10 Months

Chloe turned 10 months yesterday. It has been a difficult couple of weeks for us as all 3 of us had different sicknesses. Chloe had an ear infection, Brent sinusitis/bronchitis, and I had some sort of Upper Respiratory infection. I could barely swallow for 3 days! We were all down for about a week solid. Chloe didn't feel well, but she was her normal energetic self. Oh how I wish we could have all snuggled in bed together. I must say that I was pretty worn out (maybe still am). Along with Chloe turning 10 months, she seemed to decide to not sleep her normal, predictable 12 hours. She has been so restless and cries out several times in the night. The only thing that will comfort her is if I hold her for a few minutes. We are guessing it is either a developmental phase or some sort of separation anxiety. I am hoping this phase passes quickly. I am tired of being needed!!! I will say she is cute as ever, pulling up on everything. She shows likes and dislikes. She really dislikes kittens/cats and even whines when she sees them in books. She like balls and bubbles and dogs. She loves cheese and still doesn't like eating from a spoon. She and daddy like to watch Playhouse Disney some mornings. The hot dog song is hard to get out of your mind! We think she has a few words including: Hi, Da-da, No, Yeah (while clapping), and ma-ma (only a few times when desperate). She is so busy that I have a hard time knowing how to get things done. She doesn't really sit still and with all her pulling up needs to be supervised. Any tips veteran moms?

Easter dress drama

I was so excited to have Chloe wear her first Easter dress this Sunday. I had the dress, got shoes and a hair bow to match. Sunday morning came and her morning nap was a bit of a struggle and so I was a bit flustered trying to get us all out the door to make it to the 11am service. Brent was helping me get Chloe dressed and she started throwing a fit when I was putting it on (something she has been doing when we put clothes on her). She would just pull and pull at the dress fabric getting so frustrated, she REALLY hated the dress. So while I got ready I had Brent see how she did in her dress. A few moments later I hear a BOOM, and crying. She was sitting up and was pulling so hard on the dress that it pulled her forward, flat on her face. So sad, kinda funny, but sad. I was REALLY upset that I was going to have to forgo my Easter dress dream. I just didn't want her falling on her face all morning in the church Nursery. So after a mommy melt-down, read:tears, freaking out about what she would wear, more tears. We put her in a skort outfit, stuck a bow in her hair and called it good. I have no pictures of her in her first Easter dress. I must say that I was quite bothered by how much I cared about what my baby looked like on Easter. It seemed so trivial given the message of Salvation and the Resurrection. In some ways the dress drama put me in touch with my own need for Jesus. The rest of the day was wonderful and we ended it sharing Chinese take-out with some dear friends. I do have some pictures of her later in the day. The 'Easter bunny' brought her a swing for our backyard. Love this little sweetie!

Our dogs were a bit confused about having a baby in their backyard, but I got some pictures of them. Nigel is the big dog (Irish wolfhound/lab), he is always outside, and cheerful. Charlie is our inside dog (Sheltie mix), camera shy, skittish, and barks at his own shadow. Doesn't he look thrilled about all of this?! Maybe it's the bark collar, the camera, the baby? Who knows this dog is weird!

What we've been UP to

Things around here have been lots of fun with spring weather and baby exploration. It feels like a lot to me, I can't imagine how Chloe must be feeling. She is constant motion. These days she is cuter than ever as she is crawling at warp speed and pulling up on everything! I feel like I can't take my eyes off of her for a second. I know head bonks happen and they certainly have in our home so far. In the past few days she has figured out that moving her legs will move her closer/further away from things. I am thinking she will be walking before her 1st birthday. Well, it keeps us on our toes, I am crawling around the living room most of the day just keeping up and spotting her. I really love her curious spirit, applaud it and encourage her explorer's heart. One of her favorite time of day is around 5 pm, our front door is open and sunlight is cast on our wood floors. She will spend a lot of time playing with her own shadow, waving hands, trying to kiss her shadow, enjoying my attempts of shadow puppets (a dog is all I can do at this point). She is intrigued by it, and it make us laugh! More pictures of my sweet Chloe Lynne.

SO BIG!!!!

She is standing under the table, so cute, so busy!
I got her a punching balloon and she loves it (always supervised).
Loving the summer skort. What I love even more are her sweet, chubby baby legs!