"OWIE"

(CLASSIC Cora face here. This was pre-"owie" and she was scolding James...)

Oh Cora. Always the adventurous, fear-nothing, I-can-do-it-too, second child. The poor girl has had far more bumps and bruises and cuts (mostly on her head...) than James ever had as a toddler. For that matter, her overall tally is probably higher than his even though he's been on this earth 15 months longer than her. Today was just one more for the record books. But it was a bad one...

After riding bikes around the track, the kids retreated to the van for drinks and snacks while I changed into my workout clothes. Cora sat in her car seat, James sat at the door ledge, legs dangling. When I was ready, I told them to climb down so we could go inside. James hopped down. Cora carefully climbed out of her car seat, onto the 2nd row seat, down into the base of the van. Then for some unknown reason she just launched herself out the door, with one hand holding her box of raisins and the other holding her sippy cup. And I was parked next to a curb.

At first I panicked, because she cried a different cry and it IMMEDIATELY swelled and bruised. And James was whining about the spilled raisins, so I was surrounded by chaos. She really only cried for about a minute and a half, but I was still worried. I checked inside her mouth - no chipped teeth, no bit tongue or cheek, no blood anywhere. Everything looked OK. But oh, her poor CHEEK...

We iced it some (until it got too cold and made her furious). We refilled the sippy cup with cold water. We ate some crackers that our little pal Alex shared while I hung out with her in the YMCA daycare room. And then that was that. She calmed down and I went to work out. And when her Daddy came home and saw that red, scraped cheek, all he could do was pout and not kiss her too much or squeeze her too tight. Because as she says, she has an "owie!"

PRE-BIKE PRE-BIRHTDAY PRESENT

James and his best friend Manu spend a lot of time together these days. They are now in the same class at school, we get together most afternoons after school to play at a park or go for a run, and we do playdates on the weekends. So although we had been planning to get James a balance bike (AKA pre-bike) for his 3rd birthday (and have had one on his WishList for over a year), we decided to go ahead and get it for him early. Because Manu has a balance bike, and James can only run so fast to keep up with him!

So last night the highly anticipated box arrived, Daddy put it together, and James had a little practice session in the house (since it was already dark outside, and raining). He was super excited when we opened the box!

And even more so once he climbed on:

But the kitchen and hallway are not good places to practice bike riding. So he resorted to just sitting with his new bike, spending some quality bonding time, while reading about vehicles.

Today was beautiful though. Warm and sunny. So we hit the track!

(We picked the crazy green color on purpose - easier for drivers to see. And even though we originally wanted a Skuut or similar brand wooden balance bike, the reviews we read about heat and humidity warping the wood convinced us to get a metal bike, since we live in the Deep South. We figured one with less spokes would be a little safer, and an adjustable seat was a must, since he's tall. Hopefully he'll be able to ride it for a couple years, or until he's ready for a real bike with pedals.)

We brought the Fropper for Cora, a highly used and much loved riding toy at our house for the past 2 years, so that she wouldn't feel left out. Though she ended up making me push her halfway around the track while she relaxed with her feet up on the front wheels. And she ran a quarter of it while holding one handle of her "bike" and dragging it along with her, silly girl.

I like my new view:

Getting brave and riding fast away from Mama:

Our little Biker Dude is pretty darn cute, eh?

BAD SLEEPER?

As I've mentioned before, whenever I complain about Cora not sleeping through the night or not napping well, my mom is quick to remind me that I NEVER slept as an infant or toddler, not for naps and not at night, until I was over 2-years-old. She says this to crush my hopes and dreams. I'm sure of it. Payback's a B, right? Then the other day she tells me about a study she read that said that 10% of babies are bad sleepers, and that those that are, usually don't start sleeping well until 2.5-3 years old. Then she said, "So, only 18 months to go!" And then she typed a little winking smiley face. Thanks mom.

(Don't worry, I'm just teasing her here, not being a defiant daughter.)

Anyway, it got me thinking. Is Cora really a bad sleeper?

And my answer is no. She is not. She is just a particular...

As a newborn, she slept well (for a newborn who was still nursing 3 times per night) and was basically asleep during the nighttime hours, even while nursing. (It still amazes me how well babies can eat in their sleep. And for that matter, how mama's can sleep through nursing sessions too. And for that matter, how much I still think about nursing. And how much I miss it.) At 3-months-old, she started sleeping through the night (10+ hours, coinciding with the introduction of the Miracle Blanket, and hence the reason I now recommend that thing to all new parents), and it lasted an entire month. Just long enough to fool us into thinking Cora was beating her brother's record (since he didn't start STTN until 4-months-old, though he never regressed after that milestone, unlike SOME babies...)

Then she had a delayed growth spurt (perhaps because she was born a few weeks early?) and went back to eating once or twice per night. At 5-months-old we weaned her of the swaddle (not because we wanted to give up the Miracle, but because we were worried about her turning over in her sleep and getting stuck, since she'd started rolling), and her sleep patterns started to get rocky. By 6-months-old she was no longer sleeping by herself in her crib for longer than an hour or two at a time, and by 7-months-old she refused to be put in her crib at all. That's when we introduced the pacifier (because she had started using ME as pacifier) and moved her into our bed full-time. It was the only way any of us got to sleep in stretches long enough to hit good REM cycles. And you know what? Even though she then continued to nurse once per night until she was 11-months-old (hard to pass up a snack when you're sleeping snuggled up next to it all night long), she also slept through the night most nights (eating in her sleep and not really waking either of us).

She became a "bad" sleeper again when we decided to try and move her back to her crib for the start of the night (because this mama had chores to do in the evenings that couldn't be done with our light sleeper snoozing at the top of the stairs, where everything echos, and daddy needed to study). After a lot of effort on our part, we finally convinced her to sleep from 8:00pm-1:00am/3:00am in her crib, in her new room (downstairs, and with a new white noise player, an iPod speaker system that allowed us to loop RockabyeBaby music all night long). When she woke, we'd take turns going down and sleeping with her in the guest bed for the remainder of the night (so that ever other night, we each got a full night of sleep in our own bed - score!). And if she was having a bad night (teething or sick) and woke up before we went to bed ourselves, we'd just sleep all night with her. And on those nights, she'd then sleep the rest of the night through, without wake-ups, comfortable and safe with mama or daddy by her side. Sure, there were nights when she'd be up for hours for no reason, but those were actually pretty few and far between.

And then there's the most recent development, with her sleeping in her crib in James' room. Sleeping through the night consistently (until we messed up her schedule with vacation, at least). Occasionally she even naps in his bed with him, or ends up there in the middle of the night (only very recently) when mama and daddy don't want to sleep in the guest bed (because we're still awake doing other things). The kids really like sharing a room, and they are so young still that it doesn't matter. Anything that gets us all more sleep is what we roll with. We are unwilling to let our daughter cry (or scream like a banshee, as is more apt). She wakes James, she stresses our nerves, and she quickly works herself into a frenzy that then has her awake and upset for hours. So our pediatrician can save her CIO advice for some other family, 'cause the Lindsay's aren't listening!

So basically, what it boils down to, is as long as she's not alone, she sleeps. Just because she doesn't want to sleep by herself in her own room does not make her a bad sleeper. She's always been a baby that thrives on skin-to-skin contact (she will literally push your sleeve aside or lift your shirt to lay her cheek on your upper arm or belly while snuggling), so we've simply accepted the fact that Cora is a clingy, lovey-dovey, physical-touch-needing child, and as long as we give her what she wants (NEEDS!), then she is happy. And thus we are happy.

And maybe in another year or so Miss Independent (in respects other than sleeping) will decide that sleeping alone in her room is cool...

But we're not holding our breath!

OUT AND BACK

James' tubes are out, and his ear infections are back.

He had a bit of a runny nose on Sunday afternoon, woke up with a croupy cough on Monday morning, and actually asked to go see Doctor Smith for medicine to make him feel better when Jay picked him up from school. No fever, but both tubes are out and both ears are infected, and he has a touch of croup (we're all too familiar with his usual symptoms, so we tend to catch it really early, and it still shows up every time the seasons change or the weather changes drastically).

He got the standard steroid shot and Rx antibiotic, a band-aid and a sucker (for which he reportedly asked for a second shot, so that he could get a second sucker...), and is already feeling much better this morning. He didn't even have to stay home from school.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Ethnic Supper Club convened yesterday after a long absence (due to the departure of Sara and Philip, and the holidays, of course) to celebrate the eve of the Chinese New Year. We enjoyed homemade dumplings, egg rolls, crab Rangoon, egg drop soup, beef and broccoli, General Tso chicken, lychee gelatin and fortune cookies for desert, and some Chinese (and Thai...) beers to accompany the feast. Oh, and Whoopie Pies for the munchkins (and those who didn't love the lychee so much).

We had new attendees this month, including Cari and Mike and their boys Jacob and Bridger, and Erinn. Jay and I were really impressed with how well the boys played together, and excited to learn that we'll be able to use our little kiddie picnic table until James is at least 10-years-old (that would be Jacob's age, the cutie on the front left):

(For the record, I didn't intentionally cut Mike out of the photo. And I didn't notice until I downloaded it that his head was missing. No worries though, he wasn't smiling at my camera anyway - ha!)

RAINED OUT

We had big plans today: playing at the "Little Choo-choo Park", going for a run together on The Trace with the jogger, lunch out someplace fun, grocery shopping at Fresh Market for Chinese New Year meal components, and swimming at the Y. We even planned ahead, packing the diaper bag the night before so that we could just get up and go. But we forgot our jackets. And we were all in t-shirts. And as soon as we had made it to the highway, the rain started. And the temperature began to drop. And then for the 3rd time this week we had to make an emergency stop on the side of the road for James to poop. Yes, I just said poop. Parents never get tired of discussing their kids' bowel movements, didn't you know that? Anyway, after about 12 minutes of that joy (Have you ever had to sit in an enclosed vehicle - due to the rain, otherwise we would have had the door open - while somebody pooped? It stinks. Literally.), Jay turned our frowns upside down by deciding to take us to the Children's Museum. So we may have missed the park (which James had been talking about ALL WEEK LONG) and the run, but we still managed to do everything else AND have fun at the Museum (which James has also been talking about all week, since the K4-3rd graders are going there next week and he's been hearing about it at school).

Cora was so brave on this trip. She did lots of "big kid" activities, including climbing all the structures (with our help) and going down the big tunnel slides, racing boats and fishing for catfish, and climbing through the huge "Digestive System" exhibit all by herself. When I went to show Jay, and convince James to give it a try since Cora could do it (he's always been too scared to go through, even when we offered to go along), a bunch of bigger kids came through. And one little boy rough-housed Cora in a section we couldn't see into, stepping over and on her, leaving a huge red welt on her arm. At which point Jay had to squirm his way in quickly to rescue her because she became terrified. Poor Sissy.

(That purple portion behind them is the colon, in case you're wondering. And this end slide that James is emerging from empties into the "toilet". Nice, eh?)

After that drama, we retreated upstairs and the kids helped one of the employees build a chimney for the house. Cora ended up inside the brick box repeatedly, and James was cracking us up with his towers of bricks. And he refused to put that little blue hammer down.

P.S. The swimming pool at the Y is not quite warm enough for our kiddos. Our swim session was cut short due to chattering teeth, but the kids still had a blast. They tried to jump in, they splashed, and they particularly enjoyed the lockers in the locker room. At one point, when I came back from drying my hair, James was missing. And when I inquired "Where oh where has my little James gone?" I heard giggles from one of the big lockers, where he'd shut himself in to hide from me. Silly boy.

KIDS' BATHROOM MAKEOVER

The kids love the new deco in their bathroom even more than I do (with my transparent love of birds), which makes me extra happy that we finally changed out the silver embroidered shower curtain, black mats, and black and silver porcelain accessories that we've had for the past 8 years. Cora always yells "Owls!" and pretends to count and name the owls by color (because that's what her big bro does), though she only knows 1, 2 and "boo", "geen". Hiding behind the curtain is always a fun pastime as well. As is emptying all the washcloths out of the lower cabinet...

It's fancy, right?

(As long as you can look past the 2 potty seats and step stool.)

TV TIME

Other than movies on the weekends and the occasional Dinosaur Train or Curious George or Penguins of Madagascar episode on the DVR, our kids don't watch TV. Mostly because we don't watch much TV. But also because children under 2-years-old are not suppose to watch TV, and we've further curbed our habits to support that in our home. However, most nights, for 20 minutes or so right before bed (we usually do stories throughout the day, and often at bedtime as well, but it's not a set part of our nightly routine, though neither is TV), we'll put on half an episode of WipeOut. Or turn on whatever happens to be playing on PBS or Animal Planet. While Jay was in class on Tuesday night, the kids were super cute all huddled together on the couch, and I couldn't resist a few photos. There were trains and horses and huge waterfalls and monkeys. Now really, it doesn't get much better than that if you're a toddler. Cora actually sat still for 10 whole minutes.

(My favorite is that last one where James has his head in his hands - adorable!)

MAMA'S NIGHT OFF

The kids are asleep, and I have yet to sneak in and kiss their heads.

I haven't seen them since 8:00 this morning, and it feels weird. Jay picked them up from school, took them to the park, then the gym, then went through all the evening rituals alone, including dinner and baths and books and bedtime. All while I worked my late/long day, then headed straight to a wine tasting with some coworkers, and stayed for dinner. Pretty darn rejuvenating.

Thanks sweetie, I needed that! And thank you Dawn, Natalie, Heather, Matt, and Jim for hanging out with this mama who tried her best not to talk about her kids the whole time. Y'all are good sports!

WE'RE STILL HERE! (THOUGH IT WOULD BE MORE FUN IF WE WERE THERE)

Sorry for my blogging absence. It's been a busy week, yet generally unexciting. So instead of boring you with details about house projects, joining the YMCA, Jay's classes starting back up, and taking the kids to the local park, I'll share this adorable picture of Christopher, back home and enjoying the gorgeous weather that is at the opposite end of the spectrum from what we're experiencing here lately. Wish we were in Maui with him!

COUNTING BEARS

You know what's better than counting and sorting the Counting Bears by color? Climbing up onto Daddy's built-in closet dresser with full cups, then dumping them over the side, sliding down the front of the dresser, and picking them all up to do it again. And again.

Seriously one of the best little presents the kids got this year. This activity (a game that James dubbed "Makin' a MESS!") can keep the kids busy for 15-20 minutes, easily. Long enough for Mama to put away 4 baskets of clean clothes. Best $10 we've spent.

FANCY PARK = FANCY RULES

James and Cora finally got to take their Daddy to the fancy new park in Flowood. And we started out with a picnic that he packed (and Starbucks...)

(Cake pops are James' FAVORITE special treat, ever since he first had one back in November. He asks for them at the most random of times. I suppose I need to learn to make them before his birthday!...)

While Jay was pushing the kids on the swing, I was swinging next to them. Just enjoying playing with my family. Then a "Park Ranger" came up to me and told me to get off the equipment. Apparently it's only for kids 12 and under. Sure was news to me (we've been there 4 times now and never been asked to stay off the equipment, and there are always park employees around). I asked him if he was kidding. He was not. He directed my attention to the dozen signs posted around the playground and the fine print about 5 bullets down the list. Seriously. (Pretty sure those signs are new, but Sophie, correct me if I'm wrong). That guy had an overabundance of self importance, and for the 2 hours we were there, he crushed the fun out of many adults. I was bummed, but I felt especially bad for James, who kept asking me to climb and play and go down slides with him, and I had to keep telling him I wasn't allowed. Don't worry, I made sure to say it very loudly with an "I'm sorry buddy, but that man won't let me play with you." 'Cause he deserved it.

If you're curious what James was serving his Daddy at the "breh-fast table" below, it was "blueberry giggles". James has been making us blueberry giggles for months now. And they're delicious. You should try them.

Baby Doll has baby fine hair:

After the park, we went to spend the last of the Christmas money that was burning a hole in our pockets. We're doing a mini remodel of our bedroom and bathroom. New bedding, new wall color, furniture moved around, pictures and artwork rearranged, etc. Hopefully we'll like it. And hopefully it won't take us too long to accomplish. (We've also been doing a few other mini remodels, including new deco in the kids' bathroom downstairs and some reorganizing of toys in the living room and James' room. Who needs Spring Cleaning when you have New Year's Freshness?) Cora thought all the shopping was a blast!

Hooray for a 3-day weekend! Lots to do...

GIVE AND TAKE

"LOOK MAMA, TWO THOMAS!"

"James haff a Thomas and Co-wah haff a Thomas. We bowf haff a Thomas!"

LEARNING TOWER

After helping Daddy assemble it...

...the kiddos helped Daddy make dinner for the first time.

Oh man, do they ever love this thing. It's useful, and it also makes a great "toy" (you know, a castle, tower, bridge, etc., whatever their little imaginations can come up with). Thank you so much Gramma!