Chloe Gives Kisses!!!

Finally! Chloe gives real kisses!! We have been trying and trying and trying to teach her kisses...it's just an ongoing casual thing I/we do all the time. My Mom does it to with her when we skype. I noticed on our skype session yesterday with Nana that Chloe was actually lunging toward the screen and giving her kisses. But...tonight....she really did it!! I was about to put her to bed and told her (as I do every night) to give her Daddy kisses....well....she went to him and gave him a real kiss. There have been some flukes over the past several months....but, this was real. And oh so cute!! Who would think a simple kiss could melt your heart? Brad deserved it as Chloe has been very much a Mommy's lil baby for days now, wanting nothing to do with Daddy. You win some, you lose some. I still can't get a kiss!!!!!

Check out the short video. It's a little bit dark....but you can see the kisses!

Costa Rica Vacation!!

Chloe took her second international vacation! We went for a week long vacation to visit my Dad in Costa Rica. My sister Sam and her boyfriend Aaron were also there. We had a wonderful time. Ready for our next visit already. This reality thing stinks!!! We did a lot of much needed relaxing. My Uncle Jr was kind enough to let us stay in his condos near Tamarindo for most of the week we were there. They are gorgeous! We had the pool only a few steps from our door and the beach was just a short walk across the street and down the hill. It was very secluded and isolated - we were completely out of touch with civilization (no phones, no computers, no internet), one restaurant, one mini mart, one bar and the closest gas station was an hour away.....at least we only had to go once! We did quite a bit of driving/sightseeing in our rented van (poor van took some serious beatings on our travels), a lot of grilling out and eating, a lot of swimming, played some games and really just hung around the house spending some quality time with the family. It was great!

Chloe did really well on the flights down and back. She was a bit antsy which was to be expected...this child sits still for nothing and no one!!! They were both really long days - up early, traveling all day and to bed late. There she was pretty good too. Of course everyone loved her and she got a lot of attention....she is probably wondering where everyone went! She did have a few falls....bumped her forehead, fell out of the bed and busted her lip!!! Gotta love tiled floors! She recovered at lightening speed, she is a real trooper. Mostly she just played, ate, slept and ran with the flow of things - her usual.

None of us got too burnt thank goodness. It was scortching hot there most days. For the rainy season it was awfully dry! We didn't mind too much as it allowed us to play outside more. We didn't see too many animals, but that's okay. We saw mucho cows!! If I never see a cow again, I will be alright! Lots of open fields with cows and horses, we even saw a donkey. And an iguana. No monkeys though. Next time!

Check out all the pics if you get a chance. Mostly Chloe and scenery. The country is truly beautiful and amazing....just like our baby!!

Thanks Dad, Adrianna, Kinky, Samantha and Aaron for making great memories with us!!

Chloe is Ten Months Old...plus a few days!!

Yes, I am a bit late with this posting. But, oh my....our baby is 10 months old!!! It's hard to believe that we have had her for 42 weeks now!! I get weekly newsletters - I am not nuts counting the weeks! Seriously...where did the time go!?

Chloe isn't doing too much new these days. And, let's face it...what's left for her to conquer at this stage!? She is pretty much hitting all her 'milestones' and then some. She is truly amazing. So smart, funny and pretty - you are not supposed to have them all! She manages though. We are so lucky to have her in our lives. We can't imagine our lives without her.

We are not so lucky at night. And some days too. This baby girl does not fancy the sleeping portion of being a baby. We are so tired, and she is so wired!!! Not sure why this is a problem, but it is. It was lots better for a while...and then just all of a sudden she starting resisting naps and will not stay asleep at night for any period of time. If anyone has any advice -- we are all ears! Except the 'cry it out method' as we learned we just can't bear that one. We still have hope each day that it will get better. Maybe she is plotting what skills she will acquire next, or more teeth are on the horizon. Who knows??

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Check out Chloe dancing (she loves to dance, clap and laugh along with the tele!!) - Yo Gabba Gabba!

A Day at the Park!

It was such a beautiful day here today. And Daddy is suffering big time with allergies. Boo hoo. So, Aunt Connie and Uncle Ed were kind enough to come by and scoop us up and take Chloe to a park to enjoy the weather. We went to a local park near thier home in Vienna. We had a wonderful time. The first time we checked our clocks, we had been there for over an hour and a half and it felt like ten minutes. Chloe was loving it.

Usually a bit afraid of just plain ol' grass, I was somewhat skeptical about how it was going to be. But, not today! She walked in the grass, on the pebbles, in the bark and most of all - in the dirt! She would make 'dirt angels' with her legs, but...oh, how she didn't want to touch it with her hands...at all. Such a girlie girl! But, not really. She got to swing on a baby swing (which I have been wanting to do for so long), she played with a princess bouncy ball and she rode some cars, bikes and tractor trailers! She also made a lil boyfriend, as she does wherever she goes (yes...I know, we are in for it!) - such a little flirt this baby girl!!! And, she stole two pairs of crocs and tasted those - one in pink, one in purple...not sure which she liked best. Disgusting, huh? All in all, we had a wonderful day. Thanks Connie and Ed!

Check out the two videos from today. One of her on the swing...and clapping (she loves to clap!). And the other is of her walking. She walks so good its amazing. She is not even 10 months yet!!

Chloe also managed to climb up onto the couch yesterday. Boobs...that was her motivation!! She did it four times. The first two were hunger climbs, then she was just plain proud and having fun. She did use my shirt to pull up a little, but the real thing isn't too far behind I am sure. She approaches lots of things now with her knee up in the air attempting to climb. Greeeat!

Not too much else going on. Looking foward to a long weekend. One day already gone...two more to go! Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!!

Wedding Weekend in West VA

Us Kells were off to yet another town, for another weekend, for another wedding!! We had a really great time and visit with the family in Morgantown, WVA. The wedding weekend was absolutely fabulous! We all got there on Friday night (a bit late - thanks DC traffic!!) but we still managed to have a wonderful evening at dinner and hanging out back at the hotel. We got to see Grandma Crystal, FredPa, Auntie Andie, Uncle Mitch and cousin Claire, Uncle Joe from Ohio, Connie and Ed from our neck of the woods and all of Brad's Dad sisters and brothers and their kids, and their kids' kids etc. It was a busy weekend.

Chloe was litterally walking circles around her cousin Claire. You can see there is a lot of love, and mutual curiousity between the two of them. They are close in age...but closer in size!! It was cute to see them interact as they are in such different phases of development. Claire is sitting up and crawling and is such a happy, bubbly baby. Oh - and very chatty!! I think she wins that prize. Chloe is very active - walking...and tries running...tumbling, clapping (she wins that prize - omg!!), pointing, waving, laughing (when everyone else (or the tv) is laughing) and is just very playful, with quite a short attention span I might add. She is always looking to move on to the next thing and can hardly just sit and enjoy whatever it is she is doing at the moment. To be almost 10 months again!! All that energy! This week Chloe learned how to stand up by herself and start walking. Before she had to have an object to pull up on first. Now, she bends over and squats and walks. We all went for a dip at the hotel pool and that was also a lot of fun. I dunked Chloe completely underwater for the first time!! It was funny. Courage in numbers I suppose - FredPa said it would be okay. And it was.

The wedding itself was really great. Jamie and Jimmy looked so pretty and handsome and threw a fun bash. The baby girls didn't last too long. It was a very, very long day for everyone. Grandma Crystal was kind enough to turn in early and babysit the pair of sleeping beauties and let Andie and I return to the wedding for a short while. We woke this morning, had breakfast and we were back in the car headed home.

Now, reality for another few weeks. Then,......we are off to Costa Rica!!! We cannot wait!!

Visit with the Great Grandparents

Chloe's Great Grandparents (Grandma Crystal's parents), Jamma and PopPop, came into town this weekend to spend time with us and Chloe and we had such a wonderful visit. We went out to eat a few times, we went to the museum today (Native American), hung out at home and.....they babysitted!!!!! On Saturday night they offered to watch Chloe and let Brad and I go out. Hesitantly, we went. We didn't go too far, and we didn't stay too long...but, it was really nice for Brad and I to get away, even if for just less than two hours. And, what a homecoming!! I hardly ever leave, so I hardly ever come home and have Chloe greet me. They said she was really good pretty much the entire time - she kept them busy. This baby girl does not stop for anything! Once home, she clung to me for the rest of the night....and, I didn't mind one bit!

Today we ventured out to breakfast and downtown to the mall. Jamma and PopPop wanted to go to the Native American Smithsonian. It was a pretty spectacular building with some really cool exhibits. Chloe did wonderful! We were there for over 2.5 hours (even sat thru a 13 minute movie!!)! Then we strolled to the Capitol Building. That was nice too. It was a gorgeous day and we were happy to be out enjoying it.

All in all, we had a great weekend. Next weekend we are off again to PA for our cousin's wedding. We will get to see the whole Mansfield clan in addition to a lot of FredPa's side of the family at the wedding and during the weekend. Yay!!

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Chloe is walking like a champ these days. She can walk really well from one side of the room to the other. She can change direction, turn in circles and recover from most unsteady wobbles. She does look a bit drunk at times...it's really cute. It seems like she wants to run...that's usually when she falls! Everyday she converts Chloe's Corner into Chloe's Disaster Zone! Of which Mommy and/or Daddy have to pick up each night. She is eating real people food (see pic of her eating her first grilled cheese - and clapping too!). She doesn't like that baby food much at all. Still only has a small appetite. She has a new bedtime routine (8pm bath and usually asleep by 9pm) and it has been going wonderfully for the past 3 weeks. It's good for all of us. She is still not sleeping thru the nite...oh well. I can't fight it. And, just in case you were wondering...that cry it out thing only lasted one night - for 30 minutes!!! Just not our style.

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Everything else is going good. I feel the pressure of the close of summer and am getting sad about that. I don't want it to end! When it does...it means her first birthday is around the corner! NOO!! But, we have a few more adventures in store before then so it's okay!

Chloe's Costume Poll

As Chloe's first Halloween approaches I am in search of the cutest costume for her and I need your help.

Vote for your fave on the poll (sidebar)!!

Here are your choices:

Bunny

Butterfly
Cow
Ladybug

Lamb
Piggy
Fairy

Zebra

Chloe is Nine Months Old!!!

Chloe had her Nine-Month Well-Baby visit today. It went pretty great...no really great - no shots!! Just one prick! The doctor, as usual, was very happy with her growth - physically and developmentally. Chloe weighed in at 17lbs 4oz and 27in. She is still in the 25th percentile ("petite" as the doctor described her) for both her weight and height and 50th percentile for her head circumference. She thought Chloe looked a tad anemic (pale lips) so we had her tested. She needed a score of 11 to pass, and she got an 11.0 (thus the prick). She screamed as the nurse was coming for her with the lil pricker thing. Funny girl. She recovered rather quickly, thank goodness.

We also discussed her eating and sleeping habits. And, we got more tips on the food which was helpful. I can give her a whole bunch of things,...with confidence now! I was trying to amp up the food intake for her recently anyways but I am not always so lucky...she doesn't eat too much at all. And the dreaded sleeping issues we have been having were confronted....argh....she wants us to try to let her cry it out and all that jazz so that she learns to put herself to sleep. Its good, just going to be tough. She said 4-6 months, or 14-16 lbs, is when you can start this. So...we are there. Didn't really dive into it today or tonight....but, we will. Who wants to hear a baby cry? Not me.

Other than that not too much else going on. We have had some beautiful days here in VA recently. And of course our pool has been closed all week and will be for the next week too. Sigh. So, I ventured outside with the munchkin today, and a blanket, and an array of toys, snacks and water. Well...it was great. All 25 minutes of it. I was getting bit up...and it was really sunny. I didn't want her to get burnt or bitten. Oh well. Such is life.

Here's the Lil' Hot Stepper!

After about a dozen or so short videos - - I finally got a short clip of Chloe walking!!! I took her to the mall yesterday for a little bit and let her play at the indoor play area (what a freakin' zoo!!). She had a really good time. She had one lil boyfriend (see him below). LOL!! He was one (of the few) sweet kids. He even gave her a kiss. He was so gentle. But, we had a great time playing on the soft tree trunks, logs, lady bugs, frogs and playing tag with another group of admirers (that was a bit tiring for Mommy!). The most rewarding thing was she slept so well last night. Ahhhhh....

Where Did The Time Go??

I knew Chloe was growing at lightening speed - I say it all the time.....in emails to friends, on the blog for all to read, on the phone to family members, on facebook to long lost pals, in passing to neighbors and so on......but today I really realized.....my baby is growing up.

As I lay in bed with Chloe, putting her down for a much needed and much fought nap (of which I did succeed, if only for a mere hour) it dawns on me. The room is quiet, all I really hear is her breathing...and I stare at the picture on my dresser. It's of her. A sonogram. There she is - a one-dimensional human being that kicked in my tummy. Stuck in the frame, I have another picture of her from when she was only a few weeks old. There she is - a two-dimensional baby girl smiling back at me. And then I look down. There she is. It's my beautiful three-dimentional Boo Boo (that's what I call her). And I am stunned. I am happy, I am overwhelmed. She is about to be NINE months old!! Where did the time go?

I know where the time went...but, when you get to the point where your baby is as old as you carried her for - it's a bit of a strange feeling. I am so happy, but at the same time...I don't want it all to go too fast. Already there are so many fleeting moments and memories jumbled in my brain. But, it's all okay. We have a deal.....she will stop at 1. She will forever be 12 months and 31 days!! No - it'll be okay, it'll be wonderful watching her grow up (but, slowly, please....).
On to more exciting news...............Today, Chloe woke up and was ready to WALK!!! We all slept in this morning, and when we entered the living room to start our day, she decided today was the day she was really going to give it a good go. Up til now, she has been taking one or two steps at a time. Sometimes three or four as a fluke. But today she has been walking five/six plus steps at a time today, all day. Its magical! She also motions with her hands, "Come here" - we think she may have picked this up from us encouraging her "Come, walk to Mommy/Daddy". It's pretty cute. Needless to say...today, there has been a lot of clapping!!!!!!!!!!