We started a Mandarin playclass with Claire last week and have learned a little song that begins with counting up to number 7. The other day at the dinner table, Claire repeated the words so perfectly, with the right tones and everything, that I ran to get the video camera. Wouldn't you know it, she didn't want to repeat the performance! Nevertheless, what we got instead was priceless:
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Claire at 21 months
The other day, I viewed some home video clips we took in February of 2007, just days after we returned home from China with our little sweetheart. I knew Claire had changed from a baby to a toddler, but wow! Check out this video clip (where Claire is blowing bubbles while making toad sounds) from nearly a year ago:
Despite the pain of teething, Claire has shown us more and more of her playful personality. Back in December, Paul taught her the saying, "Oh behave!" complete with a little accent and toss of the hand. We laughed about that saying for a few days and then promptly forget about it. About three weeks later, Paul and I were giving silly names to things as we sat around the dinner table, when I said to Claire, "You just tell us if we're being too silly, okay?" Her response? "Oh behave!" with a little flick of the hand. Well, okay, her words came out more like "Oh bee" but it was unmistakable what she was saying. Paul and I can't believe she remembered that phrase, and chose to use it at that particular moment. When she starts to talk more, I think we'll be blown away by her wit.
Claire is really into cooking lately, and not just with her own little kitchen. Whenever I cook, I have to clear counter space so that she can sit up there and help me out. She loves to dry vegetables for me after I wash them, and then she hands them to me one by one as I cut things up. When she pretend-cooks with her little kitchen, she makes a cute little sound as she cracks pretend eggs, and she chops pretend onions like a pro, I tell ya. Claire also loves to help me clean the house (not that it's very often): when I sweep, she is right there with the dust pan and a big smile. It definitely makes my chores around the house a lot more fun to have such an enthusiastic helper.
Claire has been humming and singing lately, mostly to made-up tunes. However, Paul was sure she was humming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" the other day, and just today as I put her down for her nap, I'm sure she was singing that tune. Update: as we were eating dinner tonight, Claire was humming that tune again. Suddenly she said "star", making it clear that she is singing that song! She speaks a lot at home (she now says just over 80 words on a consistent basis, unprompted) but hasn't yet starting singing the words to songs, other than "Ba ba dee"(ba ba black sheep). I think anyday now, she may start. As for her vocabulary, her favourite word lately is the adjective "big". When she says it alone in reference to an object she is pointing at, she makes a funny face as if the bigness of the object is slightly horrifying. A couple of weeks ago, she was very proud of herself when she said "big door" and then "big ball". The other night, she called me Big Mama. I think I was the one who looked slightly horrified at that (ha ha).
For a while, ABCs held Claire's attention but lately, it's numbers. She uses the word "two" for all numbers, though, and will point, for example, to four objects (one at a time) and say, two, two, two, two! At least she seems to be understanding the concept of counting!
The independent toddler is starting to emerge in Claire, as she is now putting mittens on herself, and washing and drying her hands herself. It's a good thing we have a wide counter so that she can kneel beside the sink; I'm sure it will be a very long time before a stepping stool will get Claire's hands in the vicinity of the sink. It's wonderful to see the confidence in a child as he or she learn to do these things on their own; the look on Claire's face the first few times was priceless.
With other things, she definitely wants our help. Claire insists on doing a large puzzle from our friends Kelley and Paul at least three times a day. She states with great authority, "Mama, down!" or "Dadda, down!" while pointing to the floor, and then once Paul or myself are settled in, we proceed to work on the puzzle together. As you can imagine, she's getting pretty good at it, having done it so many times each day.
I took the following picture a few days ago. Although I usually prefer smiley pictures of Claire, I really love her solemn look in this one.
We used to get such a kick out that routine!
Now at 21 and a half months of age, Claire has 18 teeth with her bottom 2nd-year molars having recently cut through. They gave her a lot of trouble in the last couple of months: some days she was simply irritable, other days she would fight her naps or not eat much, and there were several nights where she would cry (more like, rage) inconsolably for a couple of hours. In the last week or so, she has been back to normal: happy, playing more independently, and eating much more, thankfully.
Despite the pain of teething, Claire has shown us more and more of her playful personality. Back in December, Paul taught her the saying, "Oh behave!" complete with a little accent and toss of the hand. We laughed about that saying for a few days and then promptly forget about it. About three weeks later, Paul and I were giving silly names to things as we sat around the dinner table, when I said to Claire, "You just tell us if we're being too silly, okay?" Her response? "Oh behave!" with a little flick of the hand. Well, okay, her words came out more like "Oh bee" but it was unmistakable what she was saying. Paul and I can't believe she remembered that phrase, and chose to use it at that particular moment. When she starts to talk more, I think we'll be blown away by her wit.
Claire is really into cooking lately, and not just with her own little kitchen. Whenever I cook, I have to clear counter space so that she can sit up there and help me out. She loves to dry vegetables for me after I wash them, and then she hands them to me one by one as I cut things up. When she pretend-cooks with her little kitchen, she makes a cute little sound as she cracks pretend eggs, and she chops pretend onions like a pro, I tell ya. Claire also loves to help me clean the house (not that it's very often): when I sweep, she is right there with the dust pan and a big smile. It definitely makes my chores around the house a lot more fun to have such an enthusiastic helper.
Claire has been humming and singing lately, mostly to made-up tunes. However, Paul was sure she was humming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" the other day, and just today as I put her down for her nap, I'm sure she was singing that tune. Update: as we were eating dinner tonight, Claire was humming that tune again. Suddenly she said "star", making it clear that she is singing that song! She speaks a lot at home (she now says just over 80 words on a consistent basis, unprompted) but hasn't yet starting singing the words to songs, other than "Ba ba dee"(ba ba black sheep). I think anyday now, she may start. As for her vocabulary, her favourite word lately is the adjective "big". When she says it alone in reference to an object she is pointing at, she makes a funny face as if the bigness of the object is slightly horrifying. A couple of weeks ago, she was very proud of herself when she said "big door" and then "big ball". The other night, she called me Big Mama. I think I was the one who looked slightly horrified at that (ha ha).
For a while, ABCs held Claire's attention but lately, it's numbers. She uses the word "two" for all numbers, though, and will point, for example, to four objects (one at a time) and say, two, two, two, two! At least she seems to be understanding the concept of counting!
The independent toddler is starting to emerge in Claire, as she is now putting mittens on herself, and washing and drying her hands herself. It's a good thing we have a wide counter so that she can kneel beside the sink; I'm sure it will be a very long time before a stepping stool will get Claire's hands in the vicinity of the sink. It's wonderful to see the confidence in a child as he or she learn to do these things on their own; the look on Claire's face the first few times was priceless.
With other things, she definitely wants our help. Claire insists on doing a large puzzle from our friends Kelley and Paul at least three times a day. She states with great authority, "Mama, down!" or "Dadda, down!" while pointing to the floor, and then once Paul or myself are settled in, we proceed to work on the puzzle together. As you can imagine, she's getting pretty good at it, having done it so many times each day.
I took the following picture a few days ago. Although I usually prefer smiley pictures of Claire, I really love her solemn look in this one.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Day to day adventures
Until today, we've enjoyed great weather for the last little while, and Claire was thrilled to visit the playground again. We were joined there by Claire's Baba and Dido one day on the weekend and Claire had a blast.
Claire and Daddy on the merry-go-round:
Claire and Dido sharing a laugh:
And having fun on the slide:
Our bedtime routine is going fairly smoothly at the moment, thank God. When I put Claire in her crib, I rest on the floor next to Claire's crib until she's asleep. The other night, I heard more squirming than usual. I looked over, and this is what I saw:
Either I chose too warm a sleeper for Claire or she was trying to get in on the one-shoulder fashion trend of the moment.
Claire can also find Canada on the globe but I forgot to ask her to do so during this video - oops!
Claire and Daddy on the merry-go-round:
Claire and Dido sharing a laugh: And having fun on the slide:Our bedtime routine is going fairly smoothly at the moment, thank God. When I put Claire in her crib, I rest on the floor next to Claire's crib until she's asleep. The other night, I heard more squirming than usual. I looked over, and this is what I saw:Either I chose too warm a sleeper for Claire or she was trying to get in on the one-shoulder fashion trend of the moment.Claire still loves her bathtime. Sometimes she pretends she is a kitty and crawls back and forth in the tub, while I hold my breath hoping that she doesn't slip. When Daddy is the lucky one to give Claire her bath, he often comments that he doesn't know how to wash such long hair. However, that doesn't stop him from giving her funny hairdos in the tub:
Claire can also find Canada on the globe but I forgot to ask her to do so during this video - oops!
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Relaxing time with Daddy on holidays
Paul had last week off from work so we spent a lot of time relaxing together and just hanging out. Usually Claire and I are super-busy throughout the week but it was nice to just stay close to home and enjoy Paul's company. That said, we did get out a bit. We took Claire skating at our nearby outdoor rink (she liked it and was starting to balance a bit on her own!) and went to the zoo one day. 
The little wooden train at the Zoo was snow-covered but it held just as much appeal to Claire as it did in the summer and fall. Paul was fascinated with the red pandas right across from the train but Claire quite strongly ordered Paul away from the pandas and to a seat on the train opposite her. Here she is looking up at her daddy.
Unfortunately, Claire came down with another stomach bug or something last Friday. She had a nasty fever and a stomach bug before Christmas but this one was a bit different in that there was no fever (thankfully!). Just a lot of crying, some vomiting and major lethargy. I was grateful that Paul was home with us because he was able to get things for Claire while I held her in whatever hold I was using that had momentarily stopped her cries. Despite her illness, though, she still goofed off when I tried to take a photo of her.
Claire loves her kitchen set from Santa, and I'm amazed by how realistically she sometimes plays. For example, I very rarely use a blender and I'm sure I've never used one in front of her. However, she somehow knew to hold her hand on top of the toy blender and then to pretend to pour the contents into a cup!
We've also had serious improvement in Claire's sleep routine. Until last week, I was the only one who could go through the bedtime routine with her and tuck her in. Whenever Paul tried it in the past, she'd cry for me - hard. But after spending a lot of time with Daddy and others in the past couple of weeks, we decided to give it a try at nap time. Voila, it worked! Nighttime didn't go as smoothly as naptime for a couple of days but Paul stuck with it and now he's an old pro. Now he can see for himself the funny poses she is sometimes in when she finally gives up the ghost:
The little wooden train at the Zoo was snow-covered but it held just as much appeal to Claire as it did in the summer and fall. Paul was fascinated with the red pandas right across from the train but Claire quite strongly ordered Paul away from the pandas and to a seat on the train opposite her. Here she is looking up at her daddy.Unfortunately, Claire came down with another stomach bug or something last Friday. She had a nasty fever and a stomach bug before Christmas but this one was a bit different in that there was no fever (thankfully!). Just a lot of crying, some vomiting and major lethargy. I was grateful that Paul was home with us because he was able to get things for Claire while I held her in whatever hold I was using that had momentarily stopped her cries. Despite her illness, though, she still goofed off when I tried to take a photo of her.Claire loves her kitchen set from Santa, and I'm amazed by how realistically she sometimes plays. For example, I very rarely use a blender and I'm sure I've never used one in front of her. However, she somehow knew to hold her hand on top of the toy blender and then to pretend to pour the contents into a cup!We've also had serious improvement in Claire's sleep routine. Until last week, I was the only one who could go through the bedtime routine with her and tuck her in. Whenever Paul tried it in the past, she'd cry for me - hard. But after spending a lot of time with Daddy and others in the past couple of weeks, we decided to give it a try at nap time. Voila, it worked! Nighttime didn't go as smoothly as naptime for a couple of days but Paul stuck with it and now he's an old pro. Now he can see for himself the funny poses she is sometimes in when she finally gives up the ghost: In the past couple of weeks, Claire has also become quite the neat-freak. I have no idea where this comes from, but she'll pick up a cloth, a dryer sheet, or even a piece of paper which she then crumples, and then she'll "spot-clean" the walls, the cabinets, and any other surface she can reach. It's bizarre! One time in the bathroom, I gave her a square of toilet paper. She promptly wiped herself down below (she was fully clothed) and then proceeded to use that same square to spot-clean the bathroom wall. I have to carry my camera around for a while so that I can get a pic next time she does it.
We're visiting the Travellers' Health Clinic tomorrow to find out what shots we need before going to Cuba in February. I know Paul and I both need Hep boosters but I'm not sure about Claire. I hope she already has everything she needs: she was quite a pincushion in November and in both our opinions, she'd had enough. Wish us luck!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year!
Well my friends, 2007 was quite a year. In 2007, I, Claire Caiwen Pauline, gained:
The next two weren't seriously considered for the card but Mama and Dadda really like them because apparently they show my personality.
Mama doesn't like the shadows in the next two photos (whatever that means) but she likes how I look of course!
This next one is my Diva shot! Hollywood, look out!
- a forever family;
- a new country;
- five and a half lbs in weight (I now weigh about 17 1/2 lbs);
- four and a half inches in height (I am now 29 1/2 inches tall);
- a major wardrobe; and
- more friends than I could have ever imagined.
What does 2008 have in store? Hmmm. Knowing Mom, my wardrobe will continue to grow. I hope I meet new friends. I know I'll continue to see my Xinyu sisters Ava, Bryn and Caia whenever I can, as well as the rest of the Xinyu girls even if only in pictures. I look forward to getting to know my extended family even more. I'll try out my Canadian passport when Mama and Dadda take me on a trip (some place called Cuba) after Chinese New Year. I'll turn two this year, which means more presents - hooray! Even better, I've heard the most amazing news: Christmas comes EVERY YEAR! Now that's something to look forward to!
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Love Claire
ps - Mama asked me to post the pictures below. The first one is the card Mama and Dadda chose for our Christmas card.
The next two weren't seriously considered for the card but Mama and Dadda really like them because apparently they show my personality.
Mama doesn't like the shadows in the next two photos (whatever that means) but she likes how I look of course!
This next one is my Diva shot! Hollywood, look out!
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