I realize it’s been a very long time since I’ve last written. I think it’s mostly because it has been very hard to top the Costco/Penis incident of July. But if something that eventful hasn’t happened in the past four months, it probably never will. Knock on wood. I may as well get back to blogging the more mundane details of life at the Claussen’s.
Nicole turned two on October 6th, and while her vocabulary has not significantly grown, she has. The doctor claims that at 34.5” tall, she is taller than just 55% of her peers, but that can’t be right. The kid towers over her fellow two year olds. She can open door knobs. She can reach the TV in our entertainment center, and she turns it off and on at will. But her height is nothing compared to her weight. Her pediatrician bluntly told us that she weighs as much as the average three year old (she’s 28 lbs 9 oz). Add to that a shriek that can shatter windows, and you have a force to be reckoned with. A very cute force.
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| Nicole, the not-so-terrible-two-year-old |
Cole still sucks her thumb and has a purple ‘blankie’ that must go everywhere with us. Anytime she is hurt, gets in trouble, or receives a stern look, her lower lip begins to tremble, and she pulls her hands up to her chest, the sign for blanket in ASL. I know eventually we’ll want to break the thumb-sucking-blankie-carrying habit, but right now it has its definite advantages: A. She sleeps like a champ (12 hours a night, 3 hours for naps) B. She is easily placated and C. It’s just really darn cute. Not everyone can pull off the ‘Linus’ look, but Nicole definitely can.
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| Cole, with her thumb, her blankie, and her Allie. |
A few more of Cole’s favorite things: babies, Tow Mater, football and cheese-balls. She loves carrying baby dolls around, and she has a few favorites. Mostly, the naked babies. Nicole loves to undress her dolls, and few things make her happier than carrying a naked baby around by its ankle.
Tow Mater, the push toy Nicole got for Christmas last year, is her very favorite mode of transportation. She can really fly on that guy too; she motored all the way to the elementary school and back, which is close to a mile. No easy feat, and Mater is looking more and more like Mater everyday.
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| Coco with her faithful steed. |
Her love of football may really just be a love of staying up late watching TV with Mom and Dad, but she does raise her hands in the air and yell, ‘ball ball’ at the top of her lungs every time a game is on.
Oddly, ‘ball-ball’ is also her way of saying cheese-ball. Fortunately for me I can differentiate the two because when she is talking about cheese-balls she always points at the neighbors’ house, where she and the spherical cheetoh were first introduced. Almost every time we walk by, she points at their front door and says, ‘ball ball’ in a hopeful sort of way.
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| Not quite as revered as the cheese-ball, but still pretty good. |
“Curious George” has become a source of constant background noise in our house, as Nicole adores him. She throws her hands in the air and makes monkey noises until we turn it on for her. I think she can really relate to him as their communication skills are almost identical. She gets particularly excited whenever the man with the yellow hat comes on; she will come and get me yelling ‘ooh, ooh, aah, Dada!’ Allie always jumps in at this point and explains that George’s real daddy is not a man but a monkey. She is almost five and is an expert in most things.
In fact, Allie is an expert in so many things that I simply don’t have time to get into them all now. That, my friends, will have to wait for the next blog entry...which will hopefully not be four months from now.
