Hello, everyone!
I think it's about time we do another
Keiki Update. You can read our last "official" update
here... That post was written a few days after we found out that Chloe was going to be having a
little sister. Since then, quite a bit has happened!
Let's start with little Miss
Chloe-Ann...
I think it's pretty safe to say that Chloe is officially
walking. We haven't seen her crawl in the past few days and she's actually getting pretty fast and good at maneuvering. She still needs a
bit of work walking outside with shoes on...
especially with shoes on. She's actually pretty used to her slippers/sandals, but put shoes on her and she reminds me of
The Croods.
Funny enough she's watching this movie RIGHT now... And as I'm writing this... the shoe scene just ended...
Along with walking, Chloe is also talking. Chloe has always been a pretty vocal baby... When she was two months old she would be awake for an hour after her feedings eaaaaarllyyy in the morning just babbling away! It's amazing how fast she's learning different sounds. When she says something, we say a word back to her that sounds similar. I just love watching the expressions on her face change as she studies our faces as we sound out the word. Then lo and behold... A few days later she'll be saying similar sounding (baby versions) of the words we were trying to teach her.
Yesterday, there was a moment when I noticed that both Thomas and I were watching Chloe and we both had smiles on our faces. It wasn't like we were thinking or worrying about anything... I could really feel that we both were just taking in that moment. Just watching Chloe and truly appreciating how big of a blessing this little person has been in our lives. I'm really glad that I caught that moment... It's moments like those that warm my heart and let me know that I'm doing something right and that we're on the right path (and it makes me even more excited for when Peanut will be here).
This past week has been such a happy one for Thomas and I. We celebrated Chloe's first birthday exactly one week ago. I made myself a promise before Chloe was born: start documenting our family's journey... especially the lives of our kids. For this occasion I decided to put to use the monthly photos I took of Chloe (plus all the extra daily ones =P) and compile them into a slideshow for her. I included her smashing into her birthday cake at the end as well. Please enjoy a glimpse into Chloe's first year with us!
Now onto Peanut...
Peanut is supposedly 23 weeks & 2 days old and (according to my Baby Bump app) is about the size of a large mango: 11.5 inches long & 1.1 pounds (that's a huge mango...). I've been able to feel Peanut moving for quite a while now, which isn't a surprise since they say you feel a lot more with later pregnancies than your first. But for some reason I kept thinking that Thomas was able to feel Chloe that early on too. Silly me... I took the time to look back to a post I wrote last year (seeeee... another good reason for me to keep up with this) and he felt Chloe move when I was about 22 weeks pregnant. Well! Thomas finally got to feel her move early this morning. I was already sleeping and he was just coming to bed. I honestly thought I was dreaming, but when he woke up this morning I asked him if he had felt her and he had a big smile on his face. Yay! =]
I've been feeling soooo much better too! My appetite has definitely returned and as long as my tummy doesn't get too empty, I'm good. =] I've been making it a point to drink lots of water (I have a 40 oz hydroflask that's filled with ice all day everyday that I'm constantly refilling) and I think that's also been helping to reduce the number of migraines I've been getting... but in turn increasing the number of bathroom visits I make... But that's okay it was going to happen sooner or later.
Something new that I'm feeling now that I don't think I was aware of when I was pregnant with Chloe are Braxton Hicks. Every so often part of my belly just gets really tight. Nothing painful or anything, just tightness. After a few minutes, they go away (and they don't happen regularly... I can go days and not feel them). This started happening after my last appointment so I'm going to try to remember to mention it at my next one.
Thomas and I have a first name picked out (still finalizing the spelling though). We decided to aim for a two syllable, hyphenated first name (like Chloe-Ann). Chloe's name was pretty symbolic. I came up with the Ann part in honor of my Nana, Anna, and Chloe's middle name is Thomas' mom's Chinese middle name. I came up with her Hawaiian name using the Hawaiian name I used in my Hawaiian language and culture courses in school. Amazingly and coincidentally her entire name ended up having a flower theme to it. Ideally, I would like to do the same for Peanut, keeping it within a theme. Unfortunately, we're probably going to wait a bit longer to share her name. We want to at least finalize the spelling before sharing her first name. But when we do... I'll definitely let you know!
Until then... I hope you all have a great Friday!
Since it's Friday... Why not do a Flashback Friday!
One of the first pictures we took together.
Chloe's first time going for a swim!
