Aunt Heather's Visit

Landon's sister Heather stayed for over a week. I knew that her goal was to just spend time with Cora, but I admit that I was a little surprised by how much time she spent with Cora. I went to work, Landon went to work, and Cora did not make one crawl into Miss Aimee's Childcare all week long. Cora and Heather went on long jog/walks (8 miles one morning!). They blew up the baby pool and chilled in the front yard. They talked to Pearl. They read books and did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. They took tons of cute pictures.

We have a lot of house guests, and most only stay for a few days. Because Heather travels so far to get here, she often stays a little longer. I admitted to her yesterday that I worried that her stay would be too long. I was wrong. I was so sad on Heather's last day that I teared up several times. Since Heather was leaving at 4:30 this morning, she had to say good-bye to us before bed. When it was time to put Cora to bed, Heather agreed to read Cora her books and then I would come in and nurse her. Heather and Cora settled into the rocker, and I handed Heather a stack of books. On top was Guess How Much I Love You. Our teary eyes made contact, and I quickly took the book back and exchanged it for Little Hands Love. Lines like "Little hands love soft cuddly animals" are not as likely to evoke tears as "I love you to the moon... and back".

There are a lot of pics of Heather's visit because Heather sent me pics while at work all week. She took a ton... sending me almost as many as we send her in a given week :) 

I post a lot of pics of Cora with this little blurry arm flung out. I love this look - she is usually in the middle of lunging for something we have that she wants (here, I am sure it was Heather's phone), and the facial expressions says, "Well lemme see that fun gadget!".

 The first day that Cora stayed home with Aunt Heather, Aunt Heather and I were discussing the routine. Heather asked if Cora held her own bottle - I had no clue whether she could or not. I am still breastfeeding, and at that point had never given Cora a bottle. Midday, Heather sent this picture. Who knew?

 Happily eating grass.

 This facial expression, with her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth, is a new one.

 Cora and Heather went on daily 6 to 8 mile runs.

 She loves playing in the edge of the water. We've gone to Splash Island at Palmetto Island County Water Park a couple of times already. She holds her own in the water's edge.

 Heather and I were shopping in Ross, and I felt like I had a pretty good hand on Cora. She was strapped in, and not more than a foot away from me. I turned my head for just a second, and when I turned back around I was eye-to-eye with my baby. The carts had these poles attached to keep people from taking them out of the store. I am not sure that I captured how happy she looked standing there, bouncing up-and-down. I was concerned that she looked a little like a viking... Tim Haskell, Cora's godfather, called with more concern when he saw the third picture.

 This cute little french girl outfit came from Heather's trip to Paris this spring. We couldn't believe that she kept the scarf on as long as she did.

 Have I mentioned that Cora is a purse girl? This little holder is one that I keep in the diaper bag for her binkies. Lately, it has become a favorite go-to toy. There are certain things that have the "crawl as fast as you can" effect. For example, when I open the dish washer, it doesn't matter where Cora is in the house. I can hear Cora's "slap slap slappin" crawl speeding towards the kitchen as fast as she can go. The fridge has the same effect. So does this binky holder. If we are wanting to distract Cora from something else, we always pull out the pacifier holder. We can toss it on the floor and she comes "slap slap slappin" to snatch it.

 Look, Mom. I am actually an old pro at holding my own bottle!

 It was a late night for Cora. After dinner, we headed downtown to Kaminsky's for some dessert. Cora was passed out in the carseat for the drive, so we thought that she would continue to sleep in the restaurant. We were wrong. The days of being able to put her in her carrier and take her anywhere are over. If this social butterfly senses that there are people around, she is up and ready to flirt!

We miss you Aunt Heather, hurry back!