chlo-worm: August 2007

:!:

here she is in all her walking glory:

and with some teeth:

:the crazy things she does:

this week has been another of firsts, although, not really the firsts that we typically think of.

it started as a normal week- shopping, playing, taking walks, etc.

monday we attended a silent laurel and hardy movie at the balboa park organ pavilion with our community group. chloe had some trouble seeing so she tried on my glasses:

then, apparently chloe wanted to experience, again, her birth, but in a different fashion. so, she did this:

i know the picture is bad. it was blurry and i tried to touch it up, but you get the idea. how she got there, we don't know. we were watching tv one minute, and the next, we turn around to find her tunneling into the pouch under the stroller. but, like everything she does, once is simply not enough. she attempted to go back. we decided it wasn't in her best interest to reenact her birth via stroller.

but, i think the highlight of the week had to be the poop incident. chloe still wears her cloth diapers, but has now figured out how to take it off. when i put her down for a nap last week, i forgot about this and let her sleep. she woke up early, cried for awhile, and started to go back to sleep. but she still seemed fussy. finally, i figured i'd better check on her. i opened the door and there was my precious sitting in her crib, surrounded by little balls of poop and with poop smashed between her fingers. i, of course, was mortified and worried. i felt horrible for forgetting to put pants on her. i freaked and just picked her up, while she's screaming, and put her in the bath, shirt and all. she kept trying to put her fingers in her mouth while i was trying to clean her without getting poo on myself. eventually, we got the situation under control. unfortunately for jared, i hadn't the chance to clean up the crib before he got home, and he ended up with that job. sorry :( i worried that she may have eaten poop and would get sick, but she didn't. let's just say i'll be more careful.

on with the week...

saturday we got our new couch delivered from ikea, and chloe was insistent on helping jared put it together...so she did:

we love the couch; especially jared. we never fell asleep on our other one. yesterday, we peacefully slept for a whole 15 minutes.

to wrap up the week, chloe got cozy with dad. it was a good way to end a sometimes turbulent week of firsts. but she survived.

it'll be interesting to see what this week holds...

:walking!:

no photos yet, but chloe is starting to walk! of course, i was working when she was doing the bulk of it, but jared was quick to text me and tell me that she was doing it!

it's not constant, but every once and a while she gets brave enough to try out the sea legs. hopefully we'll be able to catch her the next time.

cheers!

:the cold:

this comes at a very appropriate time, as chloe has, unfortunately, caught my cold.

last night she awoke 3 times with a slight cough and probably general discomfort. it's so hard not knowing what is bothering her.

alas, she still must be attended to. surely, there are plenty of o.t.c. things we can buy, most not too suitable for babies under 2, but still commonly used. that is what the article is about.

i know that i talk much about natural alternatives, but there is truth in it. we have to be more cautious about how we treat our kids. we have to read, do research listen. we can't just pop a pill or a dropper in their mouth and expect harmless results, if results at all.

so, i went on a quest to try and relieve her symptoms. she's too young for echanacea, which is my personal remedy. i used some saline drops for her nose and a suction bulb, which works great for temporary booger relief.

i decided to try a little experiment in a bottle of a few ounces of warm water steeped with some mint tea and some raw garlic. i added a bit of agave nectar so she would swallow it, and lo and behold, she loved it. i think it helped her throat because she hasn't been coughing since.

she looks a mess. last night she slipped on a rug and hit her right cheek on the table. she awoke with a purple line across her cheek. she has boogers coming out of her nose, her eyes are puffy and she's generally tired. but, you'd never know by her chipper attitude. she's not too fussy, playing and smiling and eating like normal.

hopefully this will pass soon.

:11 month old chicken:

hard to believe...she's nearly one year.

i've been sick today and chloe has been my companion...although, i can't say that she makes a good nurse. we'll have to work on that.

anyway, here she is sleeping and doing her jungle jim routine. she really likes to crawl over and in things that seem impossible. here, it's the kitchen table chairs. go figure!

:grand canyon:

we're back...from our grand canyon, so. utah trip!

tired and beat, but safely home. chloe was better than expected and cute as ever. i discovered that she now has 5 teeth coming in. crazy.

tonight, she took her first steps with me. barely holding my fingers, we walked around the living room. she also used the laundry basket as a cart and pushed it around. she's so close.

anyway, here's a load of photos...more to come :)

:what's up?:

no photos today, but a little update. sorry we haven't been updating as much.

she's almost 11 months and so close to walking.

as you parents know, it's a process of first pulling up, then walking along the crib, then walking along with one hand, etc. she's at the one handed point, and able to stand from a sitting position, without holding onto anything. last night she started a new thing. it's what i'd call the downward dog walk. if you know yoga, you're familiar with downward dog, in which you place your hands and feet on the ground in the shape of an upside down V. now imagine walking. she refuses to take our hands and walk. very stubborn and independent already!

she is also getting 4 teeth at once. three on the bottom and one on the top. it's made for continued fussiness and neediness for me. but, i am also learning she loves her snacks. and if she gets a snack before her nap, she's a much happier baby when she awakes. snacks mainly consist of tofu, just because it's an easy cleanup and a good source of meatless protein. and no sugar! she eats anything. basically, i just mix about 4 different things, all different vitamins and feed her. example: kale, apricot, carrot, and plain yogurt. disgusting. but oh so good to her.

this week we are heading to vegas and then going on a roadtrip to the grand canyon with my parents. just a 2 night jaunt, but a much needed break for us. although, i was thinking about how it's not really a total vacation because we have chloe, which is work. but good work. we're hoping to steal some alone time at some point on the trip.

our enjoyment of chloe over these past 11 months has just grown so much. it helps that she sleeps at night, too. but watching her copy things, like holding her pretend mobile phone up to her ear and saying, "hoe", is so fun. she's so inquisitive and smart. everyone comments on her eyes and how they penetrate everything and everyone. nothing gets by her. we are so looking forward to the years to come, joys and sorrows, bumps, jumps, boys, etc. so much to take in.

shalom.