18 Months So Very Big!

Clayton and Chloe are officially a year and half...so hard to believe and even harder to believe that there will be a new little peanut joining (and completing) our family in less than 5 months.
Clayton's News:
*He is 25 pounds and 32 3/4 inches inches tall (64th percentile).
*Clayton LOVES the park, choo choo trains (knows all the spots on our walks and drives where you can see the train), airplanes, cars, his blankie, his paci, Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, Roxi, milk, pasta, goldfish, fruit cereal bars, bananas (or as he calls them, nanas), and riding the carousel.
*He says and repeats lots of words, but isn't quite ready to say the letters of the alphabet. He knows the letters A and B, but can't clearly say them yet.
*Clayton loves singing in the car, especially to "Little Red Caboose," "The Ants go Marching," "Patty Cake," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "I'm a Little Teacup." The second I turn on the CD, his arms start pumping and his legs start kicking.
*He loves kicking the soccer ball, especially at the park and can climb up or down just about anything.
*Clayton has a mouthful of teeth and seems to be handling teething better, which is wonderful.
*He is a super active, extremely busy, little boy who likes to be clean, likes things in order and in place, and really enjoys playing with anything and everything that's not a toy (stacking the food that's in the pantry, putting the salad dressings in a line on the floor, playing with the broom and yard stick in the hall closet, etc.!
*Clayton has become quite the helper--throws trash away, gives Chloe her doll, and his most intelligent trick yet is when he tries to take a toy from Chloe and I stop him, he goes and gets her a different toy, holds it out to her, which of course she then takes it, and then he takes the toy he wanted that she has now dropped. Brilliant!
*He is a lover, gives adorable open mouthed kisses and is our dream come true.

Chloe's News:
*She is 22 pounds and 30 3/4 inches (24th percentile).
*Chloe LOVES the park, sucking her fingers backwards, taking off her shoes and socks, taking any bow put in her hair, out, any and all food (there's nothing she doesn't like), Mickey and Minnie Mouse, riding the carousel, her picnic basket and purse, Mommy's hip, and Roxi.
*She is saying more and more words and tries just about anything you ask her to say. Chloe's mastered the word "up".
*Chloe loves singing in the car, especially to "Little Red Caboose," "The Ants go Marching," "Patty Cake," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "I'm a Little Teacup." The second I turn on the CD, her arms start pumping and his legs start kicking.
*She loves her singing teddy bear and can do the hand movements for "If You're Happy and You Know t" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."
*Chloe has a mouthful of teeth too. She's starting to get her bottom molars, which are definitely causing her more pain than she's used to.
*She is a careful walker who is petite like her mommy. Chloe copies everything her brother does, throws the best tantrums especially when she gets frustrated, likes pushing her stroller, and likes to take everything out of the pantry.
*Chloe is a sweet baby girl who gives precious open mouth kisses, bear hugs you from behind to give you love and truly is our dream come true.

FallWonderful!

Clayton and Chloe are 18 months so big as of November 5th! October was a fun and full month for us. I'm finally feeling better and much more adjusted to working again. My tummy is getting big, but definitely not as big as Clayton and Chloe's pregnancy. Halloween was the highlight of the month. I've never been a fan of Halloween, until this year. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun! Clayton was a sheriff cowboy and Chloe was a bumblebee princess...they were so darling and they loved "playing dress up" in their costumes. Ryan thought Clayton's cowboy hat was a waste of a purchase, but Clay surprised us all by wearing it. We took the babes to the fall festival at Friends Christian Church in the afternoon. They had a blast riding the carousel and the ponies. Chloe's smile was priceless while riding the ponies...she was giddy. We then came home, ate a quick dinner, and started passing out candy. Clayton and Chloe quickly got the hang of it, often giving each child 2-3 pieces of candy. They had so much fun dumping the bowl of candy out, filling their own candy buckets, and then dumping them out. We took Clayton and Chloe trick or treating to a few houses in our neighborhood. They were so stinkin' cute, walking up to the door and holding their candy buckets out. Their smiles were infectious as they left each house. Once done trick or treating we came home and continued to pass out candy, which I think they enjoyed more than anything. Chloe, our petite little girl who loves everything food, figured out how to suck and bite her way through candy wrappers. All in all it was a beautiful night. Ryan and I sat on our front porch step in awe of our two perfectly adorable children, soaking up the moment that we will cherish forever. Here's some pictures from our month of fun...

Papa Jim bought Clayton a special toy to have at his house...a remote control Corvette just like Papa's. Clayton loves it and goes right to it when he gets to Papa's house.




We had our friends Aiden and River over for an afternoon play date and had so much fun!


We LOVE the pumpkin patch and had so much fun playing in the bounce houses and petting the animals.






Halloween trip to Disneyland to see all of the festive decorations and ride the rides of course!


Story time with Nonnie!


Helping Daddy carve pumpkins and then showing off their masterpieces.





All dressed up in their costumes--Clayton was a sheriff cowboy and Chloe a bumblebee princess.





Grammie met us at the Friends Christian Fall Festival for some pre trick or treating fun! Chloe LOVED riding the ponies. Daddy has promised to buy her one multiple times!





Trick or Treat! I now LOVE Halloween. I never really enjoyed the day until experiencing it this year with my fun little monkeys.

Irvine Park and Railroad!

On Sunday, October 9th we went to the Irvine Park and Railroad to pick out our pumpkins and ride the train. Clayton and Chloe had so much fun, as did Ryan and I! What a fun place Irvine Park is. The train was a definite hit as Clayton is obsessed with trains. I taught him to say "choo choo" and pump his fist like a conductor, so he does it on command when we see a train. The line for the train was 30 minutes long and he patiently waited "choo chooing" away the entire time. Both babies picked out their pumpkins and are so excited to see them sitting on our front porch. They both adorably say pumpkin too! Here's some pictures from our fun afternoon.

17 Months and Growing!

September was a busy month full of lots of adjustments. I went back to work, thankfully part time again. I am so grateful for my part time job with the time it allows me daily to be with and raise my children and also the financial security it allows us. I work from 10:30-1:15 and the babies nap while I'm gone, so I miss about an hour and a half of time with them. While I'm so happy to have the majority of the day with Clayton and Chloe, it's also been hard because I have absolutely no down time, which is quite difficult when you're pregnant. Second pregnancies are much different than first pregnancies because there is no indulging your every ache, pain, and exhaustion when you have two toddlers to chase after. I'm starting to feel better though, so hopefully October will be a little easier for all of us.

Clayton and Chloe have been so full of it lately. Clayton is a crazy climber. He climbs up slides and then goes down them on his bottom. He can climb on top of the toy box, which is quite scary, so we have to make sure there are no climbing aides (toys he can stand on) near the toy box. He can climb into my Tahoe from the ground, across the passenger seat, and to the steering wheel, which is his absolute favorite thing to do. He's obsessed with "driving." Clayton is talking up a storm, repeating nearly every word you ask him to say. He's always so proud of himself when he says something new. Our favorite phrase is "a-be-dat" or "what be that?" He's started saying an exaggerated "oh" every time something surprises, intrigues, or amazes him. I imagine he gets that from me! Clayton has started listening to directions, like "please pick up the ball and put it in the basket" or "go give the toy to Daddy." I'm thinking he's going to be a great helper with the new baby. Clayton has gone to the bathroom in the potty consistently four nights straight after months of practice and seems to understand poop, but of course doesn't understand that we go in the potty yet. When I ask him to tell me when he has to poop, he grunts and often comes up to me and grunts. We then sit on the potty, but nothing happens. He's starting to get it, though. We were planning to really start trying around the holidays, but now that he's started understanding going tinkle in the potty, we are in full training mode! Hopefully we can be almost potty trained by the new baby's arrival. Clatyon loves building with blocks and then crashing his creation down! Clayton still has the heartiest giggle and definitely is exercising his fits of cries and screams when he doesn't get what he wants. He is obsessed with being clean and neat...crumbs on floor, he picks up and brings to me, string on the carpet, he finds and brings to me, dirt on his hands, he says "uh, uh" until instructed to brush it off, etc, etc, all day long! We love this baby boy so, so very much!

Chloe has the biggest news of all...she is finally walking! Chloe took her first steps three weeks ago. She's still primarily crawling, but walks more and more every day. Chloe is our cautious baby, so she doesn't do things until she can totally do them. She'll walk on her own from one piece of furniture to another or if you put her down on her feet and instruct her to walk, she will, but walking isn't quite her primary mode of transportation yet. She actually walks great when you hold just one hand. Chloe can totally walk on her own, she just needs to get more confident. We are so happy for her and all of her progress! Chloe is talking more and more every day too and really seems to pick up on what her brother says. We truly believe she has roots in Germany because the twang in her words sounds so German! We have full conversations with her where she "answers" every question you ask her with some silly combination of sounds that sound German. Chloe is definitely submissive to Clayton, but seems okay with it. We intervene when necessary, but the pediatrician said that she has to learn how to deal with her brother taking things from her on her own. Most of the time she lets him and then moves on to something new. Once in a while she starts crying pretty hard and when she really gets mad, she bites (not good!). Chloe's tantrums are less frequent than Clayton's but she is the queen of throwing herself on the floor and rubbing her face in the ground. It's really funny! My mom says Chloe is just like me, petite, cautious, and just goes with the flow. She's so adaptable to any situation, which is absolutely wonderful. Unlike Clayton, Chloe seems to enjoy being dirty. In fact the sandier, wetter, muddier, the happier she is! Chloe is such a sweet baby girl who loves giving kisses...we love her so very much!

Here's some pictures from our month.

All dressed up for Uncle KyKy's birthday. Poor buddy showing off his first major boo boo on his forehead.



The stages of a kiss mastered brilliantly by my two little love bugs. Such a precious moment.




Play time!!