New Year's Day (1/1/12)

We spent our New Year's Day at the Beach - it was the perfect day to go as the weather was so warm. We had a great time; it was KiKi's first time to play at the beach and her first time to touch the sand. Chloe has grown up a lot since the last time we went; she actually put sand on her legs (just last April, she didn't want even a speck of sand touching her while we were in Maui and over the summer, she would play with the sand but as long as she was on the blanket). She also explored all over the beach and had a great time collecting rocks for Daddy.


Grandpa Peter and Grandma Debbie joined us after a while. Uncle Bill (Peter's brother) and cousin Caleb (Bill's grandson) showed up a bit later which was great as Caleb and Chloe had a lot of fun running all over the beach together, playing in the sand, and jumping in the waves (well, Caleb jumped in them, Chloe liked to look at them from the comfort of Daddy's arms).


Here are some pictures from the day:

The Toddler Bed (12/31/11)

There were three milestones that I knew Chloe needed to accomplish not too long after Keely was born: 1) Potty training, 2) Weaning, and 3) Moving into a Toddler Bed. I haven't been looking forward to any of these. Fortunately, around 23 months, Chloe self-weaned so that wasn't as traumatic as I was anticipating since she was one who loved to nurse and her little sister was reminding her of it every 2 hours. But now, Chloe is very content with her cow's milk and doesn't seem bothered at all that KiKi gets to nurse and she doesn't. It's almost as if she forgot that she ever once nursed herself. I'm really not looking forward to potty training as it is a big commitment from the parents and I'm just not ready for it yet so we're putting that one off for a bit (besides, things I've read state that kids typically aren't ready for it until they are closer to 3). 


So, since we are expecting to need the crib for Keely in the next couple months, we thought it was finally time to move Chloe into a toddler bed.Her crib converts to one so we simply removed one side of it and now Chloe can easily get in and out of it. (Once Keely needs the crib, Chloe will be getting a twin sized bed, with railing of course.) 


Her first time to sleep in it was nap time and she did great! Her first night was also uneventful. Her second night, however, found her on the ground twice. Fortunately, the mattress is only 12 inches off the ground so she didn't have too far to go. The first time, she was still asleep on the floor when we saw her and the second time, she was awake but didn't seem too confused or anything by it. She easily went back to sleep for the rest of the night. So far, this transition has gone really smoothly. There were three milestones that I knew Chloe needed to accomplish not too long after Keely was born: 1) Potty training, 2) Weaning, and 3) Moving into a Toddler Bed.

Chloe's teeth marks on the railing

First time to climb in and lay down

"I'm a Big Girl!"

"One little monkey jumping on the bed"

"Got my duckies; I'm all set!"

"Night, Night"

Sharing a bed with her sister already :)