Chloe's First Christmas!

*DISCLAIMER*
I did write this back in the middle of January, but for some reason it never 'published' correctly, so apologies to those that have been left hanging.... here, although a little late, it is. Enjoy, xxx


Hi All,

 

 

How are we? Chloe and I are well, despite the heatwave that swept through Sydney yesterday. We fared pretty well though, using the air con most of the day (shh! don't tell daddy, hehe) and with an afternoon dip in Uncle Brent's pool. Crazy that it got up to 43 degrees! This weather really needs to sort itself out! Anyways... enough about that, onto the fun stuff... Miss Chloe! Yay!

Since I last wrote a lot has changed and to be honest, I don't even know where to start. Normally, I make notes in my iPhone day to day of interesting things that happen to write about each month, but so much has happened in the last month that I havent taken notes and its hard to gather all the points in my head succinctly but here goes...

 

 

Chloe's first Christmas

 

This year, Christmas took on a whole new meaning! I have always enjoyed the festive season, but having a little one in the house really weaved something special into the mix. I guess it all kicked off with her Santa photo. A little anxious, Chloe and I made our way to Roselands one Wednesday dressed up in her best Christmas outfit (she had three in total, thanks Nanny) to have her photo taken with Santa. Well prepped and planned we arrived at noon, Chloe's 2nd happiest time of the day. The happiest is at about 730am, but Santa isnt available for photos then, hehe. I was prepared for tears, screams, everything! But without blinking, when plonked on Santa's lap, she sat there unfazed and smiled for the photo. Well, smiled at me, not the camera, but still a smile nonetheless. Many people have asked how we managed to have the photo of just her, no parent, no tears, no dummy! I can honestly say, its all her! I was so proud of her on the day, and us, I guess, clearly we are raising one confident little lady!

Then came Christmas day, Chloe again was a dream! The day kicked off with Uncle Brent, Auntie Beth and Cousin Leilani coming over for Christmas breakfast and some camera knocking good fun! Then at about 11 we headed to Grandma's and Opa's for lunch and more Christmas celebrations with Uncle Adrian, Auntie Caryn, Cousin Thomas and the Tandeks. It was a loud, busy affair and Chloe sailed through it beautifully. Before we knew it we were back home opening presents then piling into the car to head to Maitland for Christmas the sequel the following day. On Boxing Day, Chloe again surprised us as she backed up better than daddy and mummy after a big day. There she celebrated with more cousins, aunts and an uncle, as well as Nanny and Poppy and was again spoilt rotten! By the end of the two days Chloe had received such an abundance of gifts she could nearly open her own shop!!!!! The remained of 2012 was spent in Maitland laying by the pool in very fashionable swimmers with matching hat, heading out to the wineries for some tastings and decadent lunches, as well as ringing in the New Year with Auntie Nic and Uncle Nath.

 

 

Recent achievements

In the last month or so, Chloe has started doing some really cool stuff. Now that shes awake longer and more animated, she is really starting to 'show off' by:

• Grabbing and holding things easily, followed by promptly shoving it into her mouth, sometimes so violently she gags, haha.
• Sitting up supported - thanks largely to her Bumbo, Chloe is able to now sit up supported and loves being able to be part of the conversation.
• Rolling over, although often assisted, she has done it once independently but may have also been by fluke. 
• Communicating more, she now 'talks' to you. Often squealing to get my attention, particularly when her headband has fallen down over her eyes. As well as experimenting with sounds, my particular favourite is a long drawn out mumble vibrating sounding sound that I call 'stuck in second', cause that's exactly what it sounds like. 
• Giggles, particularly when you snort into her neck or eat her tummy. You cant help but feel flooded with warmth when you hear her make a full belly chuckle! There are no words, just love!
• Recognising Mum and Dad. I'll often leave her under the play gym to put out washing or make food and when I come back and she sees me for the first time she will grin from ear to ear, similarly when J comes home from work.
• Singing. It was pretty much a guarantee that she would love music and singing given the amount of singstar she heard whilst in the womb. (Thanks to Auntie Nic and Uncle Nath's xbox!) A particularly favourite are 'You are my sunshine' which will always have a calming effect when we're in the car or an instant smile, always handy for photos.
• No nappy time. Whilst away in Maitland we discoveered that Chloe is a bit of an exhibitionist, which I assure you she gets from her Greek Islands skinny dipping father. She now spends a good half an hour each day being a down right rudie nudie! Thankfully we have yet to cop a spray..... hahaha
• Going to sleep without crying and sleeping in longer blocks during the day. For a while there Chloe had turned into a bit of a catnapper, sleeping for 45 minutes and then waking, which made it difficult to get anything done!!!! Having pushed her bedtime back 15-30 minutes she now sleeps for 1.5-2 hours twice a day, which is great! She also goes to sleep now, more often than not, without a sound. We have now developed a very structured routine which is performed before each day time sleep, which helps in preparing her for bed without protest! The only exception is bedtime, which continues to be hit and miss. Sometimes she'll crash out no tears, other times she'll turn it on for about half an hour and is a bit of a battle of wills. But I guess she cant be perfect all the time ;-)
• Taking the bottle.... boy, oh boy! Is this an achievement!!!! Young Chloe and the bottle were pretty much nemesis' until recently, and even still not the best of friends now. Which is a particular problem when you have events coming up that she is not invited to. Up until Monday she had never taken a bottle from anyone other than Jarratt, but on Monday... success! After a bit of a battle, Nanny managed to feed, burp, wrap and put young Chloe to bed whilst we went out for J's birthday dinner!

 

and..... Me

 

As a mum its easy to forget about yourself and put yourself last, recently I was so run down my glands swelled up and I got a pretty nasty cold sore! The following day, I committed myself to not doing anything in Chloe's sleep times except sleep myself, the next day I felt heaps better! But since then, I've always had things to fill my 'free' time such as email updates, hehe. But I am going to try and nap more often, that along with being a less anxious mother, are my New Years resolutions. I also find that only lately have I started to feel like I know what I'm doing and (hand on heart) REALLY enjoying motherhood. For a period of time, I wouldn't admit it to anyone, let alone myself, I was struggling a bit. I now feel like I am emerging from the haze and am no longer constantly questioning if I am a good mother. Dont get me wrong I still have down days and doubts but I recently had an epiphany, something that really has helped me turn a corner, it occurred to me that I dont need to be perfect, I just need to love her, which I do ... with all my heart and soul!!!!

 

 

 

Til next time, xxx