Finally...some teeth!

Yesterday I looked into my sweet Chloe's mouth, and what do you know, there were actually some signs of teeth.  That's right, not just one, but two!  At first it just looked like she had some little white bubbles on her gums (which were actually the little points of her teeth).  Today her right tooth broke through the gum tissue and the left one is still just below the surface.  It sure is exciting, however, I will miss that little gummy smile. Good thing it will be replaced by such a cute one with teeth. :)

Chloe's Eye Appointment

I took Chloe to get her eyes checked today.  Thanks to this awesome program called InfantSee, all babies can get a complimentary vision test that helps to identify problems that would be irreversible if not found at a young age.  Chloe's eyes are great...normal for her age! 

So, the appointment was quite an experience.  I don't usually take Chloe places by herself, and I soon realized how much Paige helps to entertain her.  It is not that Paige purposely entertains her, but I think Chloe is just always watching what she is doing and thus, is very quiet.  Well, with no Paige, Chloe had no one to watch (but me) and I found it to be quite exhausting taking the full brunt of this entertainment role (while filling out the paperwork)! :)  Actually, all joking aside, Chloe did have pretty good behavior-even when she got her eyes dilated.  The doctor said she was one of her easiest infant patients.  Way to cooperate, Chloe! 

First Day of Preschool

Today was the much anticipated first day of preschool for Paige.  It has been so cute to witness her excitement each day as she asked, "How many more days until school momma?"  So, yesterday she was ecstatic about the fact that she only had one day left to wait.  Before bed, we picked out her outfit, double checked her backpack, and sat it by the door.  Then Paige said, "Momma, what if I can't sleep tonight because I am so excited?"  Luckily, she did sleep pretty good, but woke up bright and early at 6am...an hour earlier than I had hoped! 

We started off this special day with Paige's favorite breakfast-blueberry pancakes in the shape of a heart.

Then, Paige made her bed all by herself.  I only helped her pull the covers up and she did all the rest.  (Look at all of those stuffed animals and dolls to put on!)

The photo tradition begins. 

I really love this one!

I think she looks tall here!

Being silly!

With the proud Mommy and Daddy! (Chloe is sleeping.)

Getting ready to go in...she looks scared in this photo, but she wasn't!

Hanging up her backpack for the first time!

She is so happy to have Mrs. Voss as her teacher!

The fun begins for the day.  Playing with baby dolls is one of Paige's favorite activities.  Shortly after this photo, Paige gave me the thumbs-up to let me know that she was okay and that I could leave her for the morning.  It was only 8:02...I was so proud of her and a little sad at the same time.

This is another tradition I'm starting...the giant school cookie!  Paige doesn't like candy, but she sure loves her cookies.  So, I thought this was the perfect way to celebrate her first day of school.

Paige was kind of surprised by the size of the cookie and said, "Mommy, this is a little big for me to eat!"  She did enjoy having quite a large piece though, and I am sure it won't go to waste!

Preschool Open House

Paige is starting preschool this year. It took some convincing on her Daddy's part, but we finally convinced him to get her registered.  (It was just so hard for him to imagine her away from home for several hours at a time with someone other than family.) 

So, with school approaching quickly, today was the day for open house!  Paige could barely contain her excitement, as she had been looking forward to this all week.  She even picked out her own outfit.  I thought her dress was a little fancy for the occasion, but she thought it was perfect!  Of course, I didn't try to change her mind.

Paige enjoyed some donuts...one white and one chocolate!

 Then we located her 'locker' and explored the room.

"There's my name!"

 Paige is so excited to have Mrs. Laura Voss as her teacher!  We are all hopeful for an amazing year!

Sleep Training-Day 6

Wow, Miss Chloe slept from 8pm-7am!  This is the most uninterrupted sleep that I have had in like 6 months! (Chloe had a long night of sleep when she had her last ear infection.) I am so proud of Chloe!  She didn't even cry when she awoke this morning.  I could just hear her "talking" (which I let her do for a few minutes) and then went in to sing her the good morning song!  She was just laying in her bed, playing with her mermaid doll.  She was swinging her around in the air...until I scared her by stepping on a creaky part of the floor. Oops!  She was happy to see me, though!

Standing a Few Seconds

While watching Paigey take her bath today, Chloe stood unassisted while she picked up her favorite blue duck for inspection.  This lasted a few seconds and then she leaned against the bathtub again.

Sleep Training

Okay, Miss Chloe woke me up three times last night!  I cannot function on this much sleep.  This nursing association is going to be the death of me!  Ahhh!  I think it is time for some sleep training.  Here we go...I have a feeling this is not going to be easy.  I haven't even finished reading my book The No Cry Sleep Solution!   I guess I am going to have to wing-it with what I already know.  It seems all these books say about the same thing anyway.  I think I know what I need to do, but I am not sure I know how to do it without any tears from my sweet baby.

Sweet Peas

Chloe had sweet peas for the first time tonight and she really liked them (I warmed them in the microwave). She ate the whole jar...it was amazing!

Green Beans...not so bad after all!

Chloe liked the green beans today. It turns out that all I needed to do was warm up the jar. Apparently, she is just super sensitive about the temperature. The other jars were not exactly cold though, they were just at room-temperature. I guess I can understand that though, I don't like to eat room-temperature food either. I like mine hot!

Green Beans...Yuck!

Chloe tried out some green beans tonight for dinner! As you can see from the photo, she was not a fan! She made many faces of disgust and even gagged a little. I felt so bad for putting this into her mouth, but I think I remember that it takes about ten times for babies to taste something before they actually start to like it.

Grandma's Sweet Potatoes

Chloe got to try out some of Grandma and Grandpa Loethen's sweet potatoes today. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa grow lots of yummy vegetables that the girls (and us) get to eat in the summertime and we can't wait for Chloe to try them all. However, we were were all fortunate enough to eat some sweet potatoes from last season (Chloe included).

I had actually already fed Chloe some rice cereal today, but she just kept watching her daddy as he put food into his mouth. I thought she was pretty interested and maybe still a little hungry, so we all thought she might like to try them. We just mashed up a small amount of the sweet potatoes in a bowl for her. (Ideally, I probably would have mixed in some breastmilk to thin them out, but I had already used all that I brought in the cereal earlier.) She really liked them a lot and ate all that we gave her. Yay!

Rolling in Bed

Chloe spent some of the night rolling over in her bed onto her belly. I had to get up about 4 times to roll her back over onto her back. Sometimes when I would go in to check on her, she would have her arms out of her swaddle and be laying on her side. So cute!

Time to Stop Swaddling

Since Chloe is rolling over, I am going to have to try to break her from the swaddle. It is really scary for me to think about her rolling over onto her belly and not be able to get turned back over (or lift her head up) because her arms are swaddled in. I tried to break her of the swaddle (cold-turkey) a few weeks ago and it was horrible. She just cried and cried and cried every time I laid her in her crib. When I put the swaddle on her she fell right to sleep, she really needs and prefers to be swaddled.

So, I am going to transition her out of the swaddle gradually this time. Tonight I am going to wrap her a little more loosely and then she will be able to get her arms out if she wants to. Hopefully this will help encourage her to be less reliant on the swaddle for sleep!

Rolling Over...Back to Tummy

Today, while playing on her bedroom floor, Chloe finally rolled from her back to her tummy! It was a really slow process for her, so I was actually able to get my camera and video it! When she did finally get rolled over, she had a hard time getting her right arm out from underneath of herself. I let her try for a bit and then I helped her out! I was so proud of my little girl for meeting this milestone and was giving her much praise when she went and did something else! Can you guess what she did next...she rolled back over onto her back! So amazing!!! My little baby is getting big so fast!

Rice Cereal for Chloe

Well, since Chloe is five months old today, we figured we would let her try out some solid food. Dr. Herrbold said I could start with vegetables or rice cereal, if I wanted. He said rice cereal doesn't have a lot of nutritional value, but it would be okay if I wanted to do that first.

I did decide to do the rice cereal. I thought it would be an easier transition for Chloe since I mix it with breastmilk, and it turned out that Chloe really liked it. I was so surprised with how well she did eating it for her very first time.

I don't remember Paige eating so well on her first try. I just remember that she made a bad face and I have this image in my head of the cereal running down her chin. I guess I should go back and read about it on this blog!

Well, you can't really tell that Chloe liked it from her first bite, but she warmed up to it! :)

 Feeling the texture with her tongue...still warming up!

 Paigey wanted to help feed Chloe...Chloe was liking the cereal by this point!  (Apparently, Paige thought opening her mouth for each bite was good modeling for Chloe.  This is so cute because their Daddy does this too!)

 Paige is such a good big sister.  I love watching them together!

5 Months

 Guess who is five months old...it's this pretty baby!!

4 Months

Our four month old cutie doing some tummy-time!!

 Here is baby Lyla for size comparison with Chloe...courtesy of big sis, Paige.

 More tummy time for this big four-month old!  Isn't she cute with that bow!?

3 Months

Three months old today and so sweet!

2 Months

Our little Chloe is two months old today and it's my 33rd birthday!!  I am feeling so blessed with my two beautiful daughters and amazing husband!

1 Month Old

Our little angel turned one month old yesterday!!!

4 Weeks Old

Our four-week-old sleeping beauty!

3 Weeks Old

Our little Chloe K. is three weeks old today.  Paigey loves holding her little sis whenever she can! They are polka-dot twins today!

Chloe's first Halloween

We had to try Chloe's costume on her tonight to see how it fit.  She is the cutest little lady bug...especially while she sleeps!   I am guessing Chloe will be doing a lot of this while we are out trick-or-treating, too!

Two Weeks Old

Chloe is two weeks old today!  Paige went with us to see Dr. Herrbold for Chloe's check-up.  Chloe is doing great and everything looked good!  She is gaining weight and growing!  Chloe is now 7 lbs, 10 oz and 21 in. long!

Paige really loves her sissy!

Paige's favorite thing to do!



One Week Old

First Sponge Bath at Home

 Paigey was so excited to give Chloe her first 'bath' today.  I thought it was going to be so fun for her to help, but I wasn't able to let her do that much because I forgot how much babies hate being washed.  They just get so cold, so I had to wash Chloe up super fast.  Paige was a bit disappointed, but I think she understood.

 

All finished and happy to be wrapped up warm and cozy!

Feeling relaxed and all snuggled up with the best big sister!

First Doctor Visit

Chloe is four days old today, and we had our first visit to see Dr. Herrbold.  It was a family affair...we all feel so blessed to have Chloe in our little family!  We took some pictures to remember the moment.

 Big sister, Paige, watching over Chloe while Dr. Herrbold checks her out! Chloe weighs 6 lbs, 14 oz and she has grown half an inch to 20.5 inches. Everything looks good; her weight loss is right on track for a newborn.

3 Days Old

Our sweet sleeping baby.

 So precious and angelic...

2 Days Old

Some cute pics of our beautiful Chloe at home.  We are really enjoying our newest little angel.  She is so sweet and such an amazing blessing from God.

I really love this one.

Home!!!

Yay!  We finally made it.  It seems like it took us all day (it did) but we finally got home around 5:00.  This is the sign that greeted us when we arrived.  Paige helped Kathy make it for us.  She was so proud.  You can't tell in the picture but she put several glittery hearts all around and colored in the letters of my name.  I love her so much!

Paige was so happy to have her baby sister at home.  Here they are laying on Paige's favorite Dora couch!  I hope Paige is always this willing to make room for her baby sister.

Funny stuff!  I said that I needed to nurse Chloe and Paige said, "I need to nurse Lyla, too!"  Then, she got the extra boppy, got her baby, Lyla, and then proceeded to lift her shirt up and place her baby in the 'appropriate' area!  I couldn't contain my laughter...this girl is a hoot!

Bedtime fun with Paigey (so glad to be home with her)...a perfect end to a wonderful day.