Proud Mama

She's off - jetting down the driveway! LOVES going on walks! This was last week. As you can see, she has her swimming sunglasses on. She likes to do everything that we do and Mami had her sunglasses on. So we found Claire's and she handed them to me to put back on anytime they came off. Guess we'd better set a really good example!

Sleeping Beauty - We have to get in some extra cuddle time with Daddy gone. :)

Climbing! A few weeks ago, Claire figured out (or maybe Matt taught her) that she could climb up onto our low retro chairs herself. Then, I got new chair cushions for my birthday. They are thicker and therefore higher. She has yet to climb up with the new cushions, but she's tried. She also tries to climb into the bathtub now. Better watch her on that - could be dangerous!

I've decided I go in spurts when it comes to blogging. :) These are just a few of the things she's doing at 14 months that I wanted to record before it's too late (i.e. I forget)!

• Tonight I asked Claire "Wo sind deine Schuhe?" (Where are your shoes?). We were in the kitchen and she turned around and walked right to the cabinet in her room where we keep her shoes. This makes me especially proud because it shows that she's understanding German! Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth it to speak German to her all the time. It takes a lot more effort on my part and I can't say everything the way I want to. Then, times like this, our choice to raise her non-native bilingually is reaffirmed...she's getting it! Now if only I could make some native German friends around here that have kids. ;)
• Claire can sign some words! She uses milk, more, finished, please, dog, and bath. Some of these are sporadic, but she knows them all. I'm happy that we've done some sign language with her because it helps her communicate. I wish that she knew more, but we're not as consistent with signing (the 30 or so words we know).
• Dog - Claire generalizes this word when we're reading books. She calls horses dogs and even cows. I suppose I can see the resemblance. She'll figure it out I'm sure.
• She definitely says ma, da, hiii (hi), bah (bye), ba (ball), uh-oh, and bu (bitte=please). She just started saying bitte this morning (edited Saturday, October 9th) when she wants something (the telephone) and I ask her to say please, she also signs it at the same time she says it - I was excited. I think she's even combined "hiiii da" and "bah da" when Matt's coming and going. Matt had lots of fun tickling her last night, but tonight we're on our own again...probably through Tuesday.
• Claire loves to take (short) walks and visit the neighbors! Tonight we walked outside and she yelled across the street to say hi to the neighbor who was just arriving home. Cory noticed we were out and yelled across the street to say hi to "Baby Claire." Then we walked down the driveway and to the house next door. She looked at the house and signed 'dog.' Marie and Paul have two dogs and they're usually looking out the window. Tucker especially loves Claire and gets soooo excited whenever he sees her outside. Then we walked a little farther and Claire wanted to cross the street. I helped her do that and once we were on the sidewalk on the other side, she started walking up the driveway to Joe and Jen's. She knows where those fun boys live! I stopped her, but by this time they were all outside inviting us in for pizza. We have the best neighbors!!! Claire had told me "finished" less than 15 minutes prior, but I guess there's always enough room for pizza. We stayed and played with Cory and Jeff until bedtime. :)