ten months

Oh, so I suppose I should post about cora turning 10 months, before March is here. I was hoping to get a less-grumpy photo shoot, even with the stitches...then potential-teething grumpies happened, then she busted her little head open again. So here she is. 10 months old. Glorious.

You are turning into a little girl more and more everyday. We love your little tooth-less smile and wiggly body. We think you are so smart with your explorations, but I suppose we are a little biased as any good parents are.

What you've been up to this past month...

• You can walk!! All by yourself!! We are so proud of you and your little toddle. You even amaze yourself, sometimes you look down at your feet while you are walking surprised I bet at what they are capable of.
• You had your first ER visit, and 2 stitches. That's what we get for a walker at 9 months. It was so sad, but your little forehead is healing.
• Oh my, you have some great first words- dada and up. You usually say "dadadada," just when you're working on something, or excited. No mama- but I'm working with you on it. "Up" is pretty clear.
• You're getting a touch more cuddly... putting your head on our shoulders. I think you're just messing with us, pretending. But we love it. Otherwise you're active as can be.
• You are trying new foods all the time. You like to eat whatever I am eating, and now I think you expect to have a bite. Raspberries, waffles, pulled pork, edamame, muffins, hot dogs, pasta, cucumbers, tofu, toast. It's an utter mess when you eat, but you're learning. You are intently working on spoon and fork-work, those things are tricky. We did a trial run of chocolate, I had to make sure it was a winner for your birthday cake- you approve.
• We had to put cabinet locks and child-proof everything. You love to close any open door, look under the couch for straggler toys...and get into everything possible.
• We love you fiercely little one.

1st birthday invitations...

Oh, the invitations are here!! Gosh, she melts my heart.

Want to see? I threw it together... took some photos on our dinning room floor, where she was playing hide and seek with the curtains, that she pulled down from the windows. Then printed them on vistaprint. So affordable! And exactly what I wanted. I looked at all of the cute websites- minted, shutterfly, tiny prints- so cute for 1st birthday invites, but I unfortunately already came up with what I wanted the card to say- little less traditional, and wordy. So, I had to make my own design... and voila. (We DIY-ed our wedding invites back in the day...but I didn't really want to print these ourselves, I'm still tired from 3 yrs ago) Vista print had a great price- $8.99 for 20! In a fun size too... 4x8, with envelopes. Awesome.

Grown-up 1st birthday party...watch out. More polka dots to come. And a home-brew...and spiked limeade?! Hmmm....

5 years!

our wednesday morning.

nothing flashy. the house is a mess. cora is all over the place. we are working on projects.

absolutely perfect.

But, oh... it's 5 years today. Matt and I are reminiscing on 5 years of being together.
Oh, how life does change.

 

Every year we go out to sushi- because that was our first date where we fell for each other. Back in Colorado...we hadn't a clue that all of this would happen- here in idaho with a kid and a blissful life in five lightning fast years. Last year I was pregnant and had cooked rolls... this year we will order sushi in, because of tiny babe's early sleep schedule. But who are we kidding, we couldn't take her out to a restaurant anyways right now...craaazy.

So, happy 5 years matt...the best 5 years I could have ever dreamed of.

cora vs. the bookshelf

the bookshelf won.

please forehead... please, please don't scar.

 

Our valentine's day... (cora's first valentines day) started off with a visit to the emergency room. I had kind of wondered what her first set of stitches would be like... how old would she be... how would we handle it. Well, wonder no more.

Cora started walking a few weeks ago, it was only really steps between matt and I. And a few days ago she started to get brave and walk to things. This particular morning she walked from our arms... to the bookshelf, and as I was prepared to congratulate her and yell hooray! We heard a loud thud instead. Shit. Blood was streaming down her face... I did the good ol' mom-swoop... and picked her up. We attempted to ice her, and stop the bleeding from this massive (ok, relatively massive) gaping hole on her sweet little forehead/nose.
 

waiting for the numbing gel to kick in... having no idea we had barely even started
 

We went into the ER, she had two stitches... dissolvable ones, thank goodness. She was a trooper. I felt like balling, but she did great. Matt did great too- no freak outs, just calm, cool, and collected. I actually was telling matt how she never ever lays her head on my shoulder... she never slows down enough to cuddle. Well, she finally did. Sad little Cora needed to rest her wounded head on my shoulder. It was sweet.

 

 

 

tiny sweets after the stitches

We know this won't be the last visit to the ER, but we survived this one. Now we have a sad little forehead, that only we can see, to reminisce over and over about...and a cora-room minus a bookshelf.

 

eeesh. my heart hurts.

 

And no, it didn't slow her down a bit. Up and walking again as soon as she got home. No fears this little one.

 

traveling with a baby

"winter" california style.

So we took our 8 month old to California in January... that's about a 12 hour drive from Boise, Idaho to the Bay Area in California. (Winter driving with a baby... not ideal.)

I was nervous to say the least. How was this going to work?! I scoured the internet trying to find blog posts about driving advice- do we stay half way? do we drive through the night? how do we feed her? what if she cries for 12 straight hours? should we just fly? is this even worth it?

Well, we made it. And it was wonderful. Or rather... much more wonderful than I anticipated. So, I thought I should answer a few of those questions right here, based on our trip in case it helps anyone out there...

1. Should we stop half way?
Well, we did both. The drive out we drove straight through... making only enough stops to get gas and stretch tiny legs in the gas station while changing diapers. The drive back we stopped 1/2ish way in Reno, NV for the night. The drive straight through was perfect. Cora did amazing, it was relatively short and sweet and we were at the grandparents house in no time at all. No lingering on the road.

For next time: I would stay 1/2 way but not stay in a casino. Those places are smokey, and I felt like an awful parent just walking through the casino lobby to get to our 5th floor smoke-free cheap hotel room. Sure it was nice, but seriously. Smoking in a hotel?! Bad idea. So next time we will really splurge and stay at a holiday inn express. But I also would do the straight through thing again too.

2. How do you feed the babe?
We chose to sit in the back seat...alternate who drove. Then we would feed her little pouches of food, snacks, and bottles. She fed really well in her infant seat, it was easy- no choking like I had read about. I told matt that if she choked I would yell at him to pull over fast, and I would be prepared with baby-Heimlich with the fastest un-buckling you've ever seen. It never came to that. CPR certification not utilized this road trip. We also had a sweet Aladdin 1970's thermos with a push spout thing. Anyways, we put warm water in it when we left Idaho... and pre-made about 6 bottles with 3 scoops of formula, with nipples... ready to just add water. So we squirted the warm water in the bottles in the back seat- warm bottles. DONE. easy peasy.

3. What was the drive like?
We kind of cycled just like at home... we would feed her...then play a little...read books. Then when it was nap time we would just both sit up front in the car and let her doze off. If she was asleep we did not stop. Running on fumes- who cares. Need to go to the bathroom? Nope. No waking baby. It worked well, we played a little gregory alan isakov or andrew bird...on repeat like 20 times. It worked. We also stopped at starbucks more often than not... I'd rather run around a starbucks, get a caffeine fix...than mcdonalds.
Side note: changing your baby in a bathroom without a changing table is HELL. I felt like verbally assaulting the managers at multiple pit stops for not having one. I also felt it was only fair to hand over our diarrhea-ridden child to them...and say...good luck. Tell me how it goes in there. I got skills though... changing a tiny wiggly bottom mid-air... with wipes, desitin, and a clean diaper. I felt accomplished after leaving those restrooms. I really am a mom, hell yeah.

4. Should we just drive through the night?
This was an option in our minds. She sleeps through the night, why not let her whole drive just be asleep? How sweet is that. Well, it's not. Winter driving... 2 lane roads... black ice...SCARY. We opted for safety for this trip and wanted to do all driving on rural roads during the daytime. It was great- because we actually had fog and minimal visibility for a few hours in south eastern oregon...so much less stressful with daylight.

5. Should we just fly?
1.5 hours vs 12 hours. hmmm... tempting. We wanted a car to carry our christmas presents, so we drove. It was also nice to have our car while we visited friends/family in california. But we definitely threw around some fun ideas- cora and I fly out, matt drives... picks us up... Yeah. No.  It was worth it.

6. Did she cry for 12 straight hours?
No. Not possible. She would surely have tired her little self out. See, we have a baby who hates the car seat, so we thought this would be quite possible. She did cry a little... like in traffic. And of course it was more stressful than a drive pre-cora. But it was great. She was consolable... and it wasn't because she was uncomfortable for sitting so long. She was awesome. Chicco carseat worked great. We also had a huge bag full of her most favorite toys, along with some brand new ones, books, gadgets to mess with, and lots of snacks. She was a happy road trip baby. There was no need to stress so much.

So... we will surely do this again, probably this summer with more excitement than worry. We are even looking forward to camping in the back of the truck...one big bed... 3 humans, a few dogs....open wilderness. There will be more posts about this too, I am sure.

Good luck family travelers... let me know if you have any advice about camping with a baby!

thrift store challenge.

So this is new to me... "linking up" I guess all of the cool blogger kids know whats going on, but I am just learning. So I thought it would be fun to join in on this link party...over on young house love. They had a thrift store challenge to spend $20 and see what kind of treasures you can find.

 

Well. Let me tell you... it was a tad ghetto in my thrift store. I did not find any cute vintage stuff... there are plenty of antique stores for cool finds. However... we did have a cora-themed thrift store challenge. And we rocked it... for $14.78. Yay!

These were the rules...

1. take a $20 from your pocket and go to a thrift store. Done! Thanks Cora! This was officially her first $20 she has ever touched and spent. What a good girl. Now, wash your hands.

2. Find an object from this thrift store music video. Pretty funny rap video. We found a big ass jacket... well big for cora. And with polka dots, my new kid favorite. She was not amused...and only wanted to chew on the sleeve. yuk. bath time?!

3. Marvel over your treasures. We found a boise state shirt that I will be cutting up to make a dress for Cora next football season ($2). We cleaned out their collection of zoobooks!! ($0.30 each). A toy to help cora twist and turn and push...finger dexterity....fine motor movements with the aid of a big colorful flashy plastic toy ($2). And a xylophone that you press keys to make noise, because our pretty wood one with a mallet she just can't quite figure out how to make it work yet ($4).
** update: this xylophone is vintage!! Its from 1985! Thats vintage right? When I was like... 2, this baby was made, and now could sell on ebay for $6. What a steal**

And this sweet vintage desk/vanity was $19! totally perfect to refinish, but alas. I don't need any more desks.

ooo... zoobooks!!

Super fun. Thanks Young House Love! Now, I too, know how to link up (I think).  And check out all of the other links, people found some cool things! And that wood dolly bassinet?! Awesome. No such luck in Boise.

we have walking, folks.

This super bowl sunday was ahhh-mazing. Little Cora took her first steps!! She also stood all by herself, balanced and all. 9 months old. Way to go Cora!!!

You can only guess what we will be working on... all day... every day.
Eat your protein little sweets. It's walking time.