Christmas

This just wasn't quite Chloe's year for Christmas. She had a good time and everything, but it wasn't like she was super excited or anything. She kind of preferred just doing her own thing to opening up presents. Every once in a while she would show some interest, but most of the time, it was like she was just trying to appease us. I'm pretty sure that I opened more of her presents than she did! So here are some pictures of throughout the day!

So here we are first thing in the morning. Take a look at me...it's definitely first thing. Way before Chloe normally gets up. The place had been to just let her sleep...unfortunately she's such a light sleeper that didn't work out.

Here is Chloe "reading" Kelli's "book". Or at least that's what she (Chloe) calls it. Seems like every one has one of these...but I, unfortunately, am not a member of the cool kids club...

Chloe with her new little bean bag chair. And flashlight. That kid...

Once Chloe got this nifty little thing, she left all the action and found herself a nice, quiet little corner to hang out in. And just played. Wasn't really interested in opening any more presents. This is actually pretty neat...it's a bunch of cuts of meats and vegetables that are held together by velcro. You use the little knife to cut them up in pieces. Chloe loved it! It's the first thing she's done each morning she's been up since.

This is Chloe and her new friend, Aaron. He apparently made quite the impression on her. Chloe doesn't really take to ANYBODY, even after being around them several times. This was one of their first meetings and she was climbing all over him and dragging him around. Crazy. I can't really think of any reason why. Except maybe he's a Bears fan... ;)

Chloe and her cookie:

Her new horse. Funny story. Chloe really loves horses. We're at home Christmas night and I'm watching her...and she's pretending she's riding it, yelling, clear as day, "Yee Ha!" "Giddy-Up!". I'm thinking to myself, what the...??? She's not really saying that. I have NO idea where she picked that up from. But then I turned on Dora. Or I mean boots. And there was an episode with Pinto the pony. And Dora, I mean Boots, yells Yee Ha!, Giddy Up throughout the whole thing. It was a new episode, so she picked that one up quick...

The end of the afternoon:

And here was Chloe's big present. Her very own train table. And she loves it! She plays with it at least twice every single day.

That was Christmas in a nutshell. Be on the lookout for a more action packed post in the next few days...we've got lots of news!

Christmas Eve

NO!!!!

So "No" is Chloe's new favorite word. Within the last few weeks, she's mastered using it in phrases. Literally she uses a no in front of every word she says to show her disinterest in it. I think she says it so much because she knows it annoys me...

You don't believe me? Just watch. I have proof. And then there is some video of her dancing to her guitar playing. She usually does quite an impressive job of playing and dancing, but of course, never when the camera is on! So without further ado...some pictures and video!

Date Night

Me.

Pho.

Vietnamese spring rolls.

Grey's Anatomy.

What a night.

I admit, spending an hour eating in front of the TV probably wasn't the most productive way I could be spending my kid free hours, and eating take out by myself might be a bit pathetic, but it was nice. And relaxing.

I look forward to a second date.


And a little cuteness:

Oh Goodness...

What a lazy blogger I've been.

So Chloe has a stubborn streak a mile long. Probably several miles actually.

The funny.

I've talked before about how Dora was Chloe's first real word. And it wasn't even just Dora, she actually did the D-D-D-D-Dora. You all know the theme song. Well,about a few months ago, she just stopped saying it. I think I might have blogged about this recently. Everything is Boots now. At first I didn't think anything of the fact that when Dora came on she would say Boots. But then I told her to say Dora. Her response? Boots. I have tried EVERYTHING. I have tried bribing her with candy. Toys. I've even stooped as low as to withhold toys from her. But nothing works. I would have her say a bunch of random words really quick so she didn't have time to think, but the immediate response to Dora was always Boots.

I used to think that maybe it was a subconsious thing, but her responses have somewhat evolved. Come of the common responses we get now to "Can you say DORA?":

-"Boots."
-"Boots!!!!" (this is being screamed)
-Just a straight scream at the top of her lungs.
-No! Boots.
-No! I say Boots! (This is my favorite)
-Huge sighs
-or she's starting now to just ignore the question.

After Mark dropped her off one day, I tried a new tactic. Being funny. So I'm like, "Tell Dora bye-bye!" She kinds of laughs, so I repeat it, encouraging her to say it. I repeat it again, and she laughs. I again tell her to say it. "Say Bye-Bye Dora!". She looks at me, looks at him, then looks right back at me, I kid you not, and says, "See you later Boots!" Seriously!

The not so funny.

When Chloe is done eating something she has the tendancy to just throw it down. I'm pretty sure she's old enough at this point to follow directions. So today she had one of those pop ice things. You know the popcicle in the long plastic thing? Well, she has me cut it down as she goes so that she can get it out, as she's not quite able to keep pushing it up. She gets to the bottom and then just throws it on the floor. So I'm like, "No, No. Pick that up." She yells no and runs away. So I go get her and bring her back to the spot. Tell her again to pick it up. She yells no and is throwing a fit at this point. She's trying to run away but I won't let her. I again ask her to pick it up. She throws a fit and just starts hitting and kicking it. She finally reaches down and picks it up. Only to immediately throw it again. I put her hand down there and she REFUSES to pick it up. I bet we sat there on the floor for 10 minutes repeating this sequence as she's acting like she's being tortured. She finally picks it up. We walk over and get it in the trash. Whew!

We have showdowns like this a few times a week. She definitely give me a run for my money.

And to end with some pictures:

Zoo Boo

Ok. So. Halloween. I decided to dress Chloe up like a lion. Why, you ask? Because it's so freakin' cute to hear her go around roaring! I had to do it! I know, I know. But watch the video and you'll see. (You'll also notice her refusal to say Dora. Instead she says Boots. Each and every time.)

Today we went to Zoo Boo. Chloe had an awesome time dressing up in her costume and visiting with the animals. And here are the pictures to prove it!

My Hero

So maybe I'm the only one impressed by this, but....LOOK AT HER!

She does this several times in a row. And she'll just hang there, I'm not kidding, for like 1-2 minutes.

I think that's pretty awesome!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went on a visit to the pumpkin patch. This place definitely beat our expectations. There were things for everyone! We (Chloe) went on a pony ride, a hay ride, played in a bouncy house, pumpkin patch, and petting zoo. We had a corn dog, majorly disappointing curly fries, and some water. We capped off our visit with a trip to the farmers market. I'm completely sold on this place! We are going to have to come back so Chloe can try out the straw hill, straw mountain, and corn mazes!

Here are some pictures from our visit!

A Little View into Chloe's life...

You can't really tell here, but this is Chloe trying to decide which "baby" (see previous post) she wants to "brush". She goes through this process every time I do her hair.

This picture I just thought was cute :)

Disclaimer: Absolutely no babies were harmed in the taken of this picture. Actually this is Chloe's response to me asking her to stand still so I can take her picture. And actually you can apply this face to anytime you don't let her have her way. As soon as she realized it doesn't work she stops though, so that's nice. She doesn't quite understand that I think its adorable! (She actually keeps squinting her eyes really hard until she's able to squeeze tears out...it's crazy!)

These next two pictures are typical of what I experience when I put Chloe in a car seat. We went to a picnic the over the weekend about a half hour away and this was Chloe's reaction pretty much the whole time. After about 15 minutes I just told her to smile and blindly took her pictures a few times. Don't you feel bad for her???

These last few pictures are of Chloe playing with her "blocks". Notice the necklace and shades:)

An interesting note about this blocks: I went to the store on a mission to find her some blocks. I wanted some that stuck together as her coordination isn't the greatest yet and I wanted her to easily be able to build with them. So I'm envisioning finding a cheap $5-10/box. But no, this is all I can find....

$28.99 for this tub of blocks. Most of you who know me know that I don't like to spend a lot of money on things, especially toys. So I put this in my cart, intending to walk around the store and finish my shopping and make a decision at the end. Obviously I had a week moment and we came home the proud new owners of a $30 box of blocks!

But I must admit, I actually don't regret this at all! The child LOVES them. She would play with them all night, every night if she could. Every morning when I wake her up, before we even get downstairs, she starts chanting, "blocks, blocks, blocks". Every time we come home from somewhere, the same thing. And its not like its just because they are new...we've had them for over a month, possibly two and she STILL LOVES them. Probably the best toy I've ever gotten her.

See...I'm getting better

I've often talked about my aversion to anything messy where Chloe is concerned. Especially eating. I've tried to make do by stripping her down to her diaper when she eats, but man, can this girl make a mess! Seriously, it never fails that she gets whatever she's eating all over her hands and then rubs them all over her head/hair.



Today she got her first taste of sirloin. We put it over mashed potatoes w. gravy. And she did love it. In case you don't believe me:

(Notice the (clean) fork in her hand. Notice further how the food is getting in to her mouth.)

(Also notice that baller tattoo!)

(So this whole section was full of food. So even though she's using for hand for a fork, at least she's eating well :) )