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!

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!