Our sweet baby is two (sigh).

Chloe has brought so much joy in the two years we've known her and she only seems to get more and more adorable by the day.

Sweet Chloe girl, we love you.

You are a big girl, Chloe, but not quite as big as brother was. You still wear size 2T and have size 7/8 feet. Some size 7's don't fit you though, because your feet are very chubby. You love your Crocs and prefer to wear them with every outfit you own. You wear a size 5 diaper, tell us when it's dirty (by plugging your nose and saying "ewwwww"), but have zero interest in using the toilet. You actually cry when we attempt to sit you on it.

You are stubborn. If there was a word in the dictionary that meant "more than stubborn" you would be described as that word. Being stubborn doesn't make you hard to have around though, we just have to be creative and make sure everything seems like it was your idea! There has been some bribing by us to get you to do things. You will do just about anything in order to watch Bubble Guppies. Speaking of Bubble Guppies, you really like them. You ONLY want to watch them and won't settle for any other show we introduce to you. You know how to say Bubble Guppies and you are crystal clear in demanding a "SHOW!" We don't know what your first word was (bad mommy and daddy) but it may have been "show".

You understand everything we say, and you refuse to talk unless you want to. You respond to complex, multi-step directions but still pretend that you can't say certain words. For instance: You will take a tiny piece of paper from the carpet and show it to us. We will ask you to put it in the garbage can under the sink in the kitchen and then come back to the living room. You immediately toddle over to the garbage can, dispose of the tiny piece of paper and come right back to us. But, if we ask you to say "paper" or "garbage", you simply look at us and say "NO". You are a stinker. A real stinker.

You are into babies. You like to take wipes, preferably an entire package, and change your babies diapers. You take your baby to the big girl toilet and we can hear you making the sound "pssssssssssssss" to imitate your baby doll going tinkles. You still need help getting your baby dolls clothing back on her, but you are able to communicate by bringing us the doll, the shirt and the pants and saying "help" or "please" or on a stubborn day "uhhhhhh" (which means help or please). You say the word "baby" very clearly.

You amaze us on your brother's I-Pod. You know how to swipe the lock button to get it open, you know how to pull the lever down on the toaster to make toast and you know how to clear a screen if you want a different game. You are very tech savvy and if you don't know how to do something on the I-Pod, we show you once or twice and you have it mastered. Whenever you hold any type of I-Pod or I-Phone you say "Ti-Ti, Ti-Ti, Ti-Ti" over and over again until we call Auntie Ti-Ti.

You are amazing, Chloe.

You love your brother a lot, but he dynamic between the two of you is still less than peaceful at times. You try to keep up with your brother and he is easily frustrated with you. You get mad when he takes things that are yours and you scream "mine" at him and you often end up on the floor crying and screaming. It's hard to have a big brother, but we already see that you and Brooks are going to be buddies. You are really lucky Chloe, your brother is big and strong and he'll always protect you. In fact, he often tells us that is his "job". When you two want to be sweet to each other it's the most amazing thing. You play, interact, talk and giggle. We sit back in delight that the two of you are buds.

Did I mention that you are shy? You are painfully shy. You are so shy that you'd rather sit in our bedroom with nothing to do than come out and get a present from your Oma and Opa. You hide behind us, run away from people, want to be held, turn your head away from people you see every single day, and close your eyes so that people can't see you.

Here are some of your favorites:

Most favorite things ever: Your pacifier and your "nigh-nigh" (we used to call it your silkie, but you have recently re-named it). You go everywhere with your dirty little blankets (even though recently washed). We say "blankets" because you often carry 4 or 5 of the same "nigh-nigh's"with you all at the same time. Instead of asking for your pacifier you open your mouth as wide as possible and groan until we give it to you! We know that you could say "soose" or "pacifier" if you wanted to, but you prefer to just moan and groan until we get one for you.

(Shhhh...we aren't telling you yet, but your pacifier will be going away now that you are two. You'll be okay, Chloe.)

Food: Cottage Cheese, cheese, yogurt, apples, pasta mostly in the form of mac and cheese, veggie chips and corn

TV Show: Bubble Guppies

Activity: Watching a show, coloring, playing in the garage with Brother, riding your car or big-wheel, getting your tummy rubbed (if we stop, you grab our hands and force them back onto your tummy), going to Cub Foods with Daddy on Monday's and saying"hi" to every single person you pass and reading books

Person: Daddy. Hands down. Daddy.

Song: You are Holy and Soar like Eagles. You can sing You are Holy wonderfully and you love the actions to Soar like Eagles.

Toy: Your dollies, your dollhouse and Lego's.

Drink: "Juice" but anything that is in your cup is defined as "juice"

Treat: Popsicles and strangely enough you know how to say popsicle very clearly

Color: Pink because you have no choice, but your eyes look best in blue. You got your Daddy's eyes and they are Blue...Blue...Blue!

Accessory: Your cowgirl hat, big bows and sunglasses. You love to wear them and you never take your hair bows out. You tell us about them and point to them, but you have yet to pull them out.

Chloe, you are a joy. A pure joy. We love you.

Happy Birthday baby girl.

XOXO

When we first found out we were having a girl I was worried that a brother and a sister wouldn't connect the way two brother's would connect.

My boy and my girl have found lots of ways to be buddies. There have been a few moments where Brooks embraces his feminine side but it doesn't last very long. Just imagine Brooks playing tea party for about one second before smashing the tea party off the table onto the floor with his double axe. He tries to do girlie things, but he isn't very interested.

Chloe, on the other hand, is 100% in tune with her masculinity. She is tough and can hang with her brother. Right now, most of what she plays with Brooks is dictated by him and she plays along trying to please him. It's pretty cute until she gets mad at her brother and scratches him across the face (because he's undoubtedly been mean to her) with her sharp little fingernails and he starts to scream.

"Chloe, Let's play doctor! Here you go, Chloe. You take the stethoscope and I'll lay down. Then Chloe, you can be the doctor and I'll be the patient. Okay, Chloe?"

(These captions are written exactly how Brooks talks. Millions of "Chloe's" in one sentence, lots of directives and always ending with "Okay, Chloe?")

"Hey Chloe, I have an idea. I'll get my scuba mask and saw and you put your weapon on and we'll have a battle. Okay, Chloe?"

"Hey Chloe. Look at me Chloe! Look at me! Do this! Okay, Chloe?"

"Hey Chloe, I will build a ladder for you to climb up the back of the couch. Come on, Chloe. Come here. Let's climb up the back of the couch. Okay, Chloe?"

"Hey Chloe, (I know it's only 6 in the morning), but I'll dress up and be the protector and we'll get Daddy with our double axe. Follow me, okay Chloe?"

He's got his little sister wrapped around his little finger. After he asks "Okay, Chloe?" she answers "da" which means "yes" in Chloe language. Then, she scampers behind Brother and does pretty much as he says.

I guess having a boy and a girl is going to be okay after all.

If she wants to move the tractor but there are no adults around to help and Brother isn't being nice...don't worry.

She'll take care of it on her own.

Even in a pink dress and diva-licious sunglasses.

This baby girl is tough.

Don't let the ribbons and bows fool you.

The best part is that Brooks thinks this helmet is on correctly. He put it on himself.

(Those of you who are going to call Child Protection because we let him wear his helmet wrong...don't fear. We are the most obsessive helmet family on this planet and we take helmets seriously.)

Isn't this just priceless?

The fact that it's a snowboarding helmet makes it even better.

Going to the lake just keeps getting better. The kids loved the new long-boards and we were amazed and how good they are. Their balance is great!

Oh, and Chloe is a great observer and buddy while she hangs with the adults on the dock.

Chloe--23 months

Kennedy--8 years old

Maggie--6 years old

Brooks--4 years old

The kids took part in their first parade. They did great minus the couple of almost accidents when they'd attempt to throw candy and drive at the same time.

I may have said something to Greg like, "Honey, you are going to have to go up front! I can't handle this! They are going to crash and my anxiety is through the roof!" Of course Greg helped me out and did what he could to try to keep the kids on the road.

It was a blast to take part this year. I'm sure that as the kids get older the float that the Do-Jo's enter in the annual Lake Dowling parade will evolve into something even bigger and better!

It's fun to make memories.

Speaking of memories: I had a few "almost wet my pants from laughing" moments this weekend. All of which involved Steph. One "almost wet my pants from laughing" moments was most definitely when I attempted to put Steph on the back of my bike and drive her around the lake for the parade.

(We succeeded, by the way and we will never tell if we might have wet our pants just a little bit!)

We are having a really hard time around here lately. Our little man is having a hard time with basic obedience and control of his emotions.

We don't know if it's the missing routine of preschool or if it's lack of sleep or too much sugar or just being 4 or something else we haven't explored yet.

We are at a loss.

We have cut out sugar (although since it's VBS week--not entirely). We have disciplined. We have taken activities away. We have taken toys away. We have swatted. We have given time-outs. We have done early bedtimes. We have skipped T-ball. We have given praise. We have used rewards. We have had long talks.

None of the above seem to work.

He's tender, loving and can be a good kid. We are in a rough patch right now and crying out to the Lord for help. Our hope is that this too shall pass. We'd love for it to be sooner than later.

We love this boy more than words could ever express. He brings us tears of joy and tears of frustration.

We know this is worth it and because of that we are hanging on.

You are SO worth this, Brooks.

We love you.

XOXO

I didn't do a Father's Day post. It's pretty fitting that I didn't have time, though. We don't have time to do anything around here these days. We are in the most challenging journey of our lives raising these beautiful children. It's tough stuff. But, I know that Greg wouldn't change a thing. I know that although we don't classify the last few months as "fun", Greg would never want a Father's Day to come and go without being able to be call himself "daddy".

Chloe loves to take care of her Daddy.

(We left out the pictures of her ripping this massage stick out of another person's hand in order to get what she wanted. If we were to post that, it would just ruin the Father's Day post..right?)

Father's Day morning Brooks and I made Daddy pancakes and we gave him lots of loves. Brooks and his Daddy have a great relationship and because Greg loves Brooks enough to discipline many times you may overhear Brooks saying, "I am not your friend. I do not like you. I am not living at this house anymore." Tonight, when Brooks went to bed he told his Daddy, "Tomorrow, Daddy, I am going to love you again (sweet) and then I am going to push you into the wall (not sweet)!"

The intensity of this boy is unreal. If we do things right and channel his intensity in the right way, he might just rule this world someday.

Oh, and truth be told: BROOKS ADORES HIS DADDY. THEY ARE BEST BUDS.

I am so glad I am married to this man. Although we have not had a complete conversation in months, I know that when the kids are 18 and we get to talk to each other again, we'll have lots to say and lots of love to share. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this daddy.

Dearest little baby girl:

You are not a baby anymore. You are a stubborn little lady. You cross your arms, cry and throw your body on the ground in pure dissatisfaction when you don't get your way.

You know what you want and when you want it.

You need to get your way or nobody can have peace.

You are so dear, though. In so many ways you are easier than we remember a two year old being.

In so many situations we see amazing obedience that we never saw with your high-energy brother.

We will take the good with the bad and always remind ourselves that the good far outweighs the bad, Chloe-Belle.

We love you.

Thank you Lord for this blessing, even when we think we can't take it for one more second.

Greg takes lot of pictures I don't see until later. Here are two of them. I laughed out loud. Remember before when I was assuring my readers that we don't let Brooks kill, shoot, stab, hurt...anything other than animals?

See?

I told you we were good parents!