Brooks

3.09.2014

our three year old.

At three, Clara:

is 40 inches tall - 96th percentile
weighs 33.4 pounds - 76th percentile

Favorites according to Clara

color - pink
toy - princesses (she doesn't have any princesses...)
fruit - apples
tv show - The Aristocats
food - mac and cheese
outfit - capes
game -Candyland
animal - monkey
song - songs from Frozen the movie (she scream-sings "Let it Go" daily)
book - The Lorax
drink - juice (a rarity around here)
What is something Mommy says to you - "Hello"
What is something Daddy says to you - (she growled at this question)
What makes you happy - friends
What makes you sad - "that my friends take from me" (working on sharing...)
How old is Mommy - I don't know
How old is Daddy - I don't know
How old are you - THREE
What is your favorite thing to do - watch movies
Who is your best friend - Conner (who she rarely sees but loves)
What are you really good at - riding bikes
What do you dream about - going camping
What is your favorite thing to do outside - ride bikes
What is your favorite place to go - to the park
What do you need to take to bed with you at night - am-ma-mals (animals)

Quirks at three:

She still struggles with sharing (only child problems...)
Clara adores balloons
She begs for "one last story" over and over when reading books and listening to stories told aloud
She still loves her baby dolls, and loves to carry them, feed them, change their clothes, and push them in her stroller
She is INDEPENDENT and doesn't want help getting undressed or getting her shoes on, filling her water glass, getting her coat on or zipped, among many other things
She loves to sing all kinds of songs
She knows most of her uppercase letters - she still needs to practice N, S, H, I, E, T, and Z
When she colors or paints, she covers the page with patches of colors and leaves hardly any white space
She likes her hair in one clip or two braids - that's all
She takes her shoes off every time we get in the car, and the second we get home she removes her shoes and socks and sweater or jacket
She loves to touch the dead things her daddy brings home from his hunting/fishing trips - yuck!
The girl can eat more dead meat than any kid I know - she loves it!
She still adores milk - and needs a full cup three times a day, in the morning after breakfast on the way to Oma's, before nap, and before bed at night
She still naps for 2-3 hours a day and sleeps great at night (8:30-7:00)
She's potty trained during the day, but still sleeps with a pull-up at night
When we listen to the radio in Mom's car, she always hears our President's name, and says in the funniest voice, "O-baaaaa-maaaa" and tells me he's the President and lives in the white house, with a healthy amount of sass
She only eats when she feels like it, but will eat almost anything (some super spicy foods bother her)
Everything has to be pink!!! And to think, when I found out we were having a daughter, I was super conscious of having too much pink.
She's been talking like a baby intentionally for a while...probably because it drives Kurtis and I nuts!!!
A dress isn't really a dress in Clara's eyes unless it twirls and poofs out to her liking
She's extremely imaginative and loves to pack her bags and "go camping" on the dog bed, or lay out all the blankets she can find and tuck babies and stuffed animals in with them!
She ate Life cereal every morning for months of her third year of life!
She's an outside girl, and feels like she's being tortured if we don't go outside to play each day (winter was a little rough)
She loves to help clean and cook and does a pretty good job of cleaning up after herself

2.18.2014

C's first visit to the dentist.

Ever since Clara was born, I've been taking her to my dental appointments. Our dentist recommended that she come along and watch what happens to me at the dentist to prepare her for her own visit when she turned 3. Well, she's within a week of turning 3 and she went to her own dentist appointment for the first time on Monday.

I knew it would go one of two ways. On the way down to the appointment, we talked about what to expect at the dentist and how to behave. The dentist has looked in her mouth before and "counted" her teeth, but I knew this appointment would involve more time spent inside her mouth and I was nervous.

We got there and she marched in to the office, just like the big kid that she is! We went right in and she sat in the chair, and the hygienist, our dentist's wife, told her the plan. After she listened carefully, Clara said, "Yeah, that's what my mommy told me already." Ok! At least I know she listens when we have talks in the car!

When it was time to put the special polisher in Clara's mouth, she sat up in the big chair, and looked at me and said in the most normal of voices, "Mommy, will you come hold my hand. I'm a little bit afraid." Melt my heart! So I held her hand and she got her front two teeth polished and sparkly!

Once the water was sprayed in and sucked out, Clara sat up thinking that the visit was over! The hygienist had to explain that we had to make her back teeth match the front! Too funny!

For the entire appointment, she followed directions like a pro! I felt so proud! And at the end, she got to pick a toy from the toy box. However, she was quite disappointed when there weren't any suckers like at the Doctor's office (why do Dr. offices give suckers anyway?)

I learned that we need to be using a toothpaste packed with good fluoride in it (not the strawberry Tom's of Maine kind that she's grown to love and loves to eat!) and that we should start flossing her back molars that touch. (We're slackers and haven't flossed her once!) But thankfully, her teeth looked great!

The first appointment was a complete success and we've booked her next appointment for August! Way to go, Clara! You're such a 3-year-old!

2.05.2014

a Sunday hike.

We had been socked in with nasty inversion for weeks when we finally decided it was time to head for the hills and soak in the sun.

We drove out to the Owyees for a little hike with the dogs. Clara was excited because she got to use her new hiking/camping pack she got from Santa for Christmas.

Here we are in the hats Grandma Waldon made for us and sent out. Thanks Grandma!

And here is Clara with a chukar Kurtis shot while we were out. She loved toting that thing around. She ended up having blood all over her hands and poking at the dead bird's eyeballs for a good amount of time while I watched and cringed. And she loved having all sorts of camo to wear! Sometimes she's such a little girly-girl, and other times she's a complete tomboy!

Here are the puppies after our hike. They were pretty whooped! And poor Gwen has been limping for the last week. I'm hopeful it will get better, but I worry about her rear right knee. She's doing much better now than she was the day after our hike, but she still limps a little. The old girl will be 10 this year! And Mac will be 9! Time flies!

Here's Clara prepping for our hike. She looked ready to go except for the sour look on her face!

Check out those blue skies! They were the best therapy and exactly what we needed!

Here's my first try at a panoramic photo on my phone!

Nice pink backpack Kurtis!

Clara did pretty well for her first hike! She probably walked a mile of it, which was more than I expected! She even hiked up a steep hill. Although halfway up she told me she needed to stop and rest because her heart was booming! I carried her the other 2-3 miles in the pack. It wasn't even that bad - she only weighs 35 pounds or so! She was fun to chat with while Daddy ventured out in search of birds!

And here is the part of the drive where we had to sink back down into the nastiness!

The temp was 54 degrees in the sun and dropped to 23 as soon as we crawled back into the inversion. Sad!

And here is Clara a few moments after being buckled in! She didn't even make it out to the highway. The bumps of the road lulled her right to sleep! It was a great Sunday!