PECANS AND THE POND

After the events of the past few days, the kids (and the rest of us) really needed a sunny day spent outside. We started off with a motorcycle ride:

Just kidding.

But we did teach the kids to collect pecans from GG's tree. Not that Cora needed teaching. She is an expert at collecting objects and toting them around in buckets (and tupperware and purses and laundry baskets...)
She even multi-tasks:
"Gamma" shows Cora which ones aren't worth picking up:
"GG" shows the kiddos where to get to work!
James loved GG's pecan roller. He would pause, push down, and yell "POP!" when it bounced in. He did this activity for a LONG time...
Once the kids finally tired of pecan collecting (well, actually, they didn't tire of it, but we did), we headed out to Uncle Doug's farm. Jay and Jason took their boys for a walk around the pond.
Then James had his first real lesson (about real fishing) from his Daddy.
The fish weren't biting though, so Uncle Doug took us on a Jeep ride around his property (while Cora napped peacefully in the van, for 2.5 hours). We saw the creek and the woods and the different fields. James liked sitting on my lap and feeling the wind in his hair. He loved the "bouncy" and "bumpy" and "there's another hill, a BIGGER hill!"

Ben ended up catching a big ol' catfish, but we missed it. And since they released it, James didn't get to see it up close and personal.
Uncle Gerald showed James some of the catfish and brim from the dock though.
When Cora finally woke up, we went for another "hike" around the pond. James so needed to run free, and we needed to see him do it!
The pond is REALLY low, but that didn't stop Jay from collecting rocks for the kids to throw in. He can't wait until they're old enough for him to teach them how to skip stones.
All in all, we had a very nice afternoon and it was great to take a few hours to just relax and breathe in some fresh air.

FAMILY THERAPY

We lost Jay's uncle, Marvin Waddell, on December 14, 2011, after a long, hard battle with pancreatic cancer. The extended family convened this week to honor him and celebrate his life in his hometown of Dawson, Georgia. While the circumstances were sad and emotions were high, it was still so very nice to see everyone and spend time together, supporting one another and reminiscing about the good times, telling funny stories about "Uncle Bubba" and venting about funeral mishaps. It was definitely "family therapy", and I feel very lucky to be a part of this family.

The youngest of the bunch were a wonderful distraction, of course. Many think that 2nd cousins James and Finn are looking more and more alike as they grow.
And Cora, of course, brought a smile to everyone's face. She remained her usual shy and reserved self around crowds, but opened up a bit around certain family members. Especially Wyatt, whom she seemed to take a liking to. This is your future sister: unending love and attention, of all kinds, from all your 2nd cousins (not to mention your big brother).
I met Uncle Bubba 10 years ago, and I found my first impression of him to be true and lasting. He was a doting grandfather. The kind who teaches a toddler to fish, plays pretend, holds his grandbabies close and refuses to share them, and loves them with his whole heart. He was so good to his wife, and their relationship always made me smile. He was well respected by everyone in his family - a man worthy of that respect. And he will be greatly missed.

ALL ABOUT CORA: 18-MONTHS

That's right, not only is today Jay's 35th birthday, but it's Cora's year-and-a-half birthday!

So, what's Cora like at 18-months-old? Well, she's even funnier, wilder, and more talkative than she was at 15-months. She's this little person that gets us giggling with her goofy antics and nearly brings us to tears with her sweetness. She's a whole lot of awesome in one tiny package.

Her hair is growing. She has a few inches now. Jay says she looks like a troll doll...

She weighs almost 23 lbs. She goes in for her 18-month well baby exam after the new year, so we'll get her exact measurements then.

She honestly has enough words (commonly used and not) that we aren't bothering to keep track anymore. She's still a big fan of nodding her head yes though. She loves yes and no questions, and she always has an answer for us. She's very polite and will usually say "kank-oo" without prompting. Though we still have to prompt her to say "pease". And to use her words for something rather than just whine for it. She IS a toddler, after all.

She has the BEST facial expressions! Good, bad, happy, sad, and everything in between. She still works a serious pout when it's needed too.

She's becoming more friendly with our friends (and even strangers) and will often say "Hi!" or "Hello", and loves to say "Bye-bye!" while waving. A few individuals will get kisses blown at them (with our prompting), and she gladly goes to some of our gal pals (sometimes reaching out for them in preference to being held by us). For the most part though, she's still pretty shy. Or maybe 'reserved' is a better word for it? She's cautious. We don't have to worry about her running off with a stranger.

She loves to help around the house. She hands me dishes from the dishwasher, helps me transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer, throws away trash (and food crumbs) that she finds, puts away everyone's shoes (in the proper places!), and organizes all sorts of random things.

She still eats more in quantity and quality (i.e. veggies) than James does at each and every meal. And her milk intake is holding right around 4 sippy cups per day.

She loves her new daycare and all the teachers that work with her (and the preschool classes too). Her new best friend is Julieann (they are almost the exact same age, both blonde-haired, blue-ish-eyed sweeties, though Julieann is noticeably thicker and taller than our petite little girl). She never complains at drop off anymore (not even on Mondays!), and is sometimes hard to scoot out the door at the end of the day.

Her favorite toys are of the sorting variety. Shapes and colors and cups and whatnot. Though she loves to push around cars and trucks and trains too. And she still spends a lot of time 'cooking' in her little kitchen. She is becoming more and more interested in books, and will often come looking for a lap with book in hand. The only problem is that she turns the pages way too fast for us to actually read a story to her. She's not big on her baby dolls yet, but she does keep one (and her stuffed monkey) in her crib for snuggles at night.

Speaking of her crib, she has been sleeping through the night for almost a month and a half now. I know, I've been hesitant to blog about it for fear of reversing the trend. She still sleeps with her paci and her blankey. She's now sleeping in her big bro's room (we moved her crib in there about 5.5 weeks ago, before our November family visits kicked off). She sleeps from 8:00pm to 6:45am on weekdays (we usually have to wake the kids), and 7:30ish on weekends. She still takes one long nap mid-day from 12:00pm-2:00pm, and occasionally in the car at random times.

She still loves shoes. She currently has 3 pairs of sneakers and her black Maryjane's that she rotates through. And she's still particular about which pair she feels like wearing. Sometimes she asks me to put a bow on her head. Our girl likes to accessorize!

Let's see, what else, what else?... I had fun 'interviewing' her in the bathtub last night, so here ya go. You can see for yourself how dang adorable she is:

Happy 18-months Baby Doll!

THE SLEEP EXCHANGE

The Saturday night before mom and grandma came to visit (a little over 5 weeks ago), we moved Cora's crib into James' room. We wanted grandma to have a room to herself, without Cora waking her in the middle of the night. Boy were we ever surprised when Cora started sleeping through the night, the first night she was in James' room! Due to that lovely turn of events, we decided to leave her crib in there, at least until Jean's visit over Thanksgiving ended (a couple weeks later), so that Jean could likewise have a room to herself. Well, with a very few exceptions, Cora kept on sleeping through the night, and we kept on loving it. Therefore, when Jean left the weekend after Thanksgiving, we decided to just leave Cora in James' room until either of them start complaining about it, somebody starts sleeping poorly, or we decide to move Cora up from her crib into a regular bed. For now, it's working. And we still go by the motto "Whatever works!" around here. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Our theory is that since Cora had been continuing to wake up nightly, even though she stopped eating during the night over 6 months ago, she was waking up lonely and scared. Since moving into her big brother's room, if she wakes up she immediately sees him, and perhaps that security is all she needs to put herself back to sleep (quietly, since we never even hear her cry out anymore). So, it only took her 17 months to start sleeping through the night consistently (not counting that month between 3 and 4 months where she STTN every single night and tricked us into thinking we had a good sleeper again). I suppose that's still better than her mama's track record, since by all accounts I didn't sleep at ALL until I was at least 2-years-old. (My parents were troopers!)

(And as you can see, there is still plenty of room for the kids to play in James' room, and Cora's room has even more space to run and tunnel and roll and dance!)

PARK REUNION

Katie and Desi are in town for a few days, so we got together at our favorite little park for a playdate. It was cold, and poor Cora's hands turned blue, even with her thick jacket on. I swear, Baby Doll has the worst circulation. (Tonight as we were getting her ready for bed, she was walking around on the hardwood with bare feet, for all of 2 minutes, when she just stopped and stood there crying. When I picked her up, her feet had turned to ice.)

Cora and Desi shared a swing, for ol' times sake:

Will did a great job keeping up with the big boys!

James forced Manu to do "train" with him down the slide over and over...

Our little man is actually getting quite aggressive and bossy with his friends. He made Will cry today. And he made Manu cry twice. Little stinker wouldn't say sorry either. We're definitely going to have to double our efforts with him so that he stops telling everyone what to do and trying to force his friends to play HIS way...

SILLY PUTTY

(That's crayon on her face... little stinker still tries to eat them when I'm not looking.)

"Look Mama, my fishing!"

TURDUCKEN VI

Sandy delivered yet again, hosting an amazing party featuring the turkey-stuffed-with-a-duck-stuffed-with-a-chicken, and we ate ourselves silly!

And by we, I mean me and Cora, since James couldn't be bothered to stop playing with the multitude of other kids in attendance for anything but my cake (which I grudgingly shared - it was a raspberry chocolate torte) and Jay was hit with a tummy bug (though he did eat more than he probably should have).

(Just look at that face. She is so SERIOUS when it comes to eating...)

COLTIN JOINS THE 3-YEAR-OLD TRAIN!

We had the pleasure of attending Coltin's 3rd birthday party this morning, at Dawn and Stirlin's new house! It's awesome, and the kids made themselves at home right away...

Poor Coltin was a little overwhelmed with all the arriving party guests. I always tell Dawn that I think Cora is a like a mini-Coltin. She has so many of his "eccentricities", and I love that I can watch Coltin grow up and hear stories about him. He's a cool kid, and it's great to get a heads-up on what James might be doing developmentally in 3 months or so, and how Cora's personality might be changing in about a year and a half.

True to form, Cora was the only kid that actually took the time to break from playing and sit down to eat. She already likes Dawn, but by Dawn giving her a plate of food, Dawn definitely secured her place in Cora's eyes.

Coltin's Thomas the Train cake was SO cute (and yummy!), and it was fun watching him try to blow the big candle out. Mama had to help...

This next picture makes my heart melt. I LOVE when Cora stands at my knees and looks up at me with her Baby Doll face. It also makes me nostalgic for the days when James was smaller and shorter though... Hard to believe HE'LL be 3 in less than 3 months!

Coltin's baby sister was in attendance too, despite her ear infections. Baby Emma is growing fast though, and won't be a baby much longer!

At the end of the party, the goodie bags were handed out, and my kids were in heaven. They loved the little toys and balloons, but especially the Pez dispensers. I did have to teach Cora to bite her candy and crunch it (I was worried she'd just try to down the whole thing at once and choke), but she did great. Normally she shies away from sweets (she refused birthday cake, but ate half my ice cream, for example), but the tart candy she liked.

After the other party guests left, we stuck around to play outside for a while. Cora is still terrified of Bella, the ferocious terrier (ha!), and James can't wait to go back and do some real fishing off the pier once the weather warms up. All 3 munchkins enjoyed throwing rocks into the goldfish pond. James was completely soaked by the time we left for home. He told me "My legs all wey-et Mama!" I told him he was just lucky he didn't fall in!

Thanks for having us over guys, we had a great morning!

DADDY'S TURN...

...to see the Wizards in Winter Christmas light show! (He was impressed too!)

To go though, we had to bundle the kids extra warm, since it was extra cold out. Hence the photos. I thought their silly hats (which fit FAR better this year than last year) were worth documenting. Plus, Cora is a "cold hands, warm heart" kinda gal, so the mittens helped tremendously to keep her little fingers from turning to ice. The trick was to put them on BEFORE the jacket, so she couldn't reach to get them off. Not that her itty bitty mittens have opposable thumbs anyway...

WHERE'S JAMES?

When we moved Cora into James' room (more on that in a later post), he ended up with the big-screen monitor, which happens to reside on my side of the bed. When I wake up randomly in the middle of the night to check on my babies (will I ever outgrow that habit?...), I am amazed at the crazy positions and places I find James sleeping in. So I challenge you - can you find James in all 10 of these screen captures?

(And no, these were not all taken on the same night. Though they could have been. The kid still moves around like a billiard ball in his sleep! Oh, and yes, I do occasionally go rescue him. Like when his head was under his blanket. And when he sleeps on the floor. Poor little heavy sleeper...)