Easter

These are some shots we took of Cora in the backyard after church. Isn't she totally working her Easter outfit? I have to confess, I bought this outfit before she was born...before I knew we were having a girl, actually. I had seen it before we were even pregnant (I think) and couldn't stop thinking about it, so when I found it on the clearance rack a month or so later, I had to have it. Turns out, it was the perfect size and season for her Easter ensemble.

She's not really happy in many (any?) of them, but she was quite overdue for a nap and quite hungry, too. Throw in her cutting her first tooth, and see how perky you'd be if I made you pose for some silly pictures!


As you can see, the hair is still wild. The day it lays down is the day Mommy cries.


Doesn't this face just say, "Why don't you pick me up and take me inside to eat? What are you thinking with all this camera nonsense?"



The sweater came with it and was helpful this morning, but by afternoon, it was GORGEOUS outside and we had no need of it. Had to get it in the pictures, though!

LOVE this one! Even though it's an "oops" picture, her expression is just hilarious. Classic Cora.



Fortunately, I forgot to put this on her when we went to church. It matches perfectly - white flower with green center, green leaves - but I think she's going to have to grow into it! Aunt Brittany bought her some more reasonably sized flowers, so I think she's going to have to continue wearing those for awhile yet.




Yeah, Mommy didn't have time to fix her hair for church, but what else is new? I prefer to think of it as taking a style cue from Cora and going for that wild, unkempt look. I'm pretty sure she pulls it off better than I do, but I'll work on it.

And no, I promise that we won't spend every Easter focused on her outfit. We will spend it contemplating and celebrating the miraculous moment of resurrection that brings the Lenten season to a joyous close, and attempting to grasp the vastness of what it means that "Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!" and how to live our lives in light of that amazing truth.

...but she IS cute.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Baby Loves the Camera

The other day, I was trying to catch Cora pulling up on video so you can see how she works her vertical magic. However, the child kept seeing the camera and getting distracted. I'm telling you, the second she saw it, she forgot all about what she was trying to do and made a beeline for the lens.

As seen here, she tries to stand up using the glass shelves of the entertainment unit to work her way up, but not before she takes time to gnaw on the middle shelf for a little while. You also get a glimpse of her semi-autonomous standing efforts, where she tries to stand up without help. If she moves much past the little tripod position you see here, things get pretty dicey and often end with a kaboom.



The alternate position of choice is two hands on the ground, two feet on the ground, bottom straight in the air. It's hilarious, because she can get into the position, but then can't figure out where to go from there, so she just hangs out in some sort of semi-permanent downward facing dog.

This is taken during the same period, just a little later on, with an attempt to use the drawer handles to propel herself upward. Again, spots the camera and heads straight for her closeup.



And my, what a closeup!

Got Me a Big 'un

Yesterday Cora was weighed and measured. She is one ounce shy of being 20 pounds (woof!) and is 30 inches long. That's right, I said 30 inches.

This officially puts her above the 95th percentile for height at her age (9 months), and the nutritionist said she was "on par with a 13 or 14 month old."

And yes, for those of you doing the math, that does make her almost half my height. My daughter has achieved in only nine months almost half of what it's taken me my whole life to reach.

Secretly, I'm pleased. I've always wanted to be taller (I say I'm a 5'9" girl trapped in a 5'5" body), and as I told Coleman, I think it's healthy to live out your dreams through your children as long as it's something over which they have absolutely no control! I'm not forcing her to become skilled at something I had wanted to do or excel in a sport I never played - but hey, if she's tall, she's tall, and I can watch her save all the money I've spent having pants hemmed!

As for her weight, she has dropped down into the 75th percentile-range, but apparently this is largely due to two factors:

1) She is crawling all over the place, pulling up, attempting to stand up, and burning off a lot of calories in all of this activity.

2) The current growth chart is skewed to track formula fed babies. As the nutritionist said, it ought to be set for breastfed babies, making this the norm, and then comparing formula fed babies to that chart, but it's not. At least not right now. However, she said that the effect of this is that around 9 months, breastfed babies appear to take a dive, weight-wise, but are actually still right on track for growth.

So, be not alarmed that my chunky monkey has dropped from 90th to 75th percentile for weight. She's looking a little skinny these days, but she's healthy.

And we're mobile!!

Cora started crawling recently! After weeks of being "stuck in reverse," as Coleman called it, she finally got some forward motion. We were both home at the time - Cora was upstairs with Coleman and I was downstairs with my small group. Coleman came and got me, so we got the first fledgling scoots on camera. Here are the highlights:



If you listen close, you can hear me gasp every time she gets her knee moving forward. I'm sure all parents go through this, but it is so wonderful and humbling to watch this little person learn something new - to discover she's able to do something she's never done before. It's amazing, and our life is full of these little miracles these days.

This may be crawling by fits and starts, but you should see her now! She's a crawling machine. Actually, she's pretty much over crawling by now. The very night she started crawling (the night in the video), she also started trying to stand up. It was like, crawling - done. Now onto the next one! I'll try to get a video of her pulling up soon so you can see.

In the meantime, prayers for us as we try to keep up with Cora and keep her safe. We've got gates and babyproofed cabinets and outlet plugs, but she somehow finds things we didn't even know to be afraid of. In fact, she's obsessed with power cords and her favorite game is to try to get them in her mouth before we can get there to stop her. This whole parenting thing is pretty terrifying, isn't it? And I'm pretty sure it just gets more dangerous from here on out. Am I right?

I love nerds

Our local library is hosting its own March Madness, and I love it.

Don't get me wrong, basketball is great to watch and I have been known to fill out a bracket in my time (which Coleman laughs at because he thinks I know nothing about the teams...until I beat him. Not so much laughing then.). But this is even better!

In hopes of picking the "Greatest American Novel Ever," website visitors are asked to vote in head-to-head matchups in four regions (two of which are open for voting now). Each novel is seeded - To Kill a Mockingbird is a no. 1 seed while Sophie's Choice is only a no. 15 seed. No clue who seeded them, but it's a good bet that some area librarians had themselves a party and enjoyed the process.

http://www.daytonmetrolibrary.org/

If you want to vote, click on the link above and then click on the Books and Brackets link. Round one voting is going on now. Enjoy!

Cora's Favorite Skill

This is a montage of Cora learning and then mastering her favorite noise-making skill. Grandmother Zelda first taught her how, then after awhile of call and response Skype sessions (and a little prompting from Mom), she can now do it on her own and does it all the time, without any prompting at all.

She's lucky to have a Grandmother who knows such neat tricks!

(It's a really big file, so if it takes a minute to load after you push play, just be patient, and maybe try pushing play again in a minute or two)

Funny Face

I was going through Christmas pictures, wondering how I was going to share so many wonderful shots (and when I'd get around to it!), and I kept running across all these pictures of Cora's many funny expressions. The first couple aren't from Christmas - but they're classic Cora, so I couldn't resist throwing them in. The rest are all from our trip to Texas in December.


Don't you just love it?



This is when we gave Cora a mohawk after her bath:



These next two are some of my all-time favorites!









And finally, a Christmas raspberry just for you: