It still cracks me up how independant Chloe has become... or at least how independant she thinks she is.
She can get herself dressed... relatively.
She even has her hygiene routine down.
She thinks that she can run a VCR or DVD player all by herself. And she can... if a VCR is meant to use a 2 year old's hand as a cassette and if a DVD player read DVDs that have been snapped in half by a 2 year old trying to get them out of the case.
She can even feed herself, by moving kitchen chairs to climb to the top of the cupboard to get candy.
Did I mention that she is an amateur photographer too?
She is very independent. :)
She Can Do It Herself
Chloe's First Haircut
January 12, 2010
This one was a little difficult for me. I have a hard time admitting that my baby is growing up. I didn't cry though. That counts, doesn't it?
Chloe was very wiggly at first, but once we turned on "Misser Freddsen (translation Mister Fredrickson)" aka Disney's "Up", she was as still as could be. Thank you again my trusty babysitter, TV. Becca did a great job, especially trying to work with a wiggly baby at first.
Before
After
After
Jared's New Profession
December 30, 2009
Jared had been wanting to take Chloe out in the snow for a while now, which really surprised me because Jared generally is NOT a winter person. Chloe screamed at first. We usually carry her out to the car, so she had never really even walked in the snow before. It didn't take her long to warm up to it though.
Jared tried to teach her how to make snowballs. He faced two challenges- the snow was too light to pack into a ball and Chloe is 2 years old, so the only concepts she got were "pick up the snow" and "throw it."
Chloe loved the icicles too. Jared plucked one from the stairs. He tried to clean it off by dipping it in the snow, sucking off a bit, and spitting it out. Chloe, being the great repeater that she is, spit almost every time she licked it.
I tried to get her to do snow angels with me.
She was more interested in trying to bury me in it.
Everything in the yard, including the swing set, held a new wonder all covered in snow.
I didn't realize that she enjoyed her time outside as much as she did until a few weeks later. We were playing with her dollhouse and she told me that the Daddy was leaving for work. I asked her, out of curiosity, what the Daddy did for work. She thought for a second, and then with surprising conviction, she replied, "Snowballs. Daddy makes snowballs!"
The Holidays
SINTERKLAAS
At the beginning of December, the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas, a holiday best compared to "commercialized Christmas." While each of us lived in Holland, Jared and I both had the opportunity to dress up as Zwarte Piet (Sinterklaas' helper). I think we both can agree that setting up this picture was so much more fun!
My family got together and the kids each got chocolate letters of their first initial. We had pepernoten and chocolate to snack on. It was a really fun way to start the holidays.
CHRISTMAS
Merry Christmas. This was our family Christmas picture this year. Every time we asked Chloe to smile, she spread her arms in excitement. So, we had to hold her hands back as best we could.
Jared gave me a new hoodie, to replace one that had been "adopted" by a friend a few years ago. I think I like this one better.
We seriously had to bribe Chloe to open presents. She would have been perfectly happy playing with Grandma's kitchen set the whole day.
Chloe got so spoiled by both of our families. Grandma Hansen gave her a toddler-friendly dollhouse that she loves.
Her best reaction was to the present she got from Grams (Miller). After begging her to open presents all day, she finally did this one with little resistance.
This year I got Jared a much needed, slightly new golf bag. (Thanks to KSL)
Chloe got a brand new guitar from Papa and Grams, that Jared decided to test out.
Chloe was absolutely enthralled by the singing, dancing Christmas characters that my mom had picked up from Wal-mart. There were three of them and they each sang a different Christmas tune. Her favorite thing to do was play them all at once... a sort of Christmas medley, I guess.
My family tradition is to get new jammies on Christmas Eve. Grams has been kind enough to get cute matching jammies for the grandkids each year.
NEW YEARS
In previous years, we have gone to a friend's place to ring in the New Year. It didn't work out this year and we thought we might have to spend the evening all alone. That was until someone informed us of the yearly Hansen get together. I'm not quite sure how or why it was kept from us this long, but we were so glad to be let in on the secret. We played games, watched movies, and had a lot of snacks. It was wonderful.
As for our New Years Resolutions...
Mine was to be more scheduled in my home. I would like for Chloe to have more structure as far as daily routines, and I know that it starts with me.... sorry Chloe. :)
Jared's goal was to practice what he preaches. He has been trying to be more strict with his diet and exercise, to be a good example to his clients. Of course with me preparing his meals, this is another duty that falls on my shoulders... sorry Jared. :)
Another big one was to update the blog more. I'll let our friends and family be the judges on how well that's going...
Holiday Projects
I somehow found the "crafty" bone in my body this year. I made a few things for friends and family for the holidays.
For my mom, a few people in our church ward, and a friend, I made these table runners.
Our theme for the family gift exchange this year was favorites. I took it as my favorite Christmas present, which happens to be PJs. I'm just glad that none of these turned out too small!
My Aunt gets new jammies every year, so I made some matching ones for her Bunny.
I also made a family name plaque, a crib sheet, and some stockings that I forgot to take pictures of. Either way, you can see where my argument for being "busy" versus Jared's claim of me being "lazy" came from now.
California Musts
November 28, 2009
There are a few things that have become traditions when we make our way to California. I love going to the beach. Jared is not much of a fan, but he'll humor me each time. My family told us last year of a place in Pacifica and it has quickly become one of our favorites.
We also find ourselves eating at Stack's Restaurant (a diner that serves good pancakes) as a sort of "goodbye" each visit. We were glad to have the time with my family.
Chloe wasn't liking the 15 minute wait, and decided to seat herself at an empty table near the entrance.
The only "must" we missed out on this trip was the Little Store. There is always a next time though, right?
Thanksgiving
November 26, 2009
It was nice to have a change of scenery for the holidays, but we were still grateful to be around family. We had a lovely Thanksgiving table for 5. My Aunt Julie and I prepared the entire feast. Since it was our first time ever cooking a Thanksgiving meal, we took baby steps with the turkey, and roasted a turkey breast instead of a whole bird. It ended up looking like it came right out of a magazine and it was SO juicy. I doubt that I could ever duplicate how well it went. We'll chalk it up to beginner's luck.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
November 24, 2009
After spending some time with our friends, we drove north to visit my family in the Bay Area. Because Jared had never been before, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Chloe enjoyed the play and hands-on exhibits and we all loved the seahorses and jellyfish.
