Long time...

Okay, wow! So it has been FOREVER since I have blogged!!! I need to repent. :) haha...I guess I just get lazy sometimes. But then I read people's blogs who blog practically every single day, and I think, "Why can't I do that?" Lesa, for example, is a crazy awesome blogger! She has two (super cute!) little boys, and she still manages to keep us updated on everything!!! So, I should be like that. Anyway, I'll try. I think sometimes I don't blog because I want to put up pictures, and sometimes I don't have any. But I guess you don't always have to have pictures, right? It can be more like a journal--which would actually be good for me because I haven't been doing well with journal keeping. Wow, I'm totally rambling. So, anyhooter, here's the deal--I have TRIED to write a journal for Chloe, but the last little while life has seemed so crazy that I've ended up just scribbling some things down on a piece of paper--new things that she does each day or in general. I always mean to write them in her journal later, which I still hope to do, but for now I am going to blog them. At least that way I know they're written somewhere, and I'm sure you would all like to know what's going on with our sweet baby girl. Okay, here goes...

Chloe: 9 Months

-Chloe cries whenever Vovo (Grandma Granja) leaves her. It's so adoreable. She tries to hold onto her so tight, but eventually we get her loose and distract her so that Vovo can get some things done and Chloe can take her nap or whatever she needs to do. :)

-Chloe LOVES to dance--especially when Daddy sings. She bounces up and down, shakes her booty, and bobs her head. She really likes to break down to slow songs and church music too. haha! So funny.

-Chloe has discovered her right nostril with her right finger. Sometimes she sticks it there and then follows with her finger in her mouth. :) Just imagine when she discovers the lefties!

-Chloe clicks her tongue all the time. It's pretty much a favorite pastime. :)

-Chloe LOVES doggies. She just adores them! Real and stuffed. She just can't get enough.

-Chloe has realized that she can get what she wants when she cries. Uh-oh!

-Chloe still cries when she hears really loud noises. Examples: Vovo's fusca (old bug) turning on or the dogs barking really loudly right next to her.

-Chloe LOVES papaya! She must take after her Daddy. In my opinion it smells and tastes like puke. Well, to each her own.

-The other day I was writing something down with one of those click pens (the kind you click and then pen point comes out/goes back in). Chloe saw me click it once, I believe. Then I noticed her reaching for it, so I gave it to her for a second, and the first thing she did was stick her thumb on the top (just like Mama) and try to click it!!! What a smartypants! :)

-Chloe started saying her third word. It is "Muh" for Monkey. Grandma and Grandpa Lange gave her a stuffed monkey for Christmas that she just absolutely adores, and now she asks for it. So cute. :)

-Chloe sometimes confuses "Muh" with Mama now. Not sure how I feel about that... :)

-Chloe started crawling around the house for the first time. She bumps her head a lot, but she's starting to get the hang of it.

-Sometimes Chloe crawls with one knee and one foot. So funny.

-Chloe waves Tchau.

-Chloe's favorite song to dance to is "Sopa do Nene," which Vovo introduced her to.

-Chloe has started saying Vovo. Sometimes she stands by our front door and says it. Can you tell who her favorite person is yet? :)

-Chloe looks at people's earrings in the funniest way. If you are looking right at her, she'll reach out and whip your head to one side or the other with her hand to get a good look. No delicacy in this one! :)

-Chloe has started talking SO much! She just babbles on all day long. And the funniest part is the faces that she makes. She scrunches her whole face, squinting her eyes and all. Apparently everything she says is VERY important. At least she thinks so. :)

Chloe: 10 Months

-Chloe stands all by herself--no hands.

-Chloe walks while holding someone's hand. She already wants to run! :)

-Chloe has started shaking her head "No." Apparently I do that a lot...I had no idea. Oops!

-Chloe loves taking baths outside. We fill up a little laundry tub, add some toys, and she just splashes away. She always cries when we take her out! :)

-Chloe likes to eat by herself. She has become very independent. :) Usually I just give her some cookies or crackers since she hasn't really figured out the spoon yet, and I'm a little afraid of the mess...

-Sometimes Chloe says Mama when she wants Agua. Hmm...Now I've been passed up by a monkey and water... :)

-Chloe LOVES to kiss Ti-tia (Aunt Rachel)!!! I try to steal a kiss every now and then, but pretty much she reserves them all for ti-tia. Dangit... ;)

-Sometimes Chloe laughs at herself. It cracks me up!

-Chloe loves animals. Stuffed and real. She gets so excited when she sees them. She flails around and screams. So funny! The other day, we were at the store, and there was a huge bin of stuffed animals between some of the aisles. When Chloe saw it, she freaked out, of course. Since there wasn't anyone around, Pedro stuck her in the bin for a minute just to see what she would do. Oh my gosh, talk about making her day!!! And just imagine how hard it was to take her out! :( She cried and cried. Good thing she doesn't remember things for long and is distracted easily.

-Chloe HATES getting her nails cut. It is such a struggle. I try to distract her, but she squirms and cries, and I have ended up hating it too. When I get the clippers out, I always start by saying, "Chloe, I'm pretty sure I hate this more than you do..."

-Chloe has discovered our table and loves to stand underneath it and play. The only part I don't like is she always tries to pull herself up on the chairs, and if I notice a second too late, they topple over on her. The next time we get kitchen chairs, I am going to figure out how to put weights on the bottom!!!

-Chloe loves rock dancing. The best is when she does it at church! :)

-Chloe is very sensitive after she wakes up crying from her naps. We can't sing or talk loudly or anything. So sweet.

-Chloe is very curious about strangers. She really likes to stare at people. haha Good thing she's a baby!

-Chloe has started taking two long naps instead of three shorter ones. It's actually kind of nice. Gives me some good Mama time.

-Okay, funniest/most frustrating thing ever. Chloe will only poop in a CLEAN diaper!!! Not even kidding. It is a FACT. I wait and wait for her to poop, but eventually her diaper is so full of pee that it threatens to fall right off, and I just have to change it. And as soon as she has that nice, comfy, clean, dry diaper on, she gets red face and pushes with all her might. Then it's time for another diaper change. Oh boy...hahahahahahaha All we can do is laugh, I guess. It is pretty funny--just kind of a waste of diapers, you know? Sometimes if her poop is dry and doesn't squish around (sorry for the visual), I just pull it out with a wipe, apply some cream and stick the diaper right back on. Here's to saving money! :)

-Whenever Vovo (this time it's GRANDPA Granja (our computer won't put the dang accents on words anymore)) picks Chloe up, she always goes right for the pens in his pocket. It's so funny. He has become famous as "the man with the pens." :)

-3/1/11: Chloe started pointing at things today. It's so cute! She does it so perfectly. She loves to point at her sippy cup and the trees outside.

-3/2/11: Chloe took her first steps today!!!!!!!!!!

-3/4/11: Chloe learned how to clap today. She does it way funny though--she sort of gives herself a give. She sticks one hand out in the air and smacks it with the other one, instead of moving them both. :)

-3/5/11: While Pedro was feeding Chloe lunch today, she grabbed her burp rag and started holding it in front of her face. Then all of a sudden she would pull it down and grin. After a couple times, Pedro realized she was playing peek-a-boo!!! haha So funny! She had seen us do it a bunch of times, and then she just started doing it out of nowhere! It's so crazy how babies learn things!

-3/11/11: Chloe has a little bathtub book of "Finding Nemo." Today I kept telling her about Nemo and pointing to him, and then later I asked her where Nemo was, and she went right to her book, picked it up and pointed to Nemo. What a smartypants!

Chloe: 11 Months

-3/13/11: Chloe has started making kissing noises when we say beijos/kisses. She also does it after or before she gives us kisses. But when she actually gives kisses, she just sticks her lips against ours. :) haha I love this girl!

-3/14/11: When Chloe woke up this morning and I picked her up out of the crib, she started pointing to things. I would tell her what they were ("Closet." "Mirror." "Window." etc), and then she would smile and point to something else. She did it for at least 10 minutes. I think she loves to learn. :)

-3/14/11: Chloe was playing with her toy pan and spatula today and Vovo's house, and then out of nowhere she started "feeding" Vovo! hahaha! She is just so smart, it's crazy. After Vovo would "eat" off of the spatula, Chloe would even get more food out of the pan and feed her again. :)

-3/14/11: When I was feeding Chloe bananas this morning at breakfast, I kept saying "Ba-na-na" over and over again. After breakfast, we all went grocery shopping, and as we walked around the store, Chloe kept saying "Na-na-na" over and over again. :)

-This past Sunday, Chloe was staring at the pulpit for a while during the first hymn, and then she started waving her arm around. She was leading the music! :)

-Chloe has started walking back and forth between the couch and shelves, couch and chairs, etc without incentive. Sometimes she falls, but she usually tries again.

-3/18/11: Chloe walked SO much yesterday!!! She is getting braver. And I think she's starting to enjoy it. She was pretty tuckered out when I put her in bed. I definitely think it was all the walking.

Okay, that's all for now!!! I am going to try to add some pictures soon. Love you all!