Chloe, who loves our dogs and desperately wants to be part of the pack, has picked up on this hidden talent of Ryleigh’s and accordingly has started to try and butt things with her head. Chloe’s head is not as large as Ryleigh’s, nor as hard, so most of the time Chloe just ends up yelling because it hurts. The whole ordeal is 3 parts sad and 1 part funny…is it bad that I laugh at my child in pain? Currently, Chloe’s little forehead has 3 small bruises inflicted upon it from where she tried to ram something out of the way and the thing won. Hopefully, this is just a small phase, and she will quickly learn that her hands are more adept at moving things than her head. What a special girl we have!!

I <3 College Life!

Once our supply began to dwindle, I got back on the cloth diaper track, because honestly, I am cheap, and so are cloth diapers. We are like a match made in heaven. But, once again, my husband was unsure. So, we decided to compromise and buy a “trial run” supply of cloth diapers. I was immediately sold! Jeremy is slowly coming along. But as of this week, Chloe is officially a cloth diaper baby…at least when she is with me. When she is with dad , disposable diapers are still being used…until we run out or he gets comfortable with the idea!

Because I love cloth diapers, I feel like you should too! I know they are intimidating, but maybe if I introduce you, you can become friends and live happily ever after in your cheap heaven as well. So, without further adieu, here we go:

The covers. We are using the flip diaper system, and it is fantastic. The covers come in an amazing array of fun colors, and they are all snaps–no hassling with velcro and super easy to adjust.

The soakers. Sounds intimidating, but these are super easy. You just fold one of these suckers (on the clearly spelled out lines), and slap it in your cover. You can tuck in under the flaps in the cover or you can just lay it in…depends on your mood or availability of time. They are extra absorbent, and the soft suede-like top wicks all the moisture away from your sweet baby’s behind.

The liners. These are an optional feature for cloth diapers, but I believe they are mandatory. It catches all of the “solids” your little one produces. You lay it on top of the soaker when it is about that time of day; then, when stink appears, you can just yank it out and flush it down the toilet. Heavenly…and much less stinky.

The baby bum. (my favorite part) These diapers are a little more bulky than your average disposable, but Chloe is kind of small, so I like that it beefs her up some! All in all, the diaper fits nicely in all of her clothes and gives her a cute little J-Lo booty.

The finished product. You can barely see the diaper peeking out through the edges of her little onsie.

End result=Happy baby!

On those days, I remember a few things…

The way that ten tiny fingers feel as they explore your face.
The sound of little baby giggles.
The smell of baby skin.
The joy of dancing around the living room with a baby in your arms.
Smiles that are only for you.
Baby babble.
Sloppy, wet kisses.
Cuddling in the rocking chair.
Shrieks of sheer delight.
Hugs from tiny arms that cling to you.

These things (along with countless others) remind me that this small age is only a season. And there will come a day when Chloe doesn’t want to be held all day. There will come a day when she wants to hang out with friends instead of play with mom. There will be a day when she is all dolled up in make up and a prom dress. And so on days like today, I think, “I am going to miss this.”

Since our baby has so much love for animals, we decided to take her to the OKC zoo! It is around 100 million degrees here in Oklahoma right now, so we just took an abbreviated tour to the petting zoo and the aquarium. They just redid the childrens’ zoo, and it combines two of Chloe’s favorite things: small, furry animals and water. It was a massive success.

We started off the morning by chasing around some goats, petting a rabbit, and laughing at the donkey.

Then we played in the splash park until we were sufficiently soaked.

After that, we visited the Lorikeets. If you get a chance to go, DO–it is very entertaining. The birds land right on you, so we had a chance to feed them, and Chloe had a chance to get bit by one (don’t worry–she wasn’t hurt, and it took about 3 bites from the bird for her to finally figure out that she should stop sticking her little fingers in its beak).

We finished up our zoo adventure with a tour of the aquarium. At this point, the small one was pretty tuckered out and was angry that she couldn’t pet the fish like the goats and rabbit…consequently, we have no pictures. But, all in all, it was a wonderful time!

Chloe and Beckett…Beckett isn’t so sure about this girl beside him.
*Notice that Chloe is WAY smiling here, she has just learned to smile for the camera and loves doing it.*

Beckett is okay with Chloe and starts to smile…Chloe is now unsure.

Beckett leaning in for a close up with Chloe…Chloe thinking, “What is this guy doing?”

Chloe:: “I’ll teach you to check me out! I’ll yank out your hair. Come here you!”

Chloe emerges victorious and Beckett is confused about what just happened.

We love our friends and their sweet, mischievous baby boy!

Chloe is into so much right now. She loves dancing and getting low (taught to her by her father, not her ghetto mother), and she loves to “walk” while holding our hands. She loves to look at the world upside down and will often thrust herself backward to do just that (we have had quite a few falls and bumps due to this obsession). Chloe is also into standing and banging things together–our coffee table has the bumps to prove it. She loves to clap and sing as well. She is such a joy!

Chloe is officially (we think) over her aversion to bald men and facial hair, and she is really learning to ham things up when in a crowd. She is at the age where she is always looking for a response to her actions and loves to make others smile. When people don’t respond how she believes they should, Chloe gets really sad…it is too cute. She just recently mastered the art of flirting, and loves to smile and lean for people (especially men). However, if her object of affection tries to touch her…let’s just say it is very similar to the Black-Eyed Peas song ‘Humps’, “You can look but you can’t touch. If you touch I’m gonna…start some DRAMA, you don’t want no drama. No no drama, no no no no drama.” At least she isn’t an easy catch. =D

Speaking of flirting, we went to Dallas for the 4th and had a wonderful time with many friends! Chloe met a candidate for her future husband, and fireworks ensued! (sadly, these were the only fireworks we experienced this year) She and Levi Wozny had a great time oohing and aahing over each other, and Chloe may or may not have tried to sneak in a kiss. (Levi may or may not have tried to kiss her too…or he may have just been trying to eat her bow.)

We love our baby girl!

Here is the low down on lil’ C right now: She babbles all the time; her favorite phrases are “mamamama” and “dadadada.” I don’t really think she has any idea what she is saying yet, but it is always fun to hear “mamama” coming out of her mouth! She loves to make tooting noises, and when she does, everything within a ten inch radius is sprayed with spit! It is messy but fun to watch her giggle with sheer delight at herself afterwards! She is very adept at shaking her head “no.” Again, I am not sure if she has associated a meaning with this, but she often uses it very correctly.

Chloe is reaching for everything, and as I mentioned before, she believes everything that she has laid hands on belongs to her. She loves playing with pots and pans in the kitchen and thinks that throwing things on the floor is a-mazing! Chloe loves to give kisses (especially to her toy fish). She has 3 smiles now: her half-grin when she is unsure about what she thinks of someone or something, her full out smile (that shows off her two little teeth) that she gives when something really makes her happy, and a new smile that is just plain silly that she doles out when she is being impish. Her hair is beginning to get wavy in the back on one side! She has very strong opinions about everything she encounters. She does not like facial hair on men (she is her mama’s girl =). Chloe is a water baby, and she loves being outside. She loves dirt, grass, tree bark, and flowers; she grabs them by the handful and studies them intensely. She is also into peering right now. She loves to “peer” over, sideways, and around objects to get a closer look. It is pretty stinking cute…sometimes she does it just to be funny as well! And my favorite thing that she does right now is patting. I often pat her when I am holding her or putting her to sleep, and Chloe has decided that she should do the same for me whenever her little hands can reach. Such a silly little girl!

Peering through the rocking chair handle!

So much fun!

We still feel blessed each and every day by the gift God has given us in her!