Evening Routine

Clara has come up with a new evening routine lately. Luke walks in the door and she yells, "Daddy's HOME!!!" *running up to him* "How was your day, Daddy?"
"Fine baby, how was your day?"
"Daddy play game with me in my bedroom!"
"What game do you want to play?"
"BLUE GAME! Daddy come tickle me!"
She then follows him around like a puppy while he washes his hands and oftentimes changes his clothes, chattering to him the whole time. They proceed to play hide and seek, catch and tickle, ring around the rosies and any other rough and tumble, silly willy, giggle-producing games they can think up. After dinner the routine is exactly the same:
"I'm all done, ready to get down. Daddy come play game with me in my room! Blue game! Come tickle me!"

Braids!

Clara started the day with messy hair.

We had a little extra time before leaving for Bible study, so Mama did braids for the first time! 

 

On both sides!

Oh my gosh, braids are so cute!

They stay in all day, and are even adorable as a frizzy mess at the end of the day.

Mama is in love with braids. Too bad Clara wasn't a huge fan of the process. Hopefully she'll let Mama do it again soon...

Going Shopping

Have I mentioned before that Clara loves to shop? Grocery shopping is one of the highlights of her week. She is always up for a trip to any store, no matter what it is for. This is something she definitely did not get from either of her parents, it is a trait all her very own. Today she went shopping in the driveway:

She always remembers, "We need to pay for this, Mommy."

Then we set up a grocery store and my little shopper got to shop to her heart's content! She decided to buy out everything in the store. Ahh, the lives we live in fantasy, huh?!

Playtime when Daddy got home consisted of more shopping, going in her bedroom ("Let's go in my shopping room, Daddy!") to pay for the things she bought and then Daddy trying unsuccessfully to get Clara to help him "cook dinner" with the food they bought. Clara just wanted to "go shopping more." Oh boy.

Clara's Truck: Today and Last Year

Clara rode her "truck" around for a little bit today:

The same truck she rode around last September:

She's changed a little, huh?! Look how long her legs are! My baby girl is getting so big and so capable.

Her Parents' Girl

Clara is certainly her Mama and Daddy's little girl. She can't get enough of our horses. She is fearless around them and loves to pet them, ride them, just be near them. Once you put her on you better be prepared because it's nearly impossible to get her off. :) Yesterday she had a blast riding Paladin (while posing as a movie star!).

Last weekend while we were staying at our friends' Clara loved being so close to the horses. She got to help feed Paladin in the morning,

say hello to the big boys (2 Percherons),

 

and ride Mama and Daddy's horses in the pasture as the sun set over the hills. What a life!

Like all good horse people, she learned to always close the gate behind her. We're starting her young!

Time Out/Discipline Question

In our house we mostly use time outs when discipline is required. Usually, the scenario goes like this: Clara is asked or told to do something (i.e. pick up her toys); if she does not want to, she will scream (not continually, one or two loud screams in my direction) and sometimes throw whatever toy happens to be in her hand onto the floor. She knows that we only scream outside. When she screams, I pick her up (without comment or agitation) and carry her to her time out chair.

Here is where my question comes in. Up til now I have been setting the timer and she is expected to sit in her chair until the timer goes off. Then, before she gets out of the chair I ask her why she was in time out ("I was screaming. Need to obey Mommy."), she needs to apologize ("Sorry for screaming Mommy. Will you please forgive me?") and we have hugs and kisses before returning to the situation. She is always ready for lots of hugs and usually says, all on her own, "We need to pick up toys" or "I need to obey Mommy," whatever she didn't want to do beforehand.

Lately, though, she has started getting off the chair before the timer beeps. She will get down quietly, then come running and giggling towards me. She knows she's supposed to stay in the chair and I think that she's trying to see if she can get out of it. But part of me wonders if she is ready for reconciliation sooner. What I have been doing is simply picking her up and returning her to the chair with no comment or interaction, then resetting the timer for a few seconds longer than she had left when she got down. The past couple of days I have had to do this up to 6 times during a two-minute time out on a couple of occasions.

I believe that consistency is very important, but I have been thinking about changing the time out structure. Instead of setting the timer, I would tell her, "You may come out of time out when you are ready to obey and be polite to Mommy," or something like that. Then, when she gets down we would have the same discussion we usually do when the timer goes off. This puts more of the responsibility on her. It gives her an opportunity for faster reconciliation. But I feel like it's also not quite as clear cut as a specific amount of time. If she comes out still grumpy and unwilling to cooperate, of course she would go right back in time out.

Thoughts? Other ideas or suggestions?

Kisses for Daddy Series

Have I said before how much these two love each other? Or how much fun they have together? Or how much alike they are? Yes? Oh, okay. Well, sorry for the repeat, but I'll say it again - these two have a blast together and they are like two peas in a pod. They had a little fun at dinnertime tonight:

Like Father, Like Daughter

Think this little girl is her father's daughter? Take a look at their faces in this series of photos:

 

 

 

 

 

"What you doin' Daddy?"

 Watching these two together makes me smile every time.

Tea Party!

While we had Clara's main birthday party in Montana with family, Clara requested a tea party with a few close friends. We had lots of little foods - mini heart-shaped sandwiches, fruit salad with cantaloupe and watermelon balls scooped out with a quarter teaspoon, crackers and cheese, mini cheesecakes, mini carrot cupcakes, mini lime squares. And, of course, tea! 

Clara was much more animated during the present opening this time around.

 

 

I love the look on our friend Kristen's face here!

Blowing out her candles! She did it so fast on her actual birthday that we didn't get a picture; this time it took her a little longer.

Helping herself to more crackers with her new diaper bag for Baby Joy (big hit!).

 

She finished off the night hiding under a blanket from the thunder with her friend Annabelle, reading books while Daddy provided some music. All in all, a great night!

 

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the table full of fun food. I think our friends got some though, so I may be able to add one later. We had so much fun, though next year I definitely want to have more than three days between getting home from vacation and throwing a birthday party!

Happy Birthday Clara!

Today you are TWO! We started the day off with snuggles in bed.

 

We visited some sweet friends.

 

 You helped Daddy on the tractor.

After your nap we watched the neighbor bale hay.

We had some fun at dinner. You drank from a big glass, and patted yourself on the back when it went down the wrong goozle.

 

 After dinner you opened presents, which was a very serious process.

The presents were lots of fun!

Then you blew out your candles (on the first try!) and we had some cake on little plates.

You had a bath, said, "Thhank you!" when Mama rinsed your hair (pure grace, that one!) and got to play with your new Doodler a little bit before bed.

Mama sang to you and Daddy came in and kissed you goodnight. We listened to you singing and squealing with Baby Joy while we washed the dishes, and then you got quiet. Sweet dreams, little girl! We love you more than you'll ever know and hope you had a Happy Birthday!