More Pics

The wagon was loaded down with riders on this day.

Claire is really into "snuggling" with Lauren lately.  Lauren loves it too (although you can't tell from this picture, ha!).  Everytime we put Lauren in Claire's lap, she'll smile really big and lean in to give Claire a kiss.  Melts our hearts!

Lauren started eating solid foods!  This is her first taste!

Happy girl after eating some cereal.

Daddy with his baby girl!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday.

Despite the fact that Lauren was in a Cowboys onesie, her Aunt Christine was still all smiles when holding her.  What a good sport she is.  I wonder if we'll all be able to watch a Cowboys/Redskins game in the same room this Fall?  Hmm, we shall see.

It seems as though over the last few weeks she's developed so much. 

Nana and Grandpa came to visit from Texas!  Too bad this is the only pic that I got while they were here!

Claire's hair is long enough for braids now!  When did she get so big?  It happened right before my very eyes!

Wow, I love her!

 

2 Years

Never in my life has two years flown by like the last two. This week, Claire had a birthday and I am constantly amazed at how much of a little person she is becoming. She is not only talking, but forming sentences (for example: Ride Daddy Truck Mickey...translation: When I ride in Daddy's truck we listen to music). One thing that I love about Claire is that she's genuinely a loving person. Just the other day we had a playdate with Sarah, James and Eli and several times Claire walked up to Sarah and wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged her. She's also constantly thinking of other people. She's very social and really enjoys other people. She's always asking me if we are going to see Grandma & Granddaddy, or if we're going to "sike" (translation: Skype) with Nana & Grandpa. She loves to tell me that Emma, Cara, James and SaVanna are her "friends". She loves to read, sing, dance, color, run, swing, slide and climb. She ADORES her Daddy (& Mommy and sister too). I am personally a better person for knowing this little girl and I am incredibly priveledged to be her mom!! Claire, words cannot express HOW MUCH we love you. You were TRULY a GIFT from God to us! One of the most amazing gifts that He could've ever given us.

A few stats:
*25 1/2 lbs...45%
*34.25 inches...70%
*Doc mentioned that you can estimate adult height by doubling your 2 year old height...which would make her 5 ft 8.5 inches. We shall see...

 
She was just a few hours old and already we were smitten with her.


Her first trip to the beach. Myrtle Beach, SC. 3 Months Old. (Look at those rolls!)


She has gorgeous blue eyes. 5 Months Old.

 
7 Months Old.

 
10 Months Old.


First time in pigtails and Mommy wanted a picture. But all Claire wanted was a nap and so Mommy's pictures were pigtails and tears. Sweet girl. 10 1/2 Months.


Spring was here and all of a sudden her golden locks curled. 14 Months.

 
More pigtails and this time we got smiles. 21 Months. She was also a big sis by now.


2 Years.

A Wilkie's World

Our lives lately:

Claire has been putting her dolls and her stuffed animals in all of Lauren's "baby" gear. Here is a doll in the headrest to Lauren's swing. The headrest is a makeshift Boppy. :)

Claire likes to put her Leapfrog Pet Pal in Lauren's car seat.

When I took the blanket off, I noticed that she'd fastened the buckle.

Bear is in the baby swing.

Bear is in the Boppy!

My little helper loaded the dryer for me today. I put all of the wet clothes in the basket and she took them out of the basket and put them in the dryer. She loves to say that she is "helping".

My little helper.


More "tot school". Here she is putting different shaped blocks into the appropriate holes in the bucket.

She loves to color. She decided this morning that she wanted to sit on her "beep-beep" (aka car) and color. I have also learned to not give her but one crayon at a time. Otherwise, she likes to just play with the crayons instead of color with them. :)

I could just eat this one up. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. She is so snuggly. She gives her Mama smiles all day long. She is eager to watch her sister play. I love this precious baby so, so much!

We finally got out in the double jogger all at the same time. It was great! Although, it was a little cold for the girls. I was only able to stay outside about 20 minutes with them. Hopefully the weather will continue to get warmer and by this Spring, we'll be out every morning!

Can I get a smile, puleeze?

Thinking that the girls looked so cute in their Valentine's outfits this morning, AND we had a few minutes to spare before leaving for church, I told Bradley I wanted to get a few pictures. That, of course, is always dependant on if 2 little girls are in the mood to have their pictures taken. This morning...they were not in the mood. :) No matter how much mom and dad made silly faces, goo'd, said, "CHEESE" and acted goofy...we could not get these girls to smile. Oh well, they're beautiful anyway. :)

The closest thing to a smile I got during this experience.

"Can we go to church, please?"

"Mom, when are you going to stop?"

Lauren's looking intensely at Dad while Claire is interested in Lauren.

Fun time is over. Sorry, pumpkin!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Wilkie's!!!

Tot School

The past several months I have been trying to "teach" Claire some basic learning concepts: counting, colors, animals and animal sounds. But our teachable moments have been random and inconsistent. Plus, I don't feel as though I am a "teacher" at heart, so I'm just going over things over and over again, and I feel as though she gets bored at times. I almost feel a little silly writing this post because I know so many of you out there are already doing things like this with your tots. But, there may be someone out there (like me) who was unaware of things they can do with a child under the age of two...so I'm going to swallow my pride and write this post! Well, in the last week I have come across Confessions of a Homeschooler and 1+1+1=1 (thanks to my friend Heather for doing a similar post on her blog!) that have very detailed plans on teaching small children. Specifically, 1+1+1=1 has a "Tot School" link where she shares her ideas on what she's done to teach her tots. One thing that I got from these blogs is that I don't have to spend "formal" training time each day with Claire to teach her basic learning concepts. Just working on fine motor skills are helping her to learn. And while we "play" I can integrate colors and numbers and counting. So, today, I put practice into play. I went into her room with her and found toys that I could use as a learning tool and Claire LOVED having me "play" with her in her room. Here are some things that we did:




These little stackable cups were a gift from my mom last summer. She got them at Dollar General for just a few bucks! They are great because they are different colors so I can teach her about her colors. They also only fit into each other one specific way. Claire loved dumping them and stacking them and dumping them and stacking them.








I have put all of Claire's Little People into a gallon sized ziploc bag. We have been using Little People for a looooong time as a learning tool (we go over different animals, animal sounds, boys, girls, she has an angel, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus etc). But, today, we practiced taking them out of the bag and putting them back in the bag along with who they are and if they make a sound.

We have a TON of baby rings. You know the ones. They are small, plastic, and colored. You attach baby toys to them and dangle them over an infant for them to look at. Well, Claire uses them as "bracelets" and we have a ton of them. I have this tupperware container that I keep them in. She practices opening the tupperware and closing it (which takes a lot of practice), she puts the bracelets in the container and pours them out. Loving every second of it.

So, I have learned to just take it easy. No, I didn't get a degree in teaching like so many of my mom friends did. But, I can still teach my little girl basic concepts of learning other than what I'm doing now (primarily reading). Things that will give her a foundation to the schooling that she will start in just a few years. I hope to try some new things with her very soon. Things like stringing beads on a wooden stick, picking up beads and putting them in little ice cube trays, puzzles, etc. I plan on devouring the above links to find out more age appropriate examples of things to do with her. And I plan on loving every minute I have with this little toddler.

Comparisons

A lot of people have asked me lately if I think that Lauren looks like Claire. I really, really think that my girls resemble each other. Although, it's difficult to tell because they DO have some differences. Lauren is MUCH bigger than Claire was at the same age and the amount and color of their hair is different (Claire's was strawberry and Lauren's is brown with some strawberry tones). Those two things alone can make it seem as though they look different. Today, I pulled out some pictures for comparisons:


Lauren's first day at church. Claire's first day at church.

*BOTH girls were just over 2 months old when they went to church for the first time. For the life of us, we could NOT get Lauren to smile. And, if I remember correctly, this picture of Claire was the first time that we got a smile on camera.


Lauren at 11 weeks. Claire at 23 weeks, wearing the SAME onesie.

*That's right! Lauren is just 2 1/2 months old and I'm already pulling out the 6 month clothes. The picture of Claire was when we took her camping for the first time. She was about 5 1/2 months old.