Claira right now

40 months old. Claira is a mixture. She is wildly exuberant. She will jump up and down squealing when daddy comes home. She will throw uncooperative things across the room. Today it was a small ribbon that she wanted to hold in her hand and it kept popping out. She will holler "I am SO mad" when she is perturbed. And yet she is quiet. She will hide behind me when someone new comes around. She will sit silently watching the scene unfold when she is in any group activity. She is a big talker. She will tell me all the things she is going to do (today it was to ride the neighbor's motorbike all by herself) but when opportunity arises to talk with the neighbor (don't worry, she will never ride the motorbike!), she is silent. Sometimes she talks like a one-year old, particularly when Nate is needing attention. Other times she talks like an eight-year old, "I am really tired, mommy. I had a really busy day today".

She is getting better at playing by herself. The other day I found this little stack. She had folded all the cloths ("corner to corner, side to side" she chanted as she did it. thanks Gina!) and stacked them in her little play house so her stuffies could get cleaned up after their lunch.

I am often not sure how to best handle sweet Claira, but I trust I will know when I need to know. She is so spirited and I never want to crush that.