five years

five years ago, we were blessed to become parents to this little angel. wow, where has the time gone? for claire's birthday, she chose to start the day out with donuts, so we headed to krispy kreme first thing in the morning. then we headed home so mommy could make this awesome rainbow cake that claire has been wanting for the last few months. it was spectacular. :)

because of my new work schedule, we had to do presents and cake right after lunch. her big gift this year was a toy digital camera, which she proceeded to take several hundred pictures in the next couple hours. it was so funny watching her take her dolls and posing them around everywhere. she takes after her mommy - a little photographer in the making. here's a collage of some of our favorites of her pictures.

after presents, we invited some of amber's family down for cake and ice cream. yummy stuff. :)

now, for 10 facts about claire:

1. claire is now 41" tall, putting her into the 31st percentile. she weighs 38lbs, putting her in the 42nd percentile. she even got her vision tested this time and was a perfect 20/20. well done claire. well done.

2. claire is our very sensitive little girl. for the most part she won't scream or throw fits when she doesn't get her way, just start to tear up. she loves playing with everett, but when everett doesn't want to play the way she wants him to, she'll get that shaky voice and tell him, "then i won't play with you everett." when things are at their worst, she says there's four things that will help her calm down: a hug & kiss, a song, rainbow (her stuffed elephant), and/or going to her room to cry, coming back a few minutes later declaring, "i've calmed down now." it's all so heartbreaking seeing her so distraught, but it also warms our hearts at the same time.

3. claire has come to love these animal and dinosaur shows. she comes to us after watching one and tells us all about the new animal or dinosaur she learned about. claire knows about so many random animals that i have never even heard of. did you know there's a lizard that can run on water? claire does. :)

4. after claire sneezes, she always declares, "bless you me!" one of those funny little quirks that we always want to remember.

5. claire has one crazy imagination and loves playing pretend all the time. from princess dances to tea parties to house to dress up, she loves it all. her favorite right now is store. she takes random things (rocks, flowers, leaves, toys, etc.), lines them up on the stairs like they're products on shelves, and pretends they're for sale. so funny.

6. speaking of her fun imagination, claire loves games, especially making up her own games, or at least put little twists on classic games. every dinner we end up playing her "thinking game", which is basically a version of twenty questions. at the doctor's office we end up playing a number of different versions of "i spy". she loves every kind of game anyone can dream up. she loves arts and crafts - coloring, cutting, stapling, etc. and she is really into puzzles right now and is pretty darn good at them.

7. we went on a hike the other day, and to pass the time, we started asking everyone what their favorite _______ was. claire loved this. so here are some of her favorites: color - blue, toy - camera, doll - rainbow, game - sardines, sport - soccer, book - if you give a mouse a cookie, show - wishinpoof, movie - frozen, princess - elsa, song - families can be together forever, food -spaghetti and bread sticks, dessert - strawberry milkshakes, best friend - her cousin lily.

8. claire is always talking about when she grows up. her career aspirations are to be a swim teacher and a mommy. she always reminds us that we'll be her kids grandparents, making us feel much older than we are quite ready to feel. but she eases that dread just a bit by telling us that she'll always bring her kids over to visit all the time, making that distant future much more exciting to us. and claire is definitely getting to that point where she is noticing the differences between boys and girls, as well as kids and grown ups. she constantly points to that special part of her body and proudly declares, "when i grow up, these will get bigger."  :)

9. claire will be starting kindergarten very shortly. she couldn't be more thrilled. we have mixed emotions - we're excited for her, but not quite ready for her to start growing up on us. she recently went in for an assessment for school. she has difficulties with letters. she knows her alphabet, but she has a hard time remembering what the letters look like and what sound they make. she is great with numbers though. she loves math and doing addition and subtraction. she is going to be a young one, just barely turning 5 right before the school year begins. and while that year difference with some of the kids won't be a big issue later in life, it's a bigger deal now as she just begins school. she's a smart girl, so we feel pretty confident she'll catch up quickly. i suppose it's the social aspect that probably has us more worried. she loves other kids, but can be a little shy initially, especially with grown ups she doesn't know. we just hope she loves it all.

10. claire is our little angel. while she gets a little crazy when everett gets her going, she is generally our good-natured little girl. she is a great helper, nearly always excited to do her jobs and help out with cooking, dishes, and cleaning up around the house. she is very reverent at church. she is obedient and is always trying to be a good example for everett. and she is especially excited about helping with the new baby, almost a little too excited for our liking.