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.

Busy Girl

Cora is no longer content to hang out by herself in the exersaucer, and if she is in the floor, then she is on the move. If she isn't on the floor, then she is squirming to get to the floor so that she can be on the move.

Here, she is in another outfit that is "Vintage Mommy". She came home from school with a mild fever and an upset tummy this day - I love these fussy faces, even thought I hated that she was feeling bad. The second one and the fourth one are my favorites. When her face starts to screw up, like in the second picture, we can't help but laugh. Does that make us bad parents? Landon was holding her while I got my final items together to take her to school. She fell fast asleep. He was so proud.

Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little girls are made of? This puppy that Uncle Shew brought her in September is one of her favorites.

 She was so close to crawling in these pictures. Here, she was starting to get quick with her rolling, barreling over barriers.

 Sitting in a high chair has revolutionized the restaurant experience for Cora. She can sit and flirt at her leisure, then try to swipe everything off of the table. Here, she was bouncing as hard as she could in Mia's lap.

Cora got fussy, and Grand Poobah was walking around the restaurant with her. A tour bus full of "Golden Girls" were in the restaurant, and as they were leaving, they walked by my dad holding Cora. One of them said, "Hello Precious" to which Dad responded, "Well thanks. But aren't you even going to speak to the baby?"

Dad's latest title? Precious. It will be interesting to see what Cora names him once she starts speaking...

Again, "Vintage Mommy". This was my jacket -

 Dad was so excited about this. He would have stayed on this bench for hours.

When we saw these handsome fellas outside of the Cathedral, we couldn't resist the Kodak moment.

 Little C loves Big E!

 With some of last year's Schottland Scholars - Matt Pierce, Jamie Shafer, & Lucy Lesniak. I am so proud of these kids. Cora's shirt was a gift from them: "Future Schottland Scholar"

 Cora went to her first Riverdog's game in April. We were there with the Cantrell's (Sara, Lance, & Toby), the Bilbro's (Susie & Mitch), the Cangelosi's (T&T), the Barber's (Troy, Beth, & Amy, with Melissa)... but this is the only picture I snapped. I can't believe I missed a pic from her first game. Especially since I let Amy feed her, and there were sweet potatoes EVERYWHERE. It was cute. Very messy. But cute.

I've never seen her make the face she was making in the second picture. This month her personality development has really accelerated. She is much more expressive when she wants something (reaching and straining in the floor), and is constantly on the move. We have a picture of me making that same face sitting on a curb with Andrea Williams when we were about 3 years old (maybe at Apple Day or King's Island). I am going to have to dig that photo out to compare to this one.

She was fighting every bite, so I finally gave up, started filling up the spoon and letting her have it. She loved getting the food on her face, and I think that she managed to get a few bites in her mouth.