Let's up the cuteness factor in here....

Chloe Jane has hit a definitively bipolar stage right now. One minute, she says and does the cutest things! I just want to eat her up! The next minute, well, lets just say she's a little too much like her mother in that minute.

But since her cuteness is what I would like to remember about this stage, here are some of my favorite cute moments. Cute.

1. We hung a pink mosquito net above her bed (which was more necessary than I care to think about. Dang monster mosquitoes.) Her response when she saw it: "Oh mommy! It's a mountain! I wish I could wear it!" Well, sure. What princess doesn't want to wear a mountain of pink tulle?

2. She has a stuffy nose most days, effectively transforming my name from mommy to "bobby." This is especially dear to my heart because my younger brother had the same nasal issues at this age; so my mom's permanent name (and the name we still call her to this day) became "Bob" or "Bobby." I can only hope to be a "Bobby" like her...

3. It has been months since she first said "I love you" as an echo to when her daddy or I said it. But in recent weeks, she has been saying it of her own initiative. I cherish those moments in my mommy's heart. Yesterday, she crawled up in my lap, held my face in both of her sweet, sticky hands and sighed, "Bobby, I lub you berry buch."

4. When I am distracted and don't answer her the first time, she flashes her dark chocolate eyes at me and says, "Bobby, aren't you listening to beee?"

5. Right now, her favorite toys are a medicine cup (the kind that come on top of the children's tylenol bottles) and a blue rubber bouncy ball that fits inside it. I'm not sure why she's so attached to these two items, and I can't tell you how many times a day I am sent in search of the blue ball that has, once again, escaped from the cup and rolled under a piece of furniture.

6. According to Chloe, the best part of "getting better" is that she can play with Maple again. I will say, "Are you feeling better?" Her response: "Yes! Now I can touch Maple!"

7. When Maple wakes up to eat, Chloe always strokes her face and said, "Hi baby Maple! How was your nap?"

8. Her favorite books are the Curious George books that Grandma and Grandpa sent her. She especially loves the one about the toy store and the hula-hoops. She calls it "the one with the hoo-hoos."

9. She has a little blow-up pool where she "swims" on really hot days. She calls it a "sphimming pub."

10. Her daddy is her favorite person in the world right now. He woke her up this morning and brought her to our bed to tell her that he was leaving for a few days (to go on another mission trip... I'll tell you about that later) and that he would be sleeping at a farm, but he would come back in a few days. I love the picture of him sitting there, eating is breakfast apple, and her sitting across from him, with her hand on his knee, looking very concerned. After he finished telling her everything, she was quiet and contemplative for a moment, and then finally said: "Is that your apple?" After a good chuckle, daddy gave her his apple and headed out the door. I laid in bed for a little while just watching her eat her apple and listening to her smack and talk about her daddy. "Daddy is going to a farm. (smack, smack, smack) He's gonna see pigs and horses. (crunch, smack, smack) But he cannot read bee a book when I go night-night. (smack, slurp) I don't want to go night-night! But bobby can read to bee. Then daddy will come home!! Yay!!! (smack, smack)" It was such a sweet moment.

So there it is: the cuteness of Chloe Jane. May I remember these moments as the trials of potty-training continue...