THE KIDDIE TABLE

We were all pleased as punch to have a dinner party tonight! I don't often blog our dinner get-togethers, because I tend to forget to take out the camera (I know, shocker, right?), but I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of James and Cora at their little kiddie table with their pal Azure:

James and Azure played so well together, for hours and hours (Amy and I were busy crafting, and somehow Jason, and then Jay, got recruited for felt-cutting duties), and we overheard the sweetest little conversations between them throughout the night. Cora continually cracked everyone up. We ate pizza (not homemade by me) and scrumptious apple pie (homemade from scratch, including the apples, by Amy). Thanks again for coming over to hang out guys, it was a great night and we hope to see y'all again soon!

(And I promise to finish those shirts this weekend and get photos up on the blog!)

(Oh, and I need to get video of Cora saying "Azure" - it's the cutest thing! She has learned lots of names in the past few days, and seems to be picking up about 2-3 new words every day. It's wild!)

THANKSGIVING FEAST

There was a room FULL for our daycare's Thanksgiving Feast today. The Kindergarten and 1st-3rd graders dressed up as indians and sang songs before we all dug into the HUGE spread.

James and Manu didn't eat much. They were far too busy running around and playing together.

But Cora, of course, ate enough for all 3 of them.

TAKING THE TRAIN TO SCHOOL

This started back in the living room, after I put their shoes on, so I obviously had to grab the camera as we passed through the kitchen...

(She is SUCH a good sport... Train rides, playing doctor, trading toys, etc. She has more patience for her big bro than for anyone else. And we're pretty sure she thinks he's the coolest person on earth.)

HEART GARLAND

Last week, I turned this pile of felt hearts... ...into a garland! And delivered a little box of love to a friend who had just undergone an unpleasant surgery and needed a little pick-me-up. I had gotten the idea from Made by Rae, way back before I made that dinosaur train garland for James' 2nd birthday, and I'd been itching to make the heart garland for one of my pay-it-forward friends (a "game" to send handmade items on to new homes), so to Brandy it went!

CORA THE CHATTERBOX

Cora turned 17-months-old today, so I figured it was time for a word list update. I've been good about writing everything down over the past 2 months into a list on my phone, so this should be everything. She is in "parrot" mode already, and will repeat (or at least attempt to repeat) almost anything you say. Especially if after you say it once, you follow it up with a "Cora, can you say _____?" It's fun to compare her 17-month word list to the one James had at 17-months. And we thought HE was a talker! Anyway, here it is, with the words she uses commonly (without needing to hear us say them first) and correctly in bold.

Names/nicknames:

Mama, Daddy, Jay, Cora, James, PawPaw, Grambot, Baby, Jude, Mouton, Maxine, Luna, Stinkerpot

Body parts (all of which she correctly points out):

toes, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, nipple, belly button, knees, hair

Bathroom words:

bath, bathtub, poop, pee pee, diaper, potty, butt

Action/descriptive words/phrases/sentences:

hi, hello, bye-bye, uh-oh, whoa, wow, ooh, up, please, up please, outside, go, go outside, no, mine, no mine!, thank you, I got it, get it, boop!, ah man!, tada!, I tired, muah!, excuse you, what's that?, more, more please, bite, one more bite, hot, walk, boom, hooray!, yes, yes please!, boo, kick, down, get down, down please, sit, sit down, all done, wee!, yes ma'am, good job, love you, hi James, hush James, my paci!

Toys, animals, vehicles, and objects:

car, truck, cat, kitty, puppy, elephant, shoes, necklace, ball, book, gorilla, bear, light, giraffe, train, dress, game, tissue, washcloth, moon, keys, cow, pumpkin, bunny, owl, bow, choo choo, mess, flashlight, gate, fish, hat, bird, tractor, slide, bug, water, paci

Animal and vehicle sounds:

woof woof, meow, who who, quack quack, woo-woo, moo, wow-o-wow-o-wow-o

Colors, numbers, and shapes:

blue, red, yellow, purple, one, two

Food and drink:

popcorn, milk, juice, cup, spoon, banana, cheese, pizza, grapes, cookie, ice cream, apple, applesauce, cupcakes

Gestures:

nods her head for "yes" (and means it, though she also says yes pretty often, and means it), turns an upraised palm to indicate "I don't know"

So, as you can see, as much as I'd like to keep recording all her new words and phrases, I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up. Especially after the 18-month "explosion" that is just around the corner. As my mom said last week, she's almost "scary smart". The girl doesn't miss a thing. Not a single thing. She seems to understand EVERYTHING you say to her and ask her to do. She often complies without our assistance. She knows what she wants, and she isn't shy to ask for it (or demand it). It's been great though, this language blossoming that she's had over the past few months. As she's become easier and easier to communicate with, she's just become easier in general. She's SUCH a good little girl, and we're so proud of her. And we can only imagine what she'd be saying if she spent more time without that beloved paci of hers tucked into her lips...

THANKFUL

For me, this month is all about giving thanks, reminding myself of my blessings, and not taking anything, no matter how small, for granted. I was so happy to have my mom and grandma visiting for a few days, and while I wish we could have had them stay longer, I am thankful for the time that we did have. In fact, if we hadn't had that (canceled) conference, I wouldn't have seen them until after Christmas, so I know we are especially lucky to have found this time together! We have lived here in Mississippi for over 4.5 years now, and while it's starting to feel like home in more ways than one, we still get weepy (weekly, if not more often) over the fact that all of our family is so far away. The only thing that makes our constant lack of family interaction bearable, is the camaraderie that has grown between us and our friends here. We are so thankful for them! Whether it be parties or date nights or playdates, we are lucky to have found ourselves in a group of people that really care about us and our children. So, thank you to all of our friends here for making the 'Burg feel a bit more like home.

For example, after 2 days off from studying due to our trip down to New Orleans, Jay was backed up with schoolwork and needed a lot of time to catch up over the weekend. The solution? I took the kids on a 6-hour adventure to Jackson to play at a brand new, HUGE playground that Sophie discovered. And because Alex came along as well, we were able to keep our eyes on the 3 big kids and make sure none of them got into anything beyond their abilities. So a huge thank-you to Sophie and Alex for spending the morning (and lunch!) out with my munchkins. They had a blast, and I couldn't have done it without you!

This playground is awesome! It has 5 different play structures (plus a teeny set of structures for itty-bitty toddlers - the crawlers and early walkers). James managed to play on almost everything (with a little assistance along the way for the "big kid" stuff). Cora had me running after her and pulling her off ladders constantly (she can go up a couple of rungs before she gets stuck). She was determined to go up the "rolling pin" slide and figure out the climbing walls (there were 2 of them), so I pretty much had to keep her within arms reach the whole time. They both loved it, and we spent almost 2 hours there, playing with Manu and Alex (while baby Leo snuggled in his Ergo with his mama).

This little fire engine structure was a favorite for the boys:

Cora wanted to climb up after her big bro SO badly!

She rocked out on this little dolphin: James navigated these pods a few times:

This is where he said "I climb a BIG ROCK!"

There were lots of musical "instruments" interspersed throughout the 5 play structures:

And a cool exploration wall for the little ones:

This was the craziest slide - you had to straddle it! James and I declined a ride, but Manu rode with his daddy and seemed to like it.

James was more interested in climbing up to the top of the tallest structure and riding down the 2 tunnel slides (alone, and with me and Sissy). I'm not sure how tall they were exactly, but they required 2 sets of stairs and a long ladder to get to the top. (Note to parents who accompany their children - these structures were meant for KIDS, so us tall adults need to be VERY careful when climbing into tight spaces - my head still hurts where I slammed into the metal roof above that ladder)

The playground also had a fun spin toy and a rocking "boat". I didn't think Cora would want to go, but she asked to get in with the boys, so I set her between them and told James to hold her tight. He was so good about keeping his arm around her - made me so proud!

At the end of the adventure, following snacks and potty breaks (shout out to James AND Manu for telling us when they needed to pee, then actually going!), the kids swung and stomped with Alex until we decided it was well past lunch time. Then they piled into the cars without complaint - again, making me so proud that James understood the adventure was over and that we'd be back again another time.

After lunch at Lenny's (where the kids ate FREE!), I started the drive back to the 'Burg. The kids were asleep before I even got out of the parking lot...

BABY DADDY

SLEEPING BABES

N'AWLINS

When in New Orleans, the best way to start your day is with cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. So that's what we did. The 4 of us easily devoured 3 orders, and the kiddos highly enjoyed dipping their french donuts into the powdered sugar after each and every bite.We contemplated splurging for a carriage ride around the French Quarter, but they were ridiculously overpriced. And they weren't even horse-drawn buggies. They were mules. Instead, we walked around and showed the kids the peddlers, and Jackson Square (of course!), then headed back toward the hotel......where the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas happened to be right next door.James was terrified of those little parakeets... Cora was fine, as long as they didn't get too close. Jay and I thought they were hilarious climbing all over us, when the only food we had to offer was on those little $1 "feed sticks". The aquarium was smaller than we remembered (we saw EVERYTHING at a toddler's pace in an hour and a half), but it was nice. And not at all crowded, which was surprising, given the holiday. It was great to get out of the 'Burg for a bit, that's for sure!

WHIRLWIND TRIP

Our visit from Grambot and Great-Gramma was FAR too short this time, and it was hard to believe we really had to turn around and take them back to the airport yesterday morning. Good thing we started the day with donuts! And coffee, of course.

After a quick stop at the Natchez visitor center and Magnolia Grill...

...we high-tailed it to New Orleans and the airport. Following a teary drop-off (especially from Grambot and James - I had to send her running so she didn't see/hear him meltdown when she left), we went into the city and checked into the fancy hotel we would have spent the whole week at, had our R&D conference not been canceled. The kids LOVED the view of the river. They squealed every time a boat went by. They could also see the train tracks and a big fountain. We went down for a closer look before dinner, but had to retreat due to icy-cold winds.

No worries, we enjoyed that fancy hotel. Room service and a movie (Cars 2, which was far less toddler-friendly than the original). And LOTS of running back and forth from the window, yelling about lights and trains and the full moon. Miraculously, we ALL slept for 10 hours straight. And our wild sleepers managed to stay on their respective beds (there was concern of floor crashing). We'll go ahead and call this hotel stay a success.

FIRST FAMILY CAMPFIRE

We had a campfire at our Halloween party, but neither James or Cora spent much time around it, so we decided to celebrate fall appropriately with our house guests and spoil the kids with marshmallows. They LOVE their new headlamps from Grambot and PawPaw! They had fun looking up at the leaves blowing in the trees (there was a storm brewing, so the wind was strong), swinging on the swing with Grambot, watching the fire, listening to the night noises, and, of course, eating too many marshmallows.

Cora went to bed on time afterward, but James fought the good fight. He doesn't want to miss a MINUTE with his grands. He eventually crashed on the couch next to his Grambot though, and looked too cute not to photodocument:

BEDTIME STORY

JUST ANOTHER FUN AFTERNOON

When we arrived at our favorite park late this afternoon, we were pleasantly surprised to find Sophie and Manu and Leo arriving as well. We stayed for almost 1.5 hours, playing and chatting and enjoying the fall weather. Honestly, if the sun hadn't gone down so early due to the time change, we likely would have stayed even later!

Cora liked Manu's new potty chair just as much as her big bro's...

The boys were TOO cute doing potty time together. Manu cracked me up, wanting his shoes and pants and undies completely off before he'd sit still and try to pee.
All 3 'big kids' spent lots of time in the baby swing...

But not Leo. He's still far too little. Instead, he enjoyed the comfort of a grandma's arms while the big kids played. My mom was in heaven getting to hold this sweet little guy! (Though Cora wasn't too thrilled at first with having to share her Grambot with him...)

Towards the end of the afternoon, the kids took a snack break. It was awfully cute seeing James and Cora and Manu hanging out together, just sitting at the top of the stairs, talking amongst themselves. Such little people they have become...