The Littlest Senorita

Though she is content to just sit there and coo all the time, we have been working with Chloe's motor skills. She can now scoot around, but only backwards, and she is quite proficient in going around in circles.

Chloe can also stand unaided by the couch, for a few mintues at a time. I usually sit behind her or right by her to catch her when she (inevidably) falls.

I have a picture that looks exactly like this from my chidhood. I was dressed as a clown. Well, now that I think about it... it was either me or Dori. I got excited over the picture I took (below) because everyone always says Chloe's the spitting image of Zach! Finally a picture that makes her look like my side of the family!! Whoever's side she takes after, she's a cute one!

Something Funny

I found this clip when I was googling "1 year old" and "milk." I wanted to see if my assumption is right that Chloe can start drinking cows milk after a year (and I was indeed right). I did not expect to find this hillarious little clip:
Click here to see something funny!

I put this bonnet on her head and we went out to Olive Garden!

After a messy lunch:

9 Months Already?!

Top Three Favorite Things About Chloe's Personality:

1) Her sense of Humor. Chloe laughs at things. She laughs when something is out of the ordinary (like pants on your head, or bubbles on your face, or a funny voice). One time I heard a funny noise when Chloe was sleeping, and I came around the corner to find her laughing in her sleep! It was so cute, because she had this sleepy chortle inturrupted by congested snores. I would give anything to know what she was dreaming about!

2) She's sweet. She doesn't like sudden loud noises (tough luck for her, I'm her mommy). She likes when things are soft and delicate. When she makes noise it is usually in squeaky little soft squeals and babbles. When you are going to tickle her, she prefers to be warned ("I'm gonna tickle you!") She has learned to kiss and hug, and sometimes makes a game out of kissing, then hugging, then looking at you... kissing, then hugging, then looking at you. She gets very sad when I tell her "NO! Don't bite mommy!!" and then she bites again. Poor confused sweet little delicate girl!

3) Chloe is generally happy! She has not been one of those babies that screams all the time. There have only been a few select weeks that she has been fussy. Most days, I can sit at the computer, or do dishes, or take a shower and if I wasn't careful I would forget she was there! She also loves to sit in the stroller or grocery cart while I go shopping. Oh, and her carseat is a nice place for her to contemplate life (at least that's what she looks like she's doing when I put her in there). Another thing Chloe will do better than most babies I meet is sit through a full length movie at the dollar theater. Even when she was sick and fussy last month, she would sit in my lap. She did make me have my cheek next to hers the whole time while she played with my hair gently and caressed my cheeks. Did I mention she is sweet!?

Cha cha cha cha changes!

So, I have decided to share an embarassing picture with the world, but I need to explain it first.

Chloe has been absolutely insane ever since I brought her back from Colorado. Actually it was just until Tuesday. She is wonderful now.

Chloe was so upset all the time from the 18th (my worst birthday ever) until the 25th (Tuesday). Every time I would put her down for even a second, she would freak out. She would just start bawling and screaming. The worst was her behavior at night. She would go down at about 9 PM and wake up at 2 AM screaming. Then she would want to nurse all night long. I thought she was teething at first, so for the first several nights I gave her Tylanol at night and Orajel. This helped a little, but she still freaked out all night unless she was laying right next to me in bed, and with Zach and I only in a full size bed, it's just very dangerous to try to let her sleep with us.

I was at my wits end after about a week of this.

At the end of her bad behavior streak, I was so tired. I had been up all night every night. Chloe woke up for the day at 7 AM, and I was too tired. I put her on the floor in the living room with a stuffed animal and a couple toys around her. I turned on the TV and let her watch a cartoon, and I layed down on my bed. I made sure that there were no choking hazards on the floor before I did this.

WELL, to my horror, the next thing that I remember was that Zach came home from school an hour later to this:

I felt like the worst mommy in the world. I feel a little better now, because I realize that with her strength, there is just no way she would allow herself to be smothered by that bear. Still, it just looks awful!

I guess this just shows that mommy wasn't the only exhausted one for this phase. Chloe's back to normal now and PHEW! I am so glad it's over.

Easter

Easter was fun. We went to Minden to see Zach's family. We had a great time on the drive over. I had felt inspired to read in the scriptures starting in 3rd Nephi when Christ was resurrected and came to the Nephites. It was so nice to have time to read the scriptures and feel the spirit on Easter Sunday. Zach and I haven't had as much time for long scripture readings since Chloe was born. I loved it that we had 3 hrs there and 3 hrs back to talk and read scriptures (Chloe just slept the whole way there and back!). When we got to Minden, we had fun spending time with Chloe's Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Gary. I took a nice nap for a while (some of you know about how Chloe has been going through a weird phase that has made me very sleep deprived- so the nap was AMAZING!) and Zach watched the baby for a while. All in all it was a lovely Easter Sunday.