Chloe Fall 2012

It is time for the seasonal update on our little Chloe Ann.  She continues to be a feisty, funny, bossy, lovable two year old. Chloe is repeating just about everything and her speech and language has really taken off over the last few months.  It is the most hysterical thing when she repeats something we say and sounds just like a grown up.  For example: “Oh no, What happened?”, “Careful Mommy, no touching.”, “ Oh my”,  “What’s this?” and “Silly Daddy!” "Two more minutes (extending her TV/iPhone time)" "Just a minute! (quite bossily) ""Come back here!"  These are just a few of the favorites.  Her favorite thing to ask is, “Mommy, Daddy what time is it?”  It’s like she has places to be and people to see.

She loves to play WITH us and will constantly ask things like, “Play a puzzle with me Mommy.”, “Close your eyes, hide! Daddy hide!”  She is quite bossy and is not afraid to tell you what to do and how to do it.  She is also very persistent and won’t give in until you are playing with her.  She is still addicted to puzzles and loves to race to see how fast she can complete them.  We have a few puzzles that tell you the shape or letter after you place it down and the first times she realized it she was very intrigued.  I caught her bringing random toys and things to the speaker and asking, “What’s this?” It was the cutest.  She is becoming more interested in puppies, Minnie Mouse, baby dolls, pretty princesses, cars, trains, dressing up and playing with her doll house.  It is fun to watch her imagination.  She really loves to play with her toy kitchen and food and continues to love to paint.  Her favorite is when the three of us sit around her tiny table and paint together.  She loves to trade paint brushes and make a real mess.  But after she makes a mess she typically likes to use the wipes to clean up.  Chloe also likes to play tricks on us and be sneaky.  She loves to cover her two seat belt buckles with her hands every time we turn off the car and try and to get her out.  She thinks it is the funniest thing.  She will also tip toe and creep towards us to sneak and grab our phones that she is obsessed with. She keeps her head really low as she tip-toes and looks up at us with just a slit of eyes seen under her brow.  It is too silly.  

Chloe continues to eat just about anything and most time eats more than you think can be possible.  I think she could constantly eat grapes, cheese, crackers, yogurt and mac and cheese.  She quite frequently asks for snacks or will go out to the pantry herself.  Her absolute favorite sweet treat is whip cream.  She is not too much of a fan of cake or cookies but cream is her jam.  She especially likes it when we the spray bottle directly into the ol' mouth.   She has to start every day with "milk, series (for cereal) and news".  She'll sit on daddy's knee eating cereal and watching the news.  She also asks to make the coffee every morning, too.  She's a morning person.  

Chloe has been focusing more on her studies.  She's doing a very nice job learning her numbers and letters.  She can pick out numbers from a crowd and can count to twenty -- most times remembering almost all twenty...  She knows a lot of shapes and colors, although the colors she can be pretty rascally about.  And by rascally, I mean she doesn't know them very well.   

C is typically going to bed around 8:30 and is waking up anywhere between 6:00-7:30.  She is still sleeping in her crib and we are pretty sure she may never learn/be strong enough to climb out but we plan to switch her to her big girl bed any weekend now.  She periodically will wake up in the night yelling in a cheery voice, “ MOMMMMMMMMMY, I want to wake up!” or “DADDY, DADDDDDY, DADDDDDY!” over and over again.   Usually we ignore it and she will fall back to sleep but the second she opens her eyes, she thinks she is ready to get up and be up.  She is also still napping around 1:00 each day for 2 hours or so.

Chloe LOVED Halloween this year and it was the first year we went out trick or treating with her.  She loved running, head down from one house to the next.  Before she would run up the drive way, she would say, “Mommy, I’ll be right back!” and take off.  She is also really starting to get into the Christmas spirit.  She loves looking at Christmas lights and decorations and squeals with excitement when she sees them as we drive through the neighborhood.  She also loved decorating with us.  I don’t think she gets the whole Santa thing but we are especially looking forward to Christmas morning.  She has been obsessed with Elmo’s Christmas Countdown DVD and loves to sing along to all the Christmas carols. Her favorite being, “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas.”  This girl loves to sing!

Another trick she is definitely getting better on is her getting on the potty soon enough for her "twos".  A lot of times she yells "MOMMY!" but is just a few minutes late in getting there.  Regardless, she puts her head down and yells at us for help in getting the job done.  It's funny how even the grossest things are cute to biased parents.   Now, when we change her diaper, regardless of the time of day or location, she tells us "no poops" when we rip off the old one.  Goof.

Lastly, this fall we learned that Chloe is going to be a BIG SISTER this summer!  We don’t know if she really gets the concept but when we ask what is in Mommy’s belly she will proudly say, “A baby!  Baby Gurl!”  I look forward to the coming months and seeing her react to my growing belly and eventually feeling the baby kick.  We are pretty confident she will be a great big sister.  She is quite in love with babies and loves to be a mother hen to any and all that she meets.

Blind fearlessness = trouble...for a rattlesnake.

Loves showing off her shapes.

With friends Harry and gang. 

Past bored to tears and on to bored to sleep. 

She was serious fund raiser and looks darn good with a 'stache, too.

Always carry the purse for walks in case a bandaid or a crayon is ever needed.
 

'Cose yer eyes, Mommy!

I wonder why mommy and daddy went on a walk without me???

Obsessed. 

Most serious trick'r''treaters on the block.  

Daddy's birthday

Rockin' the kitchen.  

     

The Christmas season has arrived

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, we have started working away on getting ready for the Christmas season.   This year has been especially fun since Chloe is now starting to understand that something REALLY cool is going to happen sometime soon.  When we were getting the ornaments out of the box she would make all sorts of goofy noise.  She has also taken to Christmas songs quite well.  Here she is singing some Holly Jolly Christmas...

We're not really too sure what her plan was with the pants, but I'm sure she had an idea.  Here is some other decorating that's taken place around Parkside Drive.   Out of tradition, we slogged down to where we used to live to pick up our tree from Kreigers.  We met Uncle Adam, Aunt Cara and baby Reid and helped them pick up a tree, too.  We may not have mentioned it yet, but Chloe couldn't be more happy with her new cousin Reid.  You should ask him.  He's been smothered by Chloe since birth.  Here's the tree!

Notice the itty bitty stocking hung by the chimney with care.  We're worried Santa won't see it.  Chloe will make sure to leave a note.  She's very bossy.

Kateri made this banner for our front window.  You'll see the tiny version of it below.

TA DAH!  After a few shots at installing lights across the gutters like we always do (and I look death into its eye each time) we decided to mix it up.  

fall fun

This past weekend we celebrated Vincent and Beth's birthday in Garrettsville.  We started off the weekend by going to a fall festival near Grammy and Grampy's house.  Hay rides, farm animals, "cow" rides, pumpkin patch, and family.  A great way to spend a Saturday!

future model? or photographer?

I had the camera out and C asked me or should I say demanded that I take a picture of her.  "Take a picture, mommy!"  Then she proceeded to get into a variety of artsy positions.  Maybe not a model but pretty cute!

Soon after her photo shoot, it was her time to be the photographer.  I think the camera may weigh more than her. 

chloe~summer 2012

Hard to believe that summer has ended and another school year has begun!  I had such a great summer at home with Chloe and feel very fortunate that I have a career where I can spend the entire summer with her.  This summer, was by far, the most exciting and tiring summer so far.  Chloe is always on the move!  This summer we would go on regular bike rides to the park, the nature center, the library, and the pool.  We read countless books, often the same ones over and over, painted, colored, cooked, did puzzles, played with her kitchen and doll house, went for walks and relaxed together.
Chloe is definitely a little girl with such a big personality.  She loves to make us laugh and easily knows how to push our buttons.  She is the cutest little rascal!  A typical day for Chloe is waking up around 7:00, napping at 12:00 for 2 hours, and bedtime around 8:30-9:00.  This summer we officially finished giving C a bottle in the morning and at night by saying that they broke.  She was not a happy camper for a while but seems to have gotten used to it.  We were so sick of washing those silly bottles!  Chloe is eating everything she sees but her favorites are mac n cheese!, a cheese a burger, bananas, toast, grapes, graham crackers, chocolate, goldfish, pasta, strawberries, and cheese!  She is not a fan of milk out of her sippy cups or juice. She loves to drink out of big girl cups and will ask for “icy water”.  She loves to chomp on crushed ice.  A piece of ice or a band aide can cure just about anything these days.  You will often see her sporting an unnecessary band aide on one or both of her knees.  She is real dramatic and insists on one just about every day and especially right before a nap.
This summer Chloe and I have really been working on the potty training thing.  She is usually dry in the mornings and after naps and will go on the potty if I put her on.  She sometimes will let me know she has to go, “bubbles” but typically needs to be reminded.  If you ask her if she has to go potty she will always say no, she likes it to be her idea to use the potty.  She loves to inform just about anyone that she used the bathroom.  She will gleefully and loudly yell, “I went potty!!”  It is her go to statement when she wants to get a reaction out of someone, even if she didn’t just go.
Chloe loves to watch TV and play on our phones and probably would watch one of her shows or apps all the time if we let her. You will often hear her say, “Oh, here a mote! (remote) or “here a iphone!”  She loves to watch Sesame Street, Bubble Guppies, Curious George, Super Why, and pretends to like Thomas the Train.  She will ask for “Thomas”, said with the cutest lisp and about two minutes in, she will get bored and change her mind.  One thing that can pull her away from the TV is when I ask her if she wants to cuddle with mommy.  She will squeal and run straight upstairs to our bed and yell for me to follow her. “Coming mommy?!” She will kiss and hug me so tight the whole time.  She does not sit still for one second.
Chloe loves to be outside to go on walks and play with the neighbors.  She will yell hello and wave from across the street.  When we cross the street she will usually stop, say, “Any cars a coming? NOPE!” We are working on her actually looking for cars and not just saying nope and going.  When she walks down the street, she walks with so much determination.  My favorite is to ask her to walk with attitude.  She will swing her arms around and walk faster with more sass.
Whenever you ask Chloe what she would like to do it is usually the pool or the park.  She loves to find big kids and try to be friends with them and follow them around.  She will often randomly wave and say “hi, friend” or “uh-oh, where a friend go?”.  At the pool she is a little fishy and has NO fear of the water.  If I let her, she would jump straight in the deeper water.  Climb to the slide and slide down.  It is definitely a work out when I take her to the pool but she loves it so much.
Chloe is very inquisitive and asks loads of questions, her favorites being “what’s dis?”  Typically when you ask C a question, she very bluntly says “I don’t know”.  She still loves to play hide and seek and when it is time to find me she says, “reay oh not he I come”.  She has the inflection down but gets jumbled with the words.  She also loves to say, “I be back back” meaning, I’ll be right back.  The funniest thing Chloe does is when she wants something she will say, “A Super Why, yes? Yes, a Super Why?” and look at you with her giant blue-green eyes and nod her head.  It’s like she is trying to make it seem like it was your idea. Chloe also loves to hum, sing and jibber jabber all the time.
All in all Chloe is a kind, independent, funny, stubborn, lovable little girl!  We are looking forward to a great fall with her!