Sealing our heart – 22 months

Well I started writing this post saying “it’s almost Valentine’s Day” and now it’s come and gone until I had time to finish it! Our little Claire has been in the spirit, passing out hugs and kisses to us, her grandparents, anyone she Facetimes with, her daycare teachers, even strangers in the store.

We have had a busy new year so far. I had my tonsils removed and we moved to a new neighborhood. We’ve had 2 big snows, one we lost power, the other we lost water. Claire has been growing and her language has exploded; she learns so much each day.

I guess it’s better late than never, but we finally got Claire’s Christmas pictures back from school 🙂

We had fun poking fun at daddy during the college football playoffs.

When I had my tonsils out, Aunt Nancy came in town and took care of me and little Claire. Big thanks to her for keeping our family going during that first week of recovery!

Just about as soon as Nancy hit the road we got a big snow storm through town that knocked the power out for the night. Claire got to eat muffins in bed, and then she and I enjoyed a bit of snow time.

Just 10 days after my surgery, we moved to our new house about 5 miles south. We love the neighborhood because it has a pool, great schools, and sidewalks!!! A big thanks to my parents for coming to help us pack and move and unpack. We couldn’t have done it without them. Also, watching Grandma Burkert with Claire gave me a new insight. That kid loves a task! “Push this basket” “Carry this towel” she’s a big helper, and it keeps her out of trouble!

Here are a few pictures from our last days in the ‘old’ house.

At the beginning of February, Claire and I met up with Aunt Bri in Canton for an afternoon of shopping.

So much shopping is enough to wear a baby out!

I think I’m getting the timeline right here, the next day was the super bowl, and Claire was still sporting the Brown’s Jersey

And then came the snow, again! Thank goodness we had our power this time, and we only lost water pressure for 1 day. We had friends who lost water for a week who came over for a hot shower, because that is just a luxury you underappreciate until it’s gone. But since we did have power, I was still working and James took care of Claire– full-time dad mode. It was sweet to watch them bond so much that week.

Also of note, about the snow… Claire tried to play in it twice, but very quickly learned the word “Cold”. She pronounces “Snow”, “Nose”, and “No” all the same. And she loved to show her Facetime companions the backyard filled with snow.

Alright, we’re down to a few miscellaneous funny notes about our little 22 month old boop. She learned the word “belly” and you bet she loves to show you.

She also learned the word “snack” which is pronounced “naaaaaaack” with a very drawn out “a” sound while tapping on the pantry door. Also, we discovered she recognizes other people’s pantries– we visited a friend in the neighborhood who was swindled out of a half a bag of fun-yuns, a sleeve of oreos and a couple chips ahoy cookies in just a couple of hours. *Yes, my mom brain was completely in turmoil over all the junk food*

Here’s a picture of her favorite snack contraption, which I would highly recommend to anyone with a toddler who doesn’t want to be a slave to cheerio dust all over their house.

She also loves baby shark. She calls the sharks “Guys” while making the hand motion. She really won’t pay much attention to other cartoons or movies, for the moment, just the sharks. She always gasps with excitement when she hears the little “Pinkfong” jingle.

Claire is very strong. She is always a big helper when I ask her to carry things– including her diaper bag (she drags it because she’s a shorty) and even items from my home depot cart.

Although I’m not sure how I feel about this “discovery” Claire is learning to smile at the camera and take selfies. She loves to Facetime, especially ‘MaGa’ which really means “Grandma”. Here we are facetimeing with Bri.