Lucky Number Seven

Sweet Claire...

This post is a bit belated, but I didn't want to go any longer without capturing everything I can about Claire, the itty bitty seven-year-old (as of January). She's still so tiny - in the fourth percentile (yes fourth, not 40th) for height.  Her hair is getting really long, and those brown eyes are killers. The doctor estimates she'll be 5' tall at most... but we shall see. She certainly has a personality bigger than her petite frame.

Little cutie ready for school.

Matt and I are still regularly amazed at the grace and maturity Claire shows with two two-year-olds running around the house. She can calm them down like no one else and is so loving with them. She loves to teach them things and they follow her around like puppies. The three kids are getting to a new phase where they can play games together, and Claire loves to entertain them and teach them things. When she leaves for school, the second the door closes, the twins begin pining for her. They lament "When will Claire be home?" They love to wear their little backpacks and pretend that they are going to school too, just like big sister. They think she walks on water.

Following Claire's lead - sitting safely away from the windows during a thunderstorm.

The Three Musketeers

Although she seems beyond her years, she regularly reminds us that she is only seven. We were eating breakfast, and I had a box of raisins on the table. The box said "Since 1912." She cried out "These raisins are SO OLD!" She quickly realized that it meant that the brand was that old, but I loved that brief moment of surprise for her.

I asked Claire a few questions, just for documentation:

Things that she loves: her friends and family
What makes her happy: horses
What do you want to be when you grow up: an equestrian or a singer
Favorite Hobby: riding horses
Favorite food: mac & cheese (we are single-handedly keeping Velveeta and Kraft in business)
Favorite Color: blue, red, pink, rainbow

We celebrated Claire's birthday on a date with mom and dad, no babies. We went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point, and I think she loved that we could play with her and not have to check on the twins. Then we went out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings... she had a GREAT time.

She also still loves art and is very talented. I'm amazed at her ability to draw with foreshortening and perspective at such a young age. She just won a school contest that was about illustrating the school rules and the principal displayed her entry in the hall.

She did NOT want her picture taken with her art that the won a school contest, illustrating school rules. But, her mom does her best to embarrass her and force photo ops at every chance.

She is also still a great lover of music and her crazy ear is alive and well --- great for party tricks! This week were sitting at the dinner table, and she was clinking her knife against a glass, and changing sides of the knife each time. The tone difference was barely audible (maybe a quarter tone each time) and she said "Listen, listen! It's a different note!" She can differentiate such intricate tones and has fantastic pitch memory. She was taking piano lessons for a few months but finally just told us that she really doesn't want to learn it right now. So, after much deliberation (obviously the pianist in me had to check her feelings at the door for this one...) we are taking a break from lessons. However, I still find her sitting at the piano and playing, and she loves to play for other people. I would bet good money she will find her way back to it when she is ready.

She absolutely loves school, and was devastated she had to stay home when she got a flu bug recently.  She got the highest marks on her recent report card and won first place in the science fair this year. The school doesn't even require participation for young grades, but she wanted to do it anyway, and she knocked it out of the park!

This has been Claire's third winter skiing, and she still loves it. She's getting better and better and can turn, stop and go on and off the lift all by herself. I haven't gotten to ski with her yet, but I have gone up to the mountain to watch the last few winters and few things are quite as cute as her tiny little body plowing down the hill.

Claire is a very kind person and has a huge amount of empathy. Her school teacher tells me she is often assigned to be a coach to other children in the class who need help or are struggling to learn something. She is also the stand-in for the teacher if the teacher needs it, on occasion. I am so proud of her manners and her kindness... you can teach a certain amount of that as a parent, but a child has to have an inherent desire and capability to demonstrate to others, in my opinion.

She remains "stoic" as we have always said, meaning that she keeps her feelings pretty close to the vest. It is often days or weeks after she experiences something that she decides she's ready to talk about it and we have just learned we have to let her come to us when she is ready.

Boy craziness has begun... she proudly announced after school one day that she had "four lovers." Obviously this means something a little different to a first grader, but I thought the fact that she used that term was hilarious. She recently "broke up" with her first official "boyfriend" by walking up to him and saying "I break up. This is silly." She gets along well with boys and girls, and kids of all ages. She tells me she wishes she had an older sister, though, and considers our cousin, Taylor McCleary, her built-in big sister.

She asks fascinating questions and Matt and I both think her curiosity is one of her most interesting qualities. Matt loves all the questions she asks to understand how the world and the universe work. She loves the Utes and thinks it's pretty cool when she gets to tailgate or go to a game with daddy.  She's becoming more and more adventurous, and recently had her first ice fishing trip with her good friend Lucy, Lucy's dad, sister and Matt.

Claire left, sweet Lucy, right.

She is a lover of ALL animals. She recently spent the weekend at Grandma Becky and Grandpa Mike's house, and poor Teddy got a lot of attention and dress-up time. He was a good sport. Claire wants a horse, a German Shepherd, a Husky - but we currently have two small creatures that we are trying to potty train, and we are not ready to take on another. It'll happen someday....

Teddy dressed as a princess.

All of her grandparents are a huge part of her life, and they are all so different. It's interesting to watch her relationship with each one. She is lucky to have such loving, dedicated aunts and uncles and is a joy to the whole family.

We are also still so in love with the neighborhood we moved into, and are lucky enough that Claire has a great friend next door. When Claire and Bella play, they play hard... they are quite a little pair.

Bella left, Claire right, SNOW DAY (and both in helmets.... who knows why.)

Bottom line, we feel incredibly grateful to raise such an interesting, loving, kind human being. She has never really felt like a little baby to me -- she's had a strength and a quiet way of processing things that has always made her feel like an old spirit. I am thankful every day that our lives intersected, and that I get to be her mom.

I love you forever, my baby girl. Thanks for making me a mom!