Happy Birthday "Laire Laire"!

Claire turned one this month! We had a fun little birthday party with her, where she got to eat her first big dose of sugar in a cupcake (albeit a small one), played “doggie” hide-and-seek, & played “roll the ball.”

As I stood starring at the toys in the toy aisle at Wal-mart, I couldn’t find one thing that I thought Claire would just love more than what we already have. So she got a new outfit, and then the girls filled present bags with toys from their rooms to “give” her. She seemed pleased! It doesn't get easier than the first birthday!

Here’s a little about Claire to summarize what she is like at age one:

Claire is a happy girl! She loves to play “doggie,” roll a ball, & unload the dishwasher. She is the best cleaning child in the house right now. She loves to pick up things and put them in something. Of course, she is the best at making messes though too! We know when she really likes her food, because she says, “um” with every bite; and the food she dislikes goes right off the edge of her highchair and onto the floor. She won't eat pancakes & syrup, but she likes olives, avocados, & black beans.

She is starting to say words, like “mamamamama,” “dadadadada,” “boon” (balloon), "ah" (hot), although most of the time her communication is more like a grunt for "hi" and a big giant shake of the entire body for no. And she loves to click her tongue until she can get us to join in on the clicking. In church, she keeps the people sitting behind us very busy, smiling, talking, and picking up her toys.

Claire is still crawling, but on her birthday she finally decided she liked her walking toy, so hopefully she will get excited about walking one of these days. She has just learned to push herself on a little bike. And she loves going up and down the stairs. On the day she learned this new skill, Daddy let her do it over and over again about 30 times. She was exhausted that night!

Claire has a peaceful soul. She is easy to love because she is content, patient, cuddly, and adorable. She reciprocates love and humor. She soaks up any attention or love she gets, but she is also willing to sit and wait for your attention, if she needs to. She loves to be held, and is especially happy when Daddy walks in the door. It doesn't matter what she is doing, when he comes home, she wants HIM, and she gets very sad if she doesn't get picked up, hugged, and some good one-on-one attention from her daddy.

Claire has brightened up our days in 2010. We can't imagine life without her, and we are so blessed to have her in our family!