Dreams of a Super Star

Paige had a cheer-leading performance tonight at Linn high school.  She attended a cheer-leading clinic last week that taught her some fun basics of cheer-leading (stunts, chants, tumbling) and a dance to Taylor Swift's, Shake it Off.  Tonight, the girls that attended the clinic got to show off that dance during a half time performance at the JV boys game.

Paige did a great job dancing and put on a great performance with a smile. She always amazes me how she can get up in front of huge groups and not feel at all nervous or apprehensive about performing (especially the time she was in The Nutcraker at Miller Performing Arts) and just soaks up the moment.

Her excitement about tonight was just so adorable, and I wanted to write it down, so I don't have to rely on my memory to hold on to it. (I find that is so hard to do since I've become a mom, and it makes me so sad to forget such wonderful moments of my life or my children's.)  Anyway, as I was helping Paige get ready to leave-putting her hair up in the 'cheer-leader ponytail'- this conversation occurred...in the most genuine tone.

"Mommy, I really have gotten to be a super star so many times." Paige said.

"Yes, you have, Paigey!"

"This cheer-clinic performance, The Nutcracker, all of my dance recitals," Paige said, "I really have gone a long way!"

"Yes, you have, and you'll get to do so much more." I said.

"I really do want to be a super star when I grow up, Mommy, but I may have to pick another job besides being a vet.  I just don't know if I'll have time to do that job AND be a superstar," Paige said, "Well, maybe I can do it if I don't have too many appointments. Then, I'll be able to write songs at work, too."

These were such innocent and genuine thoughts from my six-year old. Listening to her dream out loud was such a blessing and a gift.  She was speaking so freely, and I was so glad she shared her thoughts. Especially because she is so much more reserved these days and worries about embarrassment (since kindergarten).

A mom of a student once told me that every stage of your child's life is a favorite, and she was so right.  It is bittersweet how fast the time with children goes, but it seems that life just keeps getting better. I sure love being a mom. :)

Reading, Reading, Reading

I am one proud, Momma!  Paige has been reading to us for about two-three months now.  I feel bad that I didn't blog about it as soon as she started because now I can't remember the actual date.  It was almost as though she started reading books over night though.  She had been reading individual words here and there (signs, pictures, etc.), so we knew she was figuring out how to read. Then she just surprised us one day by picking up a book and reading it.

Week 1 Potty Training Update

Chloe has been potty training for a week and today she had zero accidents!  I am so stinkin' proud of her. She tells me when she has to go pee, and she tells me when she has to go poop.  Those announcements are quickly followed by us both running quickly to the bathroom!

I can't believe how much progress she has made in just one week! She also goes to the bathroom at public places (Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Fazoli's).  Plus, she even woke up from her nap dry today!   Maybe I won't be doing mountains of laundry after all!  Phew!

Potty Training

Day 2-
Well, Chloe really made up for not going poop yesterday!  She went FOUR times today.  Unfortunately, our odds of getting that into the appropriate receptacle was only 50%.  So, I had a couple of messes to clean up today.

Oh well, that's the way it goes.  The silver lining, I think that she is starting to get the idea of what she is supposed to do and how she feels when she needs to go. So, I am very hopeful!  We'll see what tomorrow brings...hopefully not as much poop!  LOL!

Potty Training- Round 2

So, we gave up potty training for a while and now Chloe is starting to show interest again.  I kept telling myself that I was going to wait until after Christmas to really get serious about.  Well, it is after Christmas and into the new year, so there is no time like the present...today!!

Chloe was very excited to try on her big girl panties, but she wasn't as excited to sit on the potty through out the day.  She had a couple of accidents and was super hilarious when she'd rush over to me and exclaim, "Mom, I peed my pants!"  On a side note, Chloe didn't go poop at all today, so tomorrow could be REALLY interesting!

Teething Continues

Chloe started cutting her lower right canine. She has been putting her hands in her mouth a lot the last few days.  I wasn't sure what was wrong because she kept putting her hands in and touching her tongue like something tasted bad, but now I think her gums were just hurting in the front. 

She is getting closer to a completely toothy grin! Her one-year molars are almost all all the way in, too.  She started cutting those in April while on vacation in Florida. :) 

More Pottying

Chloe went poop on the big potty today at Grandma and Grandpa Loethen's house.  Paige and Chloe were hanging out at Grandma and Papa's house while I got my hair cut today. While there, she actually walked into the kitchen and said to her grandma, "poop."  So, Kathy took her to the bathroom and sat her on the toilet, but she didn't do any thing.  Kathy got her down and then she said poop again, so she put her back on the potty.  Then Chloe immediately went poop!

It looks like Chlo-Chlo is beginning to figure out this pottying business!!  So proud of my little girl!

Going Potty

Chloe went poop on the potty chair today for the very first time.  She has been showing some interest in wanting to sit on the big potty for the last couple of weeks.  Chloe has even tried to push me off of the toilet, so that she can get on!  It is too funny! 

Anyway, today I could tell that Chloe was trying to go in her diaper, so I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty.  She was quick to answer with an adament, "NO!"  I went ahead and took her to the bathroom and had her sit on the big potty.  She just whined and wanted down.  Then I sat her on the potty chair and after a tiny bit of protesting, she stood up, said uh-oh, then sat back down and went poop! 

We were all so excited (Me, Paige, and Chloe)! Paige and I just kept praising her and clapping!  Chloe was just beaming from ear to ear and kept looking at the product of her 'work'!  Hopefully, since she knows what to do now, she may be even more interested.  Although, we are in no real hurry.  Chloe is only 20 months old...we are so proud of her!!!

A Day of Performances

Today was a really big day for Paigey.  She has been so excited and looking forward to this day all week.  Paige woke up with great anticipation this morning for all that the day had in store. 

First of all, Paige got to be the snack helper at preschool (her favorite job), then she got to go back to preschool at 1:00 to perform in the Christmas program, then to make the day even sweeter, Paige had her dance recital in Jeff City at 5:30.  Then, we ended the evening at El Espolon for some tasty Mexican dinner with friends and family.

You can see the excitement and pure joy on Paige's face as she took the stage for the Christmas program. She was so happy to sing and perform, and she knew every word of her songs.  The preschool classes  sang The Little Drummer Boy and Jingle Bells.

 So proud of our little performer, Paige!

 At the dance recital, waiting to tap dance with good friend, Kacey!

Paige's whole class.

 Taking positions to perform on stage-

there is Paige with her excited smile again!

 Proud of our little performer, yet again!  I said to Paige, "You did such a wonderful job dancing tonight, Paige. I really enjoyed watching you!"  Paige replied, "I did the best I could do, Mommy."  "That is all anyone can ask for Paigey, and you really did a great job!" I proudly said.

Paige with her friends- Addy, Macey, and Kacey!

 We even managed to get a shot of the sisters!  Woohoo! 

(Although Paige is pretty tired of pictures by now...

can ya tell?)

 

More Teeth

Chloe has yet to get her top right tooth, so her Grandpa Loethen calls her his Arkansas girl (having a hillbilly- like smile with three teeth).  I know that is not very nice, but that is some kind of joke that native Missourians think is funny.  Sorry. 

Anyway, Chloe had two more teeth erupt last night, and it is pretty hilarious because they are both on the left side.  One is on the bottom and one is on the top.  So, now Chloe will have four teeth on the left and one on the bottom right.  Poor kid!  She looks pretty cute, though...I would take her with her Arkansas smile any day!

Eye

While laying in bed with me this morning, Chloe pointed right to my left eye and said, "eye."  So proud of her!

Such a Sweet Sound

Today I awoke to the sweet sound of Chloe's voice.  Usually, Chloe wakes up crying for someone to come and get her out of bed.  Today was pleasantly different.  She was calling out to us to come get her with the clear words of  'Mama' and 'Dada.'  She kept saying it over and over and it was so adorable.  She is really getting big so fast!

Third Tooth

While in Indiana for Thanksgiving, Miss Chloe had a very hard time sleeping on Thanksgiving Eve.  She woke up about three times and wanted to nurse every time.  This was out of the ordinary, because she never wakes at night anymore.  I thought that maybe it was just because we were all sleeping in the same room and she wanted me because she could see me.  However, when we got up on Thanksgiving morning I noticed that her third tooth had finally erupted.  It is the top left one, and I am sure it's the culprit of her night wakings.  Poor baby...I guess the nursing gave her some comfort (at least I hope it did).

Kissing

Chloe has recently started to give kisses that no longer get your face all wet because she has learned to keep her mouth closed.  It is so cute when she leans in really slow to give you a nice soft kiss.  Today, she even blessed her little pink bear (lovey) with a sweet kiss.  I was so surprised when she lifted him up to her mouth and planted a kiss on him (she even made the kissing sound).  She was so proud of herself and beamed with a beautiful smile!

Walking

Chloe is getting really close to walking on her own!  She started taking single steps a few days ago and her balance is getting better and better.  She cruises all the time and you can tell that her confidence is getting better because every once in a while she will try to walk from one object to the other without holding on to anything.  Sometimes she makes it because the object is only about one step away and other times she falls and resigns to crawling.

Well, today was a BIG day for Chloe!  She didn't just take one or even two steps-she took six!  It was so awesome!  I am so excited for her to really start walking!  She is going to be so much happier upright...and so am I.  ;)  She is so hard to hold on to in places that are not appropriate for crawling and soon she will be able to walk, which will make life a little easier in some aspects! Woohoo!

Finally...some teeth!

Yesterday I looked into my sweet Chloe's mouth, and what do you know, there were actually some signs of teeth.  That's right, not just one, but two!  At first it just looked like she had some little white bubbles on her gums (which were actually the little points of her teeth).  Today her right tooth broke through the gum tissue and the left one is still just below the surface.  It sure is exciting, however, I will miss that little gummy smile. Good thing it will be replaced by such a cute one with teeth. :)

Chloe's Eye Appointment

I took Chloe to get her eyes checked today.  Thanks to this awesome program called InfantSee, all babies can get a complimentary vision test that helps to identify problems that would be irreversible if not found at a young age.  Chloe's eyes are great...normal for her age! 

So, the appointment was quite an experience.  I don't usually take Chloe places by herself, and I soon realized how much Paige helps to entertain her.  It is not that Paige purposely entertains her, but I think Chloe is just always watching what she is doing and thus, is very quiet.  Well, with no Paige, Chloe had no one to watch (but me) and I found it to be quite exhausting taking the full brunt of this entertainment role (while filling out the paperwork)! :)  Actually, all joking aside, Chloe did have pretty good behavior-even when she got her eyes dilated.  The doctor said she was one of her easiest infant patients.  Way to cooperate, Chloe! 

First Day of Preschool

Today was the much anticipated first day of preschool for Paige.  It has been so cute to witness her excitement each day as she asked, "How many more days until school momma?"  So, yesterday she was ecstatic about the fact that she only had one day left to wait.  Before bed, we picked out her outfit, double checked her backpack, and sat it by the door.  Then Paige said, "Momma, what if I can't sleep tonight because I am so excited?"  Luckily, she did sleep pretty good, but woke up bright and early at 6am...an hour earlier than I had hoped! 

We started off this special day with Paige's favorite breakfast-blueberry pancakes in the shape of a heart.

Then, Paige made her bed all by herself.  I only helped her pull the covers up and she did all the rest.  (Look at all of those stuffed animals and dolls to put on!)

The photo tradition begins. 

I really love this one!

I think she looks tall here!

Being silly!

With the proud Mommy and Daddy! (Chloe is sleeping.)

Getting ready to go in...she looks scared in this photo, but she wasn't!

Hanging up her backpack for the first time!

She is so happy to have Mrs. Voss as her teacher!

The fun begins for the day.  Playing with baby dolls is one of Paige's favorite activities.  Shortly after this photo, Paige gave me the thumbs-up to let me know that she was okay and that I could leave her for the morning.  It was only 8:02...I was so proud of her and a little sad at the same time.

This is another tradition I'm starting...the giant school cookie!  Paige doesn't like candy, but she sure loves her cookies.  So, I thought this was the perfect way to celebrate her first day of school.

Paige was kind of surprised by the size of the cookie and said, "Mommy, this is a little big for me to eat!"  She did enjoy having quite a large piece though, and I am sure it won't go to waste!

Preschool Open House

Paige is starting preschool this year. It took some convincing on her Daddy's part, but we finally convinced him to get her registered.  (It was just so hard for him to imagine her away from home for several hours at a time with someone other than family.) 

So, with school approaching quickly, today was the day for open house!  Paige could barely contain her excitement, as she had been looking forward to this all week.  She even picked out her own outfit.  I thought her dress was a little fancy for the occasion, but she thought it was perfect!  Of course, I didn't try to change her mind.

Paige enjoyed some donuts...one white and one chocolate!

 Then we located her 'locker' and explored the room.

"There's my name!"

 Paige is so excited to have Mrs. Laura Voss as her teacher!  We are all hopeful for an amazing year!

Sleep Training-Day 6

Wow, Miss Chloe slept from 8pm-7am!  This is the most uninterrupted sleep that I have had in like 6 months! (Chloe had a long night of sleep when she had her last ear infection.) I am so proud of Chloe!  She didn't even cry when she awoke this morning.  I could just hear her "talking" (which I let her do for a few minutes) and then went in to sing her the good morning song!  She was just laying in her bed, playing with her mermaid doll.  She was swinging her around in the air...until I scared her by stepping on a creaky part of the floor. Oops!  She was happy to see me, though!

Standing a Few Seconds

While watching Paigey take her bath today, Chloe stood unassisted while she picked up her favorite blue duck for inspection.  This lasted a few seconds and then she leaned against the bathtub again.

Sleep Training

Okay, Miss Chloe woke me up three times last night!  I cannot function on this much sleep.  This nursing association is going to be the death of me!  Ahhh!  I think it is time for some sleep training.  Here we go...I have a feeling this is not going to be easy.  I haven't even finished reading my book The No Cry Sleep Solution!   I guess I am going to have to wing-it with what I already know.  It seems all these books say about the same thing anyway.  I think I know what I need to do, but I am not sure I know how to do it without any tears from my sweet baby.

Sweet Peas

Chloe had sweet peas for the first time tonight and she really liked them (I warmed them in the microwave). She ate the whole jar...it was amazing!

Green Beans...not so bad after all!

Chloe liked the green beans today. It turns out that all I needed to do was warm up the jar. Apparently, she is just super sensitive about the temperature. The other jars were not exactly cold though, they were just at room-temperature. I guess I can understand that though, I don't like to eat room-temperature food either. I like mine hot!

Green Beans...Yuck!

Chloe tried out some green beans tonight for dinner! As you can see from the photo, she was not a fan! She made many faces of disgust and even gagged a little. I felt so bad for putting this into her mouth, but I think I remember that it takes about ten times for babies to taste something before they actually start to like it.

Grandma's Sweet Potatoes

Chloe got to try out some of Grandma and Grandpa Loethen's sweet potatoes today. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa grow lots of yummy vegetables that the girls (and us) get to eat in the summertime and we can't wait for Chloe to try them all. However, we were were all fortunate enough to eat some sweet potatoes from last season (Chloe included).

I had actually already fed Chloe some rice cereal today, but she just kept watching her daddy as he put food into his mouth. I thought she was pretty interested and maybe still a little hungry, so we all thought she might like to try them. We just mashed up a small amount of the sweet potatoes in a bowl for her. (Ideally, I probably would have mixed in some breastmilk to thin them out, but I had already used all that I brought in the cereal earlier.) She really liked them a lot and ate all that we gave her. Yay!

Rolling in Bed

Chloe spent some of the night rolling over in her bed onto her belly. I had to get up about 4 times to roll her back over onto her back. Sometimes when I would go in to check on her, she would have her arms out of her swaddle and be laying on her side. So cute!

Time to Stop Swaddling

Since Chloe is rolling over, I am going to have to try to break her from the swaddle. It is really scary for me to think about her rolling over onto her belly and not be able to get turned back over (or lift her head up) because her arms are swaddled in. I tried to break her of the swaddle (cold-turkey) a few weeks ago and it was horrible. She just cried and cried and cried every time I laid her in her crib. When I put the swaddle on her she fell right to sleep, she really needs and prefers to be swaddled.

So, I am going to transition her out of the swaddle gradually this time. Tonight I am going to wrap her a little more loosely and then she will be able to get her arms out if she wants to. Hopefully this will help encourage her to be less reliant on the swaddle for sleep!

Rolling Over...Back to Tummy

Today, while playing on her bedroom floor, Chloe finally rolled from her back to her tummy! It was a really slow process for her, so I was actually able to get my camera and video it! When she did finally get rolled over, she had a hard time getting her right arm out from underneath of herself. I let her try for a bit and then I helped her out! I was so proud of my little girl for meeting this milestone and was giving her much praise when she went and did something else! Can you guess what she did next...she rolled back over onto her back! So amazing!!! My little baby is getting big so fast!

Rice Cereal for Chloe

Well, since Chloe is five months old today, we figured we would let her try out some solid food. Dr. Herrbold said I could start with vegetables or rice cereal, if I wanted. He said rice cereal doesn't have a lot of nutritional value, but it would be okay if I wanted to do that first.

I did decide to do the rice cereal. I thought it would be an easier transition for Chloe since I mix it with breastmilk, and it turned out that Chloe really liked it. I was so surprised with how well she did eating it for her very first time.

I don't remember Paige eating so well on her first try. I just remember that she made a bad face and I have this image in my head of the cereal running down her chin. I guess I should go back and read about it on this blog!

Well, you can't really tell that Chloe liked it from her first bite, but she warmed up to it! :)

 Feeling the texture with her tongue...still warming up!

 Paigey wanted to help feed Chloe...Chloe was liking the cereal by this point!  (Apparently, Paige thought opening her mouth for each bite was good modeling for Chloe.  This is so cute because their Daddy does this too!)

 Paige is such a good big sister.  I love watching them together!