More please!

Hi there!

How are you all? I'm well, currently reclined with my feet up and another half an hour or so before I need to collect little miss from day care. Yes, that's right, I'm at home and I'm currently sans child. Chloe has been attending day care two days a week now for about 2-3 weeks and whilst the plan was for her to start going the additional day when I started working it; as luck would have it one became available (ALOT) earlier. Initially we um-ed and ah-ed about it, as she is still very young and I am not working the Wednesday until term 2, it was a case of take it now or run the risk. We decided to take it now and the hope is that I can pick up two or more days casually before the end of term to hopefully cover the day care costs.  But so far that hasn't happened. School is not booking casuals this term in an attempt to save cash... so, you see, its left me with a very leisurely day come Wednesday each week. However, very guilty as well.... *sigh*

Anyways, enough of that... lets get into it!

STATS

 

Height - 78cm (officially measured by the nurse at her check up Monday)

Weight - 10.8kg

Size - 0-1 (although last month I said 1, she isn't really filling out the size one pants yet)
Shoe Size - 4-5.

 

EATING AND DRINKING

 

So... the bib - gone! Although when she has a baby cino, that usually requires some sort of clothing protection. But yup, the bib is NO more! Instead, at dinner time particularly, we've just been stripping her off and letting her get messy. Breakfast is normally the same as we strip her PJs off, she eats in her nappy and then we dress her.... the only meal that came be a bit of a pickle is lunch. But generally she's eating a sandwich or something equally drip-free.

 

 

Her diet continues to be inline with us - her favourite meals however are spaghetti bolognaise and ANYTHING with sour cream or cheese! She just LOVES eating skewers and she's also taken to eating chunks of fruit and veg, such as tomato and cucumber.

 

 

 

COMMUNICATION

Chloe's language is getting better each day. Our favourite by far though is 'more please'. After mastering 'more', it started to bother me how rude it sounded, so we added 'please'. Now it is just ridiculous how cute she is when she looks at you and says 'more please'. So sweet! She's also able to repeat familiar words when you ask her.... i.e. "Say, mum-ma". And with some consistent, sustained instruction can pick up words using mastered sounds very quickly. For example whilst in Melbourne this weekend she was able to say 'Dan' within a few hours of being taught Daniel's name... I think because it is similar sounding to 'Dada'.

However, she understands A LOT more than she can say... When asked to do something, 90% of the time, she will. Be it animal sounds, putting things away, getting a particular object from a group of things... its all very impressive. The frustration is not always understanding her... she seems very patient with us, but on occasions when the charade has been dragging on, she will get upset.

Often when we are failing to understand her she will take us by the hand, lead us and than point. She also has developed a hand gesture, where she open and shuts her hand multiple times when she wants something. Only this week have I realised I now do it as well. LOL.

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

 



Doing laps around our dining table has continued to be a favourite past time of Chloe's. She just loves running around, pushing her stroller around, or being pushed IN her stroller around it. It often has her in hysterics and we are often been dragged to our feet to participate in this game.

 

 

Swimming continues to be a big hit with little miss. Last week we had a sample of what is done in the level above the class she is currently in. It was great! She coped really well, considering she is the youngest in the class. It also occurred to me that before too much longer, all her friends will graduate and little miss and I will be left swimming solo for a few months again. Very sad about that indeed! But as far as her skills go, she is now able to creep along the wall (aka monkey walk), get herself out of the pool at the ladder and is learning to dive. Having sampled the next level up class, it was interesting to see how the skill level develops, gave some good tips and insights into what we can be doing in the water to help her with that transition when it eventually comes.

 

This month Chloe began dancing with bestie Ayla. The two are beyond adorable! They spend most of the first 10 minutes of the lesson, chasing each other and giggling. Its all I can do when we arrive to hold Chloe as she squeals and waves about in excitement of seeing Ayla and her mum (Renee). Throughout the class, Chloe will attempt most activities well - with the exception of the final activity. Eeeck! A relay type exercise with a very fancy 'ball' that is passed from one student to another.... whilst Chloe can do the activity, its the passing to the next students that is the real issue. It often ends with me yanking the ball from her and a lot of 'mum-ma' tears. Its heart breaking! But part of the learning process I guess. On the flip side there is an activity where all the girls are required to stand and hold hands... a very difficult task for under 3s. But without blinking Ayla and Chloe will stand together and hold hands happily... and in many instances they look for each other when performing. Its really tutu sweet. LOL ;-)
 

SLEEPING

 

I give up! Honestly, night sleeping has gone OUT the window. Most nights Chloe now wakes screaming. We have no idea why, we assume night mares but we have pretty much exhausted ALLLLLLLLL reasons. Excluding getting professional help, we have tried EVERYTHING!  So, I've thrown the hat in and just accepted that this is what it is, until it isn't. Anyways, we cant have everything perfect can we? I mean, she goes to sleep without crying, will sleep for hours in her pram and will never wake before 6am. So.... that's something! But boy, what I wouldn't give for 8 hours uninterrupted sleep tonight!

 

LOVES and HATES

Chloe has returned to her love of having water poured over her head during bath time. Often running on the spot as the water cascades down her face, laughing hysterically and then saying 'more please'. She also loves kissing our photos on the wall goodnight at bedtime. As well as reading to herself and her toys, dancing whenever the urge strikes her and always to the best tunes, taking selfies, painting, and dogs. Seriously, a dog could bark and it be barely audible to us and she is up on her feet pointing in the direction it came from. Loves 'woofs'. When we last visited maitland, she stood at a fence and called for stephie for about 10 minutes. I often replay the video of her at the fence to her from my phone and she screams for stephie - who is no where to be seen in the video. hahaha.

Chloe really, really, REALLY hates having a dirty nappy now. Within minutes of doing a poo, she is at my feet, pointing to her nappy and wanting it changed. Apparently this indicates she may be ready for toilet training but with Japan less than 6 weeks away - I don't want to do all this 'training' to have it affect our holiday as we are rushing to find a western toilet at a moments notice, so for now - toilet training is on the back burner!

OTHER STUFF

Teeth
Chloe now has both her bottom 1st year molars.... boy! did they take some time to show themselves... she was constantly shoving her hand in the back of her mouth for like 3 weeks and every now and then crying for no apparent reason. Then, wa-bammo! Teeth! And they.are.MASSIVE! I always think this each time new teeth emerge from her gums... but these ones are big! really big! But, I suppose they have to be as they are sticking around until she is 12 or so. But, yeh, BIG!

 

Modelling

So I FINALLY got Chloe's head shots done. She was a little off as she was cutting the aforementioned molars. But like a true professional once the camera was on her she was gold. The photographer (Bec) said that 1-2 is the hardest age to photograph... but that Chloe did really well. At this age, they cant really follow instructions and find it hard to stay in one place for long enough, let alone smile at the camera. So looking at the shots that will go into her portfolio, we're pretty happy! 

 

She also got cast for the Babies R Us Baby book, out this coming March-April. The shoot was on a Thursday in Pyrmont and was a mix of baby models and those that had got the job through an opening casting online. Chloe was paired with another little boy for the shoot and was once again modelling Bonds. The shot was very difficult to get as it was hard to get both babies smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. Also Chloe being a toddler and the other being a baby that could barely stand made for a difficult composition. In the end they did get a shot of both kids, which they will edit together.  It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

 

 

Darling Harbour Day Out.

Since the Babies R Us shoot was in Pyrmont we decided to make the most of it and have some lunch afterwards and then a play in the Darling Harbour Park as a family. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had packed Chloe's swimmers so she could splash about and have some fun. It was nice to be able to do something together, made me very thankful for my beautiful little family.

 

 

Maitland (Nanny's Birthday)

Earlier in the month we headed to Maitland for Nanny's birthday. Which was a weekend filled with indulgent meals, laughter and once again too much drinking.

 

 

 

Trip to Melbourne

The weekend just gone we flew to Melbourne to see Uncle Daniel, aka the godfather. We left Friday and had a long weekend of fun and laughter including dinner with Daniel's family, drinks in Fitzroy, chasing cats under beds, flying visits with Hobart's finest and meeting up with Pipes in St Kilda where we explored the markets and popped into the Esplanade Hotel for a drink... which made this Rockwiz fan VERY happy. The weekend disappeared far too quickly and before we knew it we were back home having Daniel withdrawals.

 

 

Lunch date with Orvi

Also this month we FINALLY caught up with Orvilicious and his wonderful mums. Orvi is such a sweet little guy. He was more than happy to show Chloe around his crib, share his lunch with her and let her do the cleaning. The two are very good friends - it is a real shame that life is going to be very busy for the next little bit and we wont get to see them for a while.

 

 

Passport, ready for Japan.

Finally, our passports arrived! Chloe's first! It is such a cute and exciting thing to look at. Its hard to believe in less than 6 weeks we will be spending our first night in Japan ... in accommodation that is STILL yet to be booked! (Grrrrrr - Jarratt!) Meanwhile he did a great job in booking the rail passes, which arrived a week ago and securing a tour spot for Kyoto's Imperial Palace. So he's not all bad ;-).

 

And that's it. All done. All silent.... for now. hehe.

Til next time I ramble on at you all..... xxx