Princess Bug

This morning my Coco Bean was playing in my room, while I was dressing Baby G, and she found her Bumblebee Halloween costume that she never got to wear. (She had a pretty bad fever and rash that week the cause of which the Dr's at insta care could never quite Identify.)

Well this morning, when she found the costume, she asked if she could wear the "bug". Once I put it on her she proclaimed herself a "princess bug"! Personally, I thought it quite clever of her to see both elements of her costume and create her own term for it!! :)

...but what mom doesn't think their child "quite clever"? :P

The Scoop on Waterproof Casts

Last summer we were swimming in our neighborhood pool and I saw a boy swimming to his heart's content with a cast on his arm. He was completely submerging it and totally without a care as to whether it got wet or not. I was shocked and thought to myself that he was going to be in big trouble when his parents found out! I vaguely remember someone I was with (Rob?) quelling my fears with an explanation about it likely being a waterproof cast. Boy, the things that have improved life since I was a kid!!

So then when Chloë had her splint on for a week before getting her regular cast on Wednesday, my neighbor happened to mention to me how wonderful she thought waterproof casts were and how they were totally worth the extra expense. She said the wetter the better. I told Rob her account of waterproof casts and he was all over it.

When we went to her appointment with the orthopedic surgeon (bone doctor) we asked for a waterproof cast. They told us several factors to consider:
• The wetter the better (like my neighbor said). In other words, we needed to submerge AND rinse it out with clean pure water every day!! (ie. The hose, sink sprayer, or faucet after a bath). They said if we didn't get it wet regularly it would stick to her skin and peel it off when they took off her cast. Yikes!!
• It's not as supportive and therefore not appropriate for a break that is not stable. Hers was stable they said so it was acceptable.
• It frays easily at the edges and may need moleskin from the pharmacy stuck to the two ends to stop it from being irritating/fraying.
• The extra expense is not covered by the insurance co.

I was a little freaked out by the fact that her skin might peel off if we didn't care for it properly. But we decided to go for it.

Our review so far:
• It definitely seems less supportive of her break. We've bumped it/twisted it several times which has hurt her quite a few at times. :-(
• The fraying is far worse than we imagined when she said it might fray a little. It's not just fraying the end of the waterproof gauze is coming out the top of her cast, threatening to unravel the entire inside of her cast. :-/
• We have given her a bath/shower of some sort everyday which is very nice to not have to deprive her of the water she loves so much this time!!

Overall, I haven't decided if the pros outweigh the cons. :-P

The Story I Forgot To Tell

It occurs to me that I neglected to tell the story of how Chloë broke her leg.

I was close by and saw it out of the corner of my eye but it all happened so fast that it is hard for me to explain exactly what happened. However, Rob was with her (he was intermittently reading Chloë stories and watching TV--the other kids were in bed but Chloë had taken a late nap and was therefore still up at 9:30/10:00) and he knows, so I'll tell you his version.

Rob was sitting in the recliner and Chloë was standing next to him getting out books for him to read to her. She was dropping them on the floor in front of her and she ended up stepping on one and slipping on it. Unfortunately she's not the most coordinated creature, thanks to her mom, so she slips and falls quite frequently, but usually no major injury results. This time, however, as she fell, her right leg twisted under her and around to the back, creating a spiral or oblique fracture up her tibia. When I looked over I just saw her sitting on some books with her legs wrenched at weird angles and crying pretty hard.

She did calm down and go to bed a while later tho so we thought nothing major had happened. She cried some in the night but then she would settle down again.

In the morning Molly got her out of bed and brought her to our door and said that there was something wrong with her feet because she was shaking, crying, and collapsing as she was trying to stand up for Molly to pick her up.

It was then that we decided there was definitely something wrong and we took her to get an x-ray. My dad claims that I had a very specific cry that let him know that I had broken a bone, I wish Chloë had some way to let me know when to worry/not when to take her to the doctor/just give her comfort. :-P

She Picked Orange

We went for her Dr appt to get her cast on. They took another X-ray but Daddy was there this time so she was very good and super calm!! They saw a definite fracture slanted all the way down/across her tibia.

Rob asked them to do a waterproof cast. Apparently you're SUPPOSED to get it wet everyday! The wetter the better. It's amazing how things have changed since I was a kid! :-P

The nurse held up a sample of cast colors to Chloë and she chose bright orange. :-P

She also got a little cast shoe that she's very enamored with since she loves shoes so much. :-)

My Baby Girl

My little Chloë broke her leg last Thursday night (Aug 18). Poor girl. I hate watching her go through this! It makes me weak in sticking to our resolves in teaching her to sleep through the night. Last night we pulled her into bed with us for a good part of the night because I didn't have the heart to make her stay in her bed when she woke up crying. :-/

On the other hand, it amazes me how resilient kids are, they just roll with the punches! Tomorrow Chloë is getting a regular cast on (since that's when they can SQUEEZE her in...what's up with that?!) so I took off her splint and gave her a bath. We tried to be very gentle but I wasn't sure if she would try to go for her normal bath-time antics. There was no need to worry, she was very careful with it and if it would get bumped she would knit her eyebrows, say "oh", and point to her leg. I told her that it hurts because it broke. She shrugged her shoulders and said "boke".

The first few days she was grumpy and wanted to be held quite a bit, but it seems she's adjusted to her circumstances pretty well. She acts as if it's completely normal that she suddenly has to kneel to do things she used to stand and do, and that she's back to crawling everywhere just as crawling had become a novelty--something she only did to be funny since she'd become so adept at walking.

Cheeser!

Chloë is definitely a product of the modern generation!

She knows what a picture is, that you pose with a big ol' cheesy grin, :-/ and that you can see it immediately afterward.

But she has also quickly learned that phones=talking+taking pictures. Anytime she sees a cell phone she pulls out her cheesiest-shut eye-fake smile-wrinkle nose-camera face.

This particular day, she was enjoying one of her Grandma Paula's green smoothies (which she chugs by the pint) and entertaining us with her ensuing green handlebar mustache.

Chloe's (long over-due) Update 9 - 12 Months

Nine months:

Chloe had more than doubled her weight (from 8 lbs 9 oz to 20.5 lbs), and had grown 5.5 inches (from 22 inches to 28.5)!!!

10 months:

Chloe started crawling, recognized herself in the mirror, and became obsessed with the "baby games & books" on her mom's iPod



11 months:
Chloe she started pulling herself to a stand, crawling with proficiency, smiling while scrunching her nose, squealing at the end of a blessing or prayer, and learning some signs: 1st sign- Thank you, 2nd sign- More, 3rd sign- Please.


12 months/1 year old:

Chloe weighed 22.5 lbs and was 29 and 3 quarters inches.

She could sign:

• "thank you" (very proficiently...however when her chin/mouth area is occupied she has been known to pat the side of her head)
• "more" (occasionally....sometimes used it when she wanted to nurse since she hadn't learned anything else to say)
• "please" (once in a great while, but had somehow associated it with licking her hand and so when we asked her to say please the hand licking is what she usually came up with
• and she added "down" quite emphatically to her signing vocabulary

She continued to wave "hi" and "goodbye" to most people and some pictures and movies and even her pacifier and other inanimate objects.


She was back to pulling herself to a standing position to reach what she wanted, but she took a setback for a few weeks when she broke her broken tibia and fibula on December 8th just a few weeks before her birthday. (She didn't stand on it when it hurt her, she started again about a week before she got her cast off so we knew it was healing nicely. She got it off the first week of January.)

She began to love to "read books" during her 12th month, (both look at them herself and be read to). The first one she really enjoyed was "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" which we checked out from the library around early December. After that we checked one out that featured a little baby chick named "Coco." I got it because we liked the chick's name. :) She really seemed to enjoy the book and would seek it out.

She also liked (and still does like) a Baby Einstein book featuring a mirror on each page.

She had an uncanny knack of knowing just when to shake her head or nod, whether we're asking her questions or just talking to her...either that or she understood way more than we thought she did.

She had slept through the night without eating five consecutive nights (the first few of which were quite torturous for Rob and I since we had to get up every 15-20 minutes to go let her know that we were still here but that she's a big girl and doesn't need to eat in the night) when she broke her leg and our resolve flew out the window. Consequently so did her sleeping through the night. Helping her relearn that became one of our top new years' resolutions!! We accomplished it right around New Years and she was sleeping through the night again by the time she got her cast off.

She started to cuddle things and give them loves, especially her blanket, soft stuffed animals and baby dolls. I only discovered her baby doll affinity when we were at Target after Christmas and she started animatedly reaching for some talking baby dolls in the toy section. The funny thing was that she had very definite opinions about which ones she liked and which ones she wanted nothing to do with. The only other thing that she really wanted/reached for was a "Tickle-Me-Elmo"!! :) She spotted it clear down the aisle and almost jumped out of my arms trying to reach it. When I picked it up for her to look at, she started giggling. So now I'm on the lookout for an organic cotton dolly (perhaps knitted by one of the marvelous knitters I know). ;) ;)


P.S. I hope this post is showing up now on your computer now Jan....Maybe you should get your computer checked. ;)

Picnic in the Park

One Sunday I really wanted to go to the mountains... we had a few complications and had to settle for a park

We still had fun.

Molly enjoyed being photographer for the evening.

(18 July 2010)

Chloe's First Banana.....Love at First Taste!!!

The washcloth wasn't too bad either. :P

(18 July 2010)

Out to Get WET!!

Ben, Molly, Chloe and I met my sister Amber and her kids at the neighborhood splash park.

Ben enjoyed taking care of the babies. :)
Molly and cousin Taylor had fun in the water

Cousin Paxton...not so much. :P

(16 July 2010)

Some of my Favorite Pics and Videos from July...

Ben, Molly and cousin Cambria

at a park with a water feature.

(7 July 2010)

Coco being read to sleep.

Daddy's favorite book to read to Coco: Chronicles of Narnia.
(12 July 2010)

Ben, Molly, and Chloe....aren't they so cute!!!
(20 July 2010)

Raspberries...need I say more?

Ben and Coco playing again. (right)

Chloe discovers cucumbers... (below)
But nobody better dare touch that cucumber!!!

(29 July 2010)

8 Bits of News About Chloe

1. Chloe started nodding her head and sort of mouthing "ya" about 2 weeks ago, around her 9 month mark (end of September 2010). So now when asked a question she will most often nod her head and make a "ya" sound. However, she still occasionally shakes her head no...which seems to give credence to the times she nods 'yes.' :D
2. Also at about 9 months exactly (end of September 2010) she went from 2-3 feedings per night to 0-1!!! Hooray for Coco!!! ...Mommy and Daddy are especially elated!!
3. Last week on Wednesday (6 Oct 2010), Chloe pulled herself up onto her knees (at my sister's coffee table). She has repeated this action a few times since then. (See Exhibit A)
4. Chloe sat herself up for the first time last Saturday (9 Oct 2010) morning around 4 am. She was in her crib sleeping and Rob was gone on a business trip. He usually gets her in the night when she needs to eat. <3 (See Exhibit B: You can just make out a sitting Chloe in this blurry picture of Chloe through the video monitor.)
5. Chloe started crawling on Sunday (10 Oct 2010). Only a few "steps" at a time before she would spread her arms and legs straight out (to the side that is) and let her body flop down onto her tummy, but hey, it's progress. :-) (She's gone a few more paces at a time since then.)
6. She still likes to sleep with soft things on her face, just like when she was SO small (compared to now) :-P and used to bury her face into her soft bumper pad in her cradle. Now it's a little silk blanket that I made for her that she puts in her face when she's sleeping. (See exhibit C: A clearer view from the video monitor)
7. I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but when Chloe was only a few months old, she would get quite put out if I tried to nurse her when she was tired. I've heard that many babies like to go to sleep nursing. Not Chloe, even to this day, if she's tired AND hungry, she'll usually choose sleep over eating and if I try to persuade her otherwise, she still gets QUITE PUT OUT!! :)

8. Last Friday morning she went for 13.5 hours without nursing!! (15 Oct 2010) That same morning, before she'd even gotten up to eat, I heard her just playing quietly in her crib. After a little while I asked Molly to get her and bring her to my room to nurse. When Molly went in there to get her, she had pulled herself to a standing position against the rail and was shakily standing there...probably not sure what to do now that she'd gotten herself into that predicament. :) I've yet to witness this phenomenon myself.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



Exhibit C:

First Nun-Chucks

With Rob as her dad,
it's definitely....

A Right of Passage

Kids Bowl Free at Fat Cats

We went to Fat Cats a few times this summer because they had a fun deal where kids could bowl two free games every day, all summer.

Little Things About Chloe...

1. Chloe will be your best friend, for a while, if you have any strings/ties/ropes attached to your clothing that she can play with!!
2. Grandma Neener (my mom) discovered her 2nd tooth about two weeks after Grandpa Jan discovered the first. (Her first tooth was lower front right, 2nd tooth lower front left.)
3. Chloe takes good naps most of the time. She usually fusses when we lay her down but most times stops immediately when we either stick her pacifier in her mouth or put her little silk blanket over her face. It's almost like a switch. :) Then she'll roll around a bit and lately she's been ending up falling asleep with her little bum in the air. :)
4. She still likes to wave at people. It's not 100% of the time and she's notorious for not being willing to perform on cue. But her favorite time to wave is over "Daddy's" shoulder. She seems to know that she's the one that gets to leave and perfectly happy to let everybody know. One night Rob was holding her and reading scriptures. Every few minutes she'd look over at me at which point I'd smile and wave at her. She'd smile and wave back and then look away, perfectly happy listening to her daddy read.
5. Coco is extremely flexible. She pulls her legs in all kinds of weird contortions without a moments thought. She still, occasionally chews on her toes, when there isn't something else more interesting to look at/grab/chew/suck. And almost always has one or both of her legs straight in the air.
6. Like most kids, Chloe has an affinity for other kids. She likes Ben and other kids quite a bit but it's a pretty well-known fact around here that she really, really likes her sister. It seems that, when Coco is in the mood to laugh, Molly will frequently make her laugh without even meaning to. (Not to mention the belly-laughs she gives when Molly is trying.) She likes her siblings so much that when she's in my room with me and I go to the door and open it she gets all wiggly and fast-breathing as she excitedly looks around for Molly and Ben. As if to say, "Here I am guys!! Let's play!!"
7. Chloe loves to play games and loves music. If you start to play: "patty cake", "this little piggy", one of her musical toys or books, or even a fun children's song, her eyes light up with a happy knowing look. And with the music she'll try to dance. :)
8. The past few days she's started to squint her eyes all the way shut, scrunch up her nose and smile when somebody looks over at her.
9. Her first encounter with any kind of solid food was on July first. She was quite dubious. We offered food to her a few more times in the next few weeks. She wasn't a big fan. Then about a month later or so, we tried food again and she's a BIG fan. Anytime she sees me carrying food, she instinctively knows what it is and starts smacking her lips and waving her little arms and kicking her little legs. She thinks she gets to eat whatever I do. :-P She even tried to eat a chip right out of my mouth (on two different occasions). So far she's had, and likes (in order of appearance...to the best of my memory and knowledge):

• zucchini
• sweet potato/yam
• avocado
• yellow squash
• rice
• rice cereal
• bananas (whole or mashed)
• cucumber
• grapes
• pear
• yogurt (doesn't matter what kind)
• Baby Mum Mums (crispy rice cracker things)
• applesauce
• "Morning O's" (a version of Cheerios)
• potato
• a bite of poppy seed muffin (fed to her by daddy) :P
• jarred baby food (we got some for our camping trip, winter squash, spinach and potatoes, grandma's turkey dinner, berries and apples... she liked the spinach and potatoes least)
• celery
• carrots
• chicken
• peach
• cantaloupe
• homemade chicken and rice soup

The Story of Food

hi mom, this is fun to sit at the counter with ben.

are we gonna play a game?

well...that's different. you've never showed me anything like that before.

i'm not quite sure what to think of it...

oh!!! you're sticking it in my mouth?!!

that strange, slimy green stuff is a bit worrisome.
what do you think molly? should i open my mouth?

and the verdict is...


YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING MOM!
i'll stick with the milk!!! :P




(1 July 2010)

The Rest of June 2010

The Neighborhood Splash Park

(18 June 2010)

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Chloe, holding onto her paci....
have I mentioned how adorable I think those little hands are??

(20 June 2010)

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Ben and Rob spent six days at Bear Lake, UT for scout camp.

(21-26 June 2010)

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Not sure who gets the biggest kick out of the bouncy chair!!(29 June 2010)

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Chloe learning how to pray...
not to mention chew on daddy's hand...
come to think of it, she's a natural at getting things into her mouth,
no lessons needed. :-P

(30 June 2010)