every where, you look you'll find a Claire!!
(That's to the tune of Claire's giant singing block for "Squares". If you don't know it, be thankful.)
Oh Claire. What a mess she is. We used to call her the "Claire-nado". I think she needs to be upgraded to hurricane status. For the most part, she is a good girl. She tries really hard. But she is just too darn smart. She isn't even two yet and has figured out how to unlock the baby gates. We only have gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. I've tried to impress upon her the seriousness of keeping the gates closed. I've tried telling her that "Alex can't go down the stairs, he doesn't know how. It isn't safe to open the gates." He likes to crawl the edge of the stairs and look down. I'm afraid he won't stop. Today, she laughingly opened the gate and ran through it to the top of the stairs (there is a tiny little landing at the top of the stairs before the gate) and started to go down. I was trying to put Alex to sleep. I tossed him into his crib and ran out when I heard her undo the gate (it pushes up against Alex's room wall, so you can hear it pretty well). I caught her as she was starting to go down. She got a VERY serious no and a time out immediately. I'm hoping that will stick. She was quite distraught and didn't try to open the gate again, but we weren't upstairs too much today. I've started tying a bandanna around the top gate latch to keep her from undoing it. I'm trying to work out a more permanent solution but haven't figured it out yet. I've asked my friends who have kids and stairs what they do and they just let their kids do the stairs. Am I just afraid? I've never lived in a storied house before. Is this a reasonable thing for a not-quite two year old to be doing on her own? She does pretty good when we walk down the stairs together, but sometimes she tries to jump. Or she bounces on one stair and slips down to the next. She does go more carefully up the stairs when she is alone (I've caught her doing that too, the stinker). So maybe she would go down more carefully too. I'm hoping that is the case. I'm trying to let her walk by herself not holding my hand a little bit more. I still need to make sure she closes the gate right so Alex doesn't go head first though.
Otherwise, she is starting to talk more and more, and use actual english. Most of her words are still one syllable. Even multi-syllable words she doesn't use the end part. The people who came out and evaluated her said she was normal- or rather that there was no significant delay that warranted treatment. So it is just a waiting game. Now I just need to find the audiologist paper and make that appointment.
She has also recently learned how to open the fridge and the freezer. And how to use a stool. She opened the fridge the other morning, got her stool, found some string cheese, and brought it to me as I was changing Alex. Too bad she DOESN'T EAT CHEESE! She insisted on having it. And proceeded to not like it, as usual. I try to tell her that she doesn't like cheese every time she asks, but she takes it, licks it, decides she doesn't like it, and throws it out. I pretty much don't give her cheese. She will eat it now and then in stuff, but just a slice- nope, not happening.
I'm sure I will think of more I wanted to say just as I post this, but it's late and I need to go to bed.
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