Chloe is Eight Months Old!!

Chloe is eight months old today!!

Another week since our last blog and we have celebrated another first holiday (Happy Belated July 4th!), been on yet another road trip, and Chloe has another tooth!! We are busy people. We are tired people.

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Here's Chloe on July 4th, at McDonalds, eating Ronald McDonald cookies! Yum!

We went to Oil City this past weekend to attend my boss Jeff's wedding to Chris Ann. The nuptuals were beautiful. The reception was a lot of fun. Chloe was a champ for the whole weekend - including the near 7-hour drive each way (I have become quite the baby entertainer !!). They had a Polka band at the wedding and Chloe seemingly, and surprisingly, loved it. Brad was holding her on the floor and she was going nuts 'dancing'!! It was really cute. People were surprised how well she was hanging in there and not fussing at all. She enjoyed some mashed pototoes for dinner too!

She now has 6 teeth total! The other top one finally made a full debut this weekend along with a new lower one. It's unbelievable. And, she is quite enjoying them we think. When she eats one of her snack puffs, she now bites off little pieces where she formally just ate the puff in its entirety. Practicing I suppose, seeing what those teefers can do! I told her she is only to bite food............not Mommy! Let's hope she understands what I am saying!!!

Today she was really trying to stand solo. She goes from the crawling position, to feet on the ground, hands on the ground, butt in the air -- and that's as far as she can make it...so far. It took me a while to figure out that's what she was trying to do - I just thought it was funny the first few times. And it is. It is so amazing to watch babies grow and discover and acquire new skills, one at a time.

I have been taking Chloe in the pool a few times a week when we are home and she just loves it! It is really fun seeing how excited she gets. We don't stay too long, but it's a nice break from being closed up and it's not shopping! Yesterday I had her in there so long her lil toe toes were all wrinkled!

She is sleeping a tad better these days. Still not sleeping thru the night and I am not sure if its the teeth or hunger or both. She eats less I think than she once was. She is just not interested. She likes her snacks and her biscuits tons though and thats probably because its not 'baby food' and she can assert her independence and its crunchy and hard on her teeth. Oh well - you win some, you lose some. She will eat when she is hungry...I am not stressing about it!

Brad's parents are due in tomorrow for a visit and we are excited to have them. They will be stunned and amazed at thier granddaughter's growth since the last time we saw them. Should be a fun few days!

Vacation in Bermuda!!

Where to begin.....

We got up bright and early last Saturday morning and headed to the airport for our week long vacation in my home island of Bermuda. Chloe went on her first airplane ride!!! And, she was so, so good. People commented on how well behaved such a little baby was during the flight, and she didn't even sleep a wink!

The vacation was wonderful! My Mom put us up in a little guesthouse just outside the capital, Hamilton, so the location and the accomadations were great. The place was cool, quiet, clean and cozy. The weather on the other hand was completely crappy nearly the entire time. What a bummer! It rained every day except the first day we were there and the Friday before we left. This left us with a lot of nothing to do unfortunately. We got to see a lot of family and friends, and that's what's important. We didn't get to the beach and/or pool too much like planned.

We did manage to go out to dinner a few times, run around town in the rain and pick up a few souvenirs, go to the aquarium and zoo (in the rain), go to Dockyard twice and a lot of just hanging out with the fam.

On that one sunny Friday....we took Chloe in the ocean!!! Thank heavens...I would have cried if we went all the way to Bermuda and never got her in the ocean. And, she LOVED it!!! After we left Snorkel Park we went back to our guesthouse and I took her in the pool again. And she loved that too. So, that one day here must have been bad timing and mood. Yay!

Chloe also has 3 more teeth coming in!!!!!!! What a nice vacation...poor baby! She didn't sleep so well the entire time we were there and we quickly figured out why. Her top two front teeth are cutting, and one of them has completely broken the skin (so cute), and one on the bottom, a neighbor to her two teeth, is also coming in. Naps were rare as she was so severly distracted she didn't want to really eat or sleep. It was also very hot and humid, despite all the rain, and she is like her Mama and needs cool air to rest! Her Papa on the other hand dozed off on the floor every single time we were at my Moms - exhausted from the heat. Funny! So, she left with two teeth and is coming back with five!!!! Unbelievable.

She isn't doing too much else new at the moment. She has started to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time and that's very exciting to witness. Oh - she did climb all the stairs at my Moms - who knew? She just went there and did it....not a second thought about it. Our baby is growing so much!! She has been very hungry and sleepy today....making up for lost time I suppose. We are all recuperating!

We want to express our sincerest appreciation and thanks to those at home who helped make our visit wonderful....you know who you are!

Lots of New Things...

It's only been a week since I filled you in on little Miss Chloe - but she has been a busy gal this past week! She has been to new places, tried new things and learned new skills. It's crazy!

We had our wonderful friends in from Oklahoma visiting this past week - Jamie, Brett and Eli. It was really fun to watch a 1 1/2 year old boy interact with a 7 month old baby girl! Upon entering into our little condo for a visit, in one fell swoop, more baby proofing was immediately required! Eli showed me yet how much more we have to do because I am sure our lil munchkin isn't too far behind. All in all, we had a really great time visiting with them and can't wait until we meet up again - whenever that may be.

During the past week Chloe took her first dip into the pool!!! She didn't really dig it too much. I think she was wondering what the heck kind of bath tub is this? It's gi-normous and there are NO bubbles?!? She cried. Which I was not too happy about seeing as we are going to Bermuda in a few days and I am really excited to take her to the beach! Oh well. I will just keep trying.

We also went to the zoo (and on the train) for the first time. Another journey! Two babies, four adults, two strollers, two very large baby bags - on the metro and at the zoo!! It was exhausting, but a lot of fun. Brad and I already plan to go again (hey - it took us 6 years to go - now we will be going 6 times a year - maybe!) with Chloe and go early in the morning to see more of the animals. We got to see the pandas, gorillas, elephants and a few other creatures and that was enough!

Chloe has also learned how to wave!! It is so exciting to encourage her to wave. She had done it here and there...but, we were not sure how intentional it was. And this weekend she waved bye bye to Brett, Jamie and Eli as they were leaving and we were waiving. We jumped up and down in a parking lot. Yes, we did. And since then, she has been doing it much more frequently and much more intentionally.

She has also gotten very, very, very, loud! She just randomly yells. Its cute. Not annoying - yet. It can be a tad embarrassing depending on where you are. Like at a Japanese Steakhouse (it was Brad and I's 4 year wedding anniversary on June 11th)...but, everyone thought it was pretty cute and didn't seem to mind too much. She also cried bloody murder at the hibatchi fire...again - pretty funny to us. She does make the Ba sound pretty clearly now. We are anxiously awaiting a Ma or a Da. But, Ba is good too. In addition to making a lot of noise she has started to move her mouth (a lot). Brad calls it a fish face. And, he is right. She moves her lips, but doesn't make a sound! Just wait until she figures this one out and starts making all that noise and moving those lips!! We are in for it.

Chloe is slightly mischevious....as are most babies figuring out the world they live in. She manages to get into absolutely everything. She is still pulling her self up constantly and we think the standing alone is around the corner. She finds everything that an adult naked eye would never see - this I do not like (I had to extract a strand of carpet from her mouth today!! Scary!). She pulls everything and anything off of shelves and tables. Fun picking that all up. She can now open drawers. She has also started crawling over things, like me, pillows and furniture.

It's just amazing all the new things she can learn in a day! And some things haven't changed much at all. Like the eating and sleeping situation. Still not the best eater or sleeper...but, we just keep at it.

Here we come Bermuda!! We cannot wait to visit my family and friends on the island. Only my Mom has meet Chloe so I think she has a lot of people waiting to meet her for the first time. It's going to be a busy week and I am going to love and cherish each moment! Probably won't get a chance to blog again (and....what else can she do in 5 days...LOL!) with all the packing and everything else I have to do to prepare to travel for a week. As always we hope that everyone is doing great and enjoying the summer so far!

Chloe is Seven Months Old!

Seven on Seven. Chloe is seven months old today. Amazing!

Brad and I are trying to teach her how to wave and kiss....and we are getting very close! Its so exciting. Sometimes she waves both arms and recently just one - which seems more like an intentional wave. Tonight she finally gave me a kiss (three in a row actually). Mind you they are open mouth, sloppy kisses...but I loved each of them and can't wait for more!

She has been having a bit of a rough time lately. We think she is teething again. She is waking often thru the night, not too interested in food (again) and gets pretty cranky at times. This is all to be expected though, right?

We haven't had too many bumps lately as she is getting slightly more stable with her standing. She has finally learned to fall back on her bum as opposed to foward on her face. This is good, real good. She can also cruise a little bit along the coffee table and such. Sometimes she thinks that she can spin around and jump from one place to the other (the couch, chair and table). But, not so much, but at least she tries. She is so smart it's crazy. The other day she pulled two books down from the tv stand, stood on them and advanced her reach and discovery. Geesh!

Chloe is starting to make a lot more noises....we know she can't wait to talk...like her Mother!! It's pretty cute, and sometimes scary (the monster noises) all the sounds she can make. Brad swears she says things (that only he can hear) - like 'I want my mommy'!! Funny stuff.

Road Trip

This weekend we made another road trip. Chloe has another state under her belt...or bib! We went to PA to visit with the Kell family and attend a wedding shower. We had a wonderful time. Chloe got to see her cousin Claire again and meet her other cousins, the John twins - Kate and Mackenzie. It was so cute to see all the little girls together. And of course it was nice to see all the other aunts, uncles and cousins she had yet to meet as well as the ones she has grown to know and love already (Grandma, FredPa, Andie, Mitch, Connie and Ed).

She did o-kay on the 3.5 hour trip down and excellent on the way home. We had her going all day on Saturday and I think she is still recuperating from all the excitement as she has been sleeping like an angel since. Yay for us!

Check out a short clip of her playing with her new First Learning Purse Auntie Andie, Uncle Mitch and Claire got for her. She is so cute...so was getting so excited as the purse sings and talks to her.

Not too much else new. Weather has improved and we are ready for the sunshine. And maybe the pool! Hope everyone is having a great start to thier summers!

Winnie - wherever you are, whatever you are doing - have a piece of cake for us! Happy 88th (June 2nd)!! We know you are looking down and over us just as much as we are looking up at and remembering you.

Another Well-Baby Visit

Chloe had her 6-Month check-up last Thursday (it was scheduled a little late at 6 1/2 months) and everything went great. The doctor, as expected, was surprised at her skills. She said that she was performing at the 9-Month level!! Crawling, standing, exploring and all that jazz. She is still in the 25th percentile for both weight (15lbs 4oz) and height (25 1/2 in) and the 50th percentile for her head circumference - thats the large brain that she is encasing!! She gave us a few tips on the feeding and they have all worked because Chloe is eating like a champ now. Finally! We switched from rice (yuk) to oatmeal (yum) cereal, both with baby food mix-ins for added flavor. She also can have other things - like snacks! That has been pretty exciting. So far she has tried bananas, oranges, cantelope, sweet potatoe puffs, strawberry yogurt bites, cheese puffs and today we got her some vanilla flavored teething biscuits...that was a messy, funny lil cookie. She really liked those I think primarily because she can hold it...and as we know, she thrives on being in charge! She is the boss afterall. Here is a video of her standing up. That's alllllllll she wants to do now!! It is so funny how once they learn something new....the don't care for the other skills as much. The same thing happened with rolling over, creeping, crawling...now standing. Walking is next, right?? OMG!

We had a very nice Memorial weekend. We spent Saturday with Connie and Ed and went to a local Vienna Fest. It was really nice what they had set up. Chloe slept thru it as she does whenever we take her anyplace new and somewhat exciting. Take her to a restaurant or a mall, where you want her to sleep...nope. Sunday we ran around and today a little bit more. We picked up our professional pictures - they turned out really nice. Yay!

Next weekend we are gearing up for another out of town weekend. To Uniontown, PA (FredPa's hometown) for a cousin's wedding shower. This should be fun. Chloe will finally get to meet another slew of family. And the twins! And we get to see cousin Claire again! And of course the rest of the clan. We are very excited!!

Other than that not much else. More baby proofing of the condo, a few new toys (and clothes) for baby and more of the usual day to day stuff. Still working on routine...it's coming, same days easier than others. She is sleeping a bit better thru the night now - thank heavens. She is talking more and more. And, its still as sweet as the first sound. Contrary to the usual, we think MaMa may come before DaDa. She is definitely a Mommy's girl for now. Brad swears he hears her say (or cry/scream MaMa) when I am not in sight and she wants me. Precious.

We cannot believe our little cutie pie is over 2 feet tall, has two teeth, is on the verge of walking, and of course still manages to capture of hearts and fill our house with smiles and laughter each day. What a blessing!

And finally - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!! (May 26th)

Hugs and kisses from your girls! We love you!!!

Picture Time!

I know I take a lot of pictures myself, but Brad and I wanted to see what the professionals could do. So, off the lil supermodel went to her first studio session. She was really, really good for the whole thing. They were running a bit behind, which got on my nerves seeing as a 6 1/2 month baby (not to mention her parents) has only so much patience. The only real difficult thing doing picutres at this stage in the game is that Chloe did not want to sit still! She can roll over, crawl and stand up now...so, getting the poses were a tad hard. But,...we got some great ones I think! Nearly 3 hours later - we were done with the shoot and the ordering and all that. Geesh! Check out the slideshow for more pics...what an angel!

Early Riser!!

Well, she did it. She can now pull herself up to a standing position!!! Chloe went to bed fairly early last night only to wake to the thunderstorm half hour later. She wasn't crying...so, Brad and I left her for a little while thinking she may put herself back to sleep. After another almost half hour of this....Brad decided to go check on her. She was in the corner of her crib, grinning, trying to pull herself up. It is so cute! She gets to her belly, then to her knees, and then pull - she is up! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! This baby is going to have me run ragged in no time.

All this forced Brad and I (mostly Brad) to reconstruct Chloe's crib at 10pm last night, dropping it to a lower position. And, one would think since we went to bed nearly 3 hours past our usual bedtime that we would sleep in late, right? Nope. Who was I kidding? She was up three times last night and the earliest time to date this morning. Yay me! I just pray for a good nap today.

Not much else going on...just Chloe growing way too fast, her attention span decreasing by the second matched by her mischievousness increasing by the second and her just getting cuter and cuter!

Happy Mommy Day!!

My first Mothers Day! Every day with Chloe is special, but, this Sunday was the greatest of all - so far! Brad and Chloe pampered Mommy with lunch, a hair cut and color (which was much needed!) and a new VB bag! I don't know which part was the best? All of it! I wish it was every weekend. Enough about me.........on to the little one!

Chloe is almost sitting up. Check her out at lunch in a big girl high chair!! I have posted a video of her trying to sit up and crawling a bit. It is so hard to capture these things on photos/videos because she moves so fast, and you have to be fully prepared at all times (which I am not). She is so cute. She also seems like she wants to stand. One skill at a time baby girl!

As previously reported...she has two teeth. Only difference is I finally got proof for you! She does not like to show off her teefies at all....but, I did it (click on pic to enlarge)! So cute. No more have come in - yet. But I am sure they are just around the corner.

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Other than all that, not too much else. She is still eating...albeit not too much. She has not been sleeping thru the night for a few weeks now. I really don't know why or what else to do. She wakes up just famished it seems. I am just going with it for now. I usually get a short nap each day out of her. She doesn't seem to like to sleep as much as she used to (sigh). She is a growing baby and this is all part of the territory I supppose!

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We take her to the doctor on May 21st. She will be 6 1/2 months at that time - I wonder what our new 'instructions' will be and how much she weighs?

I know its a little late, but -

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MOMS OUT THERE!!!

Chloe is Six Months Old!

Oh my! It's so hard to believe that our lil baby girl is six months old! Where did the time go?

Chloe is growing so much, so fast. She now has two teeth!! One came in on Saturday, and one came in the next day on Sunday. I nearly fell over when Brad said he thinks there are two and not one. Now we suspect that more are coming again. Fasten your seatbelts boys and girls - or Mommy and Daddy!

She eats cereal (although she is not terribly interested in it yet) twice a day. We just started that this week. I feed her at mid-day and Brad feeds her in the evening. Works out quite well. She eats much better for him than for me. This could be due to a number of factors - a. its a different time of day b. its a different person or c. she knows I have the milk! - her food of choice. Its probably all of the above.

Chloe is still moving around everywhere. Today she nearly sat up by herself!! She also crawled a few steps for the first time today! She has gotten up on all fours before and has taken one movement or so, and rocks back and forth, but today (for our Skype session with Nana Banana) she actually moved foward in a crawling position. It was great! Wounded soldier is still her go to for now. Hey - its works!

Chloe also makes lots of noise. She is really learning the depths of what kinds of sounds she can make - and how loud she can be too. Loud. Whoa! Loud. She blows spit rasberries, and enjoys them very much.

She is just a wonderful little munchkin and we are so fortunate that we have a happy (for the most part!) and healthy baby in our lives. Cheers to the next six months! And lets hope they don't fly by us like the first! Even though...we know they will. Sigh.

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Funny - well kind of - tidbit - she bit me today! Three times. Yes, it took me that many times to figure it out. Let's hope this is not a habbit - or else there will be a lot of changes to this rascals' diet real fast!! Bottles and solids - no more boobies. Insert another sigh.