Our Little Beach Bum

We spent the weekend with Joy and Dennis in North Myrtle Beach. Dennis was a groomsman in our wedding, and Landon was the best man in their wedding, and we felt really lucky that they invited us to stay with them, baby and all.

What a nice, low key, relaxing weekend!

Helping Mommy pack for our trip. Cora is in a huge shoe phase right now. Hers, mine, Daddy's. All shoes are fair game, and if Cora spots them even from across the room, she starts crawling speedily towards them. We've never been people who put our shoes in the closet as soon as we come home... Cora is changing our habits.

So so tired from packing.

Cora and I woke up early on Saturday and slipped out for a nice beach run.

This was the first day that Cora spent a significant amount of time on the beach, and experienced different types of sand (dry, hot, wet, etc.). For Cora, it was like a smorgasboard of tastes... we haven't broken the sand-eating habit yet.

After the beach, Cora wouldn't nap. We tried everything, and so we finally just gave up and let her play. She was playing with Joy, fussed for just a second, and then practically collapsed on her chest. Joy was so sweet to lay there and let Cora nap on her... and so I snuck a nap too.

She looks so grumpy here... but she was being so silly right before this. In fact, she clapped for the first time while sitting on my lap under the umbrella.

Joann Kent & Linda Bradley McKee have been saying a nursery rhyme everytime they see Cora.

I had never heard it:

"There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good she was very very good. But when she was bad she was horrid."

Sweet Carolina

The BOB stroller is doubling as our beach buggy, and we look like a family of gypsies pushing our bug in her buggie to the beach.

I've spent a lot of time at the beach (I think) but I've never seen two starfish in one day. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a live one moving around before. Landon kept trying to show Sean... but apparently Sean and his dad had just saved this starfish. Don't worry, Landon. Cora will be impressed in a couple of years. For now, Cora is most interested in the sand. She especially seems to like the taste of the sand...

 Having Cora on the move was a new experience for us at the beach. She was not content to stay on the blanket. Even better (I can't believe I did not get pictures of this), she loved the tidal pool! I put her down next to James, and it took her a few confused minutes to figure out that she could crawl there, too. Once she figured it out, she was off. She kept trying to nuzzle up and sit immediately on top of Sean and James. They were both so patient with her :)

In the picture below, James & Cora were having a conversation. In the one below that, Cora was working on her tan.

 Conversing again.

 I love this... she looks like she is about to dig into that bowl of chips. She had her first samples of our food at Jaunita Greenberg's (the long awaited new one near our house in Mt. P). Rice, black beans, and shredded cheese, with little tears of chicken from my rice bowl. Loved it.

On Sunday morning, we biked to Sullivan's Island for church.

And then to Poe's Tavern for some post church hamburgers. Today: Cora tried a french fry. Huge. Huge. Humongous. Hit. Of course, right?

 The whole experience left Cora exhausted.

 When we put her down for her nap at home, she covered her face up with her lovey. We had premonitions of her teenage years...

New trick. She loved being in there, but couldn't figure out how to get out. Cora's crawling means that I am constantly having to take her out of her sundresses and leave her in her bloomers - her knees keep getting tangled! I'm so sad. The first thing I said when I found out she was a girl was "little sundresses", but now that it is sundress weather she is too mobile for her sundresses. I figure if I just keep putting her in them, she'll eventually figure out how to navigate life while wearing them.

 Another new trick. She pulled herself into this position.

Hippity Hoppity for Easter

As Cora often does, she decided to give herself a present for Easter. This time - crawling. On Good Friday, her school was closed and she was home with me making dinner for Aunt Paula & Uncle Thane. She was determined to keep her hands on a measuring cup, and kept chasing it across the room. She started out just moving a couple of feet at a time...

But by the time that we were finished with dinner, she was on a roll.

She hasn't slowed down since.

Some pics from Easter.

Helping me cook by playing with some cookie cutters. Why do I have all of these coookie cutters, you ask? Well, I don't know. Landon packed them up for the attic when I realized that they would make a real gem of a distracter for my little sidekick.

 At the beach with Aunt Paula.

 Easter morning! Is that chocolate in there? Cora, doesn't the Easter Bunny know that you can't have chocolate? Reese Cups and Snickers - Mommy & Daddy love those. Thank you, Easter Bunny!

Mommy failure: I completely missed getting a pic of Cora in her fancy Easter Dress, Shoes, Bow. This post-church pic after she had wallered all over us during church, and then sweated from sleeping hard on my shoulder, will have to do.

 Peek-a-boo!

I did not originally buy easter eggs for Cora's basket. However, since she was crawling, I ran out on Sunday afternoon to get some $.99 plastic eggs. It was a riveting Easter Egg Hunt in our front yard. We were on the edge of our toes to see what egg she would go after first. The pink one? The blue one? Cora was less excited than we were about the eggs...

But she did love the grass!

Landon and Pearl in a game of football.

 Don't be fooled. She still wasn't going after any eggs here.

 After an active egg hunt, we collapsed into the hammock.

 I see you!

 Here she was crawling out from under the couch.

 She isn't pulling up yet... but she is pushing up. On everything that she can push up on - toys that are on the ground, toys that will topple over, daddy's chest when he lays on the floor...

 At Lowes, directing Landon towards her favorite flowers.