A POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND?

If only his attention span wasn't so short...

(Is she not THE cutest thing ever?)

NEW YEARS "KID HOUR"

We were lucky to be able to celebrate New Year's Eve with the Birdsongs and Mullins' this year. While "Man Hour" was going on outside (for boys aged 2 and up, so James didn't qualify), we had a great "Kid Hour" inside. Cora got to meet her almost birth buddy (born just over a week apart), Sophia:

This low-rider use to reside at Ryan and Amber's house, but it made it's way into Jackson's toy stash at some point. I'm amazed it has survived this long...

Mia and Katherine wanted to take turns holding Cora. When they were done, James climbed up for a photo op:
Then Mia jumped in again. Mia was in love with Cora. And I think James was in love with Mia (she is 5 months older than him, and a complete ham, totally adorable and social, and yes, she was in costume most of the evening).

They made some beautiful music together...

After a late night run around the yard, it was time for party hats!

Can you believe how grown-up Jackson looks? Hard to believe we haven't seen him in a year and a half (he'll be 5-years-old in March - wowza!)

James was getting beyond tired at this point, yet was still fighting the good fight, in Jackson's borrowed jammies, since his succumbed to the sandbox:

Cora was ridiculously wide awake (she took a short princess nap after dinner, but that was it):

We didn't last through midnight, but we tried. James was stumbling around exhausted, so we decided to take him home to bed. Thankfully, Cora fell asleep in the car and stayed that way until 2:30am, snuggled into her carseat (which apparently is not the enemy as long as it's not in the car)!

Her little fists were gripping her lovey SO tight!

ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER

This is the blog post in which I allow myself to compare my kids, something I try very hard not to do too often (whether in my head, or out loud). But my babies are such unique individuals that it honestly shocks me when I let myself think about it. I know the saying. "No two babies are alike." Kinda like snowflakes. I just had no idea how very different they could be. Even siblings. And I'm not just talking about their looks, though you can see that for yourself. Here are my munchkins at 6-months-old:

Whereas James used to always have his pinkies held out, Cora used to tuck her thumbs into her fists. We kept teasing her that it was not the correct way to throw a punch.

While James used to wake up randomly to play or talk, for hours at a time, in the middle of the night, Cora only wakes after bedtime to eat. She has never once had a midnight play session.

Cora slept swaddled for over 5 months. James didn't make it 2 weeks.

James is, and always was, a thumb sucker. Cora finds random fingers (or her entire fist) to be more satisfying. This makes for some pretty crazy noises. Unfortunately, it does nothing for self-soothing abilities.

Likewise, James could self-soothe from early on. He liked his paci (after a few weeks, anyway), then converted to his thumb full-time by 3-months. Cora never self-soothes. She must be walked or swung or bounced or nursed. And even with that, she still sometimes just has to "fuss it out" to get to sleep or get over being mad about something (like riding in the car).

Cora hates the car. It's not as bad now as it was for her first 4 months, but still. It's almost guaranteed that she'll scream and cry at least once/trip, even if it's just a 10 minute drive. However, James loves the car and always has. He used to fall asleep every time we went anywhere. Then he'd talk nonstop. Now he either converses with us or gazes out the window while sucking his thumb and twirling his hair. And sometimes he still falls asleep.

Cora had a perfect latch from the start and was an easy baby to nurse right away. She has quite the appetite, and prefers to cluster feed in the evenings. When she wants her mama, she wants her mama! James was not so easy in the beginning (though perhaps my inexperience is more to blame). It was a huge struggle for us to get our nursing relationship down pat (James was such a sleepy eater, and a lazy latcher) and the first couple of weeks were really rough on us both. We stuck it out though (and avoided paci's and bottles until we figured it out) and eventually fell into our groove. We had a great 9 months, then pushed hard to make it through the end of his first year while my milk supply diminished due to my pregnancy with Cora. I'm hoping that Cora will nurse strongly for at least a year. At her current rate, I don't think I have to worry!

James started drooling at 10-weeks. Cora, blessfully, not until 16-weeks. And she's not nearly the faucet that he was. Conversely, Cora got her first tooth a month younger than James did.

Cora is a much more focused and observant personality. She'll look you in the eyes, always turn to you when called, and watch every move you make. As an infant, James refused to hold our gaze. He was always more interested in what everyone else was doing. If you were the one holding him, there was no way he would pay attention to you.

We call Cora our quiet observer, because not only does she study everything we do, but she does so silently and intently. James, on the other hand, was a nonstop chatterbox as soon as he figured out how to babble. He always had something to say (or sing), and still does.

James loved tummy time from the start, while 6 months into it, Cora still hates it. 2.5 minutes is the maximum she will go without fussing. We wonder whether she'll skip crawling, since she's rarely in the position to learn. Of course, James didn't crawl until 9-months, so who knows what will change between now and then.

James smiled and laughed earlier, but Cora can sit on her own earlier.

Even better than that, Cora started sleeping through the night earlier. Of course, she really goes through fits and spurts with that, whereas once James started sleeping through the night, he never woke after bedtime unless he was sick or teething.

James was (and still is) a cuddler. He liked (likes!) to be rocked and cradled and sung to. He was the easiest baby to calm, on the rare occasion that calming was needed. If he was fussy due to sleepiness, all I had to do was tip him on his side and rock him and he was out like a light. Cora, on the other hand, just likes to nurse. If I'm not feeding her, or someone else is holding her, she prefers to face out or be held way up on your shoulder. And if she's upset and I start singing to her, she only screams louder. It's true.

While James likes to be held and carried, he doesn't like to help. Even at 21-months, the boy really still makes you do all the work. He's too busy thumb-sucking and hair-twirling (or pointing at something he's talking about) to hold on. Cora is already a helper though. Sometimes she even holds on too tightly!

James was (and still is) a pain to cosleep with. He kicks you and picks at your clothes and twirls your hair. He has to have a hand on you, and often a leg draped over you as well. He used to grunt and snore and flip all around. And he still looks like a billiard ball on his mattress throughout the night. Cora, on the other hand, is an absolute joy to cosleep with. If I bring her to bed to nurse her back to sleep, that's what she does. Then she snuggles right in next to me and sleeps peacefully. I often fall back asleep before she finishes nursing. She likes to snuggle up sweetly to her Daddy too.

As an infant, we were lucky to see a BM from James once/week. With Cora, we're so "lucky" that we get them 2-3 times/day. Or more.

We worry about potty training James because the kid could care less about wet or dirty diapers. Cora, on the other hand, has thrown a fit about wet (and especially dirty) diapers from the moment she was born. The princess can't stand a pea under her mattress...

Cora didn't really like bathtime for a long time, but James was a water baby from the start. Cora makes bigger splashes though.

James thinks medicine is candy. He'll ask for it. Honestly. And when he gets it, he'll often say "Moh?" But Cora does not like medicine. Not one bit. We used to have to lay her flat on her back, trickle it in one drop at a time, and squeeze her cheeks/blow on her face to get her to suck it down. She she'd often cry throughout the whole ordeal. Nowadays she'll usually drink it fine, even sitting up. On occasion she'll spit it all out though, little stinker...

James was a kicker as an infant. Any time he got excited (or mad) he would just kick, kick, kick away! Cora, on the other hand, is an arm flapper. She cracks us up because she looks like King Kong, and you can literally hear her beating her chest.

These babies of ours are not completely different though. They have some endearing similarities. I think I'll wait and share their similarities in another post though (since this one is already so long).

CORA'S FIRST TOOTH

That's right folks, Cora's very first pearly white popped through the gums today. The bottom left center incisor made it's appearance, and the right one is likely to come through tonight or tomorrow. It's quite visible already, but Cora wasn't interested in posing for a photo this evening. Teething hurts. And it makes Cora mad. Very, very mad.

BAPTISM PREVIEW

We took Cora's baptism portraits this past weekend in anticipation of her upcoming ceremony (and to ensure the gown fit). While she didn't mind the bow (we decided to skip the bonnet and keep Cora in her signature headband), she hated the fancy dress. It took us forever just to get one happy glance at the camera. Here she is before the torture:

"MERRY" CHRISTMAS

Most of Christmas day was fun and relaxing (opening presents, cooking and eating lots of yummy food, talking with family, playing with the kids' new toys, and going to a friends' house for a short visit), but the end of the day (and the following day) were far from "merry". So please forgive my lateness in posting this, I just wasn't in the mood. However, since James and Cora are thankfully too young to remember and didn't understand what was going on anyway (though I don't doubt that they picked up on the negative energy), I'm not going to write about it. They don't need to read about it when they're older and I'd rather not remember Cora's first Christmas that way. Instead, let's just enjoy some cute pictures of my adorable kids playing with the many generous gifts they received from our family and friends this year. They were quite spoiled. Thank you to everyone who made the day so special for them!

We started the morning by opening our Christmas stockings in bed, as the tradition goes with Jay's family:

Next we ate some of Jean's famous sausage balls while opening presents. James ate a TON of sausage balls, and was so cute handing them out to all of us and "sharing". Cora received a chair just like her big brother's:

We had to break mid-gifting to start the turkey. Once we finished up under the tree, we presented James (and Cora) with their final "gift" of the day: the revamped sunroom, now a real playroom complete with safety mats, a slide, and a picnic table. James LOVED the slide! He went straight for it as soon as we opened the door, and went down alone a couple of times, though mostly he sat at the top and reached out for Jay's hand to guide him down safely - such a cautious little man, eh?

Cora may not have expended energy on the slide, but all the new toys took a lot out of her, and she took a bunch of little princess naps throughout the day while being held (read: spoiled). She even fell asleep while Jean was "exercising" her legs:

All-in-all it WAS a good day, and we are so thankful to have each other. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday!

BLS: MASHED POTATOES

We served Cora her standard sweet potato chunks while we ate our Christmas meal, and she made us feel guilty by staring longingly at all the goodies we were enjoying. Her Ma-Maw took pity on her, and (with our permission) plunked a scoop of mashed potatoes on her tray. And Cora thought YUMMY! I honestly think she licked her fingers...

Preparation for the mashed potatoes? As they were not intended for Cora, we made them the usual way. Boiled Yukon Golds, mashed with butter and milk, and seasoned with pepper and a little salt. Oh well, it was a small scoop...

CHRISTMAS EVE PLAYTIME

Getting ready to "wace" Daddy down the slide:

Cora doing what Cora does best:

Checking out the Christmas display:

BLS: PEAR

Cora tasted her first fruit today. We were planning to just do veggies for a while, but since James wasn't interested in the slices of pear on his breakfast tray this morning, we handed one over to Cora. All she did was suck on it, but she enjoyed it.

(Check out those few "long" hairs on the top of her head...)

LOTS OF LOVE FROM TEAM LINDSAY

DAYCARE CHRISTMAS PARTY

Daycare had a Christmas celebration for the kids today (well, the older kids, anyway). Cora stayed home with her Grandma and Uncle Jamie while James went to "school" to party with his buddies. They watched Christmas movies and played holiday games and ate lots of treats. James ended up on a sugar-induced babble fest and spent most of naptime talking to himself on his nap mat. They even had a "secret" gift exchange. For the 1K class, this meant that the gifts were all unwrapped and lined up, and the kids were then turned loose. Whichever toy they went to first was the one they received. James picked an inflatable chair (for some odd reason, he likes boxes with pictures of kids on them). His teacher then took pity on him (all the other boys got cars, while the one girl got a baby doll and doll clothes) and split up one of the gifts that had two cars so that James could have one. She's very sweet, his teacher (though we think that car is quite annoying... it's loud and lights up and zips across the floor at a crazy speed). All in all, I think he had a great day (and I know the teachers were excited to get to go home early - daycare closed promptly after naptime). Bring on the holiday!

James' Grandma is bunking with him again on this trip, and he's already playing favorites. Choosing snuggles with her over hanging with his parents. Luckily, we're not easily offended.

I had to get a photo of him in his cute PJs and slippers with his gift before we left the house:

At the end of the day. James and Jackson were sucked into Elmo and Ernie, while the other kiddos were excited to see me. I seriously love these kids. And little Morgan is such a sweet, cuddly monkey. The girl literally climbs us when we get there to pick up James. Sometimes he doesn't mind, other times he tells her no and pushes her away. I've even heard him tell her "my daddy!" with much emphasis. I don't know how his teacher handles them when they're all fussy or hungry or refusing to nap (the 1K room has got to be the most difficult class, since they're all opinionated and into everything, but unable to voice those opinions or follow direction well), but when I see them at the end of the day (when they're all so excited to see their parents), I just want to scoop them all up for hugs or sit down and play a while. Such unique personalities.Since James jabbered through his nap, when we got home he walked straight up to his Uncle "Mamie", snuggled into his lap, and practically fell asleep. So sweet!

50, 50, 5

Cora had her 6-month well baby exam this morning. She measured 15 lbs 13 oz (50th percentile), 25.5 in (50th percentile), and 40.5 cm (5th percentile). She's following right along her curves. She passed her milestone tests (rolling both ways, sitting up, tracking voices, grabbing objects) and the doc was pleased that we had started her on veggies. She is not going to push cereal on us (we're not doing it - James never liked it and it has almost no nutritional value anyway), but wants us to continue with the vitamins. You know, the ones we've been giving her since her 2-month well baby? Yeah... Ummm... She got 2 shots (Prevnar and HepB) and her final dose of Rotateq. She won't get the Pentacel vaccine until her 9-month well baby, since we're splitting them up. Her chest congestion is all clear, though she still has some nasal congestion. It's just the season. She is old enough for Benadryl now though, so we can try that instead of Pediatex and see if it helps. Maybe tomorrow. Certainly not right before bed, since it makes some kids irritable, and we definitely don't need to take that risk with Cora! Her ears are clear, her hips are in alignment, and everything else checked out OK too. Another doc visit is in the books.

She particularly enjoyed the exam table this visit...

BLS: BROCCOLI

If you recall James' first taste of broccoli, you'll understand why we were so shocked to see Cora munch happily away on the little green trees tonight. This Baby Led Solids business is pretty awesome so far!

All we did to prepare the broccoli was cut off a few florets, steam them in the microwave, cool them in the fridge, and hand them over. Easy.

PEE-PEE'S NO

No, we're not potty training James yet, but we do find it encouraging that he can name things such as "potty", "pee-pee's", and "poo-poo". If he has followed us into the bathroom, he'll often sit down on his little potty chair (still fully clothed and diapered, of course) while we go. He then likes to hand us toilet paper and help flush the toilet. He even waves bye-bye to the "pee-pee's". If we then ask him if he has to go potty, he will hand us his toilet seat cover to put up on the big potty so he can sit on it (though within seconds of us placing him up there, he wants to "get down!", so he hasn't gone yet, "pee-pee's" or otherwise). Sometimes, when he has filled his diaper, he'll say "pee-pee's" and point to his diaper area, so we know to change him. And sometimes, if we ask him if he has to pee-pee, he'll say "pee-pee's no" (again, that whole backwards-talk thing he has going on). Cute, eh? Anyway, we're making progress (baby steps), so I thought it was worth recording. Exciting times ahead, I am sure!

WARM HEARTS IN WARM SPRINGS

We spent the weekend in Georgia for our annual family Christmas, this time in Warm Springs (just down the road from last year's locale), and had a great time. Once we got there...

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? You all know that Cora dislikes riding in the car. Whether she gets carsick or just hates the confinement, we knew we'd never last 8 straight hours with her, so we spilt the drive. Unfortunately, we learned that Cora hates driving at night more than any other time of day. We drove a whopping 2 hours Thursday night, of which Cora screamed and cried for over an hour. On the bright side, I've been trying to get a photo of her awesome pout face for months...
The kiddos were a bit wired once we got into the hotel room, and it took forever to get them to bed. Since Cora won't sleep in a pack-n-play, we knew she'd be sleeping with us all weekend. We didn't expect James to end up in bed with us as well...Good morning bright eyes!James got some deep reading in while waiting for his Daddy to get ready:We caved quickly in the morning and turned on the portable DVD player to entertain the kiddos. James loves "Cars", and Cora actually did really well throughout the drive on Friday. She even slept!Since we haven't mentioned it on the blog yet (last week was INSANE), we are now a minivan family. This proved extremely convenient for entertaining our fussy daughter (this photo was taken during a pit stop, obviously).She loved having her Daddy back there to talk to:
Everyone mostly arrived at the hotel at the same time Friday afternoon. James and Cora reacted so differently to all the excitement... James was bouncing off the walls and reveling in all the attention. Cora burst into tears. Poor baby. We should have known she would be overwhelmed. Both kids were ready for a bit of down time before dinner...
Grandma was so happy to see her baby girl:Warm Springs is a cute little town. Not a whole lot going on, but plenty to entertain James. We couldn't keep him cooped up in the hotel the entire weekend, of course, despite the rain. There was a flock of plastic Canada geese lining the storefronts, and he felt that they all deserved kisses (oh my goodness, is he not the cutest thing ever?). Every single one.Cora got to meet her Uncle Bubba (who is fighting strongly through chemo currently) and she was SO good for him (she'd still been fussing with all the new faces):

Then we decided to visit the local fish hatchery. It was cold, but James loved feeding the goldfish and running on the boardwalks.See? We're a minivan family. (And as much as we fought the idea of becoming one, man oh man do we ever love this thing!)Back to the warmth of the hotel (and fun with games and toys)...Daddy carts his babies down to Uncle Bubba's room for the present exchange:

Aunt Sara made Cora a beautiful pink blanket (just in time for her baptism!):

James got a great backpack (his first backpack!), but he liked Kate's remote control car better...

...and the box it came in!Cora was exhausted by the end of the present exchange. I took her upstairs to feed her before bed and she passed out. If you can get past the boogies, dontcha just want to do what her shirt says? That bottom lip is so kissable!

The return trip home today went really well for the first 6 hours. Then Cora hit her limit and it was all downhill from there. I think Jay and I sung "Wheels on the Bus" for almost an hour. Our voices are shot. And we made up more verses than we'll ever remember. They didn't even make sense at the end. But oh well. We had a great weekend and it was all worth it!

Thanks again to Jill for putting the weekend together, and to all the Waddells for making our visit so much fun. Merry Christmas to you all! We love you!