For In the Meantime

We've hit a little dry spell here.  Nothing much that interesting going on.  I do have some fun video to post, but I need to have John compress it before I can upload.  So, in the meantime, please enjoy this little drop of sweetness.

John usually reads Cora her bedtime story.  Eight Silly Monkeys has been one of her favorites as of late. Just wait 'til you see the footage of John reading it to her!

A Little Bit of This and That

Cora is at the age where she should starting putting a couple of words together.  Cora's buddy Tyler just recently said his first sentence.  So, we were on the lookout for when Cora would string some words into a sentence.  And, I am happy to report that true to her Baylor bloodline, her first sentence was "Go Bears!"  It is hilarious to hear her say it because she does so with some sort of mid western accent.  It comes out more like "go bey-uhs!"  Suffice to say, John has tried very hard to get her to give a shout out to A&M, but "Gig 'em, Aggies!" is a bit of a mouthful for little missy.  He can be reassured by the fact that this proclivity to Baylor will be short-lived.  My little dog lover would never choose a bear mascot over Reveille!

Here are some of the other new words Cora says:

• milk
• book
• 'side (outside)
• diaper

And, because I haven't posted a picture in a few days, and I don't like to be cruel to the grandparents, please enjoy!

Love that bedhead!

Am I Teaching Her? Or, Is She Teaching Me?!

Well, we had some measure of success with the little potty last night.  She did sit on it.  She did not cry.  She enjoyed the m&m's.  She tinkled on the bedroom floor. sigh  Thank goodness for wood floors!

BUT, I do consider it a small victory.  She sat on the potty without screaming. . .progress!  And, I have a new theory to test out tonight.  We shall see!

Toileting Updated, Part 2

A bribe.

(Because we are those parents.)

Toileting Updated

My kid has a mind of her own.  'Nough said. ..

'Cept it's never 'nough said with me. . .I tend to be, umm, verbose.

I let Cora 'play' with her potty all afternoon.  She sat on it; she opened and closed the lid; she used it as a step stool to climb on the couch; she pushed it around the living room. Awesome!

At bath time, I ceremoniously carted it to the bathroom and placed it in its special spot by the tub.  I stripped little missy and put her on her new potty.

Oy!

You would have thought I was beating the poor kid.  She screamed; she cried (real tears); she tried to get up.  I tried to comfort her and encourage her, but when the crying reached ear-splitting decibels, I relented.  She got up, promptly ran into my closet and started tinkling on the floor.

Sigh

New Toy?

Look what Cora got today.

Yep, this little treasure found a new home at our house.  You will notice I went for the very utilitarian version of the toddler potty.  I was unaware that there were other options available until I found myself in the toddler toileting aisle at the big box store.  In actuality, I could have purchased a "princess" potty with a cushy seat that sings when sweet baby girl tinkles.  Fortunately, I turned on my John filter this morning (that is, John, my husband, not John, the slang word for toilet, tee hee hee.)  I did not want to face up to him with a bright pink singing toilet.  (But, I digress. . .and, how!)

Cora has been showing some signs of being ready.  She usually has a big tinkle right at bath time.  So, I thought, why not just have her sit on the potty for a little bit before we take a bath.  (In theory, this will also keep me from having to clean the large puddle on the bathroom floor every night!! Score!)  I certainly have no expectations that she will be potty trained in a week or two.  We're just going to leisurely stroll down toileting lane and hope that at some point we discover diaper freedom-ville.  I hear it's a very long and winding road anyway.  But, maybe by starting now we can avoid the rush hour traffic! ; )

Cora Loves Her Sunglasses

Daddy's Sunglasses

Now that Cora is tall enough to reach things, she has discovered John's 'valet' box.  Recently, she decided to pull out these sunglasses.  John is VERY particular about his sunglasses, so he must love baby girl a whole lot if he let her have them!  So, now she will frequently be found following you around with the glasses in hand.  When you turn to look at her, she will thrust them at you while she says and signs 'please' for you to put them on her.

She looks pretty self-satisfied, huh?!  She likes to walk around while wearing them, but she's not that great at it yet.  So, generally within a few seconds she will walk into a wall or trip over a reducer.  Funny!

Peek-a-boo!

Cora's Toys of Choice

Please see Cora's toybox full of fun and educational toys.

(Note:  These are her living room toys.  More toys live in her room.)

Now, please see the 'toys' that Cora chooses to play with.

In no particular order, we have:

plastic hangers

random empty boxes

dog leash

dog toys

the string from her block wagon

the step ladder

random packaging materials

and, of course,

a dish towel.

sigh

Eating with a Spoon

sure is messy!

But, it sure is fun!

Some Naptime Fun

Well, it's naptime here on the ol' homestead.  Don't know why I thought that when little missy transitioned from two naps down to one that it would be at a convenient time.  You know, like during Jeopardy or dinner preparation time.  Instead we nap smack dab in the middle of the day.  Not that I necessarily mind.  Believe you, me, I am a HUGE fan of naptime whenever it may come.  After our morning outing, we had a little lunch and then it was time for a little rest.  So, I took little missy to her room, took off her shoes, turned on the fan and the music, gave kisses and put her in her crib.  She turned to me with a sweet little pacifier grin and said "night-night."  Awesome!  Time to catch up on the happenings in blog world the chores.  As I busy myself throughout the house, I start to hear her chit-chatting in her crib - not unusual.  Then, suddenly, I begin to hear this:

"OWWW-OOOOH! Bidey! OWWW-OOOOH! Bidey! OWWW-OOOOH! Bidey!"

This roughly translates into "HOWL! Puppy!"

This was followed shortly by happy shrieking at the top of her lungs.  Not upset cries, just the kind where she's doing it because she can.  It's going to be an interesting afternoon!

Music Box

Cora is getting taller.  She can reach things.  She can get up on things.  She can find things.  The other day she found that she can reach the things on my night stand.  She reached up and randomly pushed buttons on my alarm clock until "Miss Independent" was blaring on the radio. . .at which point she "dropped it like it's hot" and "waved her hands in the air like she just don't care."  Makes this former dancer happy to see little missy's spastic, but cute little dances!

Needless to say, Cora loves music.  Around Christmas time, Cora began requesting her songs for naps and bedtime.  It was clear that my 10 year old boombox wasn't going to make the cut.  It's not so cute to listen to Praise Baby when the speakers sound like you are listening to music from the other end of a tunnel!  Thankfully, Santa (or more technically, Cora's Aunt and Uncle) got Cora her very own cd clock radio.

I love this thing!  Do you know the best part?  The sleep timer!  I can turn the cd on and set the sleep timer.  Then, I don't have to go in and turn the cd off before I go to bed.  Love it!!

Cora Has a New Cousin!

Miriam Faith
8 lbs, 19 inches

January 5, 2010

Oh, The Mommy Guilt!

Cora is really tough. . .freakishly tough.  She gets it from me (hah!).  Okay, she gets it from John.  It's pretty amazing because many times when she cries after a fall, it's because she is mad that the fall interrupted her play time.  So, we typically don't worry too much when Cora takes a spill.
 
But, last night was a whole different story.

{Entering Mommy's Nightmare}
We were invited to go meet some of our friends' new baby who is in the NICU.  Cora and I were hanging out in the waiting room which had been overtaken by a herd of rocking chairs.  Seriously, like 20 rocking chairs in a very small space!  Anyway, little monkey girl immediately climbed up on a sofa and was walking around.  I turned to put our stuff on the other sofa when I saw her reaching over the edge of the furniture to touch the window.  There was about an 8 inch space between the side of this sofa and a glass window.  The rest happened in slow motion.  There she goes right over the edge of the sofa, lands on her head, and gets wedged between the sofa and the window. With the power of rushing adrenaline, I leaped over toys and rocking chairs to get to her.  Now, Cora is known for her lung capacity and her ability to do that silent cry. (She's legendary, I tell you!)  But, last night, she scared me to death with how long she went without breathing.  The irony of it all was that I was in a hospital, but not a soul was around.  She threw her arms out and arched her back and wailed.  I was petrified.  Within a relatively short time, she was back to normal.  But, I am not ashamed to admit that I spent the majority of the rest of the evening asking her to say words she knows and watching how she was moving. Praise the Lord, she is okay.  The only evidence is a quarter size bruise on her forehead.  She probably doesn't even remember it happened.  But, you can be certain that I won't forget.  Oh, the mommy guilt!

You Talkin' to Me?!

Sassy Vest

Cora got this sassy outfit from my grandmother, Gamma, for Christmas.  You can tell she was not in the mood for modeling today either. I caught this picture in mid-whine.

But, I did what all terrible parents do. . . I bribed her! ; )  It's amazing what the promise of juice will do to change a certain someone's attitude.

What it did not change was my ability to take a good picture! Sigh. . .at least you can get the idea of what the outfit should look like.  I think it's so funny how she's holding her left hand. . .I think I do that when I'm taking a big swig out of my water bottle.

Eat Your Heart Out Ansel Adams

Cora loves out little black camera.  Whenever I try to take pictures of her, she comes toward me with hand outstretched asking to hold it.  So today I decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  I taught Cora how to take pictures.  Here are some of the results.

I did help her with this one.  She aimed, but I taught her how to hold down the button and wait for the flash. The rest are solo endeavors.

Yes, that's her finger. . .it runs in the family!

That is her knee. . . in case you couldn't figure it out. ; )

As you can tell, she is more of a landscape/still life photographer.  {wink!} Cora was pretty excited that I was letting her play with the camera.  She would watch the flash and then wait for the picture to load on the little screen.  She would always say 'ooh!' over her picture and then 'uh-oh' when it would disappear from the display.  Reflecting on this, it is occurring to me that I may have just made it virtually impossible to take pictures of Cora now that she is a budding photographer herself!

I think It Might Be Called a Ruler or Something

I love to sew.  I do not love math.  I have made several outfits for Cora, and some of them have actually fit her.  We won't go into the other disasters!

Remember this dress that I made for Cora for her first birthday?  When I got my new sewing machine, I was able to finish the buttons just in time for her birthday.  What I didn't realize is that I made the dress about 17 sizes too big!  When I tried it on little missy, it looked like she was wearing a big, flowery potato sack.  I guess there is a reason they put a tape measure in the sewing kit!?!  You might want to measure your child so the clothes will fit!  Luckily, here we are 6 months later, and, lo and behold, it fits!  Thankfully, this outfit can be modified for cold weather by adding a cute little turtleneck and some tights.  I made it reversible, so here is one look.

And, here is the other.

I think I like the dots better.  Cora seems to like it better, too.   The flowers seem a little large for tiny-might.  What do you think?

New Words

Cora is a little sponge right now!  She seems to be picking up new words every day.  Nothing like driving around with a little parrot in the backseat to make you clean up your act in the car {wink}!  Not that I would ever say anything untoward about any other driver!!  Anyway, here are some of the words she has picked up in the last week or so.

• shoe
• paci
• juice
• eye (usually while sticking her finger in mine!)
• nose
• mouth
• night-night
• cat

The really cool thing that we discovered this week is that she can follow some more complex commands.  For example, I  was in her nursery when I gave her a package of wipes and told her "Take the wipes to Dada."  A few minutes later, I heard John say thank you.  It was fabulous!  I plan on having her ferry many things in the house from now on!  She's learning how to put away her toys and will locate her shoes if asked.  The funniest thing she does is her obsessive door closing.  When I am in the kitchen, she likes to come in and close the pantry or the dishwasher door.  She also likes to close the silverware drawer even if my hand is still in it!  I guess OCD is genetic after all!

The Day I Was Dreading is Here!

When I took Cora to the doctor for her 1 month well check, we shared the scale room (cubby) with a sweet little chubby-cheeked 9 month old boy.  As soon as the nurse tried to put him on the scale, he started crying and protesting.  He recognized the nurse, and he KNEW!  He knew what was in store for him.  Ever since then, I've been dreading the day when Cora KNEW.  Cora is not nearly as perceptive as this kiddo because it took her to 18 months before awareness dawned in her mind.  But, nevertheless, the day has come!

Ohh, and did I mention Cora's favorite word is 'no'?  (Most accurately, 'NO! NO! NO!')

When the nurse popped her head in the door to call for Cora, it began.  She protested being weighed (22 lbs, 8 oz - 25th percentile - a-woo-hoo!).  She protested being measured (30 1/2 inches - 25th percentile - yippee!).  She protested the special head measure-thingy - yes that is the medical term for it!! (46.9cm - 60th percentile - hah!)  She hated every little poke and prod that Dr. Mitchell had to do.  But, everything checked out normal, thanks be to God!!

Oh wait, how could I forget?!  She HATED the vaccination.   Thankfully, this is our last vaccination until she turns 4.  Yea!!

We are going to work on using a utensil to eat and drinking out of a cup (with no sippy lid).  Can it be that my sweet baby girl is ready for utensils and no sippy lids?!  (cue the music) Sunrise, sunset. . .