baby's final week

It's been a while since I just sat down and typed ... blogged about something funny that Colton said, what we did during the day, or how I was feeling.  I blogged three HUGE blogs about our summer road trip, and it wore me out!  I didn't feel like sitting down to write about anything.  Plus, I have been really busy ... cleaning our house, taking down wallpaper, painting, and getting it ready for fall.  When I get a free minute, I don't blog ... I sleep!  

Today, Mom and Dad Heinrich are here (and Brenda and Ethan, too).  I have Khloe napping, and Grandma playing with Colton ... a free minute for me to type a little blog.  

2 days ... to one-year

This is Khloe's last official week as a baby ... in my mind, at least.  She will be one on Friday, and I am sad to see the first year has already gone by.  I felt like Colton's first year was quick ... but it was nothing in comparison to the whirlwind that was Khloe's first year.  The month she was born last year, we had just closed on our new home.  We closed on selling our current home.  We moved down to our new house in Tampa.  Bill had started a new job.  I was 39 weeks pregnant ... and Khloe was born a week and a half after we moved!  It was definitely nuts!  Then the holidays snuck in ... traveling for a business trip ... spring holidays and a wedding vacation ... summer water park days and a month-long road trip ... suddenly, I find that we are here again ... September.  It came upon me so quickly!  

Khloe has grown so much in this year ... drinking from a bottle and sippy cup, rolling, cooing, crawling, scooting, walking, cruising, talking, screaming, climbing, sleeping through the night, pacifier dropping, big girl eating ... she has definitely become a tiny toddler (not quite a full toddler ... yet).  I feel like she is just a baby ... then I will see her all long and stretched out in her stroller or a swing, and I realize that she has grown right before my eyes.  I feel like she is a baby ... then I will see her toothy grin--all of those chompers smiling at me from across the room.  I think she is a baby ... then I see her walk by pushing a toy or a chair across the floor stopping only to wave and say "hi" to me.  Not so much a baby anymore.  She wants to feed herself ... turning her head away when I try to put a spoonful of baby food into it.  She would rather grab the food and put it in her own mouth.  She wants to help herself to books ... that no longer go in her mouth--instead, she wants to look through the pages learning which is which and what is what.  My baby has definitely become a big girl, and I am wondering how I made it through this entire year without realizing this was happening ... as quickly as she came into this world, she has grown into a one year-old.  It only makes me dread the coming 18 years when I will stand and watch her go off to college ... driving, studying, hanging out with friends, going to movies without me, shopping on her own, making her own food ... I will miss the nights it was just me and her ... awake in the early hours of the morning ... rocking in the rocking chair ... singing her to sleep after she ate again.  I will miss her snuggly hugs and need for only Mommy to hold her. I will miss blending veggies to feed her a new flavor for the first time.  I will miss that horrible, awful, glass-shattering scream when she needs something but hasn't grasped the words quite yet to say what it is she is trying to tell me. 

She may only be a year old this week ... but I foresee the future going as quickly as this past year, and I want to stop time ... and hold on to the sweet, little baby I have today.  Instead, I will cherish each moment and relish the special times to come ... as our relationship grows as mother and daughter, I know that it will only get sweeter with time ... ever moving time.

Khloe found a new fun pastime!  Climbing in and out of the bumbo chair.

She can walk with a push-toy.  She is much better now ... this was a few weeks ago, but I haven't gotten an updated video of her walking with the toy.  Maybe in a week or so, I will have time ... for now, I am planning her party!

A few Colton-isms (because it's been so long, and he is too funny!):

"I feel a little bit tired but not a big bit."

Colton: "Is Khloe asleep?"

Me: "Yes."

Colton: "I don't need to play loud games.  I need to play only quiet games."

Colton was playing one day with his trains (Thomas and James).  I heard him playing and this is what he said, "Thank you, Thomas! You're welcome.  Thank you, James! You're welcome, Thomas."

"This is a scaredy-kin! Don't anybody move!" (I think he meant "stick-up".)