Claire at 3.75

Oh my, Claire is almost 4!  She is at such a fun age where she is understanding so much and can be quite helpful.  She really has the sweetest, happiest personality and I am loving watching her grow.  Claire is so curious and is still asking me all sorts of questions about why things are the way they are.  One story she is obsessed with is the preexistence story of how satan was cast out of Heavenly Father's presence because he didn't want to follow his plan.  She wants to hear the story over and over and wants to know why satan was "kicked out."  It is fun explaining these things to her and I hope I am doing it right!  Another thing Claire has been doing is asking the meaning of words like:  terrible, glory, fantastic, furious, wonderful, amazing, and many more "bigger" words.  She is keeping me on my toes!

Claire is at that age where she is becoming much more aware of her friends.  She talks about them often, especially the ones that have moved away recently (and there have been many).  Unfortunately one bad result of going to the YMCA is Claire picking up phrases such as "she's not my friend anymore" and "I don't want to be her friend."  I try to talk to her about why that is not nice and we can be friends with everyone and so on...I'm sure that she will encounter much more and worse as she goes to preschool and school.  Hopefully dealing with it early will help.  It is amazing how these petty things start so early.

We are finally done with naps...tear!  Just kidding...the last few weeks Claire hasn't been napping and I think it is going to stick.  I kept trying to give her naps because I loved the time of quiet when she and Tommy slept at the same time, but it was just causing problems.  When she would nap she would be up so late at night and if she didn't nap then she was just messing around in her room making noise and getting into trouble.  So now I have her do 45 minutes of quiet time in her room (reading stories or playing quietly) and if she is quiet and doesn't come out of her room, then she can watch a show.  This has worked amazingly well as she is quiet while Tommy is napping and we all get a break from each other.

Claire is loving to do puzzles.  I found this giant one for her and she had it done in no time.  Grandpa and Grandma F. just got her a puzzle of the United States of American and she has loved putting it together several times and learning about the states.

Claire finds unique ways to watch a show!

She is such a darling and is so good at going with the flow and just being happy!

Brother and sister.  They play together so well most of the time.  I really love it when they are happily spending time together.  Claire is quick to help Tommy fix his race track or carry something he can't.  She also is such a sweetheart and wants to get things for Tommy that he will like whether it is a toy or putting a raffle ticket in a "boy" toy bin at the library for summer reading because "Tommy might like that, I'm going to get it for him!"