Whoa.. almost a whole year has passed. I still remember, really clearly, when Chloe was born. Does that mean I’m almost a year older now? How time flies! Our little chickadee is fast edging towards her…. First Birthday.
 

I feel like things changed this month. I can’t quite explain it.. but I feel like I “get” her more now. That, or she’s better at expressing what she wants or doesn’t want? She is – bar none – the most demanding and most high-maintenance baby I have ever encountered.. and at times, I truly feel like I’m in the pit of despair and can’t climb out.
 

THIS. This video really captures what she’s like when she’s alone with me. She’s not as bad with anyone else, it’s so obvious she reserves her WORST for me. We have this love/hate relationship between us that is hard to describe.. a sort of unconditional, deep love, peppered with bouts of I-can’t-stand-you-at-all. I really wonder what it will be like when she’s a toddler, or a teenager.
 

This tiny tot has FINALLY reached 7KG! With not a single fat roll on her, and long slim fingers and toes, she seems much younger than she is.. many guess her to be 6 months old, and they’re not that far off, considering she still fits into 3-6month clothes.
 

The apple of her Daddy’s eye, what she lacks in size, she makes up for in….. chutzpah! She is ACTIVE ACTIVE ACTIVE. She just doesn’t stop moving. Unlike Hunter, who could lounge for hours (not exaggerating here) in his pram while I had brunch, she finds it impossible to sit still. She is constantly on the move, and swimming is one of her favourite activities.
 

We’ve always done her bath time in the sink (super tiny so she fits, remember?), and only very very recently started putting her in a proper bath tub. She’s just never liked being in a bath tub.. perhaps she just felt too small? We discovered that if she sits widthways in the bath, or sits in a small travel bathtub (like the one above), she actually quite enjoys her bath time.
 

This is, in my opinion, the best video of Chloe (above). It truly captures her personality and all that she is about. Just watch it – ’nuff said!
 

She cruises everywhere now but cannot walk unassisted. Pretty sure that once she can walk by herself she’ll be unstoppable… uh oh..
 

She’s adored music since birth and can bounce her bum to the rhythm… it’s incredibly cute!! She largely ignores lullabies but will furiously wiggle and dance to pop music. The crazier the better.
 

Typical early morning at home. She has a bunch of baby toys, but ignores them all in favour of her brothers’ baby-unfriendly toys! We’ve tried to reach a bit of a compromise by giving her a box of Duplo… but it’s a 50/50 on whether she’ll agree to play with it or toss them all away to go play with Transformers instead.
 

Video of her with a proper baby toy my parents bought for her.. but by “play” I mean her grunting at the toys like a monster hurling them to the ground – with gusto.
 

Aaaaand… her first word – WOWWWWW!

 

Though she be little (0 percentile, gulp…) she is a DESTROYER OF ALL FOOD! Specifically, normal non-baby food. She’s only so-so with her own baby food, but will eagerly eyeball our food and insist on a piece.

I’ve tried to be clever and pretend her baby food is “from Mummy’s plate – honest!” But that was fairly short lived as she generally has cottoned onto my trick and will slap my hand away and scream until I give her the proper stuff. Difficult child.
 

She can drink from a straw! I got her this lil water bottle and she somehow knew exactly what to do with it. So now her schedule is:

• Breastfed – 3x a day
• Solids – 3x a day
• Formula – 1x a day

That’s actually a fair bit of food for a baby her age.. considering she has substantial amounts of each, and also a bunch of snacks in between.

Which begs the question – WHERE DOES ALL THAT FOOD GO??
 

Hmmm… sleep. I kind of want to say she’s a “good sleeper” because she goes down at 7PM with no issue or help… and she stays asleep the whole night. But then she also wakes up at 5:30AM, which is not that good, is it?! She’s basically ready to rock n roll then, and it takes a HUGE effort (coupled with tons of screaming) to try and get her back down. And even so, she’s in and out of restless sleep before she’s up for good at 7AM anyway.

Nap times are brief. She does 2x 40min naps, and wakes up with this DESPERATE “oh crap, what did I miss out on??” look on her face.

She is also the World’s Lightest Sleeper. She can wake up just with me walking into the room.. simply because I’m old and have creaky knees. She can wake up if someone sneezes outside the door. She can wake up if I breathe anywhere in her vicinity, basically.
 

Ohhh all that LOVE! She remains princess to her brothers’ hearts and does she know it. I love witnessing this and I love thinking about and writing about it because it feels so precious to me. I know that, when they’re older, all this will be so embarrassing to them.. but I really do think it’s worth capturing their sibling love.
 

A typical afternoon after school. Lots of cuddling and whispering sweet nothings to each other. I can really feel the love radiating from them, and it makes me want to cry!!
 

Oh Chloe, it’s just crazy to think that a year ago, things were SO different in our family. You truly complete it, and you are so so small, yet have brought out the VERY BEST in your brothers.

You make me want to throttle your neck – let’s be honest here – but I know I am your #1 and nobody else comes close. And that, is enough of a reward for me.

 

Compare with Hunter’s 11 month post here.

Compare with Carter’s 11 month post here.