DIY

Over the past month or so we have been trying to get back into working on things around the house.  We have been inspired by blogs and of course, pinterest.  Well Paul hasn't been inspired but he just goes along for the ride.  :)

We painted the back of our fireplace shelves an olive green.  The same color as the one going up the stair hallway.

We repainted our kitchen hardware.

Updated our old brass light fixture with a coat of spray paint.

Made a decorative grocery list board with an old picture frame and some fabric.

And lastly, painted OUR bedroom.  It was basically the only room that we hadn't done much of anything to.  We Painted it a nice taupe color and plan to make a fabric headboard and add some more decorations.  Paul and Tobin have already agreed to help cut the wood for me!

Above is a sample of the fabric I plan to use for the headboard.

Painted the built-ins which took an annoyingly long amount of time.

high pony

Last Friday we watched Will, Isa, and Gabi so T and V could get some dinner for V's birthday.  It was a fun night and the kids had fun playing together.  I also did all the girls' hair.  I gave them the Aunt Kateri's special...high pony tails!

Today Chloe is fifteen months old!  Every month goes by too quickly but this one especially went too fast.  With school starting, we have spent the month getting into a routine and Chloe has had to adjust to going to a new sitter three days a week.  We are very fortunate that Gramma is still watching her the other two days.  It took a couple of weeks for Chloe to get used to going to the sitters and would cry the first couple of weeks when we dropped her off.  Still when we pick her up, she runs into our arms and looks so happy to see us.  She is making a lot of new friends.  She has a favorite girlfriend, Charlie and a young boy who is smitten with her, Holden.  She is the youngest of the children that are with her at Mimi’s house.  (Miss Mary)  The other children range in ages from 2-5.  

We have definitely noticed that Chloe’s socialization and vocalization has really picked up this month.  She will jibber jabber all the time and talk with you like she really is telling you a grand story.  It has been fun to hear her express herself when she wants or needs something specific.  Her words include: ma-ma, da-da, Bapa, amma (Gramma), bamby (Grampy), apple, more, all done, bye-bye, key, yellow, hi, yes, no-no, uh-uh, mi-mi, bubble, thank you, grape, help, up, ouch, wa-wa (water), bottle, Elmo, Seasy (Sesame Street), nose, eyes, mow (mouth).  She also has learned different animal sounds for dog, cat, monkey, lion and duck.  When Chloe is hungry or sees foods she will say, mmmMMMMMmmmm!,  in a real loud, high-pitched sound.  It is the funniest when she does it as we go around the grocery store.  She will also go and stand in front of the refrigerator when she is hungry and do the same thing until we come out to the kitchen. 

Chloe definitely loves to eat and will eat at any time of the day.  She loves to feed herself and she is messy but getting better at trying to use utensils.  She will eat just about anything and her most favorite this month is corn on the cob and sweet potato French fries.  She will sit and eat it right off the cob until every last corn kernel is off using her seven tiny teeth.

Chloe’s typical schedule is waking up around 6:30 and going to bed at 7:30.  She is napping 1 ½-2 hours around 9:00 and then again around 1:00.  We are thinking she is transitioning and changing her schedule right now but she still may be getting used to her busy days at the sitters.  

The school year is going really well so far.  With the new sitter just a half mile down the road, it has been nice to get out the door fifteen minutes later at 7:30.  My schedule is slightly different this year too and I am usually picking her up by 4:15.  We are spending at least an extra 45 minutes with Chloe due to closer sitter and my school schedule.  It has been great to get the extra time in the evening!  

Chloe is walking and running all over the place and is usually interested in getting around by herself.  She does not like getting in her car seat and will fight us and stand up so we can’t get her seat belt on.  It is currently a battle that she is clearly winning.  She also does not like taking walks in the stroller and will cry to be let out.  She is fearless and will run down the sidewalk and try to get to the street.  Her feet are still so tiny that she tends to move faster than she can balance and has fallen face first.  Ouch!  She is still a flirt and will dance, giggle, and walk up to just about anyone too. 

Chloe has really gotten into books and is easily occupied by them for long periods.  She will walk up to you and jabber a nonsense command meaning “READ!”.  When we say, “Read, please?!”  She will usually say something in jibberish again but clearly signaling, “read, please.”  She loves Baby Giggles, Bathtime Words, Baby Einstein Words, How Big is Baby Elmo? She will continually bring you the same books and want you to read it to her over and over.  She loves to sit on Paul’s lap and each time he reads, she will look up and watch his mouth move as he reads.  

Chloe is also in love with watching Sesame Street.  She will bring you the remote and “ask” you to turn it on.  When she is watching it, she is in the zone and seems to not even blink.  

We keep saying and remarking that Chloe is definitely not a baby anymore.  She is a toddler and she is getting so big.  She is just so funny and has such a sweet personality but already we know we have our hands full.  She wants what she wants, likes what she likes and prefers to do it all by herself.  

 

Just before bed.

After dinner walk!

Woof woof!

Off to the library.

Sesame Street is on. 

Doing some rockin'.

Dinnertime Chatter

Chloe is becoming quite the chatterbox and we were finally able to get it on tape.  She was chatting her way through dinner and pulling out all her "talking tricks".

Our favorite is that Chloe thinks that when we ask her to say "please" she says "more".  Silly girl.

As you can see she is all about feeding herself and she thinks the messier the better.  :)

Mommy's Little Helper

Chloe has learned  how to pick up after herself recently.  Although, it's not all that helpful -- but darn cute!

Today, Chloe is fourteen months old.  Our little girl is definitely a toddler and is walking all over the place with a mind of her own.  She has such a vibrant personality.  Most times when she meets someone she will act shy and then flash her cheesy grin while crinkling her tiny nose.  When she smiles she has two top teeth and two bottom with a third top and bottom starting to pop out.  She is teething and constantly has her hands in her mouth anytime she’s not laughing out loud or barking orders.  She has been waking up for the past week at midnight on the dot crying.  As soon as you pick her up she rests her head on our shoulder and falls asleep.  It’s hard to not be able to do anything for her when she is in pain. 

This month Chloe has really become a mommy’s girl.  She will reach up for me and cry if she is not in my arms.  She is now showing more and more excitement when we walk in the room and will give you a hug and kiss.  In the mornings Paul will bring C into our bed and she will just kiss, kiss and kiss me.  She has now mastered the kissing with her lips puckered and she even makes a, “Mmmmm’woh” sound. 

Chloe is not a big fan of milk and she seems to be drinking less and less during the day.  We are still offering her bottles but we are really working on using strictly sippy cups.  She has started to get better but has yet to become all that interested.  She is eating just about anything now and her favorites are macaroni and cheese, string cheese, tomatoes, peaches, pears, grapes, corn, beans, cereal, and oatmeal.  She will still try just about anything but will say, “uh-uh” if she is finished and doesn’t want anymore.  She will also say, “uh-uh” to just about any question you ask her except if you ask if she would like to go outside she will say, Yeah, yeah” real quick.  Her vocabulary is pretty much the same as last month but she is more willing to attempt saying or mimicking anything she hears.  The cutest being Millie and Gabi.  You can tell she is trying hard to say it but can’t get it out. 

She does pretty well at responding to questions like, “What does a puppy say?”-“waa,waa” (woof, woof).  If you ask where a certain body part is she will typically point to her face because she knows that is what you are asking.  When you ask her for a piece of something she will gladly feed it to you.  If you ask her to get her shoes she will go and find them and then sit down and hold up her leg. 

She is very funny and thinks everyone is playing a big game of hide-and-seek.  She is becoming more and more of a rascal in stores, wanting to get down and run around.  She is still very intrigued with stairs and will climb up them at any chance she gets.  She also really likes the down stairs bathroom and will get real quiet if the door is left open.  She will usually be heading to try and flush the toilet. 

She does not like hearing no and has started to throw temper tantrums.  She will arch her back and collapse to the floor.  We are currently working on stopping that and work on sharing. 

Chloe loves watching Sesame Street and will immediately stop crying if she hears it come on.  She also enjoys playing with her toys independently for short periods of a time.  She especially likes putting her big coins in her piggy bank, playing with balls, and knocking down her stacks of blocks.  She has started to bring me books but usually will get distracted with something after I start to read to her. 

This month we went to the beach and she loved the ocean.  If we let her she would probably just have kept walking to the water.  She was not afraid of the sand and had a good time playing with her cousins.  She is especially fond of her baby cousin, Mira and older cousin, Gabi. 

Monday is the official start of another school year. I didn’t get as many house projects done as I had hoped but I sure did love spending everyday with Chloe.  I feel fortunate that I have this break during the year.  I am anxious about the start of this school year but will just have to take it one day at a time.  Fingers crossed Chloe does well at the new sitters!

Silly girl

I like drawing and painting with Mommy

They fit!

We had lots of fun at the beach

Slumber party in North Canton

Kateri and I made it out to North Canton for a wedding and made a nice weekend out of it by staying the night.  It was our first night away from our little rascal, but we made it without bothering Mom and Dad too often with check-ins and picture requests.

We cruised around Walsh where we met and spent some swell times as responsibility-free kids.  We wandered up to the dining hall and over to the library.  It was nice doing tons of nothing.

Met Kateri on these steps

Proposed over here'ish