Chloe is 4 months!

Our sweet Chloe girl is 4 months old. I'm loving seeing her cute personality slowly coming out. I feel like every month gets more fun!

 

 

 

I decided to take some pictures of Chloe in the same outfit that Avery wore in her 4 month photos to compare. I probably should have used my camera instead of the IPhone because Chloe's pictures didn't turn out great but oh well! When I look at Chloe, I definitely see Avery from when she was a baby but looking at both girls next to each other proves that they both do have their own look. Similar but different!







Chloe





Ave- I think Avery has Chloe beat on the cheek size :)

 

Chloe

 

Avery

 

We just had Chloe's 4 month checkup today (about 10 days late).  Here are her latest stats-

 

Height- 24.8 in.- 63%

Weight- 14 lb 15 oz.- 71%

Head- 42.2 cm. - 76%



Here's what she's been up to this month-

Sleeping- We'll start here because I feel like this is where the most change has been.  Chloe has been an amazing sleeper since she was little.  This month wasn't quite as good as it has been.  Chloe started struggling to fall asleep early on in the night.  Her bedtime was around 8:30 pm but she would wake again at like 9 then 9:30, etc.  Some nights she would wake 5 times before finally going to sleep.  She was still downstairs in the rock and play so we would just rock her back to sleep.  It continued like this for about 2 weeks.  Randomly about 2 weeks ago, Chloe woke up around 2:30 and was up off and on until 6:30.  That was when we decided to move her up to her room.  Bill wasn't getting any sleep because he was hearing Chloe cry, and I figured we might as well make some changes while things weren't really going great anyway. 

 

 

We decided to keep her in the rock and play but have it in her room.  I slept upstairs the first night because I figured it would be disasterous but it actually went better than expected.  Each night got better from there.  By the end of the month, she was able to get to sleep and stay asleep pretty well. 

 

Her normal sleep schedule was roughly like this- bedtime 8pm (Hallelujah!  We made it finally!  I didn't think we'd ever get her to bed at this time!).  She would wake once or twice throughout the night and wake for good around 8-9am.  I have zero napping schedule for her which is so different than with Avery.  She usually goes down around 2 hours after she wakes up.  We are typically out and about so this nap generally takes place in her car seat.  She usually takes 2 more naps with the last being no later than around 5pm.  Her naps have been only 30 minutes which is a little difficult to get anything done but hopefully they will improve!

 

I don't think I'll ever stop taking pics of her sleeping on me.  I cherish those times.

Eating- Chloe is still exclusively nursing.  She eats about every 3 hours which totals roughly 6 times a day.

 

Clothing/ Diapers- She's in size 2 diapers and big girl is wearing 3-6 months or 6 months clothing depending on the brand.  Clothing companies need to not make skinny pants for baby girls.  I don't know who they fit but they just are too small for my girl's legs!  Some of her 6 month pants are a little snug!

 



Chloe has gotten a lot more active.  She started grabbing and playing with toys a lot more this month.  She also started rolling from her belly to her back!  She still is not a fan of her belly so she usually rolls immediately onto her back now that she's got this skill down. 

 

She's gotten a lot more vocal this month also.  She loves to squeal and mimic the noises that we make.  She overall is such a happy little girl, and we can always count on her for a smile!

 

Here are some more pictures from this month-

 



The car seat always makes for a beautiful hairdo!

Chloe is interested in the IPhone already.  It is frightening how early kids can be entertained by technology!

Avery drew this one day of her and Chloe.  So beautiful!

My girls swinging outside

I love that she can swing.  It makes being outside a lot easier!

PJ day at church

Avery's love for Chloe is overflowing.  I think this happens 20 times a day.

We started putting Chloe in her high chair for dinner time.  She was a little unsure at first...

...but then loved it!

Happy girl!

We went to visit Stephanie and the girls a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, we had to get a picture of the newest cousins.  Already holding hands!

When Chloe gets sad in the car, Avery always tries to console her.  I usually hear, "It's okay Chloe, don't be sad. Sis is here." 

One day, Avery came up to me and said, "Mommy, I'm feeding my baby just like you!"  Hopefully, she won't do this at school :).

Big girl is getting so close to rolling from her back to belly.

 

We love you sweet girl!

New Year's Eve 2013

The Arrants hosted a New Year's Eve party this year.  Last year was so much fun that we decided to get together again except with all the kids!
 

 

Avery has been begging to have a sleepover and was given the opportunity on NYE.  She was so happy to be spending the night in Garrett's room with her friends!

 



Ash read them all a book before bedtime

Avery took staying in her bed very seriously.

The scene right before I left the room. It was so sweet to see how excited they all were!

 We had kids scattered all around the house and weren't overly optimistic that we would get them all to go to sleep.  Somehow, a miracle occurred and they all fell asleep pretty quickly!  Chloe decided she wanted to party a little later than all the rest of the kids but eventually went down around 10:30.

 

 

After all the kids were asleep, we played some games. It was such a treat to have some adult time with everyone because that happens so rarely these days. 

 



 I am still amazed that everything went so well that night.  We ended up staying over until 2 am which made for a really tough wakeup at 7:30!  It was worth it though!  2013 was very good to us.  We had a wonderful year full of great moments.  I am looking forward to seeing what 2014 has in store for us!

 

  

Christmas Part 2

On Monday morning, Avery woke up fully sick.  Snotty nose, head hurting, and looking pitiful.  I did everything in my power to get her healthy before Christmas Eve but it just didn't happen. 

 

On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies which couldn't be eaten due to her continuous coughing.  We watched Christmas movies.  We really tried to make it as special as possible even though Ave felt pretty crummy.  Bill and I had to decide whether we would go to the Christmas Eve service.  We've never missed and we felt like it just wouldn't be Christmas without celebrating Jesus's birth at church. 

 

Our plan was to go to the least crowded service at noon and sit in the back, side area away from other people.  Avery would stay with us so she didn't infect other kids and Chloe would go to the nursery. 

 

Ave actually did better than expected during the service.  She had gotten a new princess sticker book that kept her pretty entertained.  There was one slightly awkward moment, though.  During the middle of the sermon when the room was very silent, Avery let out the toot of all toots.  She was sitting on Bill's lap, and I thought he was going to die of embarrassment.  It was long, loud, and I could tell that the people around us were curious as to who would do that in public.  Some kind of looked nonchalantly over their shoulder to see who did that!  Ave didn't even look up from her sticker book.  Oh, to be a three year old!

 

That evening, we went to Wendy's house.  We decided that we would go for a couple of hours since there were no little kids that Avery could take down.  I'm so thankful we did because we all ended up having a lot of fun.

I bought matching dresses for the girls on Etsy for Christmas.  I had visions of sweet matching sister pics.  Instead, this is what went down.  When I dressed Chloe for church, I realized that her 3 month dress was more like a shirt.  It was way too short.  Too short for me to send her in it to church.  I made her wear it to Wendy's so that I could at least get a couple of pictures of the two of them.  About 15 minutes after we arrived, I looked down at my shirt sleeve and saw a little bit of yellow.  Of course, my sweet girl had a blowout all over her tights before I had taken a single picture.  I stripped them off, changed her diaper, and quickly took a few pictures.

 



Chloe had no tights and a way too short dress.  Ave had green goop in her eyes.  I was feeling a little panicky about Chloe being so close to all the germs but at least I have a picture to show for it :).

Really sweet but my blood pressure was sky high so this was the last sis pic taken!

 After a delicious dinner, we sang happy birthday to Bill.  Avery led us all on the microphone.  Something happens to her when we go to Wendy's house.  She completely comes out of her shell and owns the place!

 

Loving life and all the attention!

Bill's Uncle Eddie is absolutely the best with kids and babies.  He loves holding them and kept Chloe happy for a good hour at least.

 



Chloe was out for the entire white elephant exchange.

 

Avery had the absolute best time that night.  She got so much attention from her Aunt Laura and Bill's teenage cousins.  They were so sweet to her, and I loved seeing her happy despite not feeling great.  Laura pulled up a Santa tracker on her laptop.  Ave could not believe that she could see where he was.  She asked to see it no fewer than 10 times that night.

 

Pretty Aunt Laura and her nieces

My girls!

I just love our family of four.  We are so blessed!

Bill being Bill :)

This girl was so excited about Santa coming!

 

 We got home around 9ish, set out some milk and cookies, and put the girls to bed.  After that, Bill and I put on It's a Wonderful Life (our Christmas Eve tradition) and Bill got to work!

 

Around 2am, Avery had a coughing attack.  She couldn't stop so I took her up some medicine and a drink.  All she could talk about was the Santa tracker and whether or not he had come yet.  So sweet.

 

The next morning, Avery woke up and shrieked with joy when she came down the stairs.  Despite the sickness, she was so excited about Christmas. 

 

 

We decided not to go to my aunt and uncle's house that day since Avery was not feeling better. Savannah was only a few weeks old at that point, and I would have felt horrible if she had gotten something from Ave.  It felt so strange being home on Christmas day.  I don't think that I have ever been home all Christmas day in my entire life.

 

It was strange and a little sad to miss out but it was also really nice to have a lazy day playing with toys, watching movies, and enjoying time with just our family. 

 



That afternoon, we baked a birthday cake for Jesus and celebrated the birth of our Savior.  Christmas definitely did not go according to my plans but it ended up being one of my favorites ever.  I just love seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child.  It makes celebrating that much better! 

 

The next morning, Avery woke up crying of ear pain, and we were at the doctor by 9:15.  We left with three prescriptions, and she was diagnosed with an inner ear infection, a mild outer ear infection, conjunctivitis, and a cold.  Lovely! 

 



 

I can't express how thankful I am that she didn't wake up with ear pain on Christmas morning.  Once we got antibiotics in her system, she started feeling so much better.  We definitely made some special memories this year!