OUR LITTLE BIRTHDAY GIRL

Another birthday to post about...Claire just turned 2! But this time, I'm way more on top of it than I was with posting for Hudson's birthday (I "waited" months before doing his b-day post). We all know that toddlers don't exactly get the whole aging and birthday thing. But they sure do get the concept of presents and new toys. We're way better about controlling our spending and gift-buying with Claire than we were with Hudson at this age. And while she may have gotten the short end of the stick in that regard (which she thankfully doesn't understand), she got some pretty great stuff for her birthday this year.

The top honors go to her new KidKraft red retro kitchen. She was beyond delighted when she saw it standing in the living room and went right to work, exploring every cupboard, trying to work the sink (she was frustrated that water wasn't coming out of the faucet), talking on the phone, and turning the clicking knobs for the oven and stove. After presenting her with the kitchen itself, we went to work opening the packages of plastic dishes, pots and pans, and a baking set...gotta love IKEA! With the opening of a few more presents that evening, she got wooden Melissa & Doug foods from my parents, an adorable dress for fall from Max's parents, and a Plan Toys shape sort from us. But the most beloved gift she received was a Little Mermaid cell phone from Hudson...it was hands down the cheapest gift at something like $2.48 (hence Hudson could afford to buy it for her with his own money). It never ceases to amuse me when little kids either like the cheapest gift best or, better yet, the packaging that things came in.

In addition to gifts, there was cake and ice cream to be devoured. We got her a Dora the Explorer themed chocolate cake and in spite of the flames being an apparent cause for worry, Claire actually blew out both candles on her own. And this year, she had no problem with the chocolate (she did not like her chocolate cake last year...only the white frosting).

Now, in keeping with tradition, here are a few of the things that I love about Claire:

• She arrived 3 weeks early, helping me accomplish my silly goal of having 2 kids before I was 30 just in the nick of time.
• Every once in a while, she give us all a good smile by doing her "monkey laugh". It's generally a half-sincere one, but we absolutely love it.
• She looks a lot like I did as a child...there's nothing wrong with having my husband's looks, but it's fun to have one kid look like Max (which Hudson does) and one look like me.
• When she's tired, rather than denying it and fighting it with every ounce of her being (like a certain little boy that I know), she'll flat out tell us that she is.
• She loves music and is always entertaining us with her singing along to whatever we're playing on the iPod, belting out a song or two at random, or humming to her dollies.
• She's a real cuddler and loves to give "snuggles".
• Her manners are pretty darned good for a 2-year old...she almost always remember to say please, thank you, and no thank you.
• She is somewhat wary of trees and bushes. Nothing has ever happened to cause this, but anytime we're near a tree that has branches hanging low or a bush sticking out anywhere in the vicinity of her personal space, she steers clear if she's walking or clings tightly to whoever is carrying her.
• I love the way she apologizes: "Wha-eee."
• While we haven't started going full steam ahead on it, she started potty training herself before her 2nd birthday. Hopefully it'll be a breeze when we do decide to attack it.
• She is prone to telling people that she loves them at random...great cause for many warm fuzzies.
• Whenever the phone rings, she graces us with a very loud,"MOM! PHONE!" Maybe she knows that I don't always hear it thanks to my being deaf on one side?
• Two words: curly hair (and yet I straighten my own curls almost every day).
• She has Max wrapped around her little finger approximately 1.3 million times and he's an absolute sucker for her...I love seeing how much they adore each other.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLAIRE!

Next post: Hudson's 1st day of Kindergarten!!