1 Year and 3/4 (21 Months)

We are only 3 months away from counting Chloe's age by years instead of months.  However, as we approach the terrible twos--Chloe has 2 terrified parents because getting to 1 year and 3/4 has been a power struggle.  The most difficult thing of late is changing diapers and changing clothes.  She is very content staying in her pajamas and full night time diaper until the diaper cannot hold any more and starts to overflow (which usually is at 9am in the morning).  You would think she loves to be in her PJ's so much that she would love changing into them, but that is not the case.  First it is kicking and screaming to get the PJ's off and chlothes on and then kicking and screaming to get the clothes off and PJ's on.  I have become quite good at the stand up diaper change and Ami has a technique of holding her in his lap so she is sortof upside down.  Both do not occur without a fight.  It seems like the easiest thing to do is have her eyes glued to Elmo on the TV and then we can do pretty much anything.  Except when Elmo is over she wants more Elmo--Thank goodness for DVR.  I'm going to start telling her stories about when Mommy and Daddy were little and there was no DVR and we had to wait until the next day to see another episode of Sesame Street and when we were little there was no Elmo--we had to make due with Big Bird and Bert and Ernie. 

We have also taken steps to turn her room from a baby's room to a toddler room--she is still in the crib and I'm hoping that she lasts in there until the end of the year when she is 2 1/2. But we took out the changing table (since she hated being on it and thought it was a launch pad for her new found jumping skill) and the rocking chair (Rocking chairs are for babies and so it is now in the babie's room).  I ordered a sling book shelf from Wal-Mart.com that has her name on it.  It is the perfect size and she can pick and put away her own books. 

We also took her toy bin out of the closet and made a little play area for her.  I found both the rugs at Target for $29.99 which was much cheaper than the PotteryBarnKids one that matches her bedding, but I think they go quite nice with her decor. 

She loves playing with her stuffed doggies.  Ruff-Ruff is still her favorite, but she has a red and white dog named Bubba and several baby Ruffs and baby Bubbas and sometimes includes her pink teddy bear in the mix.  She often wants to sleep with all of them and then wants to take all of them out and down to breakfast.  She has discovered her lego blocks and loves to build towers. She also likes puzzles and stacking toys.  Her drawing skills have greatly improved and she can now draw curved lines when before all her artwork was linear.  I know we are only days away from her first circle.  And much to our amazement, she has discovered her baby doll.  She will feed the baby doll a bottle, kiss him goodnight, and put him in his bed with a teddy bear and cover him with a blankie.  A couple of times we have tried to put the baby to bed and she goes over and throws (and I mean throw) the baby out and instead puts her doggies in the bed (The baby bed is a basket in her room).    She also loves to dance and cracks us up with her moves.  She must learn them from Choo-Choo Soul and Dance-a-lot Robot (more of her Disney Channel Faves).  Eating is still an adventure, but she is doing well and eating a variety of foods including veggies. Sitting and eating is still a challenge as she likes to get up and wonder and walk over to the pantry to stare at the endless supply of food.  She is talking more and more and we love to hear how her day at school went even if we can't understand a word of her story.  She knows songs and often "sings" along to Itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle little star, and knows how to fall down at the end of Ring around the Rosie.  Probably one of the best things is that she has learned how to give kisses and hugs. There is nothing better than a night night kiss from Chloe after a diaper changing induced tantrum.  She is getting some more teeth, so perhaps that is making the tantrums worse--I can see at least one upper and one lower canine coming in and she may be getting all four at once. 

Sometimes we look at her and wonder how she got so big.  But she is about to become a big sister and is ready to become Miss Independant. 

Chloe chillin' with baby ruff! 

AZ Museum for Youth

We took Chloe on a field trip to the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa last weekend.  We didn't know what to expect, but it was perfect for her. It had art, music, storybook, and puppet stations, a giant play kitchen, and a big pile of blocks for her to build and knock down.

 Our little artist at work.

Daddy had fun dressing up as the big bad wolf--he was very effective of bringing Little Red Riding Hood to life and scaring one little girl.

 There was also a mad hatter tea room!

 The artville room was Chloe's favorite with a big pile of blocks she could stack, knock down and build again. 

Check out Chloe's Video

We've been taking alot of video of Chloe lately.  At almost 21 months she is quite an active little toddler.  She has learned how to kiss, read magazines, do summersaults, and hop. I'm trying to upload her videos to you tube so that one day she can have her 15 minutes of fame and one day be a you tube sensation (just kidding).  But go check out her latest antics.  I even included a tatrum caught on tape for all of you who think she is a perfect child. 

View all Chloe's videos at http://www.youtube.com/darlingkron.

Enjoy!

New words every day.

Chloe has turned into a little talker with new words everyday.  There are still several times when she has entire conversations only she can understand, but here are the words she is saying that we can understand.

Hi

Bye Bye

Night Night

Up

Down

More

Please

Trash

Elmo

Abby

Mommy

Daddy

Challah

Cracker

Milk

Yes

No

Apple

Ball
Nana

Rockin' with Fergie Frog

It seems much easier now a days to take video and catch Chloe in action instead of still pictures. Here she is rockin' out with Fergie Frog. She can even got on and off of it all by herself now. She loves to push the buttons and listen to the music. One time she even rocked out so hard she flew forward. But she got right back on and started rockin' again.

Eating with a Spoon--sort of

Ruff Ruff Goes for a Swing.

Chloe had fun exploring in her little brothers room. She discovered the swing and decided Ruff Ruff wanted to go for a ride.

GOATS!

Third time to see the goats at the zoo was a charm!  Chloe was running, chasing, and even petting them.

 

Meal Time Trials

Chloe used to love to sit in her high chair.  However she has turned into Little Miss Independant and not only wants to decide what she wants to eat, but where as well. 

It started with wanting to eat nothing but cheerios, rice crispies, or goldfish for dinner.  She then discovered that all her favorite foods were stored in the pantry and started going over and trying to open the door.  She would wine and bang on the door until Mommy and Daddy caved in and opened it.  She then stands there like a kid in a candy store looking at all the goodies.  She tells us when she wants applesauce or crackers and even wanted to try sun-dried tomatoes (she took two bites and then gave it back to mommy).  She still often denies food she has loved before--there was a time when she couldn't eat enough blueberries, bananas, or eggs, but now it is hit or miss.  For about a week she wanted to eat mommy's bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, but when I bought her mini bagels that were just her size--she wanted nothing to do with them.

We took her high chair out of the kitchen and set up her booster seat at the dining room room table.  She enjoyed it for about a week and then refused to sit in it and wanted to eat on the move (walking around spilling goldfish all over the house). 

Finally Mommy and Daddy took a trip to Ikea and found a perfect little dining room table for Chloe--the same size as she has at school.  She liked that Ruff Ruff could be right there eating with her.

But that also lasted about a week, and then she wanted to sit at the "big table" with Mommy and Daddy. 

We have managed to re-direct Chloe back to her little table, she only has one chair now so she doesn't have to decide where to sit.  We still allow her to pick out her food from the pantry, but only one time, if she goes back and wants more, we tell her that she already picked out her food and that she needs to sit down at her table and eat it.  She often has melt-downs and throws a tantrum when she doesn't get her way, but then soon will go back over and sit at her table at eat her food.  The past week has gotten much better, she has even eaten vegetables this week--butternut squash and geen beans--

we were shocked, but very proud of her. 

Taking Ruff Ruff for a Walk

Ruff Ruff the dog is still Chloe's favorite, she loves to feed him, chew on his ears, pounce on him and even take him for walks in her stroller.

He doesn't look too comfortable, but I hope he enjoyed his walk with Chloe.

I wear my sunglasses at night

so I can, so I can....brush my teeth.