Three-quarters of a year old! Truly, the days (and nights) are l-o-n-g but I know the years are short. It’s especially evident to me when I look at her babyness and compare her to her older brothers. Hunter and Carter are like lil adults now.. and sometimes I look at them and go, hang on what happened?? The years seem to have slipped away and now I’m left with 2 big boys.

But Chloe. I truly treasure each day with her.. even if she drives me completely bonkers and exhausts me to her bone with her endless (no, REALLY) demands and incredibly fussiness. She’s pretty much perpetually concerned about or wronged by every damn thing, and is really easily agitated. She’s really not the super gentle, super sweet, and super docile baby that I’d assumed a baby girl would be. She’s kind of, well, THE OPPOSITE.

But I look at her and I’m so in love with her my eyes go heart-shaped. And I sniff her head and her neck, and my head totally swims because the love-addiction is so strong.
 

This tiny tot is tiny. She is…… unbelievably…. STILL 6kg! She’s 0 percentile and everything about her is long and slim. I’m a bit weirded out that she’s so teeny, but it’s a bit of a refreshing change to her 100 percentile brothers.

Chloe eats 30% more than her brothers did, but is HALF their weight at the same age. I simply am clueless as to where all the food goes to…
 

This photo above is Chloe to a T. Her permanently SURPRISED look is now (in)famous. She has perhaps a handful of people that are in her circle of trust, and everyone else simply doesn’t get a smile.
 

Ahhh… my greedy guts. So incredibly teeeeeeny tiny, yet so HUNGRY! She nurses 6x a day, and has solids 3x a day… with each solid meal being almost as large as the brothers’ portion (about 1.5 rice bowl volume).

Her preference is vegetables, and savoury food like cheese. She’s not a fan of fruit or yogurt, though she has it every morning for breakfast. But plain steamed veggies make her go wild!
 

Her default state at home…. lurking under the table looking for attention and/or food.
 

She got really flushed cheeks for several days when we tried raspberries, so I’m holding off those for awhile. I suspect it’s partly raspberries, partly the frequency of using wet wipes to clean her mouth while eating them. But apart from that, no food allergies that we’ve detected, which is a relief.
 

She was pulling to stand just after she turned 7 months old, and started cruising about two weeks ago. She simply grabs a chair (or any item of furniture), pulls herself up, and does the sideways-walk until she gets stuck somewhere and yells to be rescued.

She ADORES her newfound freedom, though it’s not so good for me as I have to be extra vigilant – she can access a lot more things when standing, and can also topple over.
 

This girl doesn’t sleep much. 30-45min naps, 3 times a day.
And night sleep is perhaps 10 hours overnight, since she wakes up at 6am with Hunter (she’s a super light sleeper). She nurses once in the middle of the night, with no intention of dropping that feed 🙁
 


Using her brothers as her own personal climbing rack. They can’t quite sit on the floor and play LEGO in peace anymore 😉 She’ll immediately crawl over, draaaaag herself standing upright and yank out their hair with wild abandon.

My mornings are filled with “Owwww! Mummy, Chloe is pulling my hair out!” Followed by “No no let her do it, it’s OK!” When I try to rescue them from her clutches.
 

Conversations between an 8 month old and her 5 year old brother.

 

Their self-declared baby doll, the major benefit of having a little girl is watching my two boys get in touch with their gentle side. They’ve learned how to handle a baby, know how to be gentle, and also exercise a whole lot of patience and self-control. I see the benefit when they interact with other young children – it comes naturally to them now.

It makes me proud. I feel like they will grow up to become wonderful fathers one day!
 

Clingy clingy clingy. This girl is happiest plastered chest-to-chest with me, which means I get pretty much no ‘alone-time’ during the day. I even have to have her directly on me at home, and – unbelievably – she can’t even sit IN the bathroom with me. No, she has to SIT ON MY LAP even when I’m using the toilet.. otherwise it’s the end of the world. Personal space? Privacy? What’s that?
 

Our happy family shot, taken fairly impromptu one morning. I love how Chloe looks the most comfortable of the three kids, simply shoving her brothers aside!

Oh baby girl, you’re growing up so fast.. with all your cruising around and your babbling and intense need for social interaction. You are a far cry from that lil newborn that lay, quietly, and alone. You’re feisty, active, and just a little bit crazy. Way to keep us all on our toes!

 
 
Compare with Hunter’s 9 month post here
Compare with Carter’s 9 month post here.