Living a model life.

Hi there!

How are we all? I'm well, State of Origin is on and I've been stripped of my couch commando title and lost all rights to the remote.... it happens every year, but hey! I get the (remote) control pretty much EVERY other night so I won't complain. And it actually gives me a chance to catch you all up on the comings and goings of our little world. Lucky for you Jarratt is mad on the footy otherwise with our current social calendar I don't know where I'd find the time to write this monthly update. But before I get into the segmented update stuff, I need to have a proud mumma moment and share with you the most recent and notable highlight in our world.

The Monday just gone (24th), Cosmo pregnancy was released and Chloe appeared in it.... TWICE! Based on the photo shoot 2ish months ago, two of her photos were selected to appear in the mag and we just could not be any proud of our little superstar. Below is one of the images from her modelling debut....

I also realised re-reading the last blog, as I do before I start each new post, its been a while since I updated you on Chlo's measurements.... So..... here goes:

Chloe has cracked 8kg, weighing in at 8.03 at her last check up. She had gone backwards in her height and was measured at 69cm, but this isn't unusual as each nurse has a different measuring technique and none are perfect... the one measurement that did have a few eyebrows raised was her whopping big head! Her head was measured as 45.5cm, meaning it had jumped a few bands since last check up. So whilst her height and weight sits pretty on its line at the 25th percentile, her head is up somewhere near the 75th. Which had me in hysterics as the nurse consulted the doctor.... I mean what can be done about a giant head really?? Maybe I should put less headbands on her... maybe that has something to do with it, hehe.

 EATING

So not much has changed on the food front, Chloe is still eating three meals a day, plus snacks. Although her finger food has become more substantial – just today she feed herself a off cut of silver side that we’d had for dinner last night. It was pretty funny watching her chew away on it like a little puppy! Her coordination with the spoon is also improving, despite sometimes feeding herself using the wrong end, hehe. She is also confidently using her sippy cup now with the flow control on, which has helped with spillages and her being more independent in drinking. I can now leave her chloe cup beside her as she plays or on her high chair table tray and she'll pick it up and drink herself. Its wonderful to see her growing in her independence!

Her milk feeds are also becoming shorter and shorter with the 7am feed being the longest and the 11am, 3pm and 630pm being less than 10 minutes, sometimes less than 5. Its bananas how fast she is now with feeding! In the last post I mentioned we were contemplating dropping the 11 or 3 feed depending which she favoured less, but neither has been more popular than the other so for the time being we are keeping both. I plan on phasing out day feeds by 12 months, then once that’s established phasing out boob all together…. So there IS light at the end of the tunnel, hehe.

COMMUNICATION

 



The squealing continues to be Chloe's main form of communication. She has tonal changes in the ba, pa, eh, etc sounds that indicate her intention and all are pretty amusing! She is also becoming much better at responding to and understanding questions. For example if we are at home and Jarratt leaves the room, I will ask her 'Where's Daddy? Where did he go?' and she will look in the direction he left and occasionally say 'Da da' and point.

Pointing to things is also new, she now points and I do my best to say the name of the object she is pointing to. Sometimes she makes a sound that is similar to the word I have just said, which shows a real intelligence and strength in communication. I truly believe Chloe is going to be a real little chatter box when these sounds start turning into words... I just don't know how Jarratt will live with both of us.

Her non verbal communication is also out of sight, in addition to pointing and looking in the direction of things she has started shaking her head as in she is saying 'no'. She seems to do it when she is excited or having a good time which has confused many people who are unfamiliar. It does however make for some funny videoing as you can see below.

Whilst away in Fremantle, and leaving a BBQ, Chloe raised her hand and waved, a very royal looking bye to everyone. Since then she has become more consistent in waving bye to people and the wave has become less royal and more of a mirror image replica. It is very sweet when we say to her 'say bye' and she raises her hand and waves. She is such a cutie patootie!!!

She has also become more affectionate. In the last week or so I have received my first REAL cuddles, where she'll lean her head against my chest and snuggle in. I have also seen much affection for her little friends when we are on playdates. She's never been the kid that would 'grab' another and lately I've seen her gently lean in and open her mouth as if to kiss another child, or gently stroke their face. This was very evident in her photo shoot for Cosmo a few months ago when the boy who was being photographed with her was deeply distraught, Chloe softly reached out and stroked his cheek, it ended up being the photo they used for the magazine article, which you can see below.

GETTING AROUND

 

 

Little Miss STILL (FRUSTRATINGLY) shows no interest in crawling, every now and then there is a glimmer of hope as she gets in a crouching position as she reaches for something on the floor. If we encourage her with a gentle manipulation to help get her on all fours, she cries.... so we haven't pushed it. She has, however, got more confident in 'walking'. In order to save our backs we have bought her two contraptions to help and despite really enjoying the version you sit in at Toys r us, she prefers to walk with us .... or with her walker or cruise on furniture. But ... mostly with us, grrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

 



 

 

She still doesn't have a lot of upper body strength required to pull herself up, except in the bath tub, hehe. But she has incredible balance!!! As a result she has been able to stand without support for a good 5 seconds. She has done it on a few occasions now, and more often when she's not thinking about it. I have to say thanks to a VERY clever mummy friend who taught me that it helps if she's holding something to distract her. I wish I could say that this all makes me very excited - that soon I'll have a mobile bub! But if I'm honest, whilst all this standing, walking stuff looks very promising - it is very possible that this phase could continue for a while and whilst she is not interested in crawling, I am stuck with her frustrated cries when I leave the room and she can't follow me, or when one of her playmates or toys is out of reach. I feel bad for her.... but more so, I feel bad for my back. hehe.

 

 

SLEEPING

 

Chloe started turning in her cot this month,
but like most phases it has now past.

Chloe is now having 2 sleeps a day ranging from 30mins (in the pram/car) to 2 hours (in her cot). Her naps happen at roughly 10am and 2pm most days and as much as I don't want to jinx it I'm happy to announce that for the last three nights, Chloe has gone to bed before 7 and slept til 7.... WITHOUT a dream feed. I had done some reading and consulted my clever mummy friends and found that it was possible for bubs her age to last the night without nightly feeds and just being 'resettled'. So we attempted a few nights of Jarratt rocking her to sleep but he could never get her into the cot once asleep and always resulted in me going in to boob feed her to sleep. I was approaching the end of my tether with the whole thing.... 10 months of broken sleep will do that to you! So we applied an approach I read about in Baby Love. Yes, it involved controlled crying, yes, we felt like terrible parents, but yes it seems to have worked! And we haven't looked back.... but, as I previously mentioned its only been 3 from 3 and while I'm hopeful, I'm a realist!

 

 

PLAYING



I don't know how I've forgotten to mention this in previous blogs but Chloe LOVES bubbles and when I say love I mean, kick your feet, squeal very loud and stick your tongue out kind of love. It is one of those things I try and find time for each day, its as fun to her as a visit to the park and has me in hysterics each time I crack out the bubble wand. I FINALLY got around to filming her for you all to see. Its simply heart warming....

 

 

Since the last monthly update, she has continued to show a love for music and often 'dances' and claps along with songs. She has also started 'clapping' as an applause like response, like we do for her. Recently we attended Rhyme Time at the library and she just loved it, often clapping at the end of each song. She even got her own library card so she can borrow new and different books to read with Daddy. She also continues to enjoy visits with her little friends and to the park, they are truly a highlight of each week for both her and I!

 

TRIP TO FREO

 

Chloe was a downright super star on our trip to Fremantle for Aunty Kiki and Uncle Mark's wedding. Despite never really coming across to WA time and having 'naps' every day in her pram, she only lost it twice! She had an amazing time over the long weekend and definite highlights were visiting swan valley wineries and playing in the sand, at both the little creatures brewery and on Bathers Beach after the ceremony. We were very proud of her and her remarkable behaviour, particularly on the 5 hour plane flight there and back! She was SO good, it has us contemplating another long haul trip with her again soon..... it was only a matter of time before she got her own passport with well travelled parents like us.

 

 



 

And so ends another monthly update, we hope you've enjoyed reading about it as much as we've enjoyed living it.... xxx