Chloe walks! with a little help

Yes, this afternoon Chloe was cruising along the edge of the couch when she reached out and grabbed hold of her little walker ( a type of push toy, a bit like a little wagon she can push except it has an activity board attached) She walked a few steps pushing it along before she lost her balance. It was very exciting to watch. Now she can't get enough of it. She is trying really hard to figure it out. She knows that if she leans back too far she will fall and she is learning to move her feet as quickly as she pushes the walker. I also caught her trying out her new trick on the pram in the hall way. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up!
P.S Her tummy has settled down now, thank goodness!

The Not So Nice Side of Being a Parent

It all started sometime early this morning between 12.00 and 4.00, Chloe who had been having a lovelly sleep woke up screaming. Ben raced into her room to find that she had thrown up last nights dinner all over her cot. Fish in white sauce. Lovely. I was lying in our bedroom and I knew something unusual was happening when the light went on and I heard Ben mutter 'oh no'. He brought in a very smiley and smelly baby who obviously thought this was all great fun. Ben handed her to me and told me what he had discovered. After cleaning her up I decided the cot could wait until the morning. I grabbed Chloes spare snuggly (a little blanket with a rabbit head sewn onto it) and put her in the middle of us in our bed. What a stupid idea this turned out to be when half an hour later she was sick again. Ben exclaimed "how could there have been anything left in her!" Believe me, there was a lot left in her! I pulled back the doona and said "ok, we are all getting up!" Ben put Chloe into her second change of clothing for the night, she was still smiling as if it was Christmas. Ben played with her in the family room while I changed the bed sheets and the cot sheets. By 4.30 I had a full load of washing on including both her snugglys! Then we had to debate who would stay home with Chloe as we couldn't take her to day care. In the end Ben convinced me that it was best that he stay home. He sat up with Chloe until day break while I went back to bed. By the time I got up at 7.30 Chloe was in her third change of clothing as she had been sick again. At this point I knew that I had the best deal out of the two of us. Work looked pretty good compared to staying home with the spewy but happy child. Also, one of the great parts about work is that it is full of experienced mothers who have done it all before, including Helen who used to be a mother craft nurse. Thanks guys!

I have to say this was the most revolting part of parenting I have experienced so far. Luckily Chloe is still happy though which makes it alot less worrying. When I rang day care to say she wouldn't be coming in the lady said not to worry, by next year she will be a little trooper with a fantastic immune system! I hope so!

Picnic at Port Arlington

Ben, Chloe and I had a lovely picnic lunch down at Port Arlington Yesterday. Its a really nice drive to get there and the perfect distance for Chloe to have a good sleep. I also enjoyed packing my new tupperware picnic set that I bought at my party. We also brought along our nifty little gas cooker and fry pan so that we could make hamburgers. Chloe also enjoyed a little hamburger patty which was really cute. She spent about half an hour trying to eat it. The rest of her time was spent crawling after a magpie that I think may have been teasing her. He would hop forward a bit then wait for her to nearly catch up. When Chloe was ready for a nap we put her in the car and began the drive back. We stopped at St. Leonards to give her a bottle in a car park by the water. Ben fell asleep while we were waiting for her to finish it. When she had finished it I left Ben in the car and helped Chloe chase seagulls. They are much quicker than magpies! She then had a play on the swing before Ben came to find us. It had been a really nice afternoon with the sun out but then it began to rain so we decided to go home. Also Geelong was playing St Kilda and I wanted to watch them win (sorry mum!) We had a lovely little afternoon out and about. I do have some photos which I will put on shortly. I have temporarily misplaced the cord that connects my phone with the pictures on it to the computer. Luckily dad spotted it on the bench in The Basin and mum is sending it back to me. Thanks guys!

Chloe's Busy Friday

Chloe is feeling alot better this weekend which can be seen in the increase in her activity levels. She is full on! She goes at a hundred miles an hour with no care for her own safety. Or the fact that I might want to sit down for a minute. As soon as I sit down with a cup of tea she is off in a different direction. We have to be really careful about keeping the house child proof. She keeps crawling up the corridoor at record pace. I couldn't find her the other day. When I did find her she was in her room playing with her toys. Very cute. She also likes to take toys off other babies and pull their hair. This is quite embarressing. I think she just wants to know what hair is!

Chloe also said her first word. She said 'Dad'. We have been trying to get her to say this for two weeks. Every other time we would go 'dad, dad, dad' and she would look at you and blow a raspberry. Then she would laugh. Then just out of the blue she went 'da'. Then she kept saying it because we would get so excited and eventually she said 'dadda' and 'dad'. We also think she can say 'hello'. I thought it was just us that thought that but a couple of people have also heard her say it. I think 'dad' is her first official word though. She can also wave, something she likes to do all day at anything she wants a reaction from. She waves at the cats everytime she sees them through the window. She also does a high five.

On Friday she started to move from one peice of furniture to another. She was so proud of herself. However this has led to her beginning to fall everywhere again. She had a big fall today and has an egg on her head with a straight line in the middle from the imprint of the skirting board. She is also kneeling without hanging onto things. This is very cute to watch. She bounces up and down to help keep her balance.

Tomorrow if the weather is nice we are going to have a picnic lunch at the park. Chloe can burn off some energy motoring around on the grass.