How do I look?

So my sister-in-law recently asked, "What is this, some kind of porn site?" But really, I just can't help myself. I don't ever want to forget this cute little tushie.

Good conversation

This past Sunday morning, Chloe woke up at an ungodly hour. By ungodly I mean 5:45ish. I put her in my bed to see if she would go back to sleep (never, ever works, by the way). This is how it went down:

5:45 am:
Put her in my bed and told her it was way to early and she needed to go back to sleep and be quiet.

5:50am:
"Mommy. I need milk. Time to get up?"
"No Chloe. It's dark. Everyone is asleep. Close your eyes and be quiet."

5:55am:
"Mommy. I go get my milk, okay?"
"No Chloe. Be quiet and go to sleep."

6:00 am:
I feel a very hard pinch on my upper arm.
"OW!!!!"
"Mommy. You ok?"

6:05am:
"Mommy. Time to get up?"
"NO CHLOE. BE QUIET. GO TO SLEEP."

6:15am:
"Mommy. This is horrible."

Safety Harbor Street Festival

We took her to an outdoor festival last Friday. She had a ball. And OMG is she ever cute in these pics (of course, I am fairly partial).

Sleepy Days

I've been so exhausted lately. Lots of late-night hours have led to groggy days. We haven't been doing a lot. Chloe has been watching WAY too much TV as I prepare to launch my new website and business (Stay tuned!)

We did have a good day today. Chloe played in the baby pool at her Grammy and Pop-Pop's house. The least I can do is post a few new pics. Enjoy.

Good one

Tonight, Chloe bumped her head on the edge of her crib and said, "Oooh. My head fell off."

ABC's

She loves practicing her ABC's now. And yes, I do comb her hair on occasion.

Walk it Out

An oldie but goodie. Chloe was about 13-months old here.

It was only a matter of time

Chloe locked me out of the house today. We were outside playing ball when she went back in to get a toy. Apparently, she locked the door when trying to come back outside.

I have bloody knees from trying to climb through hedges so I could talk to her through the window. I desperately tried to explain how to unlock a deadbolt while screaming through glass, but it didn't do any good. She kept saying, "Mommy help me!" I finally convinced her to go find her bunny. Then she came back to the window and sucked her thumb until my father-in-law got arrived with a key.

Morals of the story:

• Don't ever underestimate the intelligence of a 2-yr old.
• Always leave a spare key outside.
• Leave your TV on at all times. That way, if this happens to you, your child can entertain himself until you figure out how to get back inside.

Chloe Turns Two

Chloe turned two years old today. It's hard to believe, frankly. It seems like yesterday that a pool of water was forming beneath me in the hospital lobby. How quickly time goes by.

We had a little party for her yesterday to celebrate. She and her boyfriend Tucker had a great time playing. They shared cupcakes and a few hugs. That was about all Chloe was willing to share with Tucker. But hey – she is Two, after all.

Here a few pics:






And on another funny note. Chloe's Nana gave her a great book for her birthday titled, "That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown." If you have a little one who has a lovey of any kind, this is a great book for you. It's especially fitting for Chloe, since her lovey happens to be a bunny (way to go, Nana).

So anyway, the story goes something like this: A little girl named Emily Brown has a special bunny named Stanley who she takes on all sorts of adventures. And then there is a snotty little queen that wants to have Stanley so badly that she will go to any length to convince Emily to hand him over. But Emily doesn't fall for any of the trickery. And what annoys Emily the most about the queen is that she keeps referring to Stanley as "Bunny Wunny." Throughout the book, Emily becomes more and more angry, repeatedly stating, "IT'S NOT BUNNY WUNNY. IT'S STANLEY!!!" Well, Chloe thinks this is quite hilarious. Here is a video of Chloe to explain what I mean.

PS: Chloe is quite fond of this new demon voice and uses it on many occasions.

Storm's-a-comin'

Tropical storm Fay helped me get a nice breezy-hair shot of Chloe's new do. This was the first haircut she's had where they really whacked off a lot. She really needed it.

Nana's House

Chloe and I took a trip to Stuart, FL, this weekend to visit her Nana (my mom). Chloe had a ball playing in her sprinkler and chasing her cat, Cooper, around the yard. Chloe was petrified of my mom's boyfriend, however, crying at the mere mention of his name. I guess he is a little scary looking, with his full white mustache and beard, long hair and pipe. Fine with me if she continues to be creeped out by men.

Some funny stuff she's been saying:

"This guy is funny" (while watching the Wiggles...gag me).

"Mommy go poo-poo. Get treat?"

"Daddy work at office. So sad."

"Tiger eats rocks." (referring to her fish and his food).

"Chloe jump on furniture? Okay?"

"I said Dammitt."

I'll have what she's having

Tiny Poop

Chloe's been really into the potty the last few days. When I say really into it, I mean taking off her diaper, peeing in the little potty, pulling out the bowl, dumping it in the toilet, and flushing it.

So today I decided we'd stay indoors and she could run around naked all day, peeing and pooping as she pleased. By the end of the day she had done really well – getting 8 smiley faces and 8 chocolate chips for pee-pee on the potty. And one smiley face and one chocolate chip for poo-poo on the potty. In her mind, she deserved two chips for a second pooping attempt, but mommy said it didn't count as a 'real' poop. Basically, she grunted and left behind the smallest, teeny-tiniest poop you have ever seen. In fact, it could have been half of a melted chocolate chip, that's how small it was. So call me a meanie, but I didn't think it was a chip worthy poop.

Tomorrow is a new day. I will try to be less graphic in my next report.

Eda-mommy

Tonight Chloe referred to her edamame as 'eda-mommy," which gave me a good chuckle. She's also been saying some other funny stuff like "bless you" when I sneeze. And "Dora's so cute." One of my new favorites is, "Tucker called me Toey," referring to her friend's ever-so-cute mispronunciation of her name. Finally, something hilarious that she began saying is, "I said..." if you ignore her. For instance, we laugh out loud when she says, "Oh geez." But if you fail to laugh, she will say, "I SAID OH GEEZ."

We are anxiously awaiting Wednesday, the day she will (hopefully) have her cast removed. I can't wait to go the pool and store without someone staring and saying, "Awwww! What happened?," coupled with a crooked eyebrow. I want to yell back and declare my innocence, but I try to chalk it up to sympathy and sheer nosiness.

My sister-in-law and her kids were here visiting over the last two weeks. We had an awesome time with them – swimming, goofing around and over-eating. I've always wished we lived closer to them, but now I am really feeling it. This was the first time Chloe became really attached to someone who then disappeared from her world (tangibly). Of course, we will keep them in our daily conversation and look at their pictures...but it's not the same as if they lived nearby. I'm so glad we had some quality time with them, but it was definitely hard to say goodbye. Chloe has asked about them daily, which shows she loves them as much as we do. Hopefully we will be able to visit them soon.

Did I mention I bought Chloe a fish? She named him "Tiger." Not sure why since he's a deep shade of red and extremely low-key.

Here she is with her new BFF, her cousin Abby:

Heart Breaker

Since I'm finally over feeling like a horrible mother, I'm ready to post these pictures of our 'lil sweetie in her hot-pink cast. She had already forgotten about the cast after about a day. And thank goodness it's waterproof. We can still take a bath and hang at the pool.

You're probably wondering how this happened, so here it is. We were visiting her grandparents in Orlando last weekend when she decided to hop out of her pack-and-play during nap time. Being the great mom that I am, I kept putting her back in. She climbed out a good 3 or 4 times before I called it quits and let her nap on the sofa. She slept on a dog bed the rest of the trip since I realized there was no keeping her in the crib.

She complained on and off all week, saying "Arm hurts. Fell out a bed." But she continued on playing and going about her business like normal. It was only certain movements that seemed to bother her. So, after a week (gulp), I took her in to her pediatrician who then sent her for x-rays. Low and behold the two bones in her forearm were affected. One was fractured and the other "buckled."

After crying for the majority of the day (both of us), I took her to an orthopedic to get the cast. She has to wear it for three weeks. I was relieved to learn she didn't have to wear it any longer than that. But no jumping or "playing" for three weeks sounds like torture (for both of us).

Wish us luck and please spare the "I'm calling CPS" jokes.

My Shorty

Our poor daughter is being subjected to my secret love of hip-hop music. Fortunately, she gets some variation with a little Buena Vista Social Club, Jack Johnson, and The White Stripes, amongst others.

Eyes Like Yours

It didn't happen

As many of you know, we've had to make some significant home repairs in the last few weeks (costing us the equivalent of about 6,000 Jr. Whoppers...gulp). For one, we ripped out our master bath shower, installled all new tile, new fixtures and a new glass door. Then we patched drywall downstairs where the plumber had cut out a big section. Then we installed new recessed lighting in our kitchen. (The latter wasn't necessary, but logical since we were already patching up the ceiling near our old 1985-style fluorescent box.) Of course, WE didn't actually DO any of it. We couldn't even if we tried. So the Jr. Whoppers were all spread out over many workers over the last several weeks.

Being the pessimist and insomniac that I am, I've stayed up many nights assuming the first day we'd use the new shower, the kitchen ceiling would leak again or just plain fall in. I envisioned lawsuits and threats and many bottles of Advil. I imagined the conversations I would have with the tile guy. "Yeah. Hey Paul. It's Erika. Um, we really need you to get out here. When Kevin got in the shower this morning it started to rain in our kitchen."

I couldn't be happier to report that we both took event-free showers this morning. And I am thrilled to step onto new, fresh tile instead of stepping on 15 squirty water toys, a whale-shaped watering can, a platic Dora doll and 4 plastic turtles.

I know what you're thinking. "Welcome to home ownership." Pmhmfff.

Allow Chloe to translate

Humpty Dumpty = "Dumpy Dumpy"
Binoculars = "Knock-lars"
Mouth = "Mouff"
Hokey Pokey = "Pokey Pokey"
Pancakes = "Kay Cakes"
Sausage = "Shaw Shaw"

Uno! Dos! Tres!