dear claire,
we were driving in the car the other day and you yelled out, "mommy, sing the happy birthday to you song?" i had no idea this was a song you knew, or a song you liked to sing, and i'm not sure how "the happy birthday to you song" outranks "the wheels on the bus" or "the itsy bitsy spider", but maybe its because you notice that when people sing that song - its always a celebration. so i sang it. you chimed in. when we got to the end... "happy birthday dear claaaaa-iireee, happy birthday to youuuuu!" you yelled out "and blow out the candles!!!" and you blew. and then, "and have the cake!!!" i don't know how in the world i am so blessed that i got this funny, smart, pretty little girl as my baby. i certainly don't feel i deserve it. but i'm not going to call attention to that. that'd be like winning the lotto and insisting that the money go to pay off national debt. nothankyou.
this month you became a real person. you lie, cheat and steal. mostly about food, using the big person potty, and beating up the cat. you are at your "testing the boundries" prime. let me make this easy for you.... when you ask me for yogurt, mac and cheese, granola bar, apple sauce and m&m's all at the same time - i see right through you. i'm 28 years old. thats definitely old enough to know that you are a big liar and are going to waste like 5 dollars worth of food just to *see* if i will get it all for you. also, there is a very big difference between "peeing in the potty" and removing all your clothing, urinating on the floor and telling me you "spilled some water." smart, yes... smarter than someone who has been using the potty and spilling drinks for decades, no.
you also have this insane sense of direction. when we are driving you yell out who's house we're going to with in the first few turns. its FREAKY, actually. i've been driving for quite a while, i've never lived 5 miles away from where i was born, ya get 3 drinks in me and there is a good chance i wouldn't be able to tell you what street i live on. yet my child, who has been alive for just over two years and can't even poop in the toilet, knows that if we go south on topanga canyon we might go see nina. if we go north we are going to see daddy, and if we go east on devonshire we are for sure going to end up at nana and papa's. like, WHAT!? how is this even possible? are you a wizard? or a pigeon?
this "lets be naked" phase you're going through is cracking me up. the FIRST thing you do when we get home... a simple request to remove your shoes.... that's how it begins. the moment i turn my back to put your shoes in your room you are ripping clothing off. you strip down completely naked and proclaim, "MOMMY!!!! I ANNNNN NEKIIIIID!" the next step is roaming around the condo looking for the most ridiculous thing to do nekkid. such as, putting on a tiara and princess shoes, or how about two legs down one leg hole of your florescent yellow puma shorts? mommy's high heels and some mardi gras beads, check. bangle bracelets and stickers of kittens, check. purple sharpie marker all over your belly and running around with quarters screaming about all the "monies" you have. never a dull moment when nekkid claire is running free. we were in target last week and you were bored with walking around looking for throw pillows and started to take off your pants and i yelled out across the aisle, "PLEASE KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON!!!" so, apparently, yelling that - that draws attention. for future reference.
i was telling someone the other day how crazy you grew when you were born. in the nicu you weighed 4lbs and 1oz. - you were 50th percentile for a 33 week old fetus. but not even on the charts for a newborn. and then by 12 weeks old you weighed close to 13 lbs., which is 70th percentile for a normal 12 week old baby. you grew so fast, you caught up so fast, i swear i thought your pediatrician was going to name a wing of the office after you. the nurses used to call you the "perfect preemie". how right they were. some days i look at you and think to myself how special you are to me. and i look and sometimes i think, "everyone thinks their child is special and smart and beautiful." but the real beauty, the beauty of being a parent is that, it doesn't matter one bit - how great anyone else's child might be. all that matters is your own. you are so special and smart and strong and beautiful and absolutely hilarious and no matter how great all the other children of the world are, i get to be proud of that - of YOU. because i'm your mother. being your mom is such a wonderful feeling. so happy freaking 26th month birthday claire. you're now 28lbs. you're still 70th percentile. sing the song. blow out the candles. have the cake. and eat it too.
love every last piece of you,
mommy.
we were driving in the car the other day and you yelled out, "mommy, sing the happy birthday to you song?" i had no idea this was a song you knew, or a song you liked to sing, and i'm not sure how "the happy birthday to you song" outranks "the wheels on the bus" or "the itsy bitsy spider", but maybe its because you notice that when people sing that song - its always a celebration. so i sang it. you chimed in. when we got to the end... "happy birthday dear claaaaa-iireee, happy birthday to youuuuu!" you yelled out "and blow out the candles!!!" and you blew. and then, "and have the cake!!!" i don't know how in the world i am so blessed that i got this funny, smart, pretty little girl as my baby. i certainly don't feel i deserve it. but i'm not going to call attention to that. that'd be like winning the lotto and insisting that the money go to pay off national debt. nothankyou.
this month you became a real person. you lie, cheat and steal. mostly about food, using the big person potty, and beating up the cat. you are at your "testing the boundries" prime. let me make this easy for you.... when you ask me for yogurt, mac and cheese, granola bar, apple sauce and m&m's all at the same time - i see right through you. i'm 28 years old. thats definitely old enough to know that you are a big liar and are going to waste like 5 dollars worth of food just to *see* if i will get it all for you. also, there is a very big difference between "peeing in the potty" and removing all your clothing, urinating on the floor and telling me you "spilled some water." smart, yes... smarter than someone who has been using the potty and spilling drinks for decades, no.
you also have this insane sense of direction. when we are driving you yell out who's house we're going to with in the first few turns. its FREAKY, actually. i've been driving for quite a while, i've never lived 5 miles away from where i was born, ya get 3 drinks in me and there is a good chance i wouldn't be able to tell you what street i live on. yet my child, who has been alive for just over two years and can't even poop in the toilet, knows that if we go south on topanga canyon we might go see nina. if we go north we are going to see daddy, and if we go east on devonshire we are for sure going to end up at nana and papa's. like, WHAT!? how is this even possible? are you a wizard? or a pigeon?
this "lets be naked" phase you're going through is cracking me up. the FIRST thing you do when we get home... a simple request to remove your shoes.... that's how it begins. the moment i turn my back to put your shoes in your room you are ripping clothing off. you strip down completely naked and proclaim, "MOMMY!!!! I ANNNNN NEKIIIIID!" the next step is roaming around the condo looking for the most ridiculous thing to do nekkid. such as, putting on a tiara and princess shoes, or how about two legs down one leg hole of your florescent yellow puma shorts? mommy's high heels and some mardi gras beads, check. bangle bracelets and stickers of kittens, check. purple sharpie marker all over your belly and running around with quarters screaming about all the "monies" you have. never a dull moment when nekkid claire is running free. we were in target last week and you were bored with walking around looking for throw pillows and started to take off your pants and i yelled out across the aisle, "PLEASE KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON!!!" so, apparently, yelling that - that draws attention. for future reference.
i was telling someone the other day how crazy you grew when you were born. in the nicu you weighed 4lbs and 1oz. - you were 50th percentile for a 33 week old fetus. but not even on the charts for a newborn. and then by 12 weeks old you weighed close to 13 lbs., which is 70th percentile for a normal 12 week old baby. you grew so fast, you caught up so fast, i swear i thought your pediatrician was going to name a wing of the office after you. the nurses used to call you the "perfect preemie". how right they were. some days i look at you and think to myself how special you are to me. and i look and sometimes i think, "everyone thinks their child is special and smart and beautiful." but the real beauty, the beauty of being a parent is that, it doesn't matter one bit - how great anyone else's child might be. all that matters is your own. you are so special and smart and strong and beautiful and absolutely hilarious and no matter how great all the other children of the world are, i get to be proud of that - of YOU. because i'm your mother. being your mom is such a wonderful feeling. so happy freaking 26th month birthday claire. you're now 28lbs. you're still 70th percentile. sing the song. blow out the candles. have the cake. and eat it too.
love every last piece of you,
mommy.
2 comments:
I've been following your blog (I think I left a comment before?) and have to say that I was SO excited to see a new post this morning. You're such a gifted writer and photographer. Yay for Claire being another month old so that I can start my day out with a letter. Ha!
She's a gorgeous little girl and your photographs capture her beauty (inside and out) so amazingly well. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Beautiful, Claire and mommy's writing.
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