18 Months

A glimpse into my world with Chloe being a full-fledged toddler. I posted some of her amazing facial expressions throughout for your amusement.

This look is reserved for Billy

18 months. Her vocabulary is vast. I couldn't even tell you all of the things she can say because it's so out of control. A few of her groupings along with my expert interpretations include:

1. "Daddy work Daddy home" - Daddy's at work? Daddy should be home making me food.
2. "Bruiser outside OK" - Let's take Bruiser outside. Okay that sounds like a great idea.
3. "Juuuuuuuuuuicccccceeeee! Juice? Juuuuuuuuuuuuuiccccceeeee!" Then I ask, "Do you want juice?" and she says, "Okay! Thank you!".
4. "Be nice" - this is usually just after she's hit one of us. She says, "be nice" then hugs us to try and get out of going into a time-out.
5. "No, No, No! Bruiser" - This one could be that she wants Bruiser to stop what he's doing or she wants to give him something (like food) that we have told her not to give him. It just depends on whether Bruiser is said with authority or with inquisitiveness. 
6. "Oh Mama" - Oh my beautiful Mother. You are so amazing in all that you do!

Mornings....

This is the look I get most often

Here are some of my favorite things she does:

• She loves photographs and will point at all of the ones on the wall and tell us who is in them. Though when she sees a photo of herself she says, "You!" or "Baby!". I love it.
• She adores being outside. Picking flowers, playing on her playground, kicking a ball, riding her bike, it doesn't matter to her. As long as we are outside she is a happy camper (and she's already been camping once that's how much she enjoys the outdoors).
• We spend a lot of time crafting in our house and she will color or paint right along side us. 
• My little independent girl has begun walking into daycare (versus me carrying her). Once inside she takes her lunch box and walks into her room blowing kisses behind her. A little bit of my yearns for a baby that wants me by her side but I know that her confidence will carry her much farther than having insecurities so I blow a kiss and head to work.
• She eats anything and everything. My husband is an amazing chef and he prepares some adventurous meals for us girls. Chloe will chow down some baked salmon and olives. There is a bit of jealousy when Chloe is eating roast with potatoes and carrots for lunch and her teacher is choking down a sandwich. We get a lot of notes.
• She talks to strangers. Randomly, while walking through the grocery store she will say, "HI!" to someone walking past. She put her arms out for a man in CVS to lift her up. She tells people, "bye bye". She smiles at almost everyone unless she's grumpy then they get the stink eye. She is just so incredibly social. 

  

  Girl on a mission

So, I started this blog last Tuesday and I am just now returning to finish it on Sunday night. Sometimes there just isn't enough hours in the day. Here's a prime example of how my little princess impresses me daily. I received tickets to the Lightning game from work. We originally planned on taking Chloe but as Saturday's game approached I started second guessing myself. I'm not one who cares what others think but I was worried that a hockey game just wouldn't interest an 18-month old enough to have her sit in the stands for hours on end. I called Grandma to see if she'd watch her but Grandma had a date with her friends, I knew the rest of the family was going to see the monster trucks so we were out of options. We packed her up and headed to the game with a quick stop at Chick-fil-A to fuel her up. She was of course perfect. She sat in my lap and watched the first period with hardly a whimper even when the goal buzzer blared through the arena. During the intermission we got some drinks and returned to our seats. This time she bounced from Billy to me and then back to Billy. She almost fell asleep in my lap but two of my best friends appeared on the jumbo-tron and I screamed, "That's Jeremy!!!". At the second intermission I looked over at my husband (not a sports guy at all) and realized that the smile on his face was only for me and Chloe was about an hour past bedtime and looked exhausted. We called it a night and she was asleep before we were out of the parking garage. I suppose out of past experiences with children I always assume she's going to have a melt down or just run me until I'm exasperated but she always surprises me with a sweet disposition, curious nature and let's face it she's just a really really good toddler. I definitely lucked out with that.

Serious face

Shock and Awe

We can't take her anywhere without someone stopping to say hello to her, we are constantly approached by people who say how beautiful she is and even at a hockey game I was told that she is well-behaved. Once I guy bought us lunch because he was so impressed with our little family. I just love having Chloe in my life and I am so awe struck not just at how complete strangers respond to her but how she responds to them. Every teacher at her school knows who she is and it takes us forever to walk out the door as they all want to say goodbye to her. 

I led a very cynical life for the first 29 years and I hope she doesn't follow in my footsteps. Billy and I both make an effort to experience new things at least once a month to show her to be adventurous. I can and most likely will talk to anyone around me and that's probably where she gets her social skills and the two of us are rubbing off on Billy. 

Each milestone so far with Chloe has been fun to watch, all are exciting and impressive, it has been one of the greatest things that I have ever done and I feel so grateful to have her as my gorgeous girl.

When things don't go quite as she had planned.

What I've learned of myself as a Mother

For the past 18 months I have realized my weaknesses with my title of Mommy. I hope you find that you too can reflect on your time spent training a small human while reading my list.

Baby Talk: I spent so much time cursing before having Chloe. Times when things weren't going well. Times when dropping the "f" bomb was used to give proper emphasis on my story. Now I have to watch what I say so the parrot doesn't pick it up. NOW! Now when using colorful language is truly needed to air my frustrations to my husband, tell my friends how she pooped in the tub again, or exclaim to the world that my baby is the f*cking cutest baby in the world. Now my favorite words have been taken from me and replaced with "frisbee", "coconuts", "shish-ka-bob", and "sun on the beach", which, lets be honest, don't exactly paint a clear picture. Since my daughter drops her binky and mutters, "Oh shit!" while she picks it up I'm guessing that my mouth could use a bit more Orbit Gum.

Car Seat Crush: One of my biggest anxieties as a parent stems from the car. Over the summer it seemed someone was locking their children in cars every week. I triple checked my car after dropping her off at daycare for months. Now my fears have turned to proper restraint in the car seat. The other day my husband and I were putting Chloe in my car and he was shocked at how tight the straps were. Apparently I was way over-doing it and I wondered why she told me, "no,no,no." whenever I made her become a contortionist to get the straps in place.

Sippy Cups: What rubix cube solving sun on the beach created these toddler cups? I stand at the sink for hours trying to get them clean, shoving q-tips and nipple brushes into the impossible crevices. Finally giving up on trying to dry them I have to play the world's toughest matching game and try to piece them back together. Fill them up for the screaming child and watch in amazement as six ounces of apple juice dribble down her chin, splashing on her chest, and soaking the floor. Thankfully the husband is an expert. I knew a man developed them.

Bath Fizzies (not the fun kind): Without fail my daughter will poop in the tub at least twice a week. For those who don't have kids or who aren't in the know about the level of sanitation that is required with children: pooping in the tub requires immediate child removal and a lot of bleach. When she has a diaper on she is the loudest pooper. The world knows she's going with every grunt, as the face reddens and she pops a squat. Place her naked butt in a tub and one second she's pouring water from one cup to the other and the next second a milky way floats by. She has done this so often I ask her all the time if she has to poop, she responds with "ok", and I place her tiny hiney on the toilet seat. There she kicks her feet, smiles, and says, "bath", I ask if she has to go, she says firmly, "NO!". Back in the tub she goes and I hold my breath and hope she's right. Of course, she never leaves a floater in the tub when there's two toys in there. She likes the entire tub filled with all of her bathtime toys before she will release her bowels. Again, lots of bleach!

Dancing Do-Do: I must be the world's worst dancer. Chloe has all of my mannerisms; she stands the way I do, she walks the way I do, and therefore I'm assuming she dances the way I do. She pumps her fist in the air, followed by a flailing of the arms. Then bends at the knees and shakes her butt in chicken dance style. Maybe a few spins, stomp the feet, a jump or two and then run in a large circle. I dance along with her until I'm struck with the realization that she looks adorable dancing like a fool. I do not!

TV Time: We have the television on mostly for background noise as we cook dinner, play on the floor or clean up. Chloe isn't a couch potato by any means so quit judging. If it's not on a music channel it is on Disney Junior. My husband will usually tuck Chloe into bed for the night. Hours after she's said her good nights I find myself watching Sofia the First, Mickey Mouse Club House or Jake and The Neverland Pirates, not Octonauts though I don't like that show. Billy will return from Chloe's room and says something like, "What has Captain Hook done this time?" and I snap back to reality and change the channel. He thinks it's funny. Are my days taking that much out of me that I become a mindless drone at the sound of chipper music, witty dialogue and colorful pictures that make up the Disney Junior channel or are these shows just that good (except the Octonauts)? It's hard to tell.

Those are the faults I have found thus far into my lifetime as Chloe's Mommy. I hope that was enlightening to those of you holding a sleeping infant or a reminder to those that are listening to a mouthy teenager. To everyone else, Keep your humor! I'm here to tell you that your sanity goes at the same rate your child grows. You have to laugh when you can.