Things I've "Stolen" Since Cora Was Born

Landon just came home and reported some news that will cause me to have nightmares tonight.

Here is a link to the actual story, but the gist is that a family was shopping in a Safeway grocery store. The family was traveling with their 2-year-old daughter, and the mother was 8-months pregnant. While in the store, the mother became lightheaded, and so she consumed a chicken salad sandwich from the deli while shopping. They paid for their goods, and then walked out of the store. Outside, they were stopped and returned to the store because the mother forgot to pay for the sandwich she consumed. Based on store shoplifting policy, the couple was arrested, spent about 3 hours in the slammer, and the child was in state custody for 18 hours. Holy Camoley I would be a complete and total wreckola!?!?!?!? And, Landon would throw such a fit that they would need to put him in a solitary confinement cell.

Given that I have a young child and am also approaching the advanced stages of my pregnancy, you can probably see why I sympathize. In addition, several regular blog readers have been with me for my "stealing" incidents since Cora has been born.

Three incidents immediately come to mind.

I was shopping with Jamie Burden Allison this summer at the outlets in North Charleston. She and I both had kids in strollers (Jamie with Annabelle, I with Cora), and I found a great deal in Old Navy. A small black purse and a pair of black flats with cute zippers (I wear these all the time!). I stuck the items on top of the stroller, continued shopping, a few minutes later Cora got feisty, I opened the stroller top causing the items to fall into the stroller folds, and you can see how this proceeds. Jamie and I were out of Old Navy heading towards our husbands when I closed the stroller top, saw the contraband, and screamed in the middle of the outlets, "Jamie, I just SHOPLIFTED!!!!!!!!!". After getting ourselves together from the cackles, I marched back into Old Navy where I again exclaimed, "I just SHOPLIFTED!!!!" The lady looked at me like I was nuts, asked if I wanted to return them or purchase them, and then sent me to the counter. To them, this apparently was a non-incident. Thank goodness! That could have been slammer experience numero uno.

Then, on my birthday, I was shopping with Heather Messal (Landon had Cora, so I cannot hide behind the frustration of having a child but I did have a slighly protruding belly that I was able to play-up). Heather has fell in love with that cute accessories store next to J.Jill (not Handpicked - I am blanking on the name), and since it was my birthday, I was treating myself to some new accessories, too (technically, Mom was treating me, since I was spending bday money from her. Anyways). Sometime while there, I also slid a bracelet on my wrist to try it out (it was a bit chunky even for me). I purchased about $70 worth of gifts for myself and others (including an adorable Mimaw Eb utility hammer for Summer for her shower), and Heather made a hefty purchase, too (I won't reveal how much she spent). But I will say that this dinky $10 bracelet on my arm would not have been a dealbreaker for either of us that day. We left, headed to Gap, and as Heather was making a purchase I turned around and (again) screamed "I just SHOPLIFTED?!?!?! I am still wearing this BRACELET!" The clerk at Gap smiled, and exchanged a look with his co-clerk that said, "This lady is a little C-R-A-Z-Y". Again, Heather and I had a good laugh, even went on to do some shopping at Belk, before I marched back into "Accessory Superstore" to laugh and say, "Ladies, I hope that this happens all the time. I managed to get out of here with one of your bracelets on my wrist". They were super nice, explaining that it had already happened several times that day, and were probably just glad that they didn't have to deal with Heather and I picking through their sale items for another 2 hours. Lucky break for me! Could have been trip to the slammer numero dos.

Then, just yesterday, I was paying for our goods at Publix and thinking that the total wasn't what I expected (I had a $5 off a $30 purchase coupon, so I was totaling in my head as I went). The bill was $30.12, but I expected to be a solid $5 over my goal of $30. As I was sliding my debit card, Cora proudly put her box of infant's Advil onto the check counter. Aha! Nearly stolen goods. If I had of made if 4 more minutes without noticing, and if we had of been at that Safeway, my baby would have been hauled off to the big house. They might have had a spot for me in that cop car, too. Whew, missed trip to the slammer numero tres.

Thank goodness! I am not sure what I would do if Landon and I both went to jail. The only local home number I remember is Tom Kent's, and that's only because he is the only person I know without a cell phone.

PS - Is eating while shopping taboo? I can't say I do it all the time, but I have certainly popped open a box of Wheat Thins in the grocery or a Gatorade in Lowes before paying, especailly while pregnant.

Daddy's Best Buddy

There is no doubt about it: Cora had a favorite parent this week, and it wasn't Mommy!

In several of these, Landon is Grandpa Thane. I've never before thought he looked so much like his Grandpa!

A Zoo, a Boo, and a Tooth or Two

Mom and I met in Columbia to take Cora to the zoo. It was a tad bit chilly, but she didn't seem to mind. Her favorite: the monkeys!!!

She was checking out a big grizzly bear.

 Cora, look, it is your lovey! She was entirely unfazed.

 The monkeys!!!

Trick-or-Treat! Our little bug.

 Buzzzzz! Buzzzz! Buzzzz! Cora was after "Sean the Mad Scientist"

 World Series Champs with our Little Bug

 This pile of fodder for the fire is very telling about Cody. I've never seen a campfire so oranized!

 Oh, little bug!

 Cora running around in some Vintage Mommy!

 Cora was once fascinated by the remotes, treating them like telephones and picking them up to say "Hello". Now, she has started finding the remotes and then running them to one of us (usually Landon). She is always so proud of herself.

 That's right - she's dressed for daycare in a tutu and polka dot leggings. Thanks, Stacey, for the Punky Brewster style duds. We love them!

 Grandma Lechleitner sent a box of cookies for Hall-O-Ween. This is Cora's first expereince of Grandma Laura's cookies. I think she was a fan?

 Oh, Mommy, I've never tasted anything this yummy in my life?!?!?!

 With her good friend Fred Bird! Cora was dressed in red to support the Cards. It worked! The Cards took the series that night.

 Who needs a trip to the zoo when we have our own animal kingdom in the backyard?

 Poor Landon - he was trying so hard to get her to laugh.

Just last week, I noted that Cora is still toothless on top. No longer true! Two new teeth popped through this week, and two more are on the way. She looks really funny because her new teeth are off center. That is, of the top four teeth, her two left teeth are in and her two right teeth are still buried. We should have dressed her as a little hillbilly for Halloween.

 Trying out Mommy's Bike.

 On Hall-O-Ween, my mom asked if we had shown Cora herself in the mirror while she was wearing her costume. Mom thought Cora might think it was funny. Landon's response: "How would she know anything is different? Carrie dresses her in ridiculous outfits everyday".

Fair enough. Especially given that the fur coat in the last picture has a matching Russian style winter hat.

I love having a little girl!

Additions and Subtractions

A few things have noticeably been subtracted from the Messal house. A few other things have been added.

A summary:

Subtraction: Throwing food. Cora is getting better about not purposefully dropping food off of the side of her high chair, and she loves putting her sippy cup into the spot on her tray for sippy cups, exclaiming, "Good Girl!" Pearl is pretty sad about this development.

Addition: Spoons & Forks. Of course, Landon and I have been using these all along, but now Cora is working on it, too. It is pretty awkward, and sometimes she gets food on the fork then gives up and picks it off with her finger (the fork is WAY more awkward than the spoon), and there is almost always an accidental pile of food by her high chair, but we are working on it. Pearl is happy about this development.

Subtraction: General Table Manners. That's right, that's my baby at dinner with her toes on the table.

Addition: In honor of the St. Louis Cardinal's trip to the World Series, I've been working on teaching Cora to throw her arms in the air and yell, "Go". She's been working on it in the car. Oddly enough, she outgrew this year's Cards outfit (a 12 month onesie), so she is without any gear this late in the season. Do not worry: I am honoring the Haskell crew by dressing her in red as much as possible.

Addition: A forward facing car seat. We just couldn't make it any longer. Every time I put her in the car, I was having to wrestle her into the seat. Her head would consistently bop on the car's ceiling as I tried to get her into her seat. And, she just all around seemed over it. I know that the new recommendation is to try to make it to 2 years, but we couldn't see us making it any longer. We caved - she is now forward facing.

Subtraction: Shoulder straps on her car seat. This is not on purpose. At 2 different points today, I tugged and prodded and thought I had her in her car seat as tight as she could go. At 2 different points today, I glanced in the rear view mirror to see my baby with no shoulder straps trying to lean forward in her seat. Both times, I had to jerk the car to the next safe spot on the side of the road, crawl into the backseat, and wrestle her back into the straps. The second time, I pulled out with her as secure as I could pull the strap only to look in the rear view mirror to see her trying to get out again. Houdini? Maybe. 

Additions: Words in context. Every morning, we have the Looney Tunes playing in the background while Cora has her bottle and breakfast. One morning last week, Cora was sitting in her high chair across the room as an episode ended (with the classic Looney Tunes episode ending music...). Cora's little hand popped up in the air and she said, "Bye Bye". As late as last weekend, she was only saying Dada on occasion and Mama when she really wanted something (it came out more like "MaaaMaaaaaaa").  Sometime last week, she turned a corner and she is saying Mama as she hugs against me and Dada any time she can.

Subtraction: Supervision from Mommy. If I were a better mother, I would have intervened when she was doing this...

Or this...

Or this... (But who CAN resist a dive into a suitcase full of bottles)!

Oh wait, this one was on Mia's watch.

Subtraction: Daddy's judgment. It won't be long before Cora will be trying to crawl into the shopping cart herself. Way to go, Daddy. Oh, wait, who was taking the pictures, you ask? OK, I might have been involved in this fun trek around the house.

That is a credit card she is looking at lovingly. We may be in trouble.

He is crashing her into Giggles the Bear. No wonder she had trouble sleeping Friday night!

This one, however, was all Daddy. I just happened to walk up in time to capture it.

Subtraction: Mommy in the kitchen. When I am trying to cook dinner, Cora now wedges herself between the cabinets and my legs, pushing me away from the counter top. The whole time her little arms are stretched upwards wanting to be held. This happens every single afternoon. As much as I possibly can, I cave into her. The fact is, she is going to be a big sister soon, and she'll have to learn to share. Until then, I am all hers!

Subtraction: Cora's control over her emotions. She was having the best time.
She was laughing...

And tackling...

And going crazy...

Until the melt down began. We have no clue where it came from. The funniest part was she kept playing, climbing onto her zebra and bouncing up and down, all while wailing.

Subtractions (or maybe just still missing): At nearly 14 months, I still have a practically toothless baby. Only 4 teeth, all along the bottom.

Subtractions: The Messal family from the church pew. We've been working on trying to keep Cora quiet in church. The good news is that Cora really likes to sing, and makes a very joyful noise all through the parts when everyone is standing and singing (in fact, in the backseat of the car with the music up, Cora makes the same happy sing-songy noises). The problem is that she likes to continue making those noises even when no one else is singing. Last week during church, Landon went to stand in the back of the church with her. After the message, I turned and looked up the edge aisle to see how they were doing. Landon was holding James Groeber, and Cora somehow managed to break free of Erin and run straight back down the aisle towards me. Fortunately I had turned just in time to run and greet her. The best part about standing in the back through the service is the ushers. We've made some pretty good friends back there!

Addition: "Good Girl". Yes, she has been saying this for a couple of months, but it has become an epidemic around here. EVERYTHING gets a "Good girl" from Cora. She says it when we say "No". She says it when she picks up a rock or a leaf from the driveway. She says it as she is crawling up the stairs (with us trailing her, of course). She says it when she puts a piece of food in my mouth. She says it as she is being rocked to sleep. It remains the most regular word she says.

Addition: A little more vintage Mommy. This one came from the trunk of clothes my mother kept from my childhood. It was perfect for Messal Family Work Day last Saturday - cleaning out the garage and the office. Cora was a big help all day, bringing us all the leaves she could find in the driveway. Good girl!

Subtraction: Her binky. We took it on October 3rd, the day before her 13th month. And, maybe I am crazy, but I actually took it during the 8 hour car ride from KY after Summer's shower. In all honesty, I just figured that if we could survive that, then we could survive anything. We had a rough middle-of-the-night wake-up, or two, but otherwise, it was without incident.

Addition: "Pearl Bark". When Mia kept her the first week in October, she swears that as Pearl was barking outside, Cora stood and announced, "Pearl Bark". I haven't heard her say this exact phrase, but she does say "Pearl" every time she hears a dog bark, and she's big on standing at our bedroom door and yelling "Pearl". Next to "Good Girl", "Pearl" might be her second favorite word.

Subtraction: Pearl's bark. When we got Pearl, it was only 2 months before the arrival of our baby. She was nearly too little to train, although we worked really  hard. Once Cora arrived, there were a lot of things we just let go. One of them was her barking in the backyard. Its just hit that we have approximately 4 months before the new baby arrives to fill all of the training gaps that we missed with Pearl the first time. Wish us luck!

Addition: A new gift from Nelson, Betsy, & Catie. Just like Catie, she loves pulling these books in and out!

Neutral: Landon's recollection of Holidays. Despite the fact that Landon and I had our first date on Valentine's Day AND got engaged on the same day 2 years later, Landon has to confirm each year what day Valentine's Day actually is (the 14th or 15th?). It isn't personal - it is generalized to other Holiday's, too. For example, he is always confused on whether we are about to celebrate Memorial Day or Labor Day in May. One morning early last week:

Landon: Did you know Friday was Friday the 14th?
Me: Um... Yeah...?
Landon: Friday the 14th! Like Freddy Krueger and Jason! We missed it.

Yes, Landon, we did...

In Landon's defense, I admit that I keep talking about how many more games are left in the Super Bowl.