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!

God Bless America!

This past weekend was important for several reasons:

1. It was Memorial Day. The older I get, the more that I appreciate holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. My days off with Cora and Landon are sweeter than any holidays I've ever had AND I've become so much more appreciative of those who sacrificed making it possible for us to live like we live.
2. Aunt Heather arrived in town, and Aunt Julie was here by the end of the week. Oh boy did Cora have a good time. She is totally spoiled, and will never be able to readjust to daycare. She got Aunt Heather for a complete week.
3. Landon's brother JonJon left for his Afghanistan deployment on Memorial Day. His service left all 3 of us humbled, and Landon and Heather frequently shifted the conversation to reminisce about memories of JonJon. JonJon, Julie, Kyle, & Karson were on all of our minds all weekend long.

To celebrate, Cora was dressed in nothing but red, white, and blue all weekend.

Katie & Bill brought Cora this red, white, & blue dress when Bill came down for a visit. It drapes all the way down to her toes - she looks so girlie in it.

Aunt Heather came to visit!

My friend Erika said that she saw on Oprah (and Erika tends to be very conscientious, so I am certain that it is true!) that people who know their neighbors tend to be similar in happiness to those who recently received a major boost in salary. I believe it. The neighbors got together for a Memorial Weekend Lowcountry Boil at Scott & Danielle's.

Cora was saying, "Hey! You get away from my Daddy!"

I loved this pic of Cora "reading" while soaking in the tub.

With Aunt Heahter... it looks like Heather was rubbing sand in her face in the second shot.

Cathy Daniel sent Cora this outfit. It is too too cute on her!

 Mitch & Susie Richter Bilbro joined us on the beach, and then for dinner. Susie and I were very best friends at Governor's Scholars, and then really didn't keep in touch after high school. I am so excited that she lives within jogging distance of my house - they are too fun.

Happy Memorial Day!!!

 

Our Little Rebel

We have a house full of toys. Our living room is already inundated with an exersaucer, a tiny tot kitchen, a music box, and an activity table. There are "go to" toys that I pull out in the kitchen to keep her entertained: a basket full of bibs, a container full of cookie cutters, a set of stacking cups. Her bedroom includes a pile of stuffed animals, and there is a shelf with organized baskets of linking beads, rattles, linking rings, and squirty toys.

Yet lately Cora's "favorites" are those things that she really isn't supposed to play with.

Here is some proof:

 A hair brush (OK, so this one is technically OK for her to play with, but she loves when she is able to get her hands on my hairbrush, and she has already started to pull-up on the drawers in our master bath, reaching in for my things while I am getting ready.

The recycle bag. Here, I stocked the bag with items she could safely play with and let her have at it.

 Our sneakers. She loves our sneakers.

Anything from a kitchen. Here, we were over for dinner at Anne & Dave's. I committed a "Mommy Failure" and didn't pack anything to contain Cora while we ate (like her Bumpo seat). Anne came up with a way to strap Cora to a dining room chair - she loved her perch!

Landon has had nightmares over this one!

The kitchen chairs. They slide with her, but yet she keeps going back to them.

Her car seat. She loves to play with the straps on her car seat.

Yumm Goodness!!! She loves to eat sand!

Grass and leaves.

One of the big problems is that she has a heck of a grip. We call this the "Sneaker Rodeo".

More Learning

Aunt Heather came to town last night, and we practically went straight to Poe's Tavern for dinner. When we eat out, I always pack a "snack catcher" full of puffs, even though she hasn't been able to get her hand in the snack catcher to get the puffs out herself... at least she wasn't able to until last night.
I saw that she was working hard to figure it out, so I grabbed the camera. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGzeSuiDI8M&feature=youtube_gdata