Happy New Year!

When you have a 2.5 year old, the celebration starts and ends early. Chloe and I have been checking out the live web cam of Times Square. It has been so warm here this year that people have been lining up days in advance. It may be a record crowd for the ball-dropping. You can check out the live web cam here. Thanks PaPaw for the tip.

HAPPY 2007!!!

A Happy Holiday

The Christmas holiday has come and gone and all that remains is the mess and the memories. We had 7 of our family members come to visit, so our house was full to the brim. On Monday, my sister, Deanna came into town from Colorado. She got to witness Chloe at Mommy & Me pre-school and at gymnastics. My parents, Chloe's BeBe and PaPaw arrived on Wednesday from Texas and Matt's brother, Rob, and our sister-in-law and nieces arrived on Thursday to stay for a few days as a stopover on their way to visit family in England.

Chloe loved visiting with her cousins, Bryn and Gemma. A week later she is still running around the house yelling, "Bumpy, Bumpy, Gecko!", a game Bryn and Chloe created. While our nieces were here, we went into NYC to witness the holiday scene and took a carriage ride through Central Park. We also went to the Bronx Zoo for the holiday lights. Chloe had a great time at the zoo and keeps talking about it.


I have to say Christmas morning was a bit overwhelming for Chloe. She had tons of gifts and I think she got a little tired of opening them. She didn't know what to play with first. It was toy overload. Some of her favorite gifts were the Barbie ATM/Bank she got from Grant, her digital camera from Aunt Deanna and Uncle John and her scooter from BeBe and PaPaw. She received lots more gifts than that, but those seem to be the hits right now. However, she is discovering her other toys on a daily basis.

This past Thursday, we decided to head back into the city thinking that the holiday madness would have died down and it would be a bit more calm before the New Year's storm. Ha! We attempted to head to the Museum of Natural History but I think everyone else with children in the tri-state area had the same idea. Chloe loved looking at exhibits, but it was so crowded that we didn't get to see much. She was eagerly anticipating the butterfly exhibit, but it was sold out when we arrived. We will definitely have to take her back in a few weeks when the crowds won't be around.


We will remember our first Christmas in the NE for a long time to come.

At the zoo

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Chloe and her cousins, Gemma & Bryn, posing at the Bronx Zoo.

Cousins

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Bryns turn to push cousin Chloe and her sister Gemma.

Push

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Chloe "pushing" her cousins, Gemma & Bryn, in the stroller. Of course, Chloe is getting help from Daddy.

Run, Chloe, Run!

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I just like this photo. This is Chloe running to me in her Carhardt overalls from Uncle John.

Where do princes go to college?

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At Princeton of course! Chloe and Mommy at Princeton University on a day-trip we took with BeBe and Aunt Deanna.

What Doin?

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PaPaw & Chloe.

Museum

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Chloe and Aunt Deanna at the very crowded Museum of Natural History in NYC.

Too Little

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Chloe sitting on her doll house furniture.

Playing Dress-Up

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The queen is in. Chloe showing off her dress-up clothes.

The third eye

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Aunt Deanna, Mommy & Chloe were having fun with a "eye" from one of Chloe's art projects.

Playgroup was at our house this morning so that meant that I woke early to "tidy" the play room before it was once again destroyed. Chloe has recently discovered a perk to her "big girl" bed, that she can get out and escape by herself. I was about to go and check on her when she appeared at the steps to the play room. She was so proud that she had dressed herself. I had to snatch the camera for a photo (which luckily was downstairs).

2.5 Years Old Today & Christmas Portraits

In celebration of Chloe turning 2.5 years old TODAY, I am posting some of the latest photos of her. These were taken last week.

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Santa and Chloe. You can tell from Chloe's expression that she is a bit unsure of Santa (read previouse post).

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A smiling Chloe.

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I spent a small fortune on this darling Christmas outfit that was made especially for Chloe and she wouldn't stand up for the photo to show it off!! I really wanted a photo of her in the outfit and she wouldn't stand up.

P68802046_038_641_121106, originally uploaded by pookie2shoes.

A very serious Chloe reading The Night Before Christmas.

P68802046_038_643_121106, originally uploaded by pookie2shoes.

Chloe got a boo-boo

A very brave Chloe showing her "boo-boo" from her blood being drawn. She was awarded with stickers and two lollipops, which she enjoyed both at the same time. Chloe has had her blood drawn in the past, but this was the first time she could verbally communicate her feelings on the situation with me so clearly. After I wiped her tears, she looked at the phlebotomist and said, "You hurt my arm and gave me a boo-boo!". I can say I don't envy her job. Chloe recovered nicely, but reminded me the rest of the day that her arm hurt (which after some questioning it was discovered that she didn't like the band-aid because it's itchy) and she told me the cure for her arm was a bath. Easy enough. What a trooper!

Chloe's Tree Ornament

The tree is decorated and Chloe placed an ornament she made in pre-school on the tree. She did a fine job!! Chloe likes the tree now that it is decorated and has presents under it. She wasn't so keen on it when we first purchased it. In fact, it was a bit of hysteria that she had to sit with it in the car. Luckily she's come around. I was beginning to think that we may have to nix all Christmas related items (i.e. Santa, etc.).

Santa Claus Isn't Coming Down our Chimney

Santa is not welcome in our home. Chloe has put her foot down, "I don't like Santa!". Looks like we will have to work out an agreement with Santa to leave the presents on the doorstep and not to come down the chimney.

We went to breakfast with Santa this morning. Actually, we went to breakfast with a screaming, crying 2.5 year old. Santa had to keep a safe distance, which apparently was a block away from Chloe.

Chloe began breakfast happy enough but when the jolly old man arrived and began ringing his bell, Chloe wasn't having any of his Christmas cheer.

I have no pictures to share only the memory of Chloe screaming bloody murder into my ear. Saying she was hysterical is an understatement. We had to ask Santa to put his bell away because every time he rang it she would scream louder. We had to eat and run so we didn't ruin the party for the other kids.

Once we left, Chloe returned to normal and demanded we eat. Didn't I just pay $10 per person for you NOT to eat? We walked through our town in an effort to cool off and Chloe and I stopped into a shop to look at a Santa cookie jar (I figure if I strategically place enough Santa items throughout our house she will get accustomed to him). While looking in the shop a lady walked in and began talking to the owner. Here's the conversation:

Lady: "I just came from checking on breakfast with Santa. The turnout was great. It was sold out for both times."
Shop Owner: "Great! Did the kids have fun?"
Lady: "Yea, but apparently in the 2nd time a little girl screamed the entire time and Santa had to put away his bell. They said everytime he rang it she freaked. The family left early and they gave Santa back his bell.
Shop owner: "You can't have Santa without a bell!"
Me: "That was my daughter who screamed. Say "hi" Chloe."
Dead silence & look of horror/embarrassment on lady and shop owner's face.

So, Chloe's famous or should I say infamous? Lesson learned. Chloe doesn't like Santa. Note to self: No photos or breakfasts with Santa.

England, England!

We are back from our whirlwind tour of England (or "England, England!" as Chloe says it). We left on Wednesday morning and returned Tuesday evening. We also managed a flight to Glasgow, Scotland on Friday to see Matt's Grandad and to squeeze in side trips to Cambridge, Oxford, Henley-on-Thames, London and most importantly the Tesco's down from Matt's mother's house for some good old English grub you just can't get stateside.

The trip was a nice diversion from the everyday although it did begin with some drama. Apparently, Lizzie, our English Setter got kennel cough, even though she has been vaccinated, from the kennel where we boarded her when we went to Boston. The kennel wouldn't reboard her since she could spread kennel cough to the other dogs. This is rather funny since they let someone else's sick dog board and infect our dog. But, after some worrying and searching someone/somewhere to board Lizzie, our new vet stepped in and boarded Lizzie for us. I had gotten myself all worked up about this, but it was a stressful situation having a sick dog hacking all over the house and the prospect of one of us staying behind to take care of her. It just proved how nice it was to have family so nearby when we lived in Texas. But, luckily it all worked out and we are happy to report that Lizzie is back with us and doing much better (her cough is gone).

Everyone has asked how Chloe handled the time change. She did rather well. Sleep wasn't the issue with Chloe on this trip. Chloe has developed an independent streak and has now refused to ride in her stroller, instead acting like she is being beaten and tortured when you place her in it. Having Chloe walk through the small, crowded High Streets in England wasn't going to cut it so she had to go in the stroller with some coaxing (a.k.a. bribery). Chloe has a new fetish for pockets and loves anything with pockets in it. So, if she rode in her stroller and didn't scream we bought her a sweatshirt at the end of the day. Chloe made away with 3 sweatshirts and one baseball cap. She got sweatshirts from Cambridge & Oxford Universities and Harrod's.

Even though our trip was short in length, we enjoyed our vacation and visiting with Matt's mum and his grandfather. England holds many memories and connections for Matt but it also holds many happy times for us as a couple as we lived there for nearly 4 months. Sharing our favorite places with our daughter was great (even if she was asleep or screaming).

We are going to have to save our money for Chloe to attend Cambridge as she keeps demanding that she wear her Cambridge sweatshirt. When we ask her if she prefers Cambridge or Oxford, she replies, "Cambridge!", much to our dislike (we would prefer Oxford). It must be the independent streak. It is true in fact that she did scream the entire time we were at Oxford and was quite happy at Cambridge. We took some photos at King's College, Cambridge and after we were leaving Chloe yelled, "I want to run!!!" and ran around the interior courtyard. Now, for those of you who have watched Chariots of Fire you probably get why we would be amused by this. For those of you who don't get it, you need to rent the movie.

Cambridge

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Matt and Chloe pose in front of the River Cam where a punt (boat) is going by. We were pre-enrolling Chloe for classes at Cambridge.

Henley

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Matt and Chloe pose by the river in one of our favorite towns, Henley-on-Thames. Matt worked in this town when we lived in England in 1997-98. It is a great town and holds lots of good memories for us. Of course Chloe is sporting a England baseball cap and an Oxford sweatshirt she scored during the days trip.