Chloe had part of her one year appointment this week. She wasn't able to get her shots (she needs to technically be one) but she did have a check-up from her doctor. She has struggled with an ear infection that will not go away for the last couple of months. We were relieved to hear that it is just a bacteria that is resistant to the medication she had been on (two rounds so far). The doctor didn't say anything about tubes or further treatment. We left with one more round of medications that should help.

The doctor told us to stop the bottle at anytime. We have decided to finish our one last can of formula and go to whole milk. She also said there really is no need for baby food anymore. So, we are onto things like bananas, eggs, cheese and crackers. Chloe doesn't have a whole mouth of teeth, so it is hard to find things that she won't choke on. She seems to love the eggs, though.

Here are her one year stats:
Height: 30 inches or 88%
Head: 18.5 inches or 95%
Weight 23# 7.5 oz or 90%

Chloe seems like our "little peanut", but we think that might be because Brooks was off the charts, 100% and would have been 150% if there was such a thing. So, Chloe seems tiny to us but is huge compared to other children, just like Brooks was.

Chloe says:
Mama
Dada
Bye
Kiss
Hi

All of these words would be impossible to understand if you were not her Mommy or Daddy, though.

Chloe is either happy or sad. There is no in between with her. She goes from 0 to 100 in no time flat and already knows how to have temper tantrums (they are SO fake that we have a hard time not laughing when they occur).

Chloe is really pretty, as you can see. Most of the time we just want to kiss her, cuddle her and snuggle her. She doesn't hold still very long and is most content when she is swinging on the swing set.

Chloe isn't the best sleeper as she needs something to eat in the middle of the night many nights. She refuses to eat right before bed, leading her to a midnight cuddle session with her daddy. Some nights are much better than others.

Chloe loves her brother and wants to be near him at all times. If she is in her playzone, she stands at the edge and grunts until we take her out and let her "see" what her brother is doing.

Chloe is a princess and still lets us put bows in her hair. She's learned to pull them out though, so we may have less ribbons and bows in the very near future.

Chloe wears size 18 month and size 3 diapers.

We love our baby girl and can't believe she is just about one. I heard an awesome quote last weekend that said, "The days are LONG, but the years are SHORT." Amen to that statement.

We love you, Chloe.

XOXO

Brooks is a little helper. He loves to work more than anything. He loves to do dishes, vacuum, clean and help. He learns it from his Daddy who is like no other man I have ever met. Some girl is going to be VERY lucky to be married to Brooks someday.

So, Greg tells me these jammies are feminine. Okay, I admit they are GIRLS! Ha. They were just so cute and I didn't realize it until we got home. The tag says "girls" right on it. Whoops.

I told Greg if we ever send him to a sleepover, we'll be sure to pack different jammies. In the meantime, he seems to love them and it makes me smile every time I see his big, thick, pure boy body shoved into the dainty girlie sleeves.

Happy 4th of July. From our super normal family to yours!

It started out with Grandma thinking she didn't really want to get wet. She's all for having fun with Brooks, but she was fully dressed! Then, her Grandma instincts took over, and she decided that she'd get on a raft fully dressed.

Okay, we are talking jeans and a dress shirt. Did she really think that she'd actually be able to stay on the raft with her fun-loving three year old Grandson in the pool? What a great Grandma. We love you! XOXO

Hooray for the new pool. It has been so much fun (this weekend was the first time with it). The kids must have had at least 4 hours of swimming each day. Chloe even got in on some of the action. Thanks, Oma and Opa for loving our kids so much. Oh, and thanks for spoiling them ROTTEN!

The annual parade at Lake Dowling. Oh, it is so wonderful. It is short and to the point, yet the kids manage to get more candy than any parade we ever take them to. The parade starts at our cabin, so the floats are really excited to throw candy and go overboard with our kids. I am sure it doesn't hurt that they are all really cute, too. Poor Brooks has a Mommy who loves candy, and most of his candy is now gone. Hopefully, he won't notice. :)

Swimming pool and Waterpark of America = FUN.

Unlimited junk food and late bed times = FUN.

Being able to paint my own face, use whatever color I want and not have to wash it off = FUN!

Looking like a super cool dude the rest of the day at the Children's Museum = FUN!

Mommy and Daddy getting to give Brooks 100% of their undivided attention all weekend = PRICELESS.

We love you and your lust for life, Brooks.

XOXO

And we wonder why Brooks went to the bathroom on the garage floor the other day?