Standing - NO hands!!

The picture says it all!!  She has been pulling up more and more, but this is the first evidence of standing without support.  Go Chloe!!

All Smiles

Peep Eye!

Chloe turns Two!

Chloe celebrated her birthday with a princess cake.  Notice that she used three forks to dig in!  Retta seems to have found a little icing on the elbow to enjoy!

The day after her party, Chloe played with new toys.

The Party's Over

Birthday Party Time!

Over forty friends and family celebrated Chloe's birthday on Saturday.  It was a cold day but Chloe still enjoyed her cake.  She was overwhelmed by the crowd of folks inside the house watching her open presents but loosened up a little once she got outside.  She is shy and sort of freezes when others are watching her.

Chloe say cheese!

Chloe's moma got tired of Chloe's serious face when it was time to take pictures so she taught her to say cheese.  This is the official cheese pose!  It happened at IHOP while waiting for pancakes.

Chloe is so much fun! She begs to "play" at my house and that means stacking dominoes, reading books, playing with easter eggs, cooking, and the pink bus. She repeats many short phrases that she hears us say and is very verbal around family. Last night she slept on a trundle bed that is low enough for her to crawl out. Without waking up anyone else, she scooted to the sun room and was playing with her toys when I got up!


Today we spent 5 hours at Children's hospital going through various check-ups.  First stop was the speech therapist who was kind enough to try not to touch Chloe and even left the room so Chloe would be comfortable enough to speak.  (Chloe cries at Children's when anyone walks into to her rooms.)  She said that Chloe was doing great and we left there with smiles.  Next stop was audiology for a hearing test.  The minute the poor girl picked up the scope to look at Chloe's ear, she started crying.  Mom and I held her down for quick pictures, but they weren't good ones.  On to the bus for hearing tests...Chloe cried  even as she sat in her moma's lap with no one touching her.  She settled down and they were able to get her to respond to some sounds.  From here she went to the ENT doctor.  We had a young resident that tried to look in her ears with three of us holding her down and he was unable to get a look.  Even the pro Dr. Buckmiller saw Chlo's fighting strength and called for the papoose.  This was some swaddling device that wrapped up her arms and legs so that a team could hold her down.  Dr. B. succeeded and announced that Chloe will need new tubes in her ears. By now, our precious was exhausted and mad. (Truly a hot mess!) Our last stop was the nutritionist.  I pushed Chloe in the stroller while her mom reported on her eating habits (or lack of).  Sadly, Chloe is no longer at the bottom of the growth chart, but has fallen off.  No one seems seriously concerned as she has been sick lately and does have a very small build, but it appears she needs more calories.  What a day!

Busy Weekend

Chloe helped Honey celebrate the upcoming birth of Caroline.  Chloe can hardly wait to see her bff in all the pretty clothes!  This was also her first solo roadtrip with Granbec. 

Our princess is using more words and displaying more personality every week.  She is very picky about who hears her words or sees her smile.  She spoke to no one at the shower except her moma and me.  In the car she talked about Honey and Ramie, but was a shy girl at the party.  She loves to read books (especially the Dr. Seuss Fish book), play with baby dolls and dominoes, swing and "PLAY PLAY" when she is at my house.  She knows purple, pink, green, yellow and sometimes blue.  She has a favorite photo album she always looks through.  It contains pictures of her first few weeks of life.  I don't think she realizes she is the baby in the images, but she likes the pictures of her dad and mom.  Of course we watch cartoons when she first wakes up.  Here she is eating blueberries and apple jacks while watching Mickey Mouse.  She knows all the characters by name!