Halloween/HalloweenParty

Ahh so this year I thought it would be a "great" idea to have all of Chloe's friends over for a costume party before Halloween. And actually it turned out to be quite fun. Nana came for the Party and Doug was in town so our child to adult ratio was awesome :). I made Chloe a Flower Princess or Fairy costume and we did get her to wear half of it in the end. Boy was she ever scared of that tutu so it was no small feat to get her in the thing. She wouldn't put on the top or the wings in the end but, hey 50% isn't bad. I just love this picture of her, after we had her all dressed she was dancing around with her marocas (see video at end of post).

We had a craft station at the party where the kids could glue felt cutouts onto pumkins to make jack-o-laterns. You should see how much toddlers love glue :). We were chasing one littlle girl around the living room as she gathered up every bottle she could find and was squeezing with all of her might. Not to worry there were no casualties and we did eventually corner her.

Watch out LadyBug and Princess there is a Monster coming after you!

Just a group shot of most of the kids who were at the pary. Well actually I think three are missing from this shot.

Chloe and myself after I got her into her costume. Yes she got to have her first sucker. You would be suprised how much more willing she was to get in her costume once she was sucking away on sugar. I know not my best mommy moment but, hey a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Lesson learned is probably not to put so much effort into her next costume so I don't care if she wears it or not, ha/ha.


Below is Chloe getting her groove on before the party. Nana is dancing with her and I am the obnoxious one in the background talking, sorry, didn't realize how loud I was until I played back the movie but, Chloe was so dang cute I had to post anyway. In the words of Kiwi "It is what it is"

Halloween 09

Chloe all dressed up for her Schools Fall Festival. My Mom and I got to volunteer at the event and it was great fun to have the opportunity to interact with Chloe and all of her peers.

Here Chloe is at the Fall Festival. Once she realized her Mommy and Nana were at the Party she had a tough time moving away from out stations to do other activities.

Chloe and I met up with some friends at the Pumpkin Patch again this year. The highlight for Chloe was by far and away the bouncy house. That girl can jump and jump and jump, she doesn't care if other kids are landing on her head, knocking her down, what not she just gets back up and jumps. Who knew one kid could enjoy something so much. This picture is of Chloe with her playgroup. She adores all of the kids in her group and usually asks for each of them at least once a day so it is always a treat when we can meet up.

This is Chloe getting her Bounce On.

And of course I couldn't post about a Pumpkin Patch and not include a pumpkin picture. We were trying to round up all of the kids to sit on pumpkins for the picture but well you can imagine that didn't go as planned so :).

Mystic

Chloe all dressed up for the wedding. Sorry no photos yet of the whole family dressed up, of course I didn't get any of those but, bet we will get one from someone else and I will post when we do. She has on a coat, it was rainy and a bit chilly. She was such a trooper. She didn't get the greatest sleep because the hotel was loud and she stayed up late the two nights in a row and yet she still had a great time. She is such a happy kid. We had a great time.

In this picture you can see a Beluga Whale in the aquarium behind Chloe. She is pointing at the rain hitting the surface of the tank. We had a great time at the Mystic Aquarium and I totally recommend it for anyone heading that way.

Chloe and I are checking out some waterbugs and a frog which, Doug tried to catch for us. We had a great hike on a trail in the woods in Mystic. Chloe loved playing on the rocks, picking up the acorns and leaves. It was a great fun.

Here is Chloe running on the trail in the woods. Love the look on her face and her green sneakers.

Couldn't go to Mystic without checking out the Mystic Pizza joint. And finally the video is of the hike in the woods and I apologize for it being sideways but, I just loved the video and well don't know how to rotate a video so there you go, hope know one gets a crook in their neck watching it.

Boston - Oct09

Doug, Chloe and I headed to Boston for the wedding of Todd and Kelly Bracher (in Stonington,CT). We had a wonderful time. On the first day we got into Boston early enough to get Chloe her afternoon nap and then head on down to the Charles to check out some rowing. I just adore that area. Here you can see Chloe found something to climb in Cambridge, sure it was a light pole but what can you do? The kid loves to play.

Here you see Chloe and I in a courtyard at Harvard. There were all of these awesome chairs of various colors so, Chloe just kept moving from chair to chair to see if the color made a difference in the feel of the chair. She settled on this pink chair which, coincidentally matched her jacket.

If in the future she decides she wants to go to Harvard, do you think we can count this as her tour of the campus?

Love the arch over their heads. Doug made us walk all the way around the campus looking for this arch in particular, apparently he had taken Caitlin through it at some point in the past and really wanted Chloe to go through it as well.

I am absolutely positive Chloe is beaming in this picture due to the boats and the boathouse. Come on who wouldn't love this view. She had a great time running up and down the trail along the Charles and only got run over by a handful of crew teams :). There were a lot of teams running that day. Below is a video I shot of all of us playing on the trail. She is becoming quite the runner.

Sept09

Just adding some photos and movies from the month so far. Chloe continues to pick up a handful of new words everyday, it is amazing. She will always count to 2 but, so far not having any luck with getting her to continue on to 3, I think she might just like that 2 is the only even prime number and she recoginizes its true beauty :). She can say and recognize the colors: black, blue and yellow. And she can say and recognize a circle. She still loves a good boogie and especially likes the Laurie Berkner Band right now. In the mornings lately she has been putting on necklaces and sunglasses. Apparently she likes accessories. Not to worry I have captured some of her "get ups" on camera.

Here Chloe is trying to do some tummy work with her Daddy. She will also try and do pushups if Doug or I are doing them, it is so dang cute. P.S. Don't tell Doug I posted a half naked picture of him.

Here Chloe is doing her usual lap around the downstairs, I had to be quick to get in front of her and get the picture. She can really move if she wants to.

Below: Is a movie of Chloe on a normal morning. She decided to take care of her baby doll. I thought it was cute that she put on her beads and then got out all of the gear to make baby a bed and feed her from a bottle.

Second Movie: I put this short clip in so everyone could see Chloe's new train set. She loved playing with trains and cars at her Aunties house and she is drawn to them at stores so, I got her a small set to see how she liked it. So far her favorite thing to do is to drive the tractor on the tracks. I think this is some sort of influence from her Uncle Joey.

Third Movie: Is a short clip of Chloe one morning after we had been coloring. She loves coloring and putting stickers on paper. But, on this morning she found she needed a shoe, her necklaces and sunglasses to really get in the mood. I thought her outfit was so funny I tried to sneak away to get the camera but, as you can see she followed me. These moments with her are priceless. She really is a sweet, happy girl.

Aug 09

Chloe seems to change so much and so fast these days. She has really shot up in heigth. And she now runs around and has a ton of words. I am constantly suprised by all of the words she knows. She absolutely adores water. Lately we have been painting and playing with playdoh, she is a huge fan of anything that makes a mess (wait I think that defines all kids, ha/ha). And of course she is still a huge fan of the outdoors.

The First Picture: Chloe is visiting with my Cousin Stacie and her baby Max. Chloe was fascinated by Max. She enjoyed helping him with his pacifier, not sure how much help she was.
I think she was trying to stick his pacifier in, in this picture.

Below: Is a movie of Chloe dancing with her Dad. We spend a ton of time dancing around here. I keep trying to get some of it on video but, it is tough because she stops dancing most of the time if I tape it. She has some great moves.

VT Aug 09

Chloe and I ventured to VT this summer and had a great time. Chloe adored her time with her Cousins. She also helped train their new dog, Oscar, she is great at saying "sit" and "down." Doesn't matter to her if he is already lying down the command still seems appropriate, :). She loved their backyard pool. She was so tired that she increased her sleep by about 2 hrs each day. Here you see her playing on a lake beach with Joe and Bridget. She absolutey loved the beach. So maybe the move to Miami will be great for us :). I love the picture of Joe and Chloe sitting at the waters edge. We all worked as a team to make a huge pool and the picture is of the both of them sitting in their pool. It was great.

Here Chloe is getting a lift from her Auntie. She was a huge fan of their pool and of her Auntie.