Gummin' It

Dear Chloe,

You are almost 11 months old and still only have to teeth. It doesn't stop you from eating three solid meals per day though. People tell me to enjoy this time of introducing new food and you trying everything eagerly. They say when you turn two, you will start sticking your nose up to food and demand to eat a limited diet. I hope you do not become a picky eater, I try my best to offer you a new food daily. You have tried everything I have put on your highchair tray thus far. That's all I'll ever ask, that you try a few bites of whatever I have prepared for you. I will never force you to finish all your food or "clean your plate." If you refuse to try new foods, I will refuse to give you dessert.

Your front top teeth are giving you heck. I know they must hurt because when I feel them, they feel huge under your gums. On Sunday, MawMaw and the rest of the family came to the restaurant after church. I was busy but I ran over and gave you a kiss and did the Itsy Bitsy Spider for you. I guess when I walked away to take care of my customers, it upset you. You put your head down to your chest and started crying. You don't understand that I'm working and I can't carry you around while I take plates out.

When I went to pick you up an hour later at Grandma's, they told me your teeth were hurting. I put my finger in your mouth and you bit me! Hard! Your little bottom teeth are like razors and you almost drew blood. I had indentations that looked liked a little mouse bit my pointer finger. I let out a shriek and you laughed. I picked you up and you then decided to try and bite my cheek and chin. I was laughing then, as you slobbered up my face. MawMaw said it was payback, you were trying to eat me so you could carry me inside you. I think you were mad at me for walking away from you in the restaurant. You haven't done it since.

That night, Dad made some homemade chicken wings. Since your mouth is bothering you so much, I decided to let you try a drumette. I though you would enjoy gnawing on the bone. You sure did. You kept rubbing it back and forth in your mouth like a hungry puppy.


After you cleaned the chicken off the bone, you got dessert. I cut up a kiwi for you to try for the first time. You loved the banana kiwi combination and would pick up one kiwi and then one banana. You cleared your tray.


You saw snow for the first time yesterday. You knew something was very different when you peeked out the glass door to the deck. Everything was covered in white. I opened the door and you felt the cold air and snow flakes hit your cheeks. I bundled you up in your new winter coat from MawMaw, some boots with fur I bought you. The only thing I didn't have were gloves so we didn't stay outside long, just enough for a few pictures. You scooted your pink van like a snow plow.


Then you got down and felt the snow. You weren't too impressed at the coldness so we headed back in to fix dinner.



We were running low on groceries so we decided to make breakfast for dinner. Daddy is a pro at making omelette's. Since you are only supposed to eat egg yolks until you are over one year old, we made you an two egg yolk, chicken, spinach and cheese omelette. Daddy's omelette for you was too cute. He also made your very favorite, blueberry pancakes.


You did well eating your first omelette, you ate over half. It was packed full of protein, the egg yolks, chicken and cheese. You loved your dessert and finished both of your baby blueberry pancakes.



With all this good eating, you are growing too fast girl. You are wearing size 18 month. You aren't even 11 months old yet. Daddy likes to say you will be a WNBA pro. My Dad is 6'4" so you may end up being over 5'11". I need to buy you more clothing, all your 12 month old pants look like high waters now.

I love my little giant,
Mama

An Epic Update

Dear Lil Lovey,

I haven't written for awhile, the holidays are always a busy time of year. I baked my heart out. All the gifts I gave were homemade. Daddy helped bag, box and ship things out. I will be happy if I never see another beater bar, stick of butter or cookie sheet again.

We decided not to buy gifts for each other this year. It's been a tough year financially, in the winter time, the electric bill kills us. A $300.00 power bill, on top of rent, water and cable made December a tight month. We have everything we need, a home, food and an abundance of love. Every day is like Christmas, Daddy comes home almost weekly with a new gift for you. A new baby Einstein DVD, Elmo Live a new Elmo DVD. We did splurge and bought you a play deluxe dream kitchen. It's a little too advanced for you now but you'll grow into it. It took Daddy about an hour and a half to put it together for you.

Daddy went out on Christmas Eve to pick up dinner because I was sick of cooking and baking. He was gone a long time and I got worried. When he arrived home, he said he stopped at Walmart. I thought he was crazy, to stop at Walmart on Christmas Eve. What did he possibly need to fight the crowds? He said he picked up something for you. I said you have tons of toys, enough formula and diapers. He said he bought something you needed. I guessed socks. There are mornings I am packing your diaper bag for the sitter and go into a frenzy because I can't find matching socks, I swear the dryer eats them. He acted shocked. How did I know he got you socks? I told him I hoped he bought 12-18 month old socks because you have Sasquatch feet. He looked disappointed. He said he thought he bought 9-12 month, I better go to the car and check. When I peeked into the bag in the car, what did I find? A portable DVD player. He knows you well, now you'll be able to watch "Down, Down, Baby Elmo does Karate" on the go. Next year, you'll probably own your own laptop.

Christmas Day was a busy day too. We went to two places, MawMaw's and Daddy's parents. On the way to MawMaw's you fell asleep and I had to wake you up when we arrived. You had on your crabby panties at first and gave MawMaw the scrunched up sassy face.

You quickly got over your interrupted nap when you saw the spread MawMaw made for you. Ham, a fried turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, deviled eggs. You didn't understand Christmas or presents this year but the feasting was the highlight of your day. You are a chow hound, girl. You will sit in your highchair and pick at food for over 30 minutes per meal. After you stuffed yourself with MawMaw's Christmas goodness, you got some lovin' and were ready for a turkey induced coma.


When you awoke, we had the kitchen cleaned up and your cousins had opened all their presents. Your pile awaited you.

Like I said, you didn't understand the gift part. Your cousin Emma did and she was dying to "help" open your presents.

Daddy brought in his present and set you up with Elmo's Holiday DVD. You and Emma were in a trance.


He probably should have waited to turn on Elmo's Christmas because you had a melt down when I took you away to get pictures of you with your cousins in front of the tree. In the first picture, you could still see Elmo, in the second he was out of view. Elmo withdraw.





After our food digested, we headed to Daddy's parents. Once again, there was more food. You tried black eyed peas for the first time. We were still stuffed from the first round. Not you, my growing girl. You cleared another plate of peas, ham and creamed potatoes. Daddy's family got you more gifts. You got jealous when he was playing a rock band game with his sister. He was playing the guitar and wasn't playing attention to you so you crawled over, climbed up his leg and tried to pull his pants down. Once again, you loved the food at Karen's the most. A close second was the family dog, Duke. You have seen dogs on baby Einstein but you were fascinated by a real, live one.


The car was stuffed full of gifts and we headed home after a long day. You probably weighed about two more pounds by the time we got home.

You still love you bath. I think you will be a little swimmer. This summer, I think we'll do a water babies class at the local pool, I have a feeling you'll love it. You aren't scared of getting splashed or water in your face. You actually will put your entire mouth over the spigot and spray water all over the mirror. You still only have two teeth, Mom says the longer it takes to get them, the better teeth you will have. I don't know about that but you are a drool machine. Since you have been teething forever, you still put everything in your mouth. The spigot, the remotes, pretty much anything that isn't nailed down.






On warm days, we will take you outside on the porch. You hate your hat. You pull it off every time I make you wear it. You are still pretty bald so you must wear a hat in the winter. The other afternoon you kept pulling off your hat outside. Daddy took your hand away from the hat and said, "No, Chloe, leave your hat on." You looked at him and gave him the scrunched up ugly face and breathed real hard, flaring your nostrils. Your secret is out, we know that you know the word "No". The hard part is enforcing it. We laughed when you got your attitude.



You are turning into a night owl. I used to put you to bed at 6:30pm with no problems. The past several nights, you have wanted to stay up with us until 8pm. We took you in bed with us two nights ago. When we turned off the lights, you sat up like a little prairie dog and took in your surroundings. You knew this wasn't your room and kept looking out the window at the headlights passing by. I think you are going through a separation anxiety phase, you don't want to be left alone or left out.

Or maybe you think you missing out on some good food. If you are almost asleep and hear pots and pans clinking in the kitchen you'll stir as if to say, "What are you eating without me?" Last night, you got your first slice of pizza. You devoured it. Your eyes got wide as the slices of pepperoni from excitement. Good-bye Gerber, the days of jarred baby food are now over.





Finally, I hope you know how much you are loved. If I have a hard, tiring day, I feel energized driving to the sitter's to pick you up. It's my favorite part of the day, going to bring you home. When you see me and kick your little legs with glee, it melts my heart. I never will stop feeling excited to see your beautiful eyes shine or hug your little body and smell your fuzzy baby hair.



All my heart,
Mama

Sick Day

Dear Crusty Nosed Chloe,

You got your first cold on Monday. I was so proud you'd never been sick but I guess you were due for one after nine months of health. You put everything in your mouth now. This little bug will help build up your immunity. I now have the same cold, I knew it was just a matter of time. So, we are sitting inside on a rainy day watching Baby Einstein while the vaporizer is filling the air with menthol.

I do things now as a Mom that I'd never imagine. Yesterday, we were shopping at Walmart. The only way you can get the boogies out of your nose is by sneezing. Or I get to help by torturing you with the nasal suction bulb. Actually, you laugh when I suck out the boogies it's the holding down part you don't like. So, you sneezed a half a dozen times while we were shopping and green snot was running out of your nose. I didn't have a tissue, that why we were there, tissues, a vaporizer and Vick's salve. I did something only a mother would do, I used the sleeve of the sweatshirt I was wearing and wiped your green snot. By the time we got home, I had crusty, dried snot half way up both my sleeves. I love you so much, I will wear your boogies.

You had your nine month check up last week. Everyone says how big you are, you are wearing 12 month old clothing. I was afraid the doctor was going to cut you off formula and put you on skim milk. Turns out you are not fat, just tall. You are in the 92% for height and 81% for weight. You finally have two lower teeth popping through and you use them. You can eat pretty much anything now and you have let me know baby food is out, you are ready for the real deal. You favorites are yogurt, mandarin oranges, Cheerios and colby/jack cheese and Townhouse crackers. You thought Thanksgiving was the bomb, you ate for 45 minutes. I thought sweet potato casserole was going to start coming out of your ears.



For Christmas, I have bought you a library. You love when I read to you. Every night, I read you Goodnight Moon before bed. You turn the pages. Some nights, you are so tired you try to flip over onto your tummy when we get to the second to last page. You know that Goodnight Moon equals bedtime. The other night, Jeremy was reading you the book and he wasn't reading fast enough, you kept turning the pages on him. So, I bought you books for Christmas and the big box arrived the other day. There was a book called "This is my puppy" which has a button and the bottom of each page to press, and the puppy says, "WOOF, WOOF". I thought you'd love the barking book so I gave it to you early. I was reading it to you and pressed the woof button and it scared you. You refuse to turn the pages of the puppy book, maybe you think it's gonna bite you.

You are into everything now. Crawling, standing and trying to walk. I think you will be talking soon, you were standing beside the tub naked the other night, trying your best to leap in and I asked you if were ready for a bath. I swear you said, "A Bath!"

I bought you a lion push toy and you are tougher than I thought. I call it your "car". "Drive the car, Chloe!" You have had quite a few car crashes and once it flipped on top of you. You didn't cry, you just decided it was a better idea to drive the car on your knees, more stability.





I hope you are feeling better soon my little lovey,
Mama

Then and Now

Dear Chloe,

You have always loved the bath. Even when you had colic, the bath would calm and soothe you. You'd be cranky in the car and in the swing. If you heard the water running, you'd get quiet. Once I undressed you and placed you on your yellow raft, you'd become all smiles. You'd lie in the tub for 20 minutes while I washed you and sing Gavin Degraw's "Chariot" over and over while it played on the CD player. It was the highlight of your day and it remains the same.



Some things have changed, we haven't listened to "Chariot" in awhile. We mostly listen to the radio now. The biggest thing that has changed is you no longer lie still and float on your yellow raft in the tub anymore. I need a straight jacket instead of your foam mat. Washing your hair is like trying to wash a cat. You have learned there are things to do in the bath besides doing the deadman's float. Once I put you in the bath now, you are ready to flop around like a fish.

Part of the bath time frenzy is my fault. I started to introduce toys. Once you hit the water, you search for your rubber duckies. They are a challenge to capture because they are slick and bob around. Once you catch one, you immediately gnaw on their heads as pay back.

Your very favorite thing to do in the tub now is to open and close the drain. I was giving you a bath a few weeks ago and was trying to teach you about draining the tub. I'd push the knob up and say, "closed", then push it down and put your hand over the drain and say, "open". Well, you little whippersnapper, you caught on real fast.



As we played, "Open, Closed" last night, I had to turn the water faucet on because you insisted on draining the tub. You wanted the drain open. This was fascinating for you too. Suddenly, it's like the switch in your little brain has been turned on because you are understanding and learning cause and effect. I watched as you learned that the bathtub gets full when the faucet is on.



Maybe tonight, I will find that Gavin Degraw CD and listen to "Chariot" as I struggle to keep you on your back and wash your hair. I'm afraid next week, you'll be adjusting the knobs on the faucet to make the water tempertaure just right. You learn quick. So, I'll wait until next week to teach you the faucet on, faucet off game.



I love you, Smarty Pants,
Mama

Exciting Night

Dear Chloe,

I picked you up from the sitter's yesterday afternoon and took you to the highschool with me to vote. We stood in line and you smiled at all the people. I carried you into the booth on my hip and colored in the circles, while you tried your best to eat my ballot.

This will be in your history books. I will be able to show you this picture and tell you about casting my vote when you were 8 months old.

Happy Halloween

Dear Lady Bug,

We took you to the "No Scare Fair" last Saturday. I know you wouldn't really understand Halloween. The joys of getting a full sized Snickers bar and grape Now and Laters but I wanted to socialize you. I put on your black undershirt and squeezed you in black tights because I couldn't put on your Lady Bug costume and strap you into the carseat. It was too padded.

I dressed you in your outfit when we arrived in the backseat. All the little children came to talk you to and you ate it up. You have always loved other children.



You loved looking at all the black and orange balloons. Since you are crawling, you want to get down and explore things. I took you to the stage where other children were dancing and showing off their costumes and you got to explore and do the crawl/rock to the music.



You met a little friend, she was adorable in her Minnie Mouse costume and you two matched with your black and red costumes. She loved to hold on to your antenna.



We took a few pictures with you before we left. Instead of candy, your Halloween treat was going to the chinese restaurant. Your very favorite food right now is tofu from my Hot and Sour soup. You are a Mama's girl and I hope you'll always choose tofu over Twix in the future.





Happy Halloween, my little Love Bug,
Mama

Crossing the Line

Dear Crawling Chloe,

I have been worrying that you weren't crawling well yet, you'd scoot; mostly backwards. When you were up on all fours, rocking back and forth and see me, you'd belly flop on the floor and paddle your arms like you were swimming. Then, you'd start to whine and I'd come to your rescue and bring you the toy you wanted. You let the cat out of the bag the other evening.

I was preparing dinner in the kitchen and you were in the living room watching beloved Baby Einstein. I heard the program end and the 20 seconds later, I heard a crash. I didn't hear you cry after the crash so I got scared. I thought you pulled a heavy candle off the coffee table and it knocked you out. Normally, a loud crashing sound would make you cry. I ran into the living room and what did I find? You, pulling out all the Baby Einstein DVDs from the TV stand and trying to push buttons on the DVD player. You saw me watching you and belly flopped to the floor and did the carpet swim. You were found out, caught Baby Einstein handed. The only way you got over there was by crawling and you knew I had your number.

For the rest of the day, I didn't come to your rescue when you wanted a toy or to move to a different part of the house. You started crawling within an hour because you had no other choice, I was not going to be your personal Fido and fetch everything for you because I knew you could do it.

You have started crawling after me. When you reach me, you'll grab ahold of my pant leg and pull yourself up. I walked across the foyer the other evening and you stopped in your tracks.



You'd only been crawling on the carpet and when you saw the hardwood floor, it blew your mind. You looked at the hardwood floor for about five minutes when you finally dared to touch it you let out a squeal; like you were a pig that got shocked by an electric fence.



This went on for ten minutes or more. The fear of crossing the line, that cold, hardwood floor. I was determined to work through this with you too so I went to the other side of the foyer and clapped my hands and called you.



You thought about it for long time, smiling at me, squealing with frustration. I promised the floor wasn't going to bite you. Then, I broke out the big gun, your monkey that whistles cat calls to you. While Jeremy tempted you with the monkey, I was able to capture you crossing the line for the very first time. Way to go Chloe!



I'm so proud and love you so very much,
Mama