Little Babies

One Saturday we woke up and we were all three in the kitchen having some breakfast. We were talking about what we might do for the day. Abby said: "I know!!! We're going to get some baby pet rats!!" and we all said yyyeeeaaaa!!! It was pretty spontaneous, but we'd talked about it a little before. So we headed out down to the local pat store on railroad. Abby told us stories on the way down there about how she'd gone there as a kid with her dad to get her first pet rats. We called it "the little Abby store", but decided that at some point it'd be called the "little Chloe store", too. So we went in and found one small enclosure with two little baby girls. Just what we wanted!! We shopped around for all the necessities and bought our first pet rats! We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about cute, fun names for them, and finally decided on RuPaul and Rainbow. Abby told us how all her rats had started with R. So we kept the tradition. They are cute names, but we mostly call them "the babies".

Talk about differences

Shana posed a question about talking to young kids about acceptance, celebrating the differences in people, etc.
This morning my thoughts are this:
I've talked to Chloe a lot about this stuff. What I've come to think is: any thing I can think to say to her about "differences are beautiful" have mostly been lost. I think maybe those concepts are too big. Talking doesn't do much for opening their little minds. If we point out and talk about differences in people, we are still bringing more attention to differences than accepting them as normal, acceptable, and good. The things that help the most are actually LIVING the message. Spending time around "differences", modeling behavior, and taking away the novelty goes a long way. No matter what we say about differences in people being normal, it will never be true for them until it's actually true in their lives. Just the other day, Chloe saw a picture of a baby with a cleft pallet on the computer and said it was gross. Of course I told her what it was, and that it wasn't gross. I explained how it happens and how it's treated, she understood and didn't think it was gross anymore. But I've had that same conversation with her a few times before in her life, about the same thing. I suspect it will always be a bit weird, shocking and yes even "gross" until she has a real life experience to pull from. And it's tough, I mean, it's impossible to go make friends with and spend time with enough people who embody all differences. So, we can continue to talk about things in an open and accepting way, and hope it begins to stick at some point. In the meantime, we can lovingly point out and celebrate our (relatively slight) differences among us in our immediate families.
My goal for Chloe is that she grows up around people who unyieldingly show openmindedness and and graceful acceptance of differences and she will learn the way to be and the way to approach differences in her own life. I suppose at some point she'll be privy to the opposite and likely feel and see the pain caused by judgement. Of course it makes me sad to think of her ever experiencing pain... It helps to know she'll have a good reference point in the world and a soft place to land. I will always strive to be that for her.

MLK Jr.

Chloe did a little book in school to celebrate the holiday. On the back page, she drew his picture of him.

Having two homes

Chloe tells me that she really loves having two homes. She said she thinks it would be boring if she only had one. She likes having different chores and responsibilities at each house and getting a break from them when she changes.
I hope she always has such good feelings about having two homes.
She also said she likes having two sets of holidays.
I would, too!

She knows I like em

Chloe drew this adorable elephant for me! And yellow paper?
She said "It's because I know you like 'em!"

Crayon art

Chloe painted a small canvas pink and chose all of these beautiful crayons to glue to it.  Then we stood up the canvas and melted all the crayons.  It was really pretty watching all the colors drip down. Chloe liked it when we turned it upside down. 

I made some hats

Lately I've been having fun with my sewing machine.  I've been using old shirts to make hats with.  This cream colored one I made for Chloe just fit her so good.  She wanted to wear it to school the next day-then she found out she's not allowed to wear hats in school.  I've always thought she looks super cute in hats.  Here she is also enjoying a home-made coconut popsicle.  Yummm.

Holidays at Dads

With Ditto snuggled up in the decorations and Chloe playing her new Xbox Kinect.

And Chloe tells us she got to stay up, watching movies to ring in the new year!! She was very proud and excited.

Strides in reading

As we were reading together last night:
She was readily reading Amelia Bedelia with sporadic help with words like "enough" and "should", when she sounded out the words "exclaimed" and "remembered".
Pretty darn good, I'll say.

Salmon zombie

Chloe, as she's devouring the broiled salmon Shell made for dinner:
"I'm the salmon zombie!"

Because I made you

When I tuck Chloe in bed at night I tell her that the quilts she covers up with (made by grandma Vicki, Grandma Kris, and Aunt Tia) arent made of fabric. They are made of love. Every inch and every stitch has love in it from them. I tuck the love all around her until she feels safe and comforted.
Last night I said:
"No one else in the whole world loves you as much as I love you... You know why? Because I made you."
She smiled so big and squeezed me so hard.
I live for the love moments.

Singing

Chloe says to her friend Kylee: "I pretty much sing like an adult."
They are pretty cute the two of them rocking out to Katy Perry "Firework" belting out sometimes the right words.

She loves singing, but doesn't like to be heard, so usually I'm listening intently without looking at her. At night before she falls asleep, she sings and chats and plays... Sometimes I want to hide a baby monitor in her room so I can listen to her.
And of course I always relish the (fleeting) moments she is in the mood for performing.

Christmas 2011



Our beautiful and silly family



All the cousins at Aunty Emily's house



  

                             

Lining up in height order

 


Papa John telling stories

  



Chloe wrote a letter to Santa asking him to come back tomorrow for more cookies.  We were only able to make one kind on Christmas Eve.  She also drew him a map on how to get into the house since we don't have a chimney

     

Chloe was VERY excited to see Santa and his reindeer had eaten the cookies, drank the milk AND tried the seaweed we put out for them. 



So excited to open gifts Christmas morning! 

*note how she is fully dressed*

Chloe absolutely has to do her morning routine

before we can go downstairs for Christmas. 



Trying on her new pajamas, pillow pet, and overalls.  "JUST

what she'd been asking for!!"  She was all smiles.

  


After we opened gifts we started doing some of the fun Christmas Day crafts that Santa had given in Chloes stocking.  I got this amazing photo of her while she was finishing a wooden ornament.

Whenever she spells ornament its "ordamet". 



Letters with Santa

These are the adorable letters and pictures Chloe left for Santa this year. 

 "Come through the back door.  We got rid of the chimney." 

"Back Door." 

"Front Door, where you are."

"P.S. Walk to the back door." 

"Fried Seaweed.  Yummm"

(The sticky note she left so she could give Santa and the reindeer a taste of seaweed, which she loves.)

By Chloe Rhodes

Come back tomorrow.  There will be gingerbread cookies on the counter.  Please come back tomorrow. 

I love Christmas.  Thank you.  I love you, Santa. 

She was so excited to find this letter from Santa in her stocking with her gifts!!

Piper Puppy

Here is Piper Puppy eating a cucumber.  She was such a silly little girl, always ready for playtime.  

She found a quarter

Chloe was at gymnastics last week and as we were leaving she came up to me holding a quarter she'd found and asked what she should do with it. 
I asked her what she thought she should do.  She said she wasn't really sure, but that she wanted to give it to Abby. 
I suggested we ask if there was any policy about finding items or money to give to the office.  When we found out that she could keep it, she was so excited to give it to Abby when we got home. 
I don't think it even crossed her mind to keep it. 

Colors get married

From Shell:
Chloe: You know what would make sense? For a red circle and a yellow circle to get married and have an orange baby.

I love how this kid thinks!

Drawing in the van

For a couple days Chloe was drawing in the van every time we went anywhere.  I love that she is so creative.  Here are some of her masterpieces.