Catching Up

Friday, November 13, 2009: Chloe had this weird little vibration/kicking thing that she'd do while still in-utero. It was always a surprise, and I'd look down at my belly and ask her, "What are you doing in there? How can you kick so rapidly?" On this day, I was holding Chloe while sitting on the couch (I basically had held her non-stop for her first week of life) and I saw and felt her do the same little leg kick again. It was such a shock to see it happen this time. It was also a great moment of connection with her. It was HER in there!

November 18, 2009: Happy Birthday to me. 31 years old. Wow. That just sounds old. This year's theme song is "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder.

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she wonderful?

Isn't she precious?

Less than one minute old

I never thought through love we'd be

Making one as lovely as she

But isn't she lovely, made from love

Isn't she pretty?

Truly the angel's best

Boy, I'm so happy

We have been heaven blessed

I can't believe what God has done

Through us he's given life to one

But isn't she lovely, made from love

It's really more about Chloe than about me, but isn't that what Motherhood is all about?

December 16-19, 2009: Chloe took her first road trip to California for Auntie Cathie's wedding. Time was when Bryan and I could pack a bag, throw it in the back of the Durango and be on our way. Here's a picture of the car once we had packed all that we needed for the trip. How could one little tiny person need so much stuff??

Aunt Chelsea pushed Chloe in the stroller while we went inside the temple for Adam and Cathie's sealing. While she was walking around out front, the temple workers invited them inside to sit in the waiting room. Afterwards, we were walking through the foyer to the waiting room, admiring the beautiful decor along the way, when I heard a baby's cry. It was Chloe, and I knew it, not just because she was the only baby around, but because she was MY baby and I knew her cry. I elbowed past Bryan and charged down the hallway toward the waiting room, as fast as was temple-appropriate. It was so innate, automatic, and instant. I'd even knock over Bryan to get to my baby!

While in California, we were all gathered around watching Chloe drink a bottle. She's even cute while eating! She had finished, but kept wanting to suck on the bottle. I didn't want her to because I didn't want her to swallow so much air. I started thinking out loud, "Maybe if I took a nipple without being attached to a bottle...but then she'd suck in air, so maybe if I plugged the hole up with something, she could just suck without the air...." My sister Chelsea looked at me and said, "Dude, that's a pacifier!" Dang! Someone beat me to it! Kind of like last winter. I was trying to invent "something that had the warmth of a shoe, with the ease of a flip-flop." I pondered that phrase for about a week until I realized, it's already been invented. They're called slippers.