New York

We are back from our vacation and are unpacked and most of the laundry is done! We ended up flying into JFK airport and spent all day Friday (the 18th) in New York City. We only had one day to spend there and it was hard to prioritize what we wanted to see as we did not have enough time to see everything. Here are pictures from the beginning of our trip:

Chloe's first airplane ride. She did such a great job and fell asleep in my arms for her nap! So cute! This was the first leg, from Sacramento to Los Angeles. We had a 3 hour layover in LA, so our friend Jen picked us up at the airport, took us to In & Out and then back to her house. We had not seen each other since my wedding over 3 years ago, and it was fun to see our kids together.
Chloe had a major explosive diaper at Jen's house, so got a bath in the kitchen sink!
Chloe and Alton (just turned 1) playing together. Well, next to each other, at least!
This picture is of Chloe on the subway. She was such a good traveler that day, taking naps whenever she could. We got so many comments from strangers about how cute and well mannered she is. We are so proud of her and love her so much!

Reading the subway map......Chloe was actually asleep in this picture, but it looked so cute!

The picture below was from the top of the double beck tour bus that we took. We figured this would be the best way to see as much of the city as we could in a short amount of time. It was a really hot and humid day, but the moving bus helped to provide a bit of breeze.

We hopped off the bus and walked to see Ground Zero. It was amazing to me that after all this time after the 9/11 attacks, there are still workers cleaning up the site of the Twin Towers. We then walked to waterfront area to see the Statue of Liberty. The picture of Chloe and Andrew above is in front of it. See the dot in the background by Andrew's right elbow--that's it!! Next time I go to NYC, I want to take the ferry out to be able to have a better view. Just didn't have enough time this trip.
Below, the three of us at Times Square. We saw this area in the afternoon and then again late at night. It is so crazy the amount of people who are always there! We had a good laugh at the following signs while we were touring around: Don't honk.

No standing Anytime

Below--No Engine Idling.

Friday night, we went to the Yankees game. Andrew had been wanting to go to a Yankees game while we were in New York, as this the last year the Yankees will play at Yankee Stadium. When Andrew found out that they were playing the A's, it made the decision that much easier! We bought tickets on ebay and got really good seats for a great deal! The picture below was from our seats. I think we were 7 rows behind home plate!! Chloe wearing her "My first Athletic A's Tee." Andrew still has hopes of her becoming an A's fan!This was towards the end of the game, as many of the Yankees fans were clearing out. They won the game by a lot!

On Saturday, we flew to Syracuse, about an hour flight. We rented a car, and got a sweet upgrade to a loaded SUV. We spent a week at Camp of the Woods, a retreat center in the Adirondack Mountains. It was beautiful there, and very green. Well, that is because, it rains all the time! Apparently, we chose the wrong week to be there for our family reunion, because it was the rainiest week they'd had in a while. We had a cabin on the lake and had fun spending time with Andrew's family. I think there were about 30 of us in all. We did not swim much because of the rain, but had time to relax and play games and read.

We are all bundled up to walk up the hill for lunch. Chloe had some big breakthroughs this week. She started crawling! Well, her back legs crawl, and then she throws her front arms forward together while she falls on her stomach and then repeats the whole process. She also SAT UP for the first time without help. She was on her stomach, and then got up on her hands and knees, leaned over to the side, and sat up!! She has gotten so good at it now, that she just sits up like it is something she's been doing forever! The only problem is that she will sit up in her crib when she is supposed to be falling asleep and then she cries because she is tired and cannot fall asleep sitting up!!

After our week at the reunion, we stopped for lunch on the way to the airport. Shae was playing peek a boo with Chloe with her napkin, and Chloe thought is was so funny. She was giggling and laughing so hard! It was the cutest thing ever!! Now, whenever Shae sees Chloe, it is her goal to make her laugh, and she usually is able to succeed! Chloe loves her big cousin!

6 month photos

On Wednesday, my friend DeAnna (http://www.printsessphotography.com/) took 6 month photos of Chloe. DeAnna is an amazing photographer and is so good with little kids! Dee is 8 months pregnant and was amazing me by sitting on the floor and leaning over and all kids of awkward positions when you have a pregnant belly! Thanks so much Dee for taking these pictures!!! You're the best!
Chloe was so good and seemed like she was really enjoying posing for the camera! Dee's daughter Isabelle was able to get some good laughs out of Chloe!
The picture below was my absolute favorite picture of Chloe from her 2 week old photo shoot, also by DeAnna. Hasn't Chloe grown up so much??
After we had pictures taken, Chloe and I went to visit some friends, Krista and Derek. Derek had an accident at work and broke his ankle and is confined to bed on traction. He is super bored and loves babies, so he said Chloe was good therapy for him! Chloe loved playing with Derek, who admits that he is just a big kid himself, and was giggling so much! We are going to have to drive to Elk Grove to have more play time with Derek, Chloe's new friend!

Giants victory!

On Sunday, we took Chloe to her second baseball game. The As and Giants were playing in Oakland and the Giants had a huge win--11-1. Andrew was sad, but Chloe and I celebrated! Here are some pictures of us at the game:

Thanks Aunt Jen for Chloe's cool shades!

So happy!! Chloe loved making friends with all of the people sitting around us! At one point, there were 10 month old twin girls sitting nearby, so Chloe enjoyed talking with them a bit. She was bigger than they were!
So it looks like Andrew is nursing in this picture, but he really is holding a sleeping baby. Chloe started getting tired toward the end of the 6th inning, so Andrew walked around with her a bit and sang her to sleep. She slept in his arms like this for almost an hour!! It was so cute! I have hope now for our 6 hour flight that Andrew will be able to work his "daddy magic" and get Chloe to sleep on the plane!

6 months old!

Today Chloe is 6 months old! It is so crazy that she is growing up so fast! She had her doctor's appointment yesterday, and here are her stats: weight is 16 pounds, 14.7 ounces, which is 71st percentile; height is 26 1/4 inches, which is the 72nd percentile.

Here is a picture of her on the scale, clasping her hands in her "perfect angel baby" pose. She ended up not getting shots yesterday, because she had her 4 month shots late because of the hives outbreak. She did great during her appointment, and did not cry or complain at all. Here Chloe is waiting for the doctor and chewing on one of her favorite teething rings. Still no teeth yet, but she loves to chew on anything she can. Here is another cute picture. Chloe was more interested in chewing on her high chair tray than eating the cereal we were trying to feed her.
Chloe is helping us with laundry...

Happy Father's Day!

We had a great Father's Day weekend. We celebrated Father's Day with Andrew's family on Friday, and then got in the car Saturday afternoon and drove up to Redding. My Aunt Bev and Uncle George celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Sunday, and their daughter Karen threw them a big party. It was fun for my extended family to meet Chloe. Despite her rough morning on Saturday (see post below), Chloe was great in the car on Saturday and all day Sunday. She was the hit of the party!

Andrew was nice enough to share his first father's day with the anniversary party and a bunch of other fathers. I am so lucky to be married to Andrew and Chloe is even luckier to have him as her daddy. She loves him so much, and she says da da da da da all day long. I try to convince Andrew that Chloe is calling out for him, especially during diaper changes, but it does not always work! We are working to teach her the ma sound, but have not had any luck yet!

I did not take any pictures of the weekend, other than the poses below:

Screaming baby

For those of you who only see cute pictures of the smiling Chloe that I post, you might not believe this post. Chloe did not sleep much last night, and took a very short morning nap. She woke up from this nap SCREAMING. And the screaming would not stop. I was able to distract her briefly with toys or going outside, tried feeding her and putting her back to sleep, but nothing worked to clam her down. So finally, I grabbed a Diet Coke and some chocolate and loaded Chloe into the car. Within 5 minutes, she was sound asleep. I always heard about friends who used the car to get their kids to sleep, but I always thought that I would not be one of those parents. I am sorry to all of the parents out there who I thought this about. I understand the desperation after having a crying baby for hours and not knowing what else to do. Chloe is still asleep in the car, which is parked in my driveway with the windows down. I am sitting in the garage watching her, because I am afraid to take her out of the car and have her wake up. Is it sad that I am afraid of my almost 6 month old baby??

Solid food!

So Chloe is about 5 1/2 months old now, and her doctor told me to wait until she was 6 months old to give her solid food, but I just could not wait! Chloe is so interested in food now. Whenever Andrew and I are eating something she tries to reach for it and she loves to suck on water bottles and glasses. Empty ones, of course! Here she is waiting for the food....
Yummy rice cereal! It her her a few spoonfuls to figure out how to swallow, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly! (in these pictures, Chloe's hair looks orangish, but it is really not that color. I think it is the hot pink high chair cover making a funny contrasting color.)
Chloe thinks she is ready to feed herself!!