Chloe is almost 2 years old, but a lot of people mistake her for already being 2 because she is tall like her daddy. She is very quick to learn right now and she repeats everything she hears. She can count to 10 with a little help, but is still learning colors and letters. She refers to herself in third person most of the time, so she calls herself Chloe, or she'll ask herself a question as if she is prompting you to ask it. For example, she'll say, "Hungry, Chloe?" or "Me help you, Chloe?" or "Cookie, Chloe?" and then she'll smile real big and say, "Okay, Chloe" to answer her own question. She makes it sound like it was all your idea in the first place.
Chloe LOVES to be outside, go on walks, play with balls, look at cats, try to climb trees, watch the boys on our street play ball (She'll point to them and very excitedly say, "Boys!!"), run around and fall in the grass, play at the play ground, play with her baby dolls, watch me cook dinner, draw and color and dance with Daddy. She has a good imagination - she has started making her farm animals talk to each other and she plays "mommy" to her baby dolls(*** see story below). The other night a neighbor brought over their 4 week old kitten to show Chloe. They named the kitten Chloe after my Chloe (their dog's name is Grace, like cousin Grace, and the boy's name is Scott, like Uncle Scott - Chloe is quite confused with it all, I'm sure). Anyway, Scott brought a football with him and Chloe paid no attention to the kitten; all she wanted to do was play with Scott's ball! I think we have a little tom-boy in the making! When Matt is home on the weekends, she gets so excited to watch football on T.V.!
***Matt, Chloe and I were in the living room hanging out together. Chloe picked up her cabbage patch doll and started patting it's back. She whispered, "it's okay, baby. it's okay. sorry, baby, sorry." We thought it was odd that she was saying sorry to baby when she had done nothing to it and she was being so sweet. Then, all the sudden, she raised baby above her head and whacked its head on the coffee table!! Matt and I were laughing so hard (silently) that we were in tears! We didn't want to encourage this behavior so we tried to keep her from seeing us laugh but it was soooo funny! Then, Chloe made her sad face and picked up baby and patted its back again saying, "it's okay, baby, it's okay." She definitely did not learn this from me just in case you were wondering. I do not condone banging your child's head on the coffee table!***
Hannah is growing fast! We looked at pictures of Matt last night of when he was 3 mths old and they look exactly alike! I plan to scan one in and post it next to her picture so you can see. It is amazing! She is working on rolling over right now but has a ways to go. She has a very pleasant spirit and smiles and coos at me all the time. She has started to notice Chloe a little more which is exciting because that means she'll stay entertained! She is the exact opposite of Chloe, as in Chloe did not like to be rocked to sleep; Hannah can't fall asleep without it. Chloe did not want to be held all the time; Hannah always wants to be held. This means Chloe has never been a cuddler, but Hannah is all the time! Chloe was/is very independent so it'll be interesting to see how her personality shapes Hannah's personality.
Sorry that there are no pics with this post. I just wanted to give a little update on how the girls are doing since my last few posts have been just pictures.
My dear Ally... we miss you already. Lucy does too. You were her best friend, and you were always there for me. You were our first "child". I remember the day we found you in the pound in College Station; you were shaking from fear and you would not move; you were skin and bones. What drew us to you? I don't know, but we knew we wanted to rescue you, love you, and protect you. You wouldn't move from the same spot on the floor for days. Then, you eventually moved to the couch. You wouldn't eat out of a bowl because you were afraid of it so for a good 2 years you ate directly off the floor. Goofy, dog. :) You always had your quirks. You would not go to anyone but me for a while and then, you finally felt safe with Matt too. We made a small family and you allowed us into your circle of trust. You allowed me to cry to you through the years of a difficult marriage, then miscarriages, anger at God, and moves, and you were in 
