Lake Tahoe

Over the weekend, Andrew, Chloe, and I went to Lake Tahoe with Andrew's parents. We had fun hanging out at the cabin, playing games, horseshoes, and doing some geocaching and hiking. Chloe loved all the new places to explore, and tried to eat everything that she could get her hands on! Chloe was not so sure about this hat we made her wear.
Chloe and Daddy posing in front of an old Episcopalian Church in Tahoe City.
Chloe doing her favorite pose with Grandma. Gotta love that tongue hanging out!!
While we were on our hike, Chloe started getting a bit fussy, so I gave her the tube for my Camelback to suck on. She was able to get some water out--very impressive! (Grandpa is in the background sporting his Red Sox hat.)
This was in front of the cabin right before we came home.

October

My friend Jen customized this desktop for me. I love this picture of Chloe and I think this whole idea of digital scrapbooking is very fun, especially if someone else does it for me!!!

So, the memory card on my camera is broken, so I have not been taking many pictures. Chloe and I took our first trip to Apple Hill on Friday with Amy and Molly, and I stole the picture below from Amy's blog. It was a super windy day and it started snowing as we were getting ready to leave, but we still had a lot of fun. No, Amy and I are not sisters, and no the girls are not related. I don't know how many people asked us that while we were wandering around!!! I hope to post more pictures once I get them from Amy!

9 months old!

My little baby girl is nine months old! I can't believe it! Chloe is such a great baby and we feel so blessed to have her in our lives. She has been teething for the past few months, but has still been a pretty happy baby. A little bit more whining than usual, and a harder time falling asleep, but that is about all. In the past week, Chloe's bottom two teeth have finally broken through. It is hard to get a picture of them, because Chloe is very shy about her new teeth and likes to close her mouth tightly whenever we try to feel her teeth or get a picture of them! I was able to get a few decent pictures, though, in her high chair the other day:
Chloe's new way of eating puffs--she takes little bites of them, munching down with her gums! This picture does the best job of showing off her little teeth!
Chloe has also discovered how fun it is to stick out her tongue!
Chloe was playing in the bathroom the other day while I was getting ready. It was so cute because she rolled over onto her back and was just playing with her ring, chillin in the bathroom.
Chloe was so happy last night to take a bath with her cousin Shae. We went over there to play with Shae on her 4th birthday! Despite this picture, Chloe really did enjoy the bath! She was not a fan of being on her back!

Swimming

I have been getting bugged by many of you to post. I know, it has been almost a month! Chloe has been working to grow some teeth, but will not keep her mouth open long enough for me to get a picture of the two tiny white bumps on her lower gums. I will keep trying. She seems to be over the worst of the pain of the teething, as she is not crying as much and is not as whiny.

We have a little inflatable pool in our backyard, that Chloe just loves! She crawls around, plays with her plastic cups, splashes both of us, and drinks the pool water. Yummy!! Here are some of my favorite pool pictures: I love how the color of her eyes match the pool in this one....
Not so sure about being on her back....
her favorite thing is to wave her cup around and bounce
happy girl!
not so happy with getting soaked~~but she never cries when she gets water in her face!

trip to Kaiser.....

So, despite all of the warnings I have heard about kids falling off changing tables, it happened to us. Yesterday, Chloe rolled right off and landed on the hard wood floor in her bedroom. I was right there, but could not catch her in time. She landed on her face, and got a bloody nose and a fat lip. I called Kaiser advice and I was told to bring her in, because she might have a broken nose or other broken bones in her face. Talk about ways to freak me out even more!!!

Thankfully, I was able to get ahold of Andrew and he met me at Kaiser. Her doctor checked her out and she was fine, other than a few bruises. Thank God! It was sad after her appointment when we got home, because Chloe would not nurse. She would start, and then start crying. I think her swollen lips were hurting too much. This made me feel even more horrible. I was already tormenting myself about the fall. We tried to give her milk in a bottle and sippy cup, but she only got a few ounces down. I was thankful to be awoken twice during the night to nurse Chloe--she ate a ton both times! (I will probably never be thankful again to feed her twice during the night! Usually I am thankful when she sleeps through the night!) Today, Chloe is a bit more whiny than usual and has some bruises below her nose and chin. Otherwise, she seems fine! I am starting to let go of some of my mommy guilt too, but have learned and am way more vigilant when Chloe is on her changing table. Here is Chloe on the scale at the doctor's office. Such a big girl sitting up! 18 pounds, 14.8 ounces!

Such a big girl!!

Chloe is growing and developing so much these days! We have so much fun just watching her move around and explore! She is becoming a great crawler and is discovering how to open drawers....time to start child-proofing! Within the last few days, Chloe has started pulling herself up to a standing position. She will climb up whatever she can: the fireplace hearth (her favorite place to stand), the couch, her toys, me, and below--her crib....

We used to find Chloe sitting up in her crib when she was supposed to be sleeping, but now she is almost always standing up in there. So now we are back to having to rock her to sleep and then putting her in her crib; otherwise, she just stands there so proud of herself! We are hoping that this new phase will soon pass and Chloe will become a good sleeper again.
Chloe has started feeding herself! Another great accomplishment! She loves puffs and would eat them all day long if I let her! She still does not have any teeth and it is so cute to watch her gum these up. She looks like a little old man when she chews! It has made meal times so much easier now that Chloe can eat with us and feed herself! Much happier!!

Chloe might be ambidextrous...
right hand
left hand

Chloe also tries to helpful around the house:
unloading the dishwasher
doing laundry

Overall, Chloe is a very happy 7 1/2 month old!!!!

Please pray!!

I just heard that my friends' (Amy and Eric) house burned down last night. They were asleep and Amy woke around 2 a.m. to find their deck on fire. They were able to get out of the house with some minor injuries (smoke inhalation and burns), but lost everything in the fire. Their pets are still missing, too. Please pray for Amy and Eric during this tough time, and I will let you know as I find out more of their needs and such....Thanks!