Kentuckians say the darndest things!

Cora and I headed to Kentucky for a few days of my Spring Break.

As has become his trend, Dad met me halfway so that I would not have to make the entire eight hour trip with a potentially fussy baby. Cora was dressed in her duck outfit from Big E and her "quack" socks from Deb Melvin. The socks are now the perfect fit - they are not too tight, but they stay on despite Cora's constant attempts to tug them off (and I do mean she tugged at the socks the entire time that she was awake). At one point, Dad was in the back seat with her and I heard him exclaim in his best Moses booming voice: "Let my people go!" followed by a more frantic sounding, "Free the piggies!" Maybe you had to be there?

When Mattie arrived at our house, we had the (now, typical) converation about nursing. When Mason walked in a few minutes later, Mattie walked to the door and exclaimed, "She's nibbling!". Later, while Mason was sitting next to me talking to Cora, Mattie said, "Be careful, bub, or you might grow up and someday have a nibbler, too!".

Summer and Cora were sitting on the floor playing with a toy. Cora is a stable sitter now, but sometimes takes a nose dive when a toy proves to be worth her efforts. A toy proved worth it, and Cora took a lunge. Aunt Debbie said, "Summer, aren't you going to catch her". Summer replied, "She has to learn to survive!" In Summer's defense, her gut instinct was right. Cora captured the toy and began playing without even a fuss!

Cora loves to chew on things... especially ears of unsuspecting Uncle Shew!

Uncle Doug, look at how sad she looks here!

Doug brought Lindsay & Abby over on Saturday. I had coincidentally spent all day Friday cleaning out my old toys (before Cora is old enough to try to claim that they need to come to our house). Guess who went home with two huge sacks of old, abandoned stuffed animals? That's right, Lindsay and Abby.

I will never be able to take Cora over to the Trimble/Stambaugh homes - I am certain they will pay me back for that.

One-half of a birthday

There wasn't any cake, and there weren't any candles... but there were carrots!
Cora celebrated her one-half birthday in style:
A ride without her carseat in the stroller
A ride in the shopping cart infant seat at the grocery store
A taste of something beyond mommy's milk and oatmeal... CARROTS!

She is doing all of the things that she should be doing:
Babbling (a characteristic that she will continue to have, if she is like me)
Sitting without support
Standing with support
Razzing, and the occasional clucking sound (especially when mimicking Grand Poobah)
Lets out a high-pitched fuss when we take away a toy (or anything that she considers to be a toy, like her spoon, daddy's watch, mommy's necklace, a washcloth...)

And we cannot believe that it has already been half of a year.
Time has never moved more quickly.

 She has started to do this thing where she reaches up, almost habitually, and pushes her bangs over and out of her face. I guess she got it from us - we both habitually reach down and push the hair over when it hangs down on her forehead. She is at the end of the move in the picture above.

Getting ready for a run with Mommy.

 Carrots... yum? Yum!

When I laid her down, she was in the middle of the pink mat. She didn't stay there for long...
She is sitting for stretches of time now, sometimes 5 or 6 minutes straight.

Anne Brumbaugh knitted this sweater for Cora. She is so crafty!

We started giving her oatmeal 2 weeks ago. She loves it.

 The bee (in the above pic) was kind of a big deal. She had been lunging for it all week, then falling back in her seat each time that she missed.

 Landon got her ready for church. She came down wearing this gorgeous dress... paired with her lady bug shoes. Yes, they are the same colors. No, that doesn't mean that they go with this dress! I switched her into her silver MJs instead.

 And this is what was making her laugh so hard. Who wouldn't laugh at these cheesy faces?

 Beach day with Big E! I got her dressed in her cute swimsuit... Only to keep her ENTIRELY covered up the whole time. It was a little too chilly for her original beach attire.

 She came home and crashed in E's lap.

 She usually loves her mirror, but for some reason, she fussed everytime she saw it. It was as if she did not want that other baby playing with her toys!

Best of Friends

Cora continues to be a huge fan of her daddy!
I've really learned how to play with Cora from watching him interact with her. Just when I am ready to grab her and say he is playing too rough, she lets out a huge squeal or giggle as if to say, "Do it again, Daddy!"

One morning, I was trying to keep Cora awake (I prefer to try to keep her awake until daycare so that she gets in a good nap). Landon was playing with her while I finished getting dressed, and this is what I found after my shower.

On days when Landon is picking cora up from daycare, I try to dress her in something that is "all daddy". She wore this on the day when MLB pitchers were scheduled to start practice :) Aunt Heather saw these pictures and sent me the matching shot from the day she bought this onesie.
"Before & After"

I was sad to be at work teaching a night class, so Landon sent me this pic. Even though I hate being gone (usually) a couple of evenings a week, I am so glad that I am. When I am around, I naturally take the lead in parenting her (and that was especially true early on). Landon has really embraced the opportunity to have special time with Cora: playing, bathing, feeding.

Cora loved these morning calisthenics!

"Wow! These things that they call "ears" make perfect handle bars for my shoulder ride!"