Cute stories from the almost-two-and-a-half-year-old Clare.
We went to Bend for New Years, and I was intent on taking Clare sledding for the first time. There wasn’t a lot of snow in Central Oregon, but we found a popular sledding hill up the mountain. I stayed at the bottom with Sam and Clare drug Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy up the mountain again and again. In typical Clare fashion, she was a very serious sledder. She smiled a little bit, but was pretty much all business of getting down the hill over and over again.
Nothing better than post sledding cuddles and hot chocolate and snacks. (We won’t talk about the bangs… it’s a hair cut gone wrong…)
While we were in Bend, a couple of the neighbors granddaughters came over to visit. Clare was thrilled to see them and immediately invited them to play with her. One little girl was wearing an owl hat and the other had flowers on her shirt. Clare forgot their names, or didn’t hear them, and at one point they paused their playing and Clare said to them “Your name is Owl and yours is Flower.” 
We’re exploring new parenting techniques in the face of the toddler years (Oh the whining! Oh the power struggles! Oh the defiance!). One technique is to offer her choices when we have them available. I say “Clare, would you like X or Y” several times a day. “Clare, would you like to wear your brown shoes or your white boots?” “Would you like to paint or color?” “Would you like to go to the playground or walk around the neighborhood?” She’s starting to repeat it back to me, which is funny because she doesn’t always understand the context. The other day she walked into the kitchen and said “Mama, you make or eat dinner?” She’s also been overheard negotiating with G in their playing, saying “OK G, I will play cars with you but after we paint.”
