Thankful for: Claire

I am so, so thankful that Claire is our daughter and that she is in our family! I am thankful that she cracks me up and makes me laugh. I am thankful that she is such a great helper and that she always has the desire to help. I am thankful that she is such a good girl. I am thankful that Claire helps me to be a better person. I am thankful that she wants to learn so many things, and I am thankful that her mind soaks everything in. Just the other day she was crouched down in a corner, and she said, "I died." I said, "Really? That would be sad." And then she got up and said, "I'm resurrected - just like Jesus!" Moments like that melt my heart. I am thankful that today I could set aside my quickly growing to-do list for a little while and have a picnic with Claire "at school." When I asked her where school is, she very matter-of-factly said, "on the black mat." So we sat on the black mat and had a picnic with her butterfly blanket. I don't think I could have spent that 30 minutes in any better way.

Here are some other funny things that she has done or said the past couple of months.

• She'll tell you that pink is her favorite color at least five times a day - especially if you lead her into it!
• While on the swamp tour, she said she wanted to get in the water. We told her there are alligators in  the water, so we weren't getting in the water. She said, "We'll get in the water when the alligators get out. That's a good idea, right?"
• She asked about Grandma and Grandpa a while back. I told her they were on a boat in the water in the ocean. And she said, "Oh, they are not getting water in their noses!" I told her she was right, and then she said, "They have their swimsuits." And I assured her that they did have their swimsuits! (Right, Grandma and Grandpa?!!)
• When she asks you if you want to do something (like play with her), half the time she nods her head yes while she's asking you the question. And if you don't reply very quickly, then she'll say, "Yes? Okay!" 
• She has asked me a number of times if we are not in the grass while I'm driving. I don't know where she got that one because I have NOT been off-roading!
• There's a song she knows that's a nursery rhyme:

                Goosey goosey gander, whither shall I wander?
                Upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's chamber.
                There I met an old man who would not say his prayers.
                I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs.

            Claire has made up an additional ending to the song. She sings it every time she gets on her step stool to wash her hands, and at the end she very quickly says, "and he said OW!" She thinks it's hilarious! And because of this song, she also says, "You're not supposed to wear leg; you're supposed to wear legs!"

• One more thing that Claire does a lot lately is pretend that she's a baby. She wants to be held like a baby. She crawls like a baby. She tries to pretend that she can't talk  - like babies can't. She'll make the most annoying, lifelike, odd sounding baby sound if you let her. She talks about baby food, bottles, diaper changes, and baby toys. To her, all her stuffed animals are baby stuffed animals - from Baby Turtle and Baby Evan (her stuffed frog) to Baby Super Grover.

I love how Claire's little mind works! I'm so thankful for her in my life! And I'm thankful I can record these memories because I know these young years will be gone in the blink of an eye.