Snowflake Lane

We made it once again to Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square...barely. Audrey woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and it took a lot of willpower not to call the whole thing off. Especially since we are packing up the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape as we drive to Eastern WA tomorrow. I'm sure the memories of having to drag her screaming through the mall will soon fade and we will just remember the awe on her face when the lights were flashing, the toy soldiers were drumming, and lollipops practically fell from the sky just like the "snow" that magically appeared for 20 minutes on a 40 degree December night.

Audrey still loved the life-sized stuffed animals just as much as last year, and even boogied down with the snowman this year. The second we got there, she asked if she could have a lollipop - apparently that was a momentous event last time. The snow was a hit; we had to move closer so she could try to catch it on her tongue.

Cora seemed to have fun as well, even though we kept her up way past her bedtime. She snuggled in close in the ergo and took in all the sights and sounds. I think if she could talk, she would have asked us "Is this what happens after I go to bed each night?" She promptly fell asleep seconds after the music stopped.

All in all, it was a worthwhile trip, but to again quote one of our generation's most insightful cinematic masterpieces...

Hallelujah! Holy sh*t! Where's the Tylenol?

Gingerbread People

Thanks to Nana for coordinating a gingerbread people making extravaganza!

Operation Cora Stocking

...finished!

Santa Time

Audrey was once again thrilled to meet with the big guy. And this year we even got a smile!! Cora is fortunately at that blissfully ignorant age where she really doesn't care where she sits. Let's hope that some of Audrey's adoration rubs off on her for next year.

And for those of you who are interested, here are some of the pictures from previous years:

2011

2010

2009

Beautiful Baby #2

Kelly and Audrey ran some errands a few days ago, leaving Cora home with me to take a few six-month pictures. We did a similar photo session with Audrey when she was six months old. Even though you aren't supposed to compare, it's fun to see the differences.

Kelly and I agree, this first one is what Cora looks like about 90% of the day. It is exactly the picture we have in our heads when we think of her.

Letters to Santa

Audrey has definitely been more excited about Santa this year and it has been fun. Lately, she has been talking about writing letters to Santa. And so she did.

The letters A and B written and delivered to Santa (aka Mom in a Santa hat).

Corn on the cobb, anyone?

Okay, it might be a little too early for that (and the wrong season) but Cora is on her way. Her first tooth (the lower left central incisor, to be exact) popped through last night. While getting a first tooth at almost 7 months might seem a little late to most, Audrey didn't have any teeth until 10 months so we weren't holding our breath. Although I have to say I'm relieved to know there was a reason for all that drool. No pictures yet but we hope to get one soon.

December 1st

Cora is sitting up on her own (and stable enough for me to trust her there without a pillow backup) but not yet crawling. She can only move backwards at this point. Let's hope it stays that way so we can get through the next 25 days without having to figure out how to baby proof our tree!

Thanksgivings

Following in a similar tradition as last year, we were lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving twice. Thursday was Honey Baked Ham Day in our new home. Nana came up for dinner and even let Audrey help her tear the bread for the stuffing. Audrey once again had the "one for the bowl, two for my mouth" mindset.

The real Thanksgiving was on Friday with the whole family gathering at Nana's house. Audrey was able to get in some playtime with her cousins and Cora thoroughly enjoyed her green beans. Great food, great fun with family - couldn't ask for more.

Audrey Quote #6

We'll frame this as an Audrey quote, but really it's the back story that is funny.

Me: What did you have for breakfast today?

Audrey: Oatmeal, but I didn't like it.

Me: What did you put on it?

Audrey: Raisins, but I didn't like the oatmeal. It was too mushy.

Now, two more pieces of information will help put you in my frame of reference. 1) She loves oatmeal. I mean, she loooooves oatmeal. Like, she'll eat three bowls of it along with her milk and banana. And 2) she will add a bit of misinformation to her stories now and again. Like, "Hey Daddy, we went to the gym today!" (with Mom in the background, shaking her head "no" with an "I don't know what she is talking about" look on her face). Needless to say, I didn't really believe the fact that she didn't like her oatmeal.

It wasn't until tonight that Kelly tells me about how she tried to pull a fast one over on Audrey this morning and make her instant oatmeal instead of the real deal. And, just as Audrey said, she didn't eat more than one bite.

Apparently we have created an oatmeal snob.

It looks like it is slow-simmered artisan steel-cut European roasted Snoqualmie Falls oatmeal (preferably with dark brown sugar at her request, though light is acceptable), or nothing.

Christmas Stocking

Operation Cora Stocking has officially begun.

The fabric (which was actually purchased over a year ago) has finally been cut. Now we have just 32 days to get it finished. I think it can happen but I'm a little wary considering how long things have taken in the past. We'll be sure to post a final picture if once it does get finished.

Audrey Quote #5

Audrey: I'm trying to put this boogie crumb back in my nose.

Me: Why are you doing that?

Audrey: Because it lives there.

Obviously.

The little rock star

Don't worry...we're starting Cora off early with her musical career too.

She'll be rocking out with Audrey any day now.

6 month outtakes

I don't know if we'll end up doing this every month but there are some funny pictures that we just had to share. Here is the nice 6 month shot:

And then we have the ones that made us giggle. I think she might be telling us she is getting a little frustrated/impatient about these monthly photo shoots.

The Performer

Audrey is becoming a little less shy in front of the camera. Tonight we were treated to an extemporaneous piano and guitar recital. We have no idea where she gets this stuff.

Time for some real food!

First we had excitement.

And then there was a bite.

And the result? Meh.

But we kept going, allowing for the recommended three day wait before trying something new. We were excited to move on to some real flavors. We picked carrots as her second food and had some avocados waiting in the fridge. Unfortunately, carrots did not go over well.

We didn't even get to take pictures of the avocado. She started crying the second it reached her lips. It also caused a little of an aversion to the highchair. So we backed off for a few days and tried a little rice cereal here and there holding her in our laps. A trip to the store to get some oatmeal is where things started to turn around. On her second day of oatmeal (which also happened to be on her 6 month birthday) she devoured the entire bowl. We could not get it in her mouth fast enough. I'm sure the flavor helped but we like to think that she really just wanted to wait until she was officially 6 months old before she could really enjoy her food.

Since then we've had many successes and pears are the favorite so far. She's even decided that she does like carrots. We haven't been brave enough yet to go for the avocado again. Our plan was to stick with one food at a time and slowly introduce the mixed food like we did with Audrey.

However that all got thrown out the window tonight when she tasted and LOVED some our split pea soup. Audrey ended up happily finishing Cora's pureed peas while Cora feasted on Audrey's soup.

November 1st

I know I don't understand all that goes on between them and I'm sure that my confusion will only get worse as they get older. But for now, it makes for some cute pictures.

Weekend Celebrations, part 2

We have been able to make a trip to a pumpkin patch part of Audrey's birthday celebrations for the last three years now. Definitely one benefit of an October birthday! This year, we went to Remlinger Farm. Remlinger is more than just your average pumpkin farm - it is a kids amusement park wonderland, complete with ponies, a train, and rides. This girl LOVES rides and we even got her on her very first roller coaster. Big smiles and giggles the whole time. I see a lot of fun in our future!

We spent a fair bit of time crawling through the hay maze and even more time jumping in their gigantic hay pit. The hay ended up everywhere!

And if that wasn't enough, we also got to ride the tractor-pulled wagon out to the pumpkin patch. Cora spent most of the day in the ergo but we were able to get a few photos in the pumpkin field (although someone was not happy about having to share her wagon for that last photo!).

Weekend celebrations, part 1

Audrey's birthday celebrations started off with a big dinner party with family and friends. We absolutely love that we live so close to everyone now and are able to have these get togethers. Here are some of the pictures from the evening.