Tomorrow our sweet girl is 17 months old. I don’t know which is harder to believe - that she’s almost a year and a half or that I’m actually on time with writing her monthly post! It took a while, but I finally got smart and started this post about a week ago. It is much easier to jot down new things about Claire as they cross my mind, instead of trying to think of them all at once.
Claire is amazing. Eric and I feel more blessed each and every day that God chose us to be parents to this precious child. Here’s a rundown of what Miss Claire is up to at 17 months:
New words: apple, LeLe (”we-we”), bike, ice, Elmo, whoa!, football, leaves, shoes.
Loves to give an enthusiastic answer when asked what sound a lion makes. It’s hilarious!
Says “ba” when asked what sound a sheep makes and some form of “ooo” (not yet preceded by an “m”) when trying to make the cow noise.
Still would rather throw or eat crayons, but really enjoys “arts & craft” time with Mommy. She likes to stamp, sticker and glue cutouts onto construction paper.
Knows where her tongue, cheeks, face, hair/head, fingers, hands and knees are. Can also point out her shirt, pants, socks and shoes. She can do the same if you ask where these things are on Mommy or Daddy.
Likes to set the table, help with the laundry, wipe down the counter tops - basically anything Mommy is doing.
Seems to understand our weekly schedule. She knows the days when daddy takes her to daycare and will quickly tell Mama “bye”. But on Tuesdays and Fridays, she clings to me and gets upset if Dada gets too close. (Dada’s exact words. He says “it’s true!”)
Loves to stand in her “tower” and help Mommy in the kitchen. She even helped me make a very yummy Supreme Carrot Cake for daddy’s birthday!
Has started to try and do a forward roll by herself. We usually catch and assist, but there’s been a time or two that she’s flopped over by herself.
Can point out multiple objects in her books - banana, ball, lion, flower, dog, cat, shoes, bath tub, and many more.
Likes to play games with Mommy’s hands, like prying open a closed fist or looking for “tickle fingers”.
Enjoys having a choice when it comes to her PJs. Elmo, dogs, or monkeys - all are faves.
Has extended her love for Elmo to include all of the Sesame Street characters. Grover is her second fave. You can ask her where any one of them are on the page and she’ll point to the correct one.
She had been favoring her left hand, but lately she’s using her right hand more.
She’s about 1/2 a step away from running. Especially when she’s trying to get away from us. 
Loves to stomp her feet, turn in a circle, dance, read books and ride her zebra.
Has shortened her “bye bye” to just “bye”. It’s what she tells us each evening when we say “night night”. It makes me laugh!
Will sometimes respond with a big goofy grin when asked to say “cheese!” Other times she just looks at you like “yes, please give me some cheese.”
Loves to play peek-a-boo.
Absolute favorite fruit is grapes. Still adores cheese. I actually caught her the other day opening the fridge, taking out the package of cheese, then climbing into her tower and trying to get a slice!
She gets very excited when Dada comes home - dropping everything and running to greet him with a big hug.
Loves to pray before dinner and bed. She’ll reach out her little hands to grab ours when we sit down to eat. She sneaks a bite or two in during the prayer but her favorite is the end when we all say “Amen” and she starts clapping. It’s absolutely precious.
Loves to roll around naked on our bed after a shower. She seems to think it’s absolutely hilarious watching us trying to chase her down to put a diaper on.
Has tried a sucker - a cherry Tootsie Roll pop to be exact - and wasn’t too impressed. She did, however, enjoy watching mommy stick out her tongue and demonstrating how it’s done.
Cut another tooth - total count is now 13. Her lower right incisor came in last week and several others aren’t far behind.
Has the funniest little personality. She is constantly making Eric and I laugh. She’s opinionated, assertive, determined, personable, funny and smart. She’s perfect.
Mommy breaking into a fun song will usually calm her down when she’s fussy. Funny - this action seems to have the opposite affect on everybody else. Ha!
Enjoys being outside - especially running around her play house on our back deck, helping Mommy get the mail, or using her own pint-sized rake to assist Daddy with raking the leaves.
Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from this month. More in the November 2009 photo gallery - enjoy!
