14 months old

uncle mike came last weekend for halloween/jenn's birthday. had a nice visit albeit a rainy one. (and had a little costume reminiscence from the garage arsenal) chloe had some fun times walking around in the rain and going to the dog park to point and bark at the dogs. unfortunately, one of the days' walks was cut short because she grabbed a cactus in someone's yard with tiny little hairs that got everywhere & all over her hands/wrists/everything. definitely learned our lesson about letting her try to walk all the way to the park without the stroller. whoops! had a great birthday lunch with stan, kerry, mike, dave, chloe, elisabeth, and paula. super glad that i could have chocolate cake this year compared to last year! whee... chloe's new thing this week is to twirl her arms together like when you do "pat-a-cake" and the "roll it" part. she continues to be hilarious. she particularly enjoys giving mom very wet raspberries on her tummy and eating everything in sight. is a very sweet hugger and will occasionally give a kiss when prompted.

happy halloween

chloe's first (well, technically second) halloween today. i took her to walgreens and then around the neighborhood a little bit in her skeleton costume. unfortunately, by the time it was really time to trick-or-treat, she was crashing...bedtime is at 7 these days. anyway, good times. she now has 4 teeth and is smart as a whip. she understands quite a lot although she is struggling sometimes with comminication with us and has little fits when we don't know what she wants. mostly, she wants food 24-7. she is an eating machine! she hoards food in her left hand while she shovels it in with her right...and ends up with mush in her left hand by the time she's finished with her meal. we call it her "bob dole." she loves going outside and still gets crazy when she sees other kids and dogs. when we go to the park, we have to peek over the fence at the dog park everytime so she can point and shout "durdurdurdurdurdurdurdurdur" it's only slightly annoying when people are walking in front of our house to go to the dog park...she follows them down the street....forever.

punkin patch

went to a pumpkin patch in half moon bay yesterday with cat & carrie....actually, it was one of the "kiddie ride" places and was a madhouse! chloe had a good time in the petting zoo and people watching, but we got a bit overwhelmed. we ended up going to davenport to the swanton berry farm where carrie's husband, tim works. had a much more mellow time in the pumpkin patch, although chloe would rather have the dirt and rocks. one more tooth has broken through...finally, top teeth! and chloe wishes that she could have a dog. she goes crazy whenever she sees a dog whether it be in person or on tv. she points and barks and is mesmorized. alas...she will have to reside herself to admiring from afar as we are NOT getting a dog!! oh yeah, i forgot to post the balloon video..here it is.

chloe's first balloon

chloe got her first balloon today at trader joe's. we tied it to her shoe because she got freaked out when it was on her wrist. lots of fun. looks like she needs a haircut too...she's kinda rockin the mullet right now. :( that'll be a joy. have been spending lots of time outside in the yard and at the park. she still loves dogs and barks at them and runs towards them when she sees them. she also likes to walk up to complete strangers and give them a hug...but only if they're her size....at the park, at target, at garage sales...wherever.

chloe's birthday photo link

oops...i guess i forgot to post the birthday photo link. here it is:

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birthday girl

had a great birthday. lots of friends, food, and bocce. today was chloe's "one year checkup" 75th percentile for height and weight....22.25 pounds! she can now sit forwards in the car which will be a treat, i'm sure. no new teeth yet...but still doing well, nonetheless. she's such a big girl and looks a lot like her daddy. she's super fun and she's got a super silly personality....go figure, she's ours! for sure. :)
be sure to check out the new video....wagon from auntie kate and fun with uncle mike.

almost one year old

where does the time go? almost one year old.....i don't even know where to begin. it's been such an amazing/exhausting/exciting time. chloe continues to be super sweet and surprises us every day. i started my new job and dad took over the daycare again....the first day of school, i came home and chloe met me in the kitchen saying "ma ma ma ma ma ma" so cute. she gets super excited whenever mom or dad comes home or downstairs in the morning and has to run over to you to give you a hug. she's met a couple of little kids recently and has immediately gone up to them to hug them! i guess we need to get her in a playgroup so she can socialize with some of "her people." we've spent a lot of time outside the past month as she's become faster at walking and more curious of the world. she loves the yard and picks up as many things as she can at the same time. often, she'll have multiple rocks, leaves, flowers, and gardening implements in both hands and tries to figure out how to pick up something new without dropping what she has. she loves the sprinklers (see video) and also has become obsessed with dogs. we went to the park down the street and she totally crashed a picnic so she could pet a dog. she also beelined it towards a dog who was playing fetch with its owner in the field. when she gets close enough to touch, she gets really excited and a little scared and starts babbling like crazy. she's obsessed with her shoes and will not leave you alone until you put her shoes on..even in the house. her and our cat olive have started a little love-hate pet session from time to time. hilarious....when olive starts to protest, chloe "talks" back. she loves her books and likes when you read to her and she stares intently on the pictures and is good at turning the pages by herself. she still only has 2 teeth....but i can see the toothbuds under her gums...so they'll be coming soon.

i'm constantly amazed at how beautiful and curious and sweet she is. i still have a hard time realizing that i'm a mom...34 years without her and only 1 with her...but what a great year it's been. :)

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