the little exam table.  I could see it in her eyes like in a movie where it narrows in on the table and you hear the creepy music, but I reminded her that we needed to get her ready to be weighed and measured.  She hesitantly entered.  The nurse was so great with her and took her time so Claire would be comfortable.  She let her play with her measuring tape which Claire thought was so cool.  And throughout the appointment she did really well.  Her favorite part was standing on the scale and up to the height chart.  I think she felt like a big girl.  And just an FYI: she is healthy.  I was annoyed by 1 thing and figured it is probably for overbearing parents that they put in on there, but on her chart they wrote down her BMI.  First, why do we care about BMI, and second, if we did, why would we care about BMI for a 2 year old?! Whatever! 

Anyway, Claire and I went with a friend to a fun interactive museum yesterday since she was still technically free. :) It was a lot of fun. Claire loved the dollhouse, the diner, and the farm (and just running around in general).

Now I thought this was cooler than Claire did apparently.  She didn't last long in this room. But it was a giant Operation game board! But she just cheated and used her hands so she didn't appreciate it as much. :)  But I did get some cute pictures.

She spent a lot of time in the dollhouse.  I love that she is into pretend play.  It is so fun (and telling) to watch her mimic me and listen to what she says.

This was my favorite! She started "washing her hands".

And of course, Claire turned 2 today.  We had a fun day.  It was cloudy and threatening to rain most of the day, so we stayed inside today, but we still had a lot of fun.  I blew up some balloons and put them in her room this morning so they'd be there when she woke up.  She thought it was pretty neat. As a matter of fact, they had to be transferred to whatever room we were in.

We spent a LONG time in the tub today.  I made big batch of shaving cream pain so she had a lot of fun with that.  I don't have any pictures of her masterpieces because i had to hold the tin so it wouldn't drop on the ground and then I rinsed the tub before I thought about a picture, sorry.

After the painting, we drained the water and took a real bath where she still wanted to play with her "foams" (craft foam, you can see it in the background) and brush her teeth.  

After getting ready and playing with toys and watching Super Why on Netflix, we made her birthday cupcakes.  She was actually really good at helping me poor everything.  However, whenever I turned on the mixer, she would hop off her chair and say, "That's loud." But she did enjoy licking the beaters (and don't worry, I unplugged the mixer and just after this photo took them off).  I didn't let her have much, though.

She liked coming back to the oven to watch the progress of the cupcakes. 

 Here they are bubbling a little and that is pretty cool.

For her birthday lunch, we went to McDonalds for a happy meal.  I love her little hands clapping in this picture.

She was so funny when we were ordering.  The lady asked if she wanted apple juice and I said, "No, milk please." Claire then popped in, "Chocolate milk.  And Fries.  And cheeseburger."  The lady asked if she wanted apple slices too.  Claire responded, "Yeaaahh." She is too funny.

She is one spoiled girl!

This girl was a paper tearing tornado.  We could not get her still for any good pictures!

Her birthday cupcakes.

She did a good job blowing out each candle one at a time...

But dad wanted to help (to speed it up and have less spit over all the cupcakes).

Yummo!

Thank you to everyone who wished her happy birthday however you did it!