Day Dream

I remember a day when I would day dream about really awesome things. You know, like what our family would be like, what Aaron would look like when he was 50, different far away lands I wanted to visit, etc. Well, today I caught myself daydreaming about dairy. That's right. Dairy. I miss it so much.

Chloe is quite allergic to it and cannot handle even the smallest of traces in my system. So, I have had to cut out ALL forms. You'd be surprised at all the 'hidden dairy' in regular foods. Becoming a label reader was quite eye-opening for me. I anticipated this being the diet to beat all diets. I mean, is it even possible NOT to lose weight when you can't have butter or ice cream? Apparently it is. I haven't lost a pound since having to cut it from my diet. So irritating! But, I digress.....

My day dreams mainly consist of the treats I'll devour once I can finally add it back into my system. They are, in no particular order
1) Butter on EVERYTHING
2) Honey Butter on EVERYTHING (I guess the first two are in particular order. Butter is, by far, my favorite condiment.
3) Spinach Artichoke dip
4) Taco salad with cheese and sour cream
5) Grape nuts with real milk, honey and banana
6) Yogurt Parfait
7) Pizza
8) Lasagna
9) Goat Cheese on anything and everything!
10) Hortiki Greek salad with extra Feta

The list could go on and on....

Oh, and apparently I'll be starting a diet the following week. This cannot be good for my waistline!

String Bean

We have another string bean on our hands. Chloe's 4 month appointment was this week and she measured 26 inches (97th percentile) and weighed 13 pounds 8.5 ounces (50th percentile). That's about 1/2 inch longer and a pound heavier than Grace at this age. This is one big girl! No wonder she is constantly eating. She's grown an inch a month since her 2 month appointment!

Life in the Gore house has been on the mend this week. Both girls came doywn with a nasty chest cold. Both are feeling better but are still coughing like they've smoked a pack a day for their entire life, which I guess isn't that long, but you get the point.

We have had to figure out lots of at-home play activities since they are too sick to be around other kids but still feel good enough to play like normal.

So, we've been doing a lot of wearing daddy's shoes... Anything done in a pair of underwear and a t-shirt has been entertaining for Grace. Why the sudden need to go pants-less??


Playing in the tunnel.

Playing with her toys.

And going potty for an audience. Grace usually takes no fewer than 2 stuffed animals or toys to the bathroom each time to watch her go potty. After all, it's very exciting for them!

That's all for now!

:4 months:

My dear, dear, neglected child is 4 months old! Time to blog about Chloe and only Chloe. I'm constantly consumed by guilt that I can't spend every waking moment playing with Chloe. Oh, the advantages of a first/only child! That said, she will probably grow up to have a very easy going disposition. After all, she's not very used to getting what she wants, when she wants!

I'm way behind on blogging. So many things to say about Christmas and the fun events leading up to it, but this post is just about my sweet, sweet baby Chloe who is now 4 months old. Where did the time go?!

She is such an easy going baby. Loves to be held and involved. She has had her fair share of illness (thanks to a certain toddler who brings lots of germs home) and tummy issues (reflux that just kept getting worse), but other than that she has been quite happy.

We just graduated her from her bassinet to a crib. Grace officially moved to her big girl bed on January 1 but we had to move it to the garage for a few weeks. You know, out of sight out of mind. Chloe was much too big for her bassinet but still loved sleeping in it, so I wasn't too stressed. I did start to notice that she kept jolting and wacking the sides of it with her arms, which would cause her to wake up. Anything that causes a sleeping baby to wake up MUST GO!

In related news, she is done with the swaddle. It too kept waking her up at night. I'd go in there after listening to her grunt and whine at 2am only to find her proudly showing me that she got both hands out of the swaddle and was happily sucking on them. Again, anything that causes a sleeping baby to wake up MUST GO :-) This was actually a fairly easy transition. It's amazing how the second time around these things are just minor. I spent weeks stressing about trying to break Grace of the need to be swaddled.

We also broke out the exersaucer and walker for her. This girl doesn't want to feel left out. In baby speak, apparently that's being 'vertical' instead of always lying next to us. She's much happier now.

We also have family meals together where we all eat. Oh my, I thought having a toddler at the table was disruptive. Having a 4 month old trying to spit out rice cereal is a bit of a distration too. We had to start her earlier than expected since she was suffering so badly from reflux. We tried so many things and all forms of medicine and this was our last chance. I am happy to report it worked like a charm. She doesn't spit up nearly as much and is much more comfortable. We have her 4 month appointment tomorrow and I'm actually expecting to lower her medicine! Good job Chloe! This girl LOVES to eat. A totally different concept from child #1. Grace ate more as a novelty, Chloe eats because she LOVES to eat. This might explain the fact that she's been in 6 month clothing for a while. Curious to see how that translates on the growth charts.

Here are some shots from the past few weeks. Isn't my girl getting so big?

These first three are from this evening. Someone woke up from her last nap in a great mood. Love that!

With Uncle Brian at Christmas. A bit out of focus but one of the few shots I have of her smiling. I love that smile!

In the bouncer with Cookie Monster, her BFF.

Welcome to vertical living Chloe! Here she is in her 'command center'.

With Great Grandma at Christmas time. So sweet!

In her "My First Christmas" hat. I think the flash scares her. Check out her expression!

Grace and Chloe sharing a cuddle in the chair. Their morning routine after breakfast while Grace watches a little bit of Sesame Street.

Christmas Family Pictures

Never enough time to blog, but here are a few shots from our family photo session at my parents house over Christmas.

Talk about 3 good looking guys!


Uncle Brian and Chloe. These two bonded. Probably because both are so mellow!

Auntie and Uncle Jake. I cannot wait to be an Auntie to her kids!!!

The whole family.