Does Scooching Count?

**** Updated. . . John fixed the audio. . . enjoy!****


Cora is getting very close to crawling. This is how she currently gets around.

8 Months and Standing

So, Cora turned 8 months old this week . . . sigh . . . in the infinitely wise words of Dolly Parton "Time marches on, and sooner or later you realize it is marching across your face!" Or maybe that was just Penny at 4 a.m. when she realized that she did not have her evening constitutional. Nothing like waking up to a wet dog nose just scant millimeters from your lips, but I digress. . .

Anyway, Cora and I are in a pretty good routine now. After she has her morning nap and midday snack, we usually like to get out of the house for a little while. This usually involves a trip to one of the nearby big-box retailers. This does not usually end up being a free outing. All I can say is I heart Target and all the inexpensive wonders it holds behind its bright red doors. Today I was determined to do something that I knew would be free. After much discussion, Cora and I settled on the public library. The library near me has just been remodeled and has a quite extensive children's area. In my own humble (but accurate) opinion, it surpasses the grown-up section. In the children's area there was a little toddler play place with some fun (and highly hygienic, I'm sure) toys. Of course, Cora begged me to play with them, and how could I resist her sweet little face! I stood her up in front of one of the toy tables, and lo and behold little missy held herself up. She looked so excited, as if a whole new world had opened up to her. I was so excited for her. . . well, 95% excited. . .the other 5% felt like "dead-legging" her and scolding her for growing up too fast. Here she is getting her play on.

Squash. . .Yuck!

This post is also known as "Especially For P-Pa, Part 2"

As you know by now, Cora is decidedly NOT a picky eater. She definitely gets that from John. She eats anything and everything that we put in front of her. So, in my zeal to make my own baby food, I decided to make her some squash. I don't know what I was thinking at the store. Gerber baby food squash is butternut squash, yet I purchased yellow summer squash. Nevertheless, I cooked it, mashed it up, and put it in neat little containers in the freezer. It's too bad that I did not have the camera ready when I tried to feed it to her. She made the most adorable disgusted face I had ever seen. She even shook her little head like she was trying to get the memory of it out of her assaulted taste buds! After seeing that pitiful display, I gave up force-feeding her.

The other day, I had the brilliant idea to just mix it in with her "main course" of the day. (I mean, I worked hard to get it in baby food form. . .Somebody is going to eat it!!) She had been enjoying some hearty vegetable stew for the past couple of days. She seemed to really enjoy the mixture of flavors. So, I defrosted some squash and figured I'd just mix it all up together. I was so sure Cora would not be able to tell. Squash is, after all, a vegetable. It should add a lovely dimension to vegetable stew, no?! Let me just say that Cora must have a very sophisticated palate! My child does not refuse food, but she did refuse the squash and vegetable stew. She clammed that little mouth up so tight and turned her head away at even the smell of it. I was amazed! We ended up having to throw out the whole bowl of stew and giving her a brand new untainted batch. She's a little too smart for her own good! Still, in the scheme of all the things she eats, not wanting one vegetable is not so bad!

A Small Regret

When I was a little girl, my parents got my brother and me ride-on toys. His was a little red white and blue four wheel scooter. My toy was a ride-on giraffe. I loved that toy. I remember riding around the house sometimes in just a diaper - I was pretty classy! - over carpet, under tables all over. A few years later, my family had a garage sale. I decided that I didn't need the scooter anymore. I was much too mature for it, anyway. So along comes a family with a little boy who fell in love with my scooter. I remember asking my dad when they walked away with it if I could buy it back. Okay, okay, I'll admit it. . .I probably said "Can I please rip it mercilessly out of his poor little hands and run and hide it in my room forever?" Let's just say it is one decision that I immediately regretted and have thought about for the past 25 or so years. For about 5 years now, I have searched for that toy. One day this week, the thought struck me to try Ebay once again. And, as I typed in my very weird search criteria (wooden vintage playskool ride-on toy giraffe), a beam of light shone down from above, and I'm pretty sure I heard the hallelujah chorus. There it was! The best part of all was that no one had bid on it yet. I placed my bid and spent more time watching ebay than I ever have before in my life. So, now for a mere $9.99 (plus $25.15 shipping, handling, and insurance). . . So, now for a mere $35.14, I am again the proud owner of that beloved giraffe scooter. I'm so excited for Cora to scoot around on it, but I am most certainly not going to let her sell it!!

Mondays with Daddy

I had to visit a bunch of my interns this past Monday, so Cora got to have a daddy-daughter day. They had a lot of fun eating, napping, going for a walk, and playing Rock Band. (I think Cora played the drums!) Here they are on the trail by Brushy Creek.

Because she's so small for her age, the tray comes up to right below her eyes. But, it sure does make a tasty snack!

A Fairy Tale. . .In Pictures

Once upon a time, there was a handsome plaid prince of the Kingdom of Amazing Hair (also known as Austin) and a lovely pink princess from the Rock of Roundness.
One day, as both were on an outing to the enchanted land of the yellow and green carpet known as OLC, the plaid prince caught sight of the lovely pink princess. "I must make her mine!" thought the handsome prince. "Sweet princess will you please walk with me down the years of our lives. . . or at least to our mommies' cars in the parking lot?"
"No!" screamed the princess who had recently added shrieking for no reason to her repertoire of fine princess attributes. "I would rather lay here enveloped in my layers of tulle!" The prince was crestfallen.While the princess shrieked happily for a short time, she soon realized that her beautiful pink tutu was not as tasty as she had first thought.

She turned to the prince who wore the signs of his heartache on his face. "Sweet prince with the amazing hair, please forgive me for my crazy outburst!"
"I know now that I need your companionship! How else can I figure out how to get some of those gorgeous locks of my own?!" said the princess.
The plaid prince, being the kind-hearted and forgiving soul that he is, immediately forgave the princess. "My dear, please allow me to kiss your hand!" he replied. The princess giggled girlishly.And, of course, they lived happily ever after. . . or at least until the princess's mommy tried to buckle her in her car seat!

Not Her Mother's Daughter

Cora likes to eat seafood. . .

Is It Wrong to Live Through Your Child?!

My dreams partially came true today. . . See my little ballerina. . .Cora's best friend's mom made this for her, but yet we did not seem to get a picture of Cora and Anna together. Hmm. . . We did get lots of pictures of the guys and girls together, though. Here are Cora, Tyler, Cooper, and Anna in outfits courtesy of Johnna.
Thanks, Johnna! You really are a fashion godmother!!

Especially for P-pa

Peas. . .yummy!

Destructor

Tiny Might, nee Destructor strikes again! After I feed Cora at 11:00, I put her in a high chair and let her snack on some bread with the other kiddos. When she started to get restless, they gave her a toy to play with. To the left is a newer example of what they gave her. It's a decently heavy toy for a little tyke to play with. (Now you must keep in mind that Cora is only now 2 feet tall and 12 1/2 pounds.) Cora played happily for a while, pushed some buttons, made some music. When she got bored, I am told she looked furtively around and then chunked it across the floor. She used force enough to knock the batteries out and one of the keys off. Then, I am told, she looked around and giggled. Oy vay! She is way to young to be this sassy!

New Outfit

The outfit isn't really new. In fact, it is the outfit that we took Cora's Christmas pictures in. It's just so darn cute. Mema made her the dress and bloomers and even the hat. I decided to deck Cora out this morning. The hat is too big right now, but I wanted to have some pictures with the hat on. Cora got several compliments, so I feel it was confirmed that she actually did look as cute as I thought she did!

Cora Sleeps 'Indian Style'

Having a Baby Changes Everything!

Here is a picture of what we took on our trip this weekend:

Yep, that's a weekend's worth of supplies. Cora's not a light packer!!