Paul, Kateri, Chloe and Lincoln: December 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.