15 month appointment

Chloe had her 15 month appointment today. She received 3 shots and a blood test which involved getting her finger pricked and squeezed. She thought the finger prick was the worst and I agree. They squeezed her finger hard for a long, long, long time. After that, they made her lie down and jammed three needles in her leg. I felt awful. I was able to convince myself before that she forgot as soon as it was over, but now she’s so much more aware. She cried for at least 30 minutes. I’m talking hard, sobbing, wails of pain.

Other than that, her appointment went wonderfully. The doctor was really impressed with her vocabulary. She said she’s very advanced for a 15 month old. Chloe even showed off by telling the Doc what a monkey says and pointing to and naming a dog. I wish I had a picture of the Doc’s face. She said, “I understood that!” when Bug said, “Dog.”

Chloe is 23 pounds, 2 oz. (52%) and 33 inches long (95+%). She has slimmed down a lot now that she’s walking -- make that running everywhere. 

Ok. That’s enough. I’m done bragging.

playing with the bus at the doctor

15 months

actually her 14 month picture

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted pictures of Chloe, or even taken pictures for that matter. I’ve learned when you have a toddler you’re too busy chasing them away from danger to pick up the camera. The past few days I pulled the camera out a few times. I can’t believe how grown up she’s starting to look. Just a year ago I was rocking her to sleep and she weighed less than 13 pounds.

new shoes from Shorty

too cool!

playing with blocks

Chloe is 15 months today! She’s so expressive and I swear she blurts out a new word every day. Now she’s starting on sentences. She was in the car with me today and she said, “That’s a ball. That’s a car. That’s a dog.” She didn’t really see any of those things, but she was excited that she was stringing the words together. She’s also starting to get multiple syllable words. She does pretty good with the word ‘bubble.’

we call them 'bock'

She hates to get in trouble. Sometimes when we say ‘no’ to her she puts her head down and runs to us to be held while she cries. I love it but try not to be too sympathetic. I don’t want her to know that she’s in control around here.

no kidding. 110 degrees out this day.

too hot.

Earning a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

C was entertaining us the past few weeks. This first video is her modeling her sunglasses. The second video is hilarious. Hubby is filming her with his iPhone and she's watching herself in the screen while he is recording. That information is key because if you know she's watching herself (kind of like looking in a mirror) then it makes it that much better! Enjoy!

Mad Men and Thankful for my Mom's Generation

Mark and I have been watching Mad Men. Sad to say we were the last to jump on the band wagon. The series is hilarious and captivating. In case you are less informed than myself, it's a television series about the advertising executives (all men) on Madison Ave. in NYC during the 1960s. The series has already addressed: sexism, racism (directed at jews and African Americans), a little homophobia and the Kennedy/Nixon election. We are only 12 episodes into it. ha. It's a busy show!

Let me just say this: Thank you, mom (and all the other women born in that decade). I cannot imagine living in a home where I am not allowed to discuss anything of importance with my husband. Having a marriage that is truly cooperative is a blessing beyond what my generation can fathom. I am blown away by the things that women, African Americans, homosexuals (everybody but white men) were expected to tolerate quietly. So thank you mom for showing me how to take care of myself and rely on my husband and helping me understand that the two are not mutually exclusive. I can be independent and have a good great marriage. And thank you to Mark's mom, you raised a son who wasn't intimidated by the Burson side of me.

Chloe's Trip to see Shamu

Chloe convinced her dad to take us to San Antonio on Wednesday to see Shamu! It was super hot but we had a blast.

Chloe and I at the entrance to Seaworld

We left around 8:30 to get there at 10a.m. when Seaworld opens. Chloe's first show was the sea lion caper show where she saw seals, a walrus and an otter.

Uncle Max, the walrus, at the sea lion caper show

The only other show we saw was the Shamu show. It was amazing to see Chloe react to all the animals and fish. We weren't sure she was old enough to get much out of the trip but we were wrong. She was fascinated by the whales and dolphins. She watched the entire Shamu show which was about 45 minutes long! I have never see her do anything for that length of time...she has to always be on the move.

Apparently, I have never seen a Killer Whale before...

Chloe waiting for Shamu to make his appearance.

Jaws or Shamu?

We cruised around looking at some more sea critters before we decided to head over to the water park portion of Seaworld. We decided Chloe needed to cool off in the baby pool for a while and then we took a trip around the lazy river (Mark and I needed to rest our feet).

Chloe and I feeding the dolphins.

The dolphin that almost gave Chloe a kiss...seriously.

Shark tank

We left the park around 4:00pm. Chloe never took a nap! I swear everyone's children were asleep in their strollers. Not Chloe. She's too busy to be bothered with napping. ha. She was super tired the next day, though.

Here's a video montage of our adventure. It's about 6 minutes long.



p.s. I know how to spell alligator...it was a typo and youtube isn't letting me upload the corrected version of the video!!! grrrrrr.

Funky Bunch's Tri

I'm going to try and post Chloe's 14 month update tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a post about my amazing hubby!

On Sunday, Mark competed Jack's Generic Triathlon...not to be confused with Jack's Geriatric Triathlon. We only got to watch him swim and cross the finish line. Running around to try and snap pictures of a race when you have a baby in a stroller is difficult. Still, we were up at 5 a.m. to ride with Funky Bunch to New Braunfels to support him.

He swam 500 meters (a little more than one lap around a track), biked 13.8 miles and ran 3 miles. He was most nervous about the running but he did well. He said the biking was harder than he thought it would be.

His results...1:44:22. It was faster than he thought, but he says he was still disappointed. At least now he has something to shoot for. You have to have a starting point. I'm so proud of him!



waiting for Mark to start the race.



looking a little stressed.



bib number 206
father/daughter photo op

lawnmowers goats on an island

peaceful sunrise

warming up

mark's starting wave

and they're off...

he made it! one of the first in his wave to finish.

heading to the transition area to ride his bike

temper tantrum from a tired baby

he made it!! finishing STRONG.