Back Up Bert

Claire has learned the art of telling people (and dogs) precisely what to do. While raking leaves at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Bert (the dog) decided he wanted to play catch. Claire agreed under her rules:

I'd say that went pretty well.

Interpretation: "There's the ball", "I've got it", "Back up Bert".

Other news:

She had her 18 month check up a few weeks ago. She's doing well, although if you were there you wouldn't believe me. She had a horrible cold and REALLY didn't want to be there. She screamed like the world was ending! They could hear her all the way out in the waiting room! She even got mad at her doctor, and she's never done that before! We all survived the check up and are glad we don't have to repeat it for a long time.

Height: 31 inches - 25%

Weight: 19.5 lbs - 3%

Head : 19 inches - 15%

Long and skinny, as usual.

For Halloween she was a Chicken (see previous posting). We took her around the neighborhood and she had a lot of fun. She figured out that you push the little button by the door, and you don't have to run and hide from the person who answers it because they've got something to give you. She doesn't know what it is or what it means, just that it's really fun to stick it in her plastic pumpkin. We worked on saying "Thank you" which she does really well but only with prompting (Oh well, we'll just keep trying). She especially loved going to the houses with dogs. Those dogs are all so cute and interesting! I can't wait till we have to deal with all the begging for a dog. She's going to be really mad when the answer is a resounding "No"!

Along with enjoying being "the boss", she also loves playing "stop and go". The game where you walk as fast as you can, then say "Stop" and everyone stops. Then you say "Go" and everyone starts walking really fast again. I think we called it "Red Light, Green Light" when I was little. She likes going to the zoo and seeing the monkeys, the fish and sharks and turtles and dolphins, and the otters and prairie dogs. Strangely, she also finds the camels really interesting. She likes to read, play with her little people, her monkeys, and dolls. She loves to run around the main floor and have us either chase her or jump out around the corner to surprise her. She loves talking on the phone and taking pictures in order to see them on the screen of the camera. Oh, and her favorite TV show (ya ya ya) is Dancing with the Stars. She can't get enough spinning and jumping and swaying back and forth. I'll try to remember to video tape it next week. Too cute to describe.

Ok, that's enough for now. As you can tell, she's a joy and a darling and we couldn't be more blessed to have her!