Claire at 18 months

Miss Claire Elizabeth is a year and a half old!  How did that happen?!  She is growing so beautifully into a charming, sweet, vivacious young girl.  Here's what's new with Claire at 18 months:

• Weighs 20 lbs 2 oz (3rd %) and is 31 inches tall (25%).  Her head is in the 25-50th percentile.
• Wears size 12 months and 12-18 months. She's between size 3 and 4 for shoes.
• Continues to be obsessed with being outside. She doesn't care at all what she's doing- as long as she's outside.  Coming inside warrants a huge fit.  Yesterday she cried at the door for a long time after I got home from work before I was finally able to distract her with playdoh.  Earlier this month we were at the cabin and it was 34 degrees and raining.  She insisted on going outside for so long that I finally gave in.  I figured that as soon as she realized we were getting wet and it was cold, she'd want to come in.  Nope, she was as happy as could be just walking around outside in the rain and cold, without even any toys to play with.  I wonder how she's going to handle the winter?!
• Talks a lot.  I don't know how many words she has, but there's a long list of them!  Some of the new ones include: more peas (please) (She's been saying "more" and "peas" for awhile, but now strings them together), purse, yes, bear, mail, coat, hat, pillow.
• Is going to be a piece of cake, I think, to potty train!  She is so aware of her body.  She sometimes tells us right before she goes potty and nearly every time tells us right after she's gone (and insists on being changed promptly).  She says "poopie" for both #1 and #2, but we can work on that.  She continues to be clean and dry through every night.  Today she held it from before 5PM yesterday until 8:30AM this morning!  She drinks a lot so we're not concerned that she's not getting enough fluid.  Her doctor told us this morning that teaching them to hold it is the hardest part of training, so we're thrilled she's already so far along in that regard.  I'm going to get a potty chair and just see what we can start doing.  Starting potty training at the same time that we're adding a newborn to the mix isn't ideal timing, so we'll take it slow and let her dictate. 
• Eats so-so.  Part of me feels like she eats like a bird, but I also remind myself that she's just a little girl and that she'll eat if she's hungry.  Breakfast is her biggest meal- I think it's a combination of not eating for 13 hours and the more desirable food selections.  She's not a fan of vegetables (but we keep trying) or meat.  She loves fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, waffles, mac and cheese, noodles, raisins, milk.
• Is quite girly.  You can take the girl out of the pink, but you can't take the girl out of the girl!  Nana gave her a (grown up) purse last weekend and Claire very much enjoys carrying it around with her (with her Nokia cell phone inside, of course).  She also carries her babies around and wraps them in blankets.  This morning she was so precious- she patiently waited at the front door so we could leave for her doctor appt while Josh and I got last minute stuff together.  As she stood there patiently waiting, she was holding her purse on her left shoulder and her baby in her right arm.  Josh told her, "don't be growing up too fast, sweetheart!". 
• Is shy but is starting to come out of her shell.  You know she's getting shy when she stands at my side and holds onto my leg or puts her right 4 fingers into her mouth.  She's thoroughly enjoying gymnastics and I think it's helping her become less timid. 

I cannot WAIT to spend 12 glorious weeks with my precious firstborn!  It's a dream come true.  She is everything to us and we can't imagine what our life was like before she was here.