Looking back on my life I realize that I was able to do so much with my strong body. I was the fastest girl in school, I could do a standing back tuck, and I could bench press 150 lbs by my freshman year of high school. I was insanely strong, and I was able to live my life more fully because of it.
Just for fun, Chloe does chin-ups on the side of the dining room table. Chin-ups for crying out loud. She has been able to do a somersault by herself for a couple of months now. Also, she is an amazing jumper. She can actually get an inch or two off the floor. When she first started jumping she would start in a squatting position and she would make you count for her until she felt like jumping. Now she just runs around jumping everywhere. She also dances like her life depends on it. If she ever hears a tune playing on the television or radio or even on a toy she will bust a move. Her dance moves are all different and all so hilarious. She has a helicopter arm swing, a booty bounce, a one arm swing and bounce, and any combination of those things while spinning. Speaking of spinning, she loves to spin all of the time. She is so silly.
The climbing never stopped. If anything she is worse now than ever before. The difference is now we just sort of let her climb instead of fight her constantly. She loves to climb on tables and chairs and she even tries to go up and down the stairs upright without holding on. She climbs into her stroller and high chair, but the worst climbing of all started about a month ago when she finally figured out she can climb out of her crib. I swear you'd think the world was ending if you came to our house for the three or four days we battled the crib climbing. I was so worked up about it that it was all I could talk about. That was the last "safe" spot I had to put her. I could take a shower in the morning without worrying that Chloe was going to be hanging from the ceiling fan when I got out. And now it is the most dangerous place to put her?
With the help of technology that is far more sophisticated than my parents had when I was a baby, we used our digital monitor to spy on her in stealth mode. Whenever she would start to crawl out of the crib we would run in and correct her. After about four days she figured out that climbing out of the crib wasn't going to fly; however, three days ago I woke up to a ker-thump and "waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" and sure enough she had climbed out of the crib and bumped her little head. Thankfully she only had a goose egg, and when we asked her if she was going to crawl out of her crib that night she shook her head and said "NO!" She is a daredevil, but she is no fool. Regardless, we are thinking of moving her to a bed here shortly.
Chloe has a few favorite things and I'll just list them here below in order of obsession:
1. Papa - Chloe is deeply, madly, insanely in love with my Dad. When she is with her Papa nothing else in the world matters. We are usually happy when we leave because she turns into such a Papa snob that no one else can hold her or feed her or look at her. Griffin feels the same way about my Dad.
2. Griffin - Chloe still loves Griffin second best. She chases him around everywhere. She steals his ball and makes him chase her. Most of all she mauls him. She climbs all over him and rubs her little face into his fur. Also, she loves to bite his ears. She gets in trouble if we catch her, but he just lets her do it. It seems a little backwards that we are worried that our child is going to bite your dog. It should be the other way around, right?
3. Outside - Chloe would be outside all day if we let her. Dada likes to be outside, but this Mama has never been a huge fan of sitting outdoors. Chloe has been loving the summer and playing in the backyard.
4. Computer/iPhone - I know that it is sad that a technological device is fourth on the list. Chloe loves singing and learning her alphabet. Just once I let her play a toddler alphabet game. After that she became completely obsessed with playing online computer games, and whenever she sees a laptop she throws a tempertantrum if you don't let her play. I have a few iPhone apps for her and sometimes she gets that way about the phone, too.
5. Books - Chloe loves to read books to you, read them to herself, or have them read to her. She usually has to do the picking, though. She can be very picky about her books!
6. Sesame Street - I'm going to point the finger at my Mom for getting her hooked on this show, but I have to say that I'm grateful to have Melmo babysit Chloe for free every morning while I get ready. It is much easier to put myself together these days!
Chloe seems to be picking up the English language. For a while she was saying a new word every day. She will repeat almost any word you say, but it seems like lately she has put her focus into listening and understanding rather than speaking. She understands most of what we ask her and we are able to give her choices, which has made life a lot easier. Her favorite words, of course, are "more" and "no," but she does have a whole stash of words like turtle, circle, heart, and tractor up her sleeve.
Chloe sings all of the time. My favorite is that she sings her ABC's except she sings it "B, B, B, B, B, B, B" and sometimes when I'm singing it with her she will fill in a few of the letters. She sounds a lot like me when I go to Catholic mass "We believe B, B, B, one God, B B B, forever, amen." She can point out most of the letters when we ask her, and she is also pretty good at her shapes. She seems less interested in counting, but she can tell you how old she is!
Chloe also loves animal sounds. She knows the sounds for at least twenty animals. Her favorite is the monkey because her Dada taught her how to act like a crazy monkey while she makes the sound. She loves to do the elephant nearly just as much and sticks her little arm out in front of her like a trunk.
My sweet, sweet baby is developing quite the little temper in her age. She has a very short fuse. Actually, I'm not even sure she has a fuse. It is more like a switch. If you take her tooth brush from her before she is good and ready to stop brushing her teeth she will instantly turn into a wet noodle and throw her body to the floor and scream. It is hard not to laugh it is so ridiculous. We have one or two of these a day. Sometimes she will be so pissed that she will swat at me and then she gets a timeout. She just has to sit in the corner for 30 seconds, but I'll be dammed if I'm going to let my kid swat me without some form punishment even if "she is too young to know." Sometimes I will scream back and "cry" with her with the same intensity. My neighbor told me about this method. It is hilarious. She will stop and stare at me like I'm crazy and then I'll tell her in a more reasonable voice why she can't have what she wants. That works about 50% of the time.
My once willing-to-eat-anything-you-put-in-front-of-her-face baby has now become a very picky eater. I blame this on two things: blueberries and raspberries. Once she discovered the sweet goodness of the vine she has never been the same. She has downgraded to peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, and chicken nuggets (Yes, it's true; the mother who once made her own baby food sold out for processed chicken who-knows-what.)
(Oh my God if you are still reading this then bless you. I would have fallen asleep eating a PBJ paragraphs ago.)
Chloe, at 18 months I love you more than ever. I love to sit and cuddle with you and just stare at you. I can hardly believe we created something so beautiful. I feel so blessed to be your Mama, and you melt my heart on a daily basis. Please love me forever, but know that I'll always love you more. That's just how it works. Love, Mama.
First, I am partial to Miss Chloe's type of figure. I happen to think it's one of the best out there and she is simply beautiful! If a girl is going to be short, she might as well be strong too! And mama, sign this girl up for gymnastics already! If she can do a somersault on her own at 18 months, she'll be way ahead of everyone else in her class. If Chloe is going to have a strong build like her mama, her body will be perfect for a gymnast. At our gym, the parent participation class started at 18 months. It's a fun thing to do together at the end of a long workday :)
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