Dear Claire

I love you so much baby! You are the light of our lives. It is really hard to remember what life was like before you were here, it must have been boring. You definitely keep us on our toes. We constantly underestimate what you are capable of doing; maybe because I still think of you as my sweet, little, not-so-mobile baby but things have changed and FAST (not the sweet part though)! Last week you somehow got out of the bathtub, unplugged the lamp, and just today you figured out how to use your Grandma and Grandpa Heintz's water cooler and I caught with your mouth under the nozzle and trying to turn it on.

You love anything and everything that you're not supposed to have. You have a real knack for finding pens, keys, and paper. When I find you with something you're not supposed to have you'll usually get a big smile on your face, throw the item down and start crawling away at hyperspeed, it's hilarious. You are so strong-willed that if you've been trying really hard to get something and I take it away, you throw a gigantic fit. You try to be independent but you don't quite have the abilities to do so yet, so you get a little flustered when you can't do something.

You've been giving kisses for the last couple weeks and they have got to be the sweetest little kisses in the entire universe. Your Daddy and me can't get enough off them, thankfully you give them out willingly. They're usually open-mouthed and a little slobbery but I love them even more than Daddy's kisses (shh, don't tell him!). You've also been giving loves (aka hugs) quite a bit. I love it so much when you get upset and come to me for some loves and kisses and then go back to whatever you were doing, that melts my heart. One of my favorite things that you do is tilt you're head to the side till it's laying on your high chair tray (or wherever you happen to be) and you get this super cute little smile on your face.

You took your first steps over 2 months ago but it's taken you till just this week to be mostly walking. You are so much faster at crawling that I think you didn't care to try very much with the walking. You do this super cute crawl when you have a dress on. We call it the bear crawl; your arms and legs are straight so your bum is in the air so that way you're not getting all caught up in your dress like you would if you were crawling normal.

You are so smart! We'll show you how to do something like flip the light on and you pick up on it right away. You babble constantly; we're really going to be in for it when you start talking! You say "dada" quite a bit, "mama" every once in a while and "uh-oh" when you drop something (sometimes intentionally). You also say "peeka, peeka, peeka". At first I thought maybe that was the beginning to "peek-a-boo" but the more I hear it (coupled with the fact that it's always in three's) I think it's actually "tickle, tickle, tickle". Only time will tell. You've also gotten very good a giving high-fives although instead of just slapping our hands once you keep slapping them till we pull our hands away.

You love our dog Roxcy. You tackle her and pull on her ears or tail or grab a handful of skin. She adores you too and would never think about biting you. Sometimes you'll just start laughing hysterically and we'll look and you'll be laughing at puppy. She gets concerned when you cry and sometimes freaked out when you get a little too excited and start screaming or making loud noises.

Everyday when Daddy gets home you'll either hear him unlocking the door or puppy barking and wherever you are in the house and whatever kind of mood you're in, you will go to where you can see the door. You have the biggest smile on your face even before he opens it and most of the time you'll let out a squeal/shriek when you finally see him. I love seeing you get so excited to see your Daddy. He is such an amazing Daddy and he loves you so so so much. Even after you go to bed you're usually the only thing we talk about. Daddy always begs me to wake you up because he misses you but we both know you probably wouldn't be very happy if we did. He actually wrote you a hand-written letter so I'll try to make sure it doesn't get lost.

What an amazing first year it's been! We have shared too many tears, smiles, and giggles to count. I have very mixed feelings about you growing up. I want you to stay 1 forever but I know that we have a lot of fun things to come. I thank Heavenly Father everyday that you were sent to us, we are so lucky to be your parents. You are such a fun, energetic, intelligent, sweet, and absolutely beautiful little girl. I can't wait to see what this next year brings. I love you so much Claire Bear!

Love Always,
Your Mama