What makes her, her

It sounds so cliche but I really do feel like I was JUST writing Claire's two year update, where I wrote about how Claire is small, smart, shy and sweet.  And here we are at three years and I'd say I still use those words to describe her.  While I wish I could document every little thing about her, I begrudgingly accept that I can't.  So I will write about the basics but I also want to document a few things that make her, her. 

I think Claire's primary love language is Words of Affirmation.  I love this about her.  I think it's also my love language, however, the quiz I just took (in the link above) says that my love language is Acts of Service.  Maybe I have both.  Claire often offers an unsolicited "I love you" or "I love you so much Mommy" or "I love Daddy and Max too, Mommy".  It's adorable when she says, "You look beautiful today, Mommy" or "I really like your shirt, Mom".  When she wakes up in the middle of the night and I tuck her back in, she usually says, "Mom, I love you.  I love you so much. And I love Daddy and Max too".  Melts me.  

In the car, Claire regularly asks, "How do we get there?" She literally wants to know the play-by-play for how to get to our destination.  I used to think about it and respond with the appropriate, "first we take a left, and then right, and then straight, and then another right..." but now I just make it all up.  Josh says that's going to bite me someday.  I still don't understand why she asks this.  

When she's frustrated (especially when she can't open something, or get a shoe on, or a toy to work), she grunts and says "arrrggghhh!"  I admit she got this from me.  

Carefully watching Laurie

 Don't ask me why, but Claire seriously dislikes the word "cute".  Do NOT call her that- you can safely use the words "beautiful" or "pretty" instead.  The other morning I accidentally said that her jewelry was cute.  "Don't say that word, Mom! Don't say cute!" "Why don't you like the word 'cute', honey?", I asked.  "Mom, I just don't!"  On Saturday a man at the mattress store told her she was very cute.  She slowly walked over to my side, looked up, and whispered ever so gently, "Mommy, he said I was cute. No, I'm not".  

Claire doesn't believe in lounging in pajamas in the morning.  No, she insists on getting dressed IMMEDIATELY after waking in the morning, which is usually before 6:00AM.  "Let's put my clothes on!" is some of the first words out of her mouth in the morning.  She is the lightest sleeper and wakes before 6:00AM every day.  She's in bed between 7:30-8:00PM and usually asleep by 8:15 or so, which means she only gets 10 hours, at best, of sleep per night (she often wakes once or twice a night too).  She naps mid-day, but only for an hour or hour and a half (often woken by her brother).  If Max wakes from nap before her, I run like the wind to try to get him before she wakes up.   

I feel that she doesn't get enough sleep at night but the literature we received today said that three year olds should sleep an average of 12 hours per day, so she's close. 

Claire likes to pick out her own clothes in the morning and it's a painstaking process.  She still favors dresses, and likes pink and purple best. 

At two years old, Claire weighed 21 pounds and was 31 inches tall.  At three years, she weighs 25.2 pounds and is 34 1/4 inches tall (don't forget that 1/4!  Just like I don't forget to say I'm five feet, 1 AND A HALF inches!).  The documentation we received today says that toddlers usually gain 4-5 pounds and grow 3-4 inches between ages two and three, which she did... so I'm not sure how that works, because she's still quite the peanut.  She's in the 3-10% for height and "less than third" percentile for weight.  They transition from measuring their head, like they do babies, and measure their BMI...which is in the 25-50% for her.  

She wears mostly size 2T and size 6 shoe.  

Claire is shy and timid around people she doesn't know, or doesn't know well, but is getting better with age.  It is convenient sometimes, like when we were at the mattress store this weekend and both Claire and Max just stood there quietly, observing others, while we tried lots of different mattresses.  At home though?  Or around people she knows?  She's nuts!  I love how she's crazy, and fun, and silly, and playful.  I try to instill all of those qualities in her.  Not a day goes by that we're not having tickle attacks, or running around the house with piggy back rides shouting "Choo choo!!" or playing hide and seek.  We like to have fun here and not take ourselves too seriously. 

Cousin Brody is Claire's security blanket.  At her birthday party, she made him sit next to her while we sang "Happy Birthday".  She insisted we bring him to her three year well-visit today, so along he came!  It's sweet how much she loves and trusts him.  After they measured her height today (in the picture above), she ran over to Brody and gave him a big pound dog (aka knuckles).  The nurses thought it was a riot.  

Claire likes to sing a lot. She likes to make up her own songs.  Speaking of her love language, I often hear her singing while playing independently, "I love my Mommy.  My mommy is so beautiful and I do love her".  Another time her song was, "I love...when my mommy...kisses me on the forehead".  She loves when I sing the song "Hush little baby".  She likes to sing it too, but her version goes, "Hush little baby don't you cry, Mama's gonna spy you a rocking mike".  Cute funny.  You can watch an adorable (short) video of this here. 

Testing her vision at her well visit today. And those shoes? LOVE. 

Claire LOVES jelly beans.  She gets three jelly beans after dinner and I think it's the best part of her day.  On Saturday evening, Grandpa Brad tried giving her a jelly bean before dinner.  She declined and said, "No, I have to eat dinner first".  I bought a few bags after Easter when they were on clearance but they won't last us all year when she eats three per day!  Ruh-roh! 

So, a pretty random update, if you made it through it all!  I want to write and write and write so I remember all that my princess is at three years old, but it's just not possible.  I am glad though to document and remember these few precious things that make her unique.  She is a gift, such a gift.