Niagra Falls 2010 - Part 5 - Hershey Store

Before heading back for the night we made a last pit stop at the Hershey store ofcourse. Daddy & the kids with the Reese guy. Claire was not impressed.

Isaac & Claire with the hershey kiss.

Isaac & Claire with the hershey kiss last year.

Alright, so we had ice-cream yesterday too....but how can we say no? We are on vacation!

It was nice to get away, if only for a few days. We'll most likely do this trip again next year too....saving up our points for it already!

Niagra Falls 2010 - Part 4 - The Falls

After dinner we headed down to the Falls. Isaac taking a closer look.

Daddy & Claire.

Mom & Isaac.

Grandma & Claire.

A family picture.

And remembering 2009.

They sure grow up fast.

Niagra Falls 2010 - Part 3 - Boardwalk

While the girls went for nap, Daddy and Isaac headed to the Boardwalk. They enjoyed a game of glow-in-the-dark mini golf.

Isaac's difficult shot.

A trip to the Guiness world records store. Isaac posing in front of some mist ball.

Taking a rest on the big chair.

How Isaac would look if he gained 200 lbs.

How Anthony would look if he lost 10 lbs.

Isaac under the 2 headed cow.

That was just strange!

Niagra Falls 2010 - Part 2 - Water Park

On our second day, we headed back to the Fallsview Water Park. Some slide fun.

She did this over and over.

Fun with the water gun.

Taking aim at Isaac.

A rewind of Claire from last year....how cute.

Some more brother and sisterly love. Check out Isaac's 8 pack...haha.

All dried up and ready to go.

Time for nap!

Niagra Falls 2010 - Part 1 - Marineland

We took the family on a little mini-vacation to Niagra Falls before the start of another school year. We were so proud...we did it all on points! We need to save $$ wherever we can with a third baby on the way! On our first day, we spent the day at Marineland. Here is Claire and Grandma at the gates.

A photo of the Beluga whales.

The Killer Whale....who later became Claire's least favourite animal at the park.

Some brother and sisterly love in the underground viewing deck.

Grandma and Claire pre-Killer Whale splash.

Now we did not get a photo of this, but basically, we went to the "Killer Whale Splash show". Daddy had Claire on his shoulders and Isaac and I hung out in the back - away from the deck and sun. The killer whale was performing his show and suddenly he went under the water and when he came back up, Daddy thought that the rising fin was just waving hello, but nope, it smacked water right into the crowd and poor Claire got the worst of it. She was so upset and completely soaked. Thank god we brought a change of clothes! This is all she would talk about the rest of the day! Daddy was wet too but otherwise fine.

We then moved on to feed the fish. This calmed her down.

A close-up of the fish. They were HUGE!

More brother and sisterly love as we had lunch before the dolphin and seal show (we sat up high this time). We didn't get pictures of the show but Claire really enjoyed this.

And off to the family rides. Claire and Daddy in the boats. It was her first ride!

You can't visit a themepark without trying the ice cream.

After a very long day, we finally got to our hotel. Big brother Isaac showed us what he learned in his recent babysitting course by changing Claire's diaper.

He put the diaper backwards at first. What a rookie mistake!

Jr. Toddler Room - Progress Report

Now that Claire is the big "2", she'll be transitioning to the Sr. Toddler Room over the next few days. She received a progress report from the Jr. Toddler Room and this is what it said:

Overall Summary: In the last few months Claire's skills have increased in all areas of development. In the Language area, Claire is able to express her needs and wants, tell her friends what she likes and dislikes. Claire enjoys engaging in conversations with her peers (especially with Adam). They talk to each other and make each other laugh. Claire is talking in 3-4 word sentences, asking and answering questions. Her receptive language skills have also improved even though at times she prefers to ignore some directions, i.e. tidy up time, it's time to change your diaper. In the self-help area, Claire is very independent, eats on her own using a fork and a cup without a lid. She can take off her shoes most of the time but occasionally requires teachers assistance. She puts her hat on and takes if off, washes her hands with soap and water and dries them using a paper towel. In the cognitive area, Claire is able to put puzzles together, put the correct shape into the shape sorter toy, pegs on a peg board and builds towers with Lego blocks. In the fine motor area, Claire scribbles and attempts to make a circle using markers, crayons and chalk. She manipulates utensils well and holds a cup with one or two hands to drink from it. In the gross motor area, Claire can jump with two feet, run, go up and down stairs holding the rail or a teacher's hand. Claire can squat to pick up a toy as well as play in squat position. Claire can count 1-5, recongizes some of her colours - blue, red, yellow and green - and loves sensory and creative activities as well as dance and listening to music and stories.

Goals:
1. We will keep on working with Claire on her sitting and eating habits at meal times, by constantly reminding her to sit on her bottom and that her legs go under the table and not on the table and to use her utensils instead of her hands. Also by reading books or singing "this is the way we eat or sit at lunch time".
2. To further enhance Claire's recognition of her colours and shapes, we will continue to use flash cards, books, shape sorter toys and objects around her environment.
3. Claire will be introduced to a variety of more challenging activities in the Senior Toddler room, which will enhance her development.

It was fun to have Claire in the Junior Toddler room. She will be missed.
_____

Well after I read this, I was so shocked! Not because I disagreed with what they said, but that they described her down to a T! Including the feet on the table at meal times and how she chooses to ignore some directions if she feels like it. It was so funny to read this!

Great job Claire!

Coming Soon...

Her 2nd year photo revealed...

Everyone will get a photo of the larger shot (Claire standing next to the 2). This was a collage Anthony and I got for ourselves. Soooo adorable!

These will be coming to you soon.

Ice Cream Party

The week of Claire`s birthday, her daycare was doing a `Kids in the Kitchen` theme and invited parents to volunteer to come in and cook with the kids. So I decided to have an ice-cream sundae making session with her class to celebrate her birthday with her daycare friends.

Here are the toppings I brought in - smarties, cookies, and marshmallows. The marshmallows were a HUGE hit. I also got waffle bowls for extra fun.

Here she is in her party hat and taking a big bite of her sundae.

Look at the joy on her face.

Even her brother couldn`t help but smile. Again, I love seeing him at the little kids table.

A family shot.

Her friends also made her this lovely card.

She`s had an exciting past couple of days! But even though her birthday is over, she is still singing `happy birthday to me`. I know she is already counting down the days until her next year.

24 Month Milestone

Today Claire is 2 years old!! It's been a great 2 years and we look forward to each and every day. She's a great combination of sweet and sassy all wrapped up in cute and cuddly. She continues to amaze us by the level of her speech and understanding. She's an avid reader and loves to sing songs...especially Happy Birthday to herself. She has no problems telling her big brother what to do. One might say she's even a little bossy. It's as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, haha. We love her so very much! Here is her latest monthly photo:

We decided to keep her hair nice and short as she won't let us do anything with it. Suri Cruise has nothing on Claire Clemente's bob cut!

And here are the many faces of Claire.

Let's begin with a thoughtful Claire. You can just see her brain processing her thoughts and thinking of how to ariticulate her words. A-MAZE-ING I tell you.

A squirmy Claire. It's very hard to keep her still for photos.

An on-the-verge upset Claire. Now that I`ve read the `Happiest Toddler on the Block`, I can usually prevent this Claire 90% of the time.

A happy-go-lucky Claire. She's a joy and will bring a smile to any stranger's face.

And the slideshow of months past:

One Last Gift

So we were going to hold off on giving Claire her present until her actual birthday but I couldn't wait any longer! She already got all the kitchen items, so this was the icing on the cake!

We bought this kitchen from Toys R Us and all the reviews said that it took 3 days to put together. Note: 3 days for the dads to put together alone. In other words, they don't read directions. I told Anthony we were going to prove them wrong. How? Well, ofcourse I was going to look at the directions and tell him what to do!

So Claire went down for nap and we went to work! Here are all the pieces laid out...there were lots and over 40 steps to put it together.

Daddy working hard as I dictate the steps and handed him the peices. Teamwork!

Overall, there was only 1 tricky part - adding on the counter - where the alignment was off a bit with the pre-drilled plugs, so we decided to skip putting in all the plugs and it was fine. And the finished product:

It took us almost 4 hours to do. I love this kitchen because its a lot sleaker than the plastic kitchens. It also goes nicely with the other wooden items she already has.

And now it was time to get Claire. At first she walked right by it. But when it finally caught her attention, she went right over and started playing. Here she is holding up the iron in excitment.

Unpacking her pots and pans getting ready to make us a meal.

I would of loved something like this when I was little. Let`s say Claire and I will have lots of fun with this over the next few years.