Chloe - 8 Months

Chloe is now eight months old and I am starting catch a glimpse of the "kid" in her. Paul's Grandma T bought Chloe this really cool wagon from a garage sale this summer. Last weekend was the first time we went home in maybe forever, and Paul decided to try out her cool new toy. We sat her in the bottom and started pulling her down the driveway and it took one, two, three seconds before she was beaming from ear to ear. She stood up and held on to the sides and rode that little wagon down the dirt road like the daredevil I always thought she would be. It was adorable. When I took her inside to change her diaper she actually started crying because she wanted more wagon. So there I was just standing on the porch watching my husband pull my beautiful daughter around in this wagon and I was thinking... how did we get here? I'm watching my baby do kid things. It's amazing. It's terrifying. It's indescribable.


On top of that my Dad taught her how to stick out her tongue. And it didn't take her very long to figure out that if she sticks her tongue out at people, nine out of ten people will stick their tongue out back at her. Chloe's other favorite trick is making noises with her lips either using her fingers or blowing air through her lips to make them vibrate. I have been trying to teach her to patty cake for a couple of months now and she is finally starting to get it. She can sort of clap, but her favorite part is to "roll it." I always catch her rolling and rolling cakes as fast as she can! She is getting to be pretty hilarious. Also, we are getting close to waving buh bye.

Where last month Chloe was a little shaky at pulling herself up, this month Miss Amelia has truly mastered the skill. I used to sort of hover behind her because I thought she would fall and hit her head on the hardwood floors, but now she is so steady and strong that I'm not even worried. She even figured out how to climb the stairs. She went up four stairs right in a row. I, of course, was hovering behind her for that!

I think one of the funniest places to see Chloe standing up is in her crib. She was been doing this since the minute she figured out she could pull herself up, and now every morning I wake up to my little girl peeking her head above the railing. She is typically smacking the top rail like a drum. If I toss some toys in her crib in the morning she will usually sit back down and play with them while I hop in the shower. Good Chloe.

Chloe seems to think she is ready for more solid foods. She begs worse than Griffin whenever we are eating. She wants pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers... everything. The problem is that she chokes on any semi-solid food. And I really do mean chokes. Like, I gave her the teeny tiniest chunk of solid banana and it got stuck in her throat. She started coughing and gagging before throwing up. Twice. I waited two weeks and tried giving her yogurt bites that dissolve in your mouth. She choked on that. Melissa asked if she could give Chloe some Cheerios at school because all of the other kids get them and Chloe seems to want some so desperately. I decided to send some baby puff things to school with her that also dissolve in your mouth. When I went to pick Chloe up Melissa said she is definitely waiting a while to try that again, because she started gagging. So we are done with super solid foods for a while. Sorry, Chloe. You'll get there someday.

This month Chloe graduated to a big girl car seat. She got both of her top teeth, and is now sporting a four-toothed grin. She was granted one blanket in her crib. She eats two meals per day and has added beets, yogurt, apples, mangoes, and much more to the menu. She has figured her way around the downstairs and can follow us from the living room, through the dining room, and into the kitchen. She still goes to anyone, but has a preference for people she knows in addition to strange people with bountiful facial hair. Pretty much the only time she cries anymore is when I try to get her dressed. The worst time is getting dressed after a bath. Chloe still takes baths in the sink. I guess you could call it a bath even though it is really Chloe standing up and grabbing anything she can get her hands on rather than play in the water like most kids, and me plunking her back down on her butt over and over again.

Ooh ooh how could I forget the greatest news? I have noticed when we are at family gatherings or when Chloe is really upset or tired she will look around for me and you can just see the words "mama" on the tip of her tongue. There have been a couple of times where I swore she said "mama" and I'm all "DID ANYONE HEAR THAT?!?!?!" Paul thought she has been trying to say it, too. But the other night she was kind of saying "mama" and then when Paul and I would say it to her she would parrot the words right back. I think it is safe to say that her official first word is "mama!" Yay!

My "New" Waistline

A few weeks ago I was getting dressed in front of the full length mirror in my bedroom that I have so vehemently averted over the past year when out of the corner of my eye I noticed... What in the? Could it be true? Was it the start of my waistline? I couldn't be sure because I always tip my full length mirror at an upward angle to ensure my reflection body is always three inches taller and ten pounds thinner than my flesh body. But after spinning around in the mirror a few times I was convinced that, yes, it was indeed the start of my waistline. Let's be clear. My new waistline looks nothing like my old waistline. There is no trace of an abdominal muscle in sight, and my "hourglass" figure looks as though it has been warped in the dishwasher. But it is a sign that maybe my metabolism was just dormant for the past nine months rather than gone, lost forever.

I got pretty cocky and started dusting off all of my old pants. To my surprise, I could pull most of them up for the first time since I found out I was pregnant. I could even button some of them, and I will, too, whenever I feel like sporting a muffin top. But for now, I'm happy to be able to slip into a pair of jeans that require the assistance of a hair rubber band rather than an entire waistline of elastic.

ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

READER BEWARE. There is a serial thief in the neighborhood. The accused is known to target innocent ducks, puppies, and elephants. Victims have been found in their own homes and are reportedly chewed, bitten, and smothered before being left for dead. Authorities need your help in identifying the victims.


The perp has been described as being male with shiny, brown hair and long, floppy ears. If you see this villain alert the authorities immediately and proceed with caution. Do not be fooled by his innocent demeanor. He will attack anything that is soft, fluffy, and squeaky.


(According to authorities, a more recent photo of the perp was not available as his parents have neglected him since his sister was born seven months ago.)

Chloe - 7 Months

Well it has almost been a whole month since my last post, because things at work just seem to be getting busier and busier. I figured I had better post something about Chloe's 7th month before I forget about all of the amazing things she learned! Chloe is now officially crawling. What started as an army crawl turned into an army crawl + two quick real crawls + fall on face, repeat.


All of this eventually turned into a full on crawl. By the end of the month miss girl could crawl all the way across the room and back, and boy, did she think she was cool shit.


At the very end of the month she decided, hey, if I can crawl, I can probably stand up. So she gave it a whirl. One night when I got home from work she started crawling over to me with this devilish little look on her face. You could just tell she was thinking "I'm gonna get you!" Then she grabbed a hold of me and pulled herself right up. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the end of it. She has since made it her sole purpose in life to crawl over to things, pull herself up, and look over her shoulder at us silently thinking "neener, neener, neener." And poor Griffin. He gets the worst of it. She pulls herself up on his face, ears, tummy, tail, you name it. But he just sits there, probably thinking about how he can't wait to turn eighteen.


Chloe is talking now more than ever. I think she sounds like a baby dinosaur. She is always squealing, growling, or roaring. It is so funny. She never really figured out how to laugh. Instead, when she is excited she just screeches. The only way she will really, truly belly laugh is if Griffin is barking or playing because Griffin is hilarious.

Since Melissa took two weeks of vacation in August, my dad volunteered to take some vacation to come watch Chloe. Dad watched Chloe a total of six days in August, but I'm pretty sure it only took one day before he was wrapped her finger. Chloe loves my dad and it was so cute to see her with him. Now she loves pretty much anyone with facial hair.

Chloe still loves all of the same things like being outdoors, Griffin, stroller rides, and music, but this month she decided that the really loves to play. She loves playing with toys that light up and make noise. My mom picked up some toys from a few garage sales because all of the toys I had at home for her were soft, quiet, and boring. She has a big basket of toys in the living room now, but she still seems to go after anything that is not a toy. She is always trying to get Griffin's nasty toys and once when I looked away for a split second I looked down to find Chloe chewing on Griffin's gnarly Nylabone.

We are having all sorts of fun chasing Chloe around the house these days. Here is her 7 month photo.

Yum Yum!

Chloe started on solid foods on July 22. We started with some rice cereal that was just mostly breast milk. She was pretty skeptical.


Since then she has had sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, peas, and nectarines. The peas only lasted one day before we fed them to Griff because Chloe dry heaved with each bite. Who can blame a girl?


For the most part, Chloe likes eating solid food. She isn't ravenous or anything. She just goes with the flow. She has given us lots of cute faces and is getting better and better at keeping the food in her mouth rather than all over her face.


Her favorite part of eating real food is getting to drink from a water glass! You have to be careful with your water glass because she will do everything in her power to get it.

I have been making Chloe's baby food. Lately, I just whip it up while I burn my bras. Don't worry, I have not turned into a total hippie or anything. I still do an evil laugh every time I throw Chloe's disposable diapers into the trash. Rain on my weekends... take that, EARTH.

The reason I have been making Chloe's baby food is because my Bradley friends introduced me to this book called Super Baby Food by this crazy lady named Ruth Yaron. The thought would have never occurred to me that it would be possible and even easy to make baby food. It is as simple as cook, blend, freeze. It maybe takes ten to fifteen minutes to make a batch of baby food. The most amazing part is that it saves us at least $15 every batch I make. I can't cook an adult meal to save my life, but I am very handy with the microwave and food processor, so it turns out I can make a mean batch of baby food!

For the record, I truly do not believe it is better to make your own baby food, and I have some jarred baby food, too. It is just surprisingly cheap and easy. It is even sort of fun. I would recommend that book if you are even somewhat interested in learning how to make baby food. Like I said, the woman is a total nut. She probably spends her whole day making baby food and sanitizing every nook of her home. But the back of the book has a lot of great recipes and advice on how and when to pick ripe fruits and vegetables, how and how long to store them, etc. It's really interesting stuff!

Pumping Woes

When I was pregnant and I passed by another pregnant woman I always felt like we had this secret connection, a unique understanding for one another despite being perfect strangers. It was like I was granted membership into an elite group, and all it cost me was fifteen pair of size four pants.

A few months later when I became a breastfeeding/pumping mother, the group became even more elite, because there were more drop outs than not. Now when I come across a woman carrying a little, black, milk-stained backpack, I feel the empathy and the connection on an even deeper level.

Only she, the woman with the milk-stained backpack, could possibly understand the disappointment you feel when you wake up in the morning and realize that you forgot to put the milk, the precious, precious milk in the fridge when you got home from work.

Only she can can understand the paradox you face when your office phone is ringing, and you really need to take the call, but will the person on the other line wonder what that "Riurr Riurr Riurr" is in the background? Also, only she agrees that the "Riurr Riurr Riurr" is actually taunting "Nipple Nipple Nipple."

Only she knows the feeling of spilling three ounces of milk down your shirt, pants, and shoes at the office because you failed to notice that the milk was pooling at the top of your tiny, disposable Medela storage bag.

She may not be the only one to notice, but she is definitely the only one who understands why you keep instinctively pressing on your boobs, which have turned into boulders because it has been almost five hours since you last pumped.

She knows how it feels to pump in a parking lot that was once empty, but is now full of construction workers on their lunch break. She knows how it feels to pump in a moving car, a pontoon boat, and a closet. She knows how it feels to pump over top of a public toilet, and when you drop a piece of your pump into said toilet and cry momentarily before throwing a fit of rage, only she will testify in court that your husband in fact MADE you do it and so it wasn't your fault that you attempted to kill him.

And in that moment when you see her hauling her purse, work tote, breast pump, diaper bag, and baby from her car you briefly think she may be the most amazing woman you've never known... but then again, is that bitch wearing size four jeans?

Chloe - 6 Months

Half a year! Six months! 26 Weeks! 181 Days! It doesn't matter how you count it - holy cow the time flies!


Chloe weighed in at 16 lbs 7 oz at her six month check up, and was 25 inches long. She was below average for height and above average for weight, and may be shaping up to have her momma's figure. Haha. The doctor was very impressed with Chloe's motor skills. She said Chloe was very strong and healthy. When she asked if Chloe could get up on all fours I turned her over and she stood with her palms and feet flat on the floor with her knees locked and butt straight in the air. It was her downward dog yoga pose I think. The doctor was laughing so hard, and it really was one of the cutest things Chloe has done to date. Little Miss Amelia also had to have two vaccinations. She cried so hard, but the pain was short lived and she was back to herself after a quick nap.

At six months Chloe is sitting up without much risk of falling over. She can roll all over the floor to get where she wants to go, and she can even army crawl. She is laughing and smiling all of the time. Her hair is coming in very thick and very blond. She still has blue eyes and dark skin.

Her biggest accomplishment so far has been breaking through two bottom teeth on July 16! She handled it like a champ. She wasn't fussy and didn't have a fever or diarrhea or anything. Chloe is one tough girl! I wasn't too thrilled about the challenges of teeth, but so far she has only bit me lightly a few times. Nothing major yet, although I'm sure I've got it coming.

Right now Chloe loves: necklaces, hair, beards, Griffin, grass, stroller rides, the outdoors in general, baths, drinking water from a cup, books, her exersaucer, mama and dada, grandpas and grandmas, Melissa, and country music (if Chloe is every crying in the car we just crank up some Rascal Flatts and she goes right into a trance). Right now Chloe hates: getting into her car seat, being left alone in a room, and taking naps (most of the time).

Chloe still sleeps pretty well at night. She goes to bed around 8:00 p.m. and stays sleeping until around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. The problem is that when she hears people awake then she wants to play. She will take a hour long morning nap on a good day and then two 20 minute cat naps throughout the day. She is just go go go and hates having to stop for a nap. She is a good girl with or without her naps so no one seems to mind.

We started eating some rice cereal two days shy of her six month milestone. More to come on that in a later post. For now I'm just amazed at how fast these first six months have went. I have loved every month and all of the changes they have brought. Every day with Chloe is so much fun. I feel both joy and sadness to see my little baby grow into a big girl. Luckily, Chloe is getting to be more and more hilarious as the days pass.