Happy Birthday Chloe!

Today little Miss Chloe is 2! Already.

So, who is my baby at 2?

Well, first of all she knows she is the baby. She figured that out in a hurry and she plays it to her advantage. She knows how to get her older siblings in trouble. She will force tears if she has to, to get the job done. Along with playing up the baby role, Chloe also has to do everything that the big kids do. She refuses to sit in a high chair, or a stroller, and sometimes I have to sit on her to get her buckled in to a baby car seat. She wants the best of both worlds.

Chloe is the naughtiest, most mischievous little thing that has ever hit the Johnson home. Alex was wild. Alyssa was emotional and persuasive. They both played their cards well, but Chloe is manipulative and charming. She is going to have us all eating out of her hands for her whole life.

She is sneaky and she is tricky. The day that we painted sugar cookies she found her way in to the left over frosting and came to me with traces of it still evident on her lips. When I asked her if she got in to the frosting, she said, "No mommy, Violet did it", and held up this poor defenseless dolly, who could not speak for herself and was wearing overwhelming evidence of her guilt. She framed her own baby.

She will kick you, and when you try to punish her she will smile in your face, do it again and say "Na,na,na,na,na!" She knows she runs the show. She knows that mommy sees her through rose colored glasses and she capitalizes on that knowledge.

She really is a spell binding little thing. I promise, you can't help but love her, even with the kicking and that na na na na na's. Chloe is so fun to be with.

She follows me around talking to me all day. I can't figure out why she talks. When I only had Alyssa, I wanted her to talk. I thought that made her smarter than other babies, and I paraded her around and made her perform like a show pony. Now I see other new moms do the same and I just laugh. With Chloe I never encouraged talking. They all talk eventually and she is just a baby for heavens sake, why should she be talking? I talked to her but I never forced her to parrot things back to me, but somehow she figured it out and now we are caught up in silly conversations all day.

Chloe is a very amusing child. I have never seen a child so young with such a real sense of humor. She knows how to get people to look at her, and how to get a laugh. She will beat herself with a shoe, or dance silly, or whatever it takes. If it gets a laugh she will repeat it for days. All day long I hear, "hey Mommy, look at me"...and when I look I see Chloe shaking her butt at me and saying, "booty, booty, booty, booty", or some other silly thing. She is always performing.

She also likes to tease other people. That cracks me up from a baby. At about 18 months she decided that it was funny to always blame her dirty diapers on other people. She would tell people they were stinky or that they pooped. One day we were walking through the store and Chloe farted. She played it off by reaching her little hand out of the shopping cart where she was riding, patting Seth on the butt, and saying "Ewww, daddy farted!" Maybe that's not funny to anyone but me, but I think a baby that already has a firm understanding of the never ending punchlines that can be found in bathroom humor is a bright young child indeed.

I can't even tell you all the ways she makes me laugh, but Chloe is going to be our comedian for sure. And anyone who knows me will tell you that if you are funny, you can do no wrong in my world. The naughtiest kids in Primary can get away with anything, as long as there is wit and humor behind their naughtiness.

Along with being full of trouble, Chloe is also very sweet. I don't know what it is about Chloe but she possesses this magic that just has power over me. She is so quick to laugh and smile and I just melt when I see that big goofy grin, a mouth full of 9 crooked teeth, and her little eyes that sparkle and smile right along. Chloe is actually more of a daddy's girl than the other two were, but she knows who to come to for spoiling, so I am not entirely obsolete. Me and Chloe have so much fun together. Being the baby is a good gig. We will drop Alex off at preschool and she will sweetly say "Mommy, donut?" And so we go to the grocery store for a donut. Or she will say "Mommy, library?" and we are off to the library. If I try to drive straight home after dropping him off, she will persistently say, "no mommy, this way" and point me to where she'd like to go. She will be in heaven next year when Alex goes to school full time, and I will be in the poor house from running her around town, giving in to her every whim.

I even let her spin me around and around in the computer chair every day, because it is her favorite thing to do. I can't even stand to watch spinning rides, let alone get on them. Even though Chloe's spinning game makes me nauseous for 2-4 hours, I have to play at least once a day. She laughs so hard and asks over and over if I am dizzy. Does Chloe like to spin? No way! If I offer to spin her she says, "no mommy, I don't want dizzy". Me neither, but I am like a puppet on a string with this kid.

Chloe is the most delightful little girl. I know she sounds like a handful, and she is, but by the time I got to number 3 the time started moving so fast that I just can't be bothered about messes and tantrums. I just have to enjoy being here with my little girl. I mean, she is already two! If I stop to cry over spilled milk, and believe me there is LOTS of spilled milk, I will miss her whole childhood. So I am enjoying Chloe for exactly who she is.

I am grateful for Chloe because I have always felt like she was sent to make me a better mom. I don't know why I had to have 3 kids to really figure out how to be a mommy, but I hit my stride when Chloe showed up (after the first 3 months when I thought I might never be able to leave the house again). Before she came I was running myself ragged and still never feeling good enough. I would go to bed praying and pleading that I could do a better job. Chloe was sent to help me focus. I realized upon Chloe's arrival that I just didn't have time for everything anymore, no matter how late I stayed up. I learned to just worry about what the kids need first, and to let everything else land where it may. Chloe has brought our family to the best and happiest place we have ever been. So she can kick and tease if she needs to, we are just so blessed to have her.

Happy Birthday Chloe Ann! I love you!

In the beginning...

Chloe's first birthday

Chloe now...a Christmas morning sneak peek!

Now I must run because Seth's sister and her family are driving up from Tennessee and my house is still in Post Christmas disaster mode. I also need to figure out a cake for Chloe. I had the perfect cake in mind for Chloe's personality (anyone care to guess what?), but it may get postponed because Chloe is still sick and I can't get to the store to get the stuff I need. We may be having another store bought cupcake birthday. We'll see.

And I know I haven't posted Christmas pictures still. I am sorry about that, because with family in town until this weekend, I am pretty sure this will be the last post of 2009. I don't feel too much guilt though. This in my 195th post of the year. I am sure you can find something to look at on this blog if you start missing me too badly.

Alright, Happy New Year! Thanks for hanging out with The Johnsons in Wisconsin this year. See you in 2010!