Almost caught up!! Here we are. We made it. My hair may be a little bit grayer. My back is definitely more tired. And most days I feel like my brain is totally fried. But I have something pretty awesome to show for all that. I have a curly haired, chatty, opinionated, cuddly, brave, big-grinned, screeching, intelligent and sweet girl. I pinch myself everyday with this one. The miracle that I have a daughter is never lost on me. Oh the things we’re gonna do together, Toonie! The possibilities are endless. I just pray that when she’s older she likes hanging out with me. Psh! What am I talking about?! I’m a blast. Moving on….
Stats: 20 lbs & 29″ long. (At birth she was 7 lbs & 18.5″ long) Growing well as you can see! I don’t know the percentiles because Henry took her for her check-up and we all know men don’t give a shit about percentiles. Ergo, he doesn’t remember. But I can assure you that she is heavy and STRONG. Now that she’s walking like a champ, being held is the last thing she wants to do. She does that charming thing where she arches her back so you practically drop her. I get it! I get it! Go!
Good lookin’: Hair is curly and sandy brown, eyes are blue, and still holding strong at 8 teeth. Oh, and the kissiest lips ever.
Nicknames: Lo, Petunia, Tunia, Toonie, Scoonie, Scootie. Alex calls her: Kwowie, little geerl, tuna, or baby.
Tricks: If you ask, “Chloe where is your eye? (or ear)”, she’ll do it. However, sometimes she gets them mixed up. Still a work in progress. Evelyn has taught her some spanish. If you say “ojitos”, which means eyes, she’ll scrunch her face and blink. Honorable mentions go to: Waves bye, can smack her lips when you say “kiss”, & dancing when she plays with her activity table. Anyone else thinking DJ?
Words: Mama, Dada, Cat, Yes, Baba (for bottle. She’s really good at this one)
Likes: Walking, being chased, climbing on Alex’s bed, opening Alex’s dresser drawers and throwing everything out, bottles, putting rocks or bark in her mouth, and her purple hippo. I call it Bee-Boo, but my Mom calls it She-Boo. It stinks like slobber and the first time I hand washed it, the water was brown. So my goal is to wash it every week to avoid the nastiness from being chewed on and then dragged along the floor.
Dislikes: Falling down when she clearly wants to run, really loud noises like balloons popping, not being able to eat rocks and bark, dirty diapers, and new teeth.
Cloth diapers: I really went out on a limb trying these things out. Especially, with a 2nd child. Who has time for that!? Apparently, I do. I’m REALLY glad I took a chance and bought these. I wish that I had used them for Alex and I’d recommend them all day long. Aside from the money savings (probably around $2,000+ after all is said and done) and the earth friendly factor, they are soft on her buns, chemical free, and pretty darn cute. I do use one disposable at night because the cloth diapers just don’t hold 12 hours worth of pee very well. But I’m ok with it and Chloe doesn’t know the difference. How is it when she poops, you ask? Well, infant poop just washed right now. No pre-scraping required. But since she’s been on food, it comes out pretty well “formed” and is easy to just dump right into the toilet. Easy peasy. And they are still bright white on the inside. No stains. I swear by the BumGenius powder laundry detergent. Gets them smelling so fresh and so clean.
This leads me to a few pats on the back. I had some lofty goals with Chloe and I’m happy to say I accomplished them all. I nursed/pumped like a mad woman for 8 months. I would have gone longer, but my work schedule just go too busy to keep it up. Nursing was my favorite time EVER with my kids. I was always sad to stop. My boobs were pretty sad too. #saggy. But 8 months is still great, nonetheless. I used cloth diapers. And I made all of Chloe’s baby food. All of this was a huge challenge. Mostly just finding the time. But somehow I just made it work. I came across a great quote that I think applies beautifully to motherhood. “I can’t do this. But I’m going to do it anyways.” That’s how I look at most things I think. But it probably comes out of my mouth more like, “Fuck it. Here we go.” Not nearly as eloquent.
Food: Loves all fruit, eggplant, chicken, cheerios, pasta, raisin bread, cheese, quesadilla, yogurt, broccoli, artichoke hearts and MILK. Does not care for avocado or green beans. Maybe later.
Sleep: Sleepin’ like a champ. She is almost always very ready to go down by 7:30. I put all her stuffed animals around, put a paci in, turn on the glow worm music toy, and hit the sleep sheep for a little white noise too. Typing all that out makes it seem a bit ridiculous, but she digs it so I don’t give a sh*t. She rolls around for a bit but when I check on her, she is out like a light and sleeping on her tummy. Last night she was upset, which was odd. I think its more teeth, so I hit her with some Tylenol and that helped. She does this thing where she snuggles in that crook of your neck and shoulder and just kind of moans/grunts at you. Its like a very short “mm”. And I reply to her “mm-hmm”. And this goes back and forth for awhile. Just a little end of the day chat with my girl. It hard out there for a pimp little munchkin, ya know? Sometimes I stare at myself holding her in her closet mirror and just marvel at how big she is now. More and more like a big kid everyday. Then I’ll play nosey, use my finger to trace around her face and give more smooches and that usually gets her in “I’m ok to lay back down in my crib” mode.
My darling Chloe,
Words will forever fail me when it comes to telling you how much I love you. You were a pistol from the days you were in m’belly and have kept the party rolling ever since. You continue to be one of the most beautiful children I’ve ever seen and I’m still shocked you came from
me and your father. This year has been the hardest one to date, by far! But you are worth it to
the moon and back. I love your cuddles, your slobbery kisses, goofball antics and even your high-pitched, ear-piercing cries. You are one of kind, kid and we are lucky to call you “ours”. I can’t wait to see what this next year brings….hopefully more sleep than last year. Love you madly, Petunia.
xo, mom, dad, and Leko
Year two…Fuck it. Here we go.
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