WHILE DADDY STUDIES...

...we explore the trails at the Clinton Community Nature Center with Team Sanchez!

James had a great time running around with Manu...

...and playing on the many bridges and causeways...

....and throwing gravel, digging in the dirt, and tossing rocks into the creeks.Here he is checking out the 'Elephant Tree': Cora was happy in her carrier, as usual.We learned about moss and lichen and fungi......and the boys tried to tear down a small tree... ...and then we took a break. They had LOTS of benches. (Doesn't James look adorable in his new soccer outfit? Team Sanchez gave it to him for his birthday!) After diaper changes, Alex buried the boys in leaves......while James ate some crackers.Then James helped bury Manu some more...Cora played with a leaf too, with Sophie's supervision.And then we went to lunch!

And no, Cora did not eat a hamburger. Though she did taste the bacon. And eat some sweet potato fries. And a bit of James' grilled cheese sandwich... Have I mentioned what a good eater she is? She eats better than James at almost every meal these days!

It was another great day out enjoying the spring weather. Lets do it again soon!

SUNNY FRIDAY

Today was moving day at work (we're moving into our new offices in the new Environmental Lab building over the weekend), so we had a great excuse to leave early (the moving company arrived on scene at 4pm). We surprised the kids at daycare, took them for ice cream, then hit the military park for a short nature walk. The weather was gorgeous, and spring is a fleeting season here in the deep south, so we know to take advantage!

Cora and James both shared our mint chocolate chip and pecan praline from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. James ate at least as much as we did, and Cora loved it (the flavor, not so much the temperature of the treat though).

We took James into the Illinois Memorial to teach him about echos.

Then walked around among the tall grass (and weeds) and showed him the canons.

Today was his first day in shorts this season, and he paid dearly. First at daycare (the right knee), then at the park (the left knee). We're already learning that as convenient as it is for him to be able to tell us where it hurts ('knee huht', and 'teeth huht' - said while grabbing his cheek, and apparently in the middle of the night his finger 'huht'), it makes us awfully sad. Because he sounds so pitiful. And insistent. And repetitive. And there isn't much we can do other than kiss the owie, spray some neosporin on, and dose with ibuprofen as needed. Poor kiddo. Growing pains are rough!

ST. PATTY'S DAY PICNIC

We celebrated St. Patty's Day with a dinner picnic at the park this year, and it was a great day for it! We hadn't gotten together with our friends the H-worths in months, due to the fact that someone in our house or theirs was always sick. Cue spring weather and healthy families - hooray! Amy (one of my favorite cooks!) made corned beef (YUM!) and pesto pizza and a green and orange fruit platter (to be fair). To contribute the Irish and/or green/orange food theme, I made potatoes, broccoli and snap peas, and shamrock cookies. We managed to eat plenty, even with the distracting call of the slides and swings...

It is a near-constant battle to remind our little tree-huggin' nature boy not to climb up the slides, but rather the stairs. He's good about following direction though.

Jason kept James and Azure swinging:

We played with bubbles for a while too. Until a little 6-year-old boy stole them from me. He was totally sneaky about it too. I was trying to be nice, sharing with the kids who swarmed me, letting each take turns blowing bubbles while I held the bottle. Then Mr. Sneaky said "Can I hold it?", and being the trusting person that I am, I said "Sure." Next thing I know he's walking off with my bubbles saying "I'm going to go play with this by my mom." Um...

I had been wanting to have the kids share a swing for months, but Jay kept telling me Cora was too little. Or that the swings weren't meant for 2 kids. Well, I beg to differ. They both fit great and Cora loved it! James, not so much (after the initial fun wore off, anyway). You'll get another turn soon Baby Doll, I promise.

I meant to take a photo of the river while we were at the park... We're near flood stage (currently at 40 ft) and rising, but it's expected to crest right at 43 ft at the end of the month. All the casino boats are floating and the beaches are under water though.

And by the way, while Cora doesn't own anything green in her current size, don't think she went all day getting pinched. She had an awesome corker bow that arrived just in time for the holiday. Oh, and green socks.

WATER TABLE FLASHBACK

It took a few tries to get James to climb under the water table with me. Once there, he thought that 'Pa-paw' spraying water directly at him with one of the water guns was hilarious!Unfortunately, not long after this photo, James experienced his first bloody nose. When he stood up to get out from under the table, the bridge of his nose was at the perfect height. Or, the least perfect height, I suppose. It didn't slow him down though...

DAYCARE 411

Just a random post with photos and news from daycare. Because I love getting photos from daycare.

On Monday, Cora got run over by Bella Kate. Bella Kate is 2 months younger than Cora, and already crawling. The other little crawler in the room, Madison, is 1.5 months younger than Cora. Madison has been crawling and somersaulting for almost a month already. In fact, the only other baby in the room who is NOT crawling is Giada. And she's only 5-months-old. I was told yesterday that Cora was up on her hands and knees a few times though, scooting after a ball. I have yet to hear details on how far her "scooting" got her, but I'm still impressed. We had convinced ourselves that Cora would not crawl. And have been teasing her that she just doesn't want to get her clothes dirty. Maybe she doesn't like the other girls beating her to all the good toys though? Or maybe it's hair jealousy?...

This is how Cora usually sleeps at daycare, whether for a 20 minute princess nap, or a good 1.5-2 hour nap. Snuggled into a bouncy chair. The crib thing almost never happens.

James' teacher sent me this next photo on James' birthday, while he was home with his grandparents (his normal seat is 2nd from the left, next to his buddy Gabriel) and she was missing him. I had actually never seen the kids at lunch before (breakfast and snack time plenty, but never lunch). Aren't they cute with their matching bibs and trays? Poor Camille (on the far right in the table) is the only girl in the room. And you may notice our buddy Will in the highchair on the right. He moved up to James' class a couple weeks ago. He's still in the highchair so that the older/bigger kids don't take his food. (Side note: The highchair is also used for time outs. James ends up in there about once every 2 weeks or so for stealing toys.) Kade, 2nd from the left, is Bella Kate's big brother. They're Irish Twins. He loves his sister so much, always hugging and kissing her when she visits the 1K room. He hugs and kisses Cora too. He's a little lover. The other boys are Zach and Jackson. Zach is somewhat new to daycare and is adjusting really well. He's getting more friendly with Jay and I by the week. Back when Jackson was in the 6-12 month room with James, he was one of the biggest babies I'd ever seen, but now he's about the same size as James. They're the only 2 in the class that look tall while sitting at the table (they both have long torsos). It really is amazing to see all these kids grow up. Until we had James, I had only ever been around one baby for any extended amount of time (our pal Jackson, of course, who turns FIVE this weekend), so it's been really cool to see so many little ones go from adorable baby lumps to tentative toddlers to talkative little preschoolers. Wow, time is going fast! And don't you just love their 'lesson board'? Each week they work on a different letter and number and color and shape and body part. James loves to point them out and name them when we pick him up at the end of the day.This one I took while dropping James off one morning about a month ago. It was right after Coltin had moved up to the 2K class, but since it was early in the morning, all the kids were playing together. I remember James and Coltin were so happy to see each other! They were so cute running around and climbing. The guy in the middle, Mason, moved up to Coltin's class shortly after. Along with Morgan. I bet James misses his girlfriend... He's not a fan of Camille, poor girl.And here is Cora at lunch. It was one of the first times we sent solids to daycare, and they were so impressed that she could eat broccoli. After they sent me this photo, I realized I could save her clothes from some of her mess by pushing up her sleeves like they do. Duh. See? Second child, and I'm still learning something new every day.

Finally, here is a text that James' teacher sent me yesterday:

"Today while I was changing James' diaper he said colors. I said pretty colors, so he repeated pretty colors. Then I stood him up and he pointed out red, blue, and green, the star on the chart, and the heart hanging right next to the chart. I'm so proud of James and just tickled on how much he actually is learning. James just made my day. I just thought you should know and this is why I love being in this room, such pleasures I get to experience."

Now honestly, could we really hope for a better daycare for our babies? They are so loved and well taken care of there. Their teachers really care about their happiness and development. Nothing makes ME prouder than knowing my kids are doing well during the day. Most days (not every day, just being honest), I wish I could be with them, so it's really nice to feel confidence and trust in the ladies who DO get to spend all day with my awesome kiddos!

LOOK WHAT I MADE

My inspiration for the garland that I made for James' birthday party came from Made by Rae's heart garland. All I did was cut out felt trains and dinosaurs (this was actually the only time-consuming part of the project) using patterns that I traced from cookie cutters, then sewed them together with a zig-zag stitch (you can use any kind of stitch, I just figured the zig-zag would make my uneven lines less noticeable). I think it turned out pretty good!

Here is a close-up of the 'dinosaur train' garland:
For those who are curious, there is a pteranodon, tyrannosaurous, brachiosaurous, and stegosaurous. And you know what, I can name a LOT more dinosaur species than those, thanks to James' favorite show! Jay's never been so proud...

SPAGETTI NIGHT!

Cora has had macaroni-and-cheese a few times, and she tried wheat linguini without sauce on Italian night, but last night was her first experience with spagetti. It was whole wheat spagetti (Jay's favorite) with ground beef in a spicy tomato basil sauce. And she loved it. James too. They both made a huge mess, of course...

(and yes, he can slurp his noodles perfectly, noises and all)

...so spagetti night was promptly followed by bath night!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 9-MONTHS-OLD

MODE OF TRAVEL. Cora prefers to slide and spin and side-step these days. She can go quite a distance on the tile or hardwood on her tummy, sliding backwards. And she spins circles enough to reach out and grab something (or someone). However, in order to move forward on her belly, she generally demands a hand or two. She grabs our fingers and hoists herself forward. Apparently she doesn't mind rug burns. Of course, she really likes standing. She can ocassionally pull herself up, but more often complains until somebody stands her up against something. And just this weekend, she started to cruise. She takes tiny little side-steps, and it's oh-so cute! CONSUMPTION. Cora is still nursing 7 times/day (including a MOTN feed - that's Middle Of The Night for you non-accronym-loving folks). And if we're eating, she wants what we're having. She doesn't get 3 meals/day on anything resembling a regular basis yet, but we're quickly working up to it. In fact, today marks her first day getting 2 meals at daycare (breakfast and lunch). It also marks the first day in which she is getting 3 bottles at daycare. I'm not committing to it (I reserve the right to change my mind at any time), but most likely I will not be nursing her at lunch anymore. Since she's in the 6-12 month room now, her 'schedule' is shifting, and it's getting harder to time her lunch with my lunch break. And when I get there, she's so excited to be going into her old room (where the rocking chair is located), that she's pretty distracted and is not nursing as well. She now tolerates spoon feeding for yogurt and applesauce, so yogurt is her usual breakfast. With some fruit and Cheerios on the side. And she now eats her veggies in bite-size pieces (mom and dad said her diaper following her first mixed veggie night was very 'colorful'), though we still give her big chunks/slices as well (depending on the veggie). She eats anything we give her and is not at all picky.

SOUNDS. Cora is really starting to form the beginnings of words now with all the noises she makes, and is using more consonants each week. She has also started 'conversing', if you can call it that, in which she imitates some of our sounds and movements. Her signature move is a big double arm flap accompanied with a "Guh!" and a head nod. She has developed an adorable, happy squeal that she uses whenever something strikes her fancy (and which James likes to imitate, of course). And while there is actually very minimal fussing and crying from her lately, her new habit is to 'whine' with a "yah, yah, yah, yah" when she is displeased. Of course, if you don't quickly rectify the situation, she can still escalate to screams and cries to get her way. Long live The Queen!

SLEEPING. Cora is still sleeping with us. We debated trying to wean her of the habit, but ultimately decided that we both like snuggling with her all night long. It's a great way to reconnect after not seeing her all day. And I like not having to get out of bed to nurse her in the MOTN. So instead, we took our bed apart and put the mattress on the floor. That way, if she rolls (or scoots) off, she'll only fall from her own height. Much safer that way (and we weren't interested in getting bed rails). And our room is well babyproofed (since James has always spent a lot of time up there). We keep our doorway gated off (because of the stairs), so she won't get far, even if she gets off the bed. Someday she'll STTN again (that's Sleep Through The Night, of course). And someday she'll sleep in her own crib (or bed?) again. Until she (and/or we) are ready though, we'll be bedsharing. Poor girl doesn't even like her crib for daytime play. There must be something about the prison-like bars that displease her...

STATS: 18.6 lbs and 27.25 inches

BACK IN COLLEGE?

Well, actually, neither Jay or I ever slept with our mattresses on the floor in college. In fact, even when we camped for 5 months as SCA interns, our sleeping bags were still up on cots. So maybe we don't feel like we're back in college. Especially not with 2 munchkins underfoot. Maybe we just feel like we're kids again, like James, since his bed is also on the floor. Funny that the 2 beds in the house that AREN'T on the floor (the crib and the guest bed) are the 2 that are almost never used...

James was sweet enough to help his Daddy dismantle our bed frame Friday night: No really, he did! Jay had gone around and loosened all the screws, then while he was working on one side of the headboard (while I held the other so it wouldn't fall), James took apart the footboard. He's a quick learn.

And now we have a shorter, safer bed so that Cora won't hurt herself if she falls off. Not that she'd fall during the night while sleeping with us, since we keep her in the middle, but we don't go to bed as early as she does (when did you think I blogged?), and we've been worrying about her ever since she started scooting and rolling more. That's a big bed for such a little baby...

And it's nice to have her on a baby monitor again. Though we do have to turn it off once we go to sleep. For one, because we don't want to be monitored. And two, for some reason James' monitor doesn't work when Cora's camera is in the same room. If we don't turn off her camera, we can't see James. Weird.

We really should have done this a year ago, when James started crawling...

HE'S SO DIZZY, HIS HEAD IS SPINNING

Another old video. James is still on this kick of making himself dizzy though (or at least, pretending to be dizzy). The kid better watch out - he's got his mama's balance genes. Or lack thereof...

BRUISED, BUT MOVING AHEAD

I haven't mentioned it here yet, but Cora is cruising now. And pulling up. And holding onto things with just one hand while busily waving the other one around or using it to play with toys. She surprises us with how strong she is (James didn't do this until he was 11-months-old), and we're more convinced than ever that she's going to skip crawling and go straight to walking. Lucky for her, she seems to have her Daddy's balance genes. At least, most of the time. She did take her first spill last week though. Dad and I were both sitting right next to her too, as she was standing at her 'crawl to cruise jungle' toy, but didn't catch her in time. She ended up with a red, swollen cheek. Then a nice bruise. Her first battle wound! It's barely noticeable today, but back at the Children's Museum on Tuesday it was pretty dark...

TOO CUTE

Mom sent me some photos from their visit and these two were so cute I had to post them.

There go Grambot and Cora making the same face again...

And smiling with her Grandpa:

(In case you can't tell, I LOVE this dress and bow that mom bought Cora for portraits and St. Patty's Day!)

DONUT?

No, she's not a donut. Though she is round and squishy. And raspberry-filled...

(I actually took this video 2 weekends ago, during James' naptime, but lost my camera battery charger and couldn't download it)

NEW PALS

The other day, James received a Woody toy in the mail from his Uncle Davey and Auntie T'in. He was quite insistent that I 'opeen, opeen, OPEEN!' right away so he could check him out. Then today, another surprise arrived - Buzz! Again, we couldn't get the twisty-ties off fast enough for him. So far he's figured out most of the buttons on Buzz and loves to repeatedly pull Woody's voice string (we haven't heard all 50 phrases yet, but I'm sure it won't be much longer). This afternoon, while Jay tended to yardwork, James watched his new Toy Story movie from Michelle (another awesome birthday gift) and kept his new pals close:

I don't know if he'll love them as much as his cousin Eli loves his (we hear he takes them EVERYWHERE and often falls asleep with them in his arms), but he definitely loves them. He just isn't the type to get too attached to any one toy, or blankey, or stuffy. He has his thumb, after all. And his hair.

Thank you guys (and thank you again Michelle - I hadn't seen that movie in quite a while - so cute!), we really appreciate your thoughtful gifts. They're fun (and funny)! Gotta love Tom and Tim!

YES WE DID...

...leave our daughter in the car. What? She was napping. You don't wake a napping Cora. You just don't. And this isn't the first time we've done it, either. The weather was gorgeous again today. We just left both sliding doors and the trunk wide open for a breeze, and kept our eyes and ears on her from the sunroom and kitchen window. She slept even better than she does in bed with us at night. Too bad the Mississippi springtime is so short-lived...

EARLY RISER

Mom and Dad had a very early flight yesterday morning. When my Cora alarm went off at 3:30 AM for a feed, I figured she'd go right back to sleep as usual. But she didn't. Maybe it was because I didn't (I had planned to go downstairs and say goodbye, though Jay had volunteered to drive them to the airport). Or maybe she just wanted to see her Grambot and Grandpa one more time before they left.

We miss you guys. Yesterday was weird. Today we're slipping back into routine. Not that we ever really got out of routine. Though we did enjoy the benefits of extra hands on deck. Thank you both for helping out so much around the house and for loving our kids as madly as you do.

CANDID

We discovered on Monday afternoon that the ONLY way to take portraits of a 2-year-old is to embrace the candid style. There was no posing. No sitting or standing still. There were, however, plenty of tears. And fear of the boy running headlong down the extremely steep hill upon which our photo shoot took place. You know, when we shot his 1-year portraits here last year, it was much easier (and far more enjoyable). Thank goodness his grandparents were there to manage Cora and block cliff edges! Once we gave up trying to get James to cooperate, we all relaxed a bit. Though it was still exhausting. Here are a few teaser shots that I took (be assured that the portraits Jay took are far better):

Dad even managed a couple decent family photos for us. Thank goodness for his goofy faces. James says "Pa-Paw vewy funny"!

SO LONG, FAREWELL

We'll see you again in June (not soon enough)!