Discovery

Cora has discovered the TV! And now has enough coordination to turn it on and off, volume up and down, and channel up and down. I put one of our little ottomans in front of the TV to try to discourage her, but she's so fascinated with her new-found power to turn this big light on and off that she can't be deterred! Our new TV should come tomorrow or Monday, hopefully it doesn't have any low buttons.

I'm Everywhere She Wants To Be

Book Lover

When we went to wake Cora up to go to church yesterday, we found her head nestled on her books! She pulled them off of the table next to her crib and through the crib slats. What great lengths to go to to get another bedtime story!

Florida Video Clips

At the Beach



In the Pool

Orlando Pics

Kevin and Cora swimming in the pool at the rental house.

Kevin and I at Epcot.
Cora on her first safari (that's the back of an okapi in the background). We also saw hippos, rhinos, girrafes, elephants, and lots of other animals. It was a fun ride.
Cousin Kylee, also on her first safari, with a giraffe.
The whole gang at MGM Studios.

Where Dreams Come True

We spent last week at Disney World with Kevin's family. Cora did remarkably well, and loved all the colors, sounds, lights, and dancing from the street performers to the kiddie rides, the shows to the parades. What a trooper! She seemed to love it! And we had a great time as well.

Cora and Kevin at the afternoon parade in the Magic Kingdom. We saw this parade and the night spectro-magic parade, both were really cool!

Cora with the raptor at the Animal Kingdom.

Cora's first carousel ride.
Afternoon nap at Epcot. Kevin sat outside with her while I saw the film in France. More naptime! Cora has been taking much better naps at home than she used to, I think it must be because she learned how to sleep so well with so much going on around her at the theme parks. Or, she's still catching up!

Beach Time

In between our fun Disney World days, we took a trip to the Gulf to go to the beach. Cora loved playing in the sand.. and eating it too, so her sand time was cut short once she discovered this new texture in her mouth!
Cora also had a great time playing in the ocean too! Here she is with Dad, Grandma, and Cousin Sorayah.

We're Back!

We got back from Florida last night. We had a great time! We'll post more after we unpack..... but here's a clip of our adventures there.


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Notice how calmly Cora is taking our alien abduction!

Marathon

Last weekend Kissie and Pata came down to Salt Lake so Kissie could run the Salt Lake Marathon! It was so fun to see them, and Kissie was especially happy because she qualified for the Boston Marathon next year--Hurray! Here she is crossing the finish line (in the blue shirt next to the guy who was tripped!). This is my favorite marathon of mom's to watch because at the end the runners run through the Gateway mall, and you can see them coming from a ways off if you are up on one of the bridges. It's such a fun finish line!Cora has become more fussy lately about not liking things on her head or around her neck-- sunhats, bibs.... and marathon medals :). Hanging out in the hotel the night before after a yummy dinner.

Cora loves opening the mail with me every day, so going through all the marathon freebies and papers was an even bigger treat for her!
A glimpse of the two toothies!

For your linking pleasure...

If you want to laugh really hard about funny church situations, this is for you! http://www.mormonmommywars.com/?p=659

My goodness...
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Countdown to Florida!

We tried out Cora's little pool floatie tonight at bathtime. She cried at first, but then calmed down. I think she'll like it in the pool! Six days to go!

In other news, Cora started to cruise this week! Here's a video of her cruising motivated by Cheerios... but she'll do it on her own now too! 



Cora has also been using her walking toy quite a bit too. She can get all the way across the room! 

Will Cruise for Cheerios...

Cora started to cruise this week! Here's a video of her cruising motivated by Cheerios... but she'll do it on her own now too!



Cora has also been using her walking toy quite a bit too. She can get all the way across the room! Here's a clip.

Park City

We had a terrific fun weekend in Park City! Our neighbors came along with us, and we had a great time playing games, shopping, and biking on the Rail Trail. We were lucky to have beautiful blue skies all weekend, and Kevin even won a game or two! Here's a picture of the kiddies in their bike trailer at the trailhead. The Rail Trail goes on forever, we only biked a small section of it, so we'll have to go back for more. We stopped for a break on the downhill stretch for pictures. We went downhill all the way out, and consequently, uphill all the way back. We need to get out on our bikes more to make those uphill stretches easier! And, Kevin will have a built-in increase in his workout as Cora gets bigger....
Cora had a good time. She loved watching out the window while were were riding. She was zoning out quite a bit on the way back, and I think she would have fallen asleep, except she kept tilting to the side. We need to bring a blanket and create side supports for her next time.
We went to the park Sunday afternoon. Cora really did enjoy the slide more than it looks....
Cora's first time on the swings!




I think Cora was a little jealous that her friend could run around the playground... she'll just have to wait a few more months till she can walk around and gather woodchips too!
Even though Cora got to play with a friend, go for a bike ride, and get new clothes, I think her favorite part of the trip might have been playing in this cubbyhole in the bathroom. In and out and in and out! We put a pillow at the bottom to try and cushion her fall when she came out unpurposefully.

Happy Easter!

We were invited over to my cousin Monique's house for Easter dinner. We had a big yummy dinner, and then Monique had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard for the kids. So much fun!

Kevin and Cora hunting for eggs.

Cora with an egg and her cute, even matching, Easter bunny. She was too excited watching all the other kids to sit still for a picture!

Easter morning, before church. I loved this fancy dress for Cora-- she looked adorable! (And even though it was a Costco special, only one other little girl at church was wearing the same one!)

After church pictures in the backyard. Kind of bright outside!

Mama and Cora

Our neighbors saw us trying to do a timer picture and came out to help us. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very successful picture--shadows, closed eyes, and funny faces. Oh well!

Mmm.... Tastes like chocolate....

We did a lot of yard work on Saturday, trying to get our grow areas into shape. When we were putting down the last section of weed barrier, I set Cora down to stick in a stake really quick. She was even quicker! She had a handful of dirt in her mouth before we could blink! She must have thought it tasted good, because she tried for a second handful, and didn't seem to mind her new mud goatee, and cried when we denied her this new pleasure. We took pictures, then wiped her face and let her wash it down with some apple juice.

Biker Baby

Cora tried out the bike trailer for the first time this weekend! We took a trial ride last night, and then rode to the ward Easter party this morning. She seems to like it a lot. We're looking forward to riding on all the fun trails in Park City next weekend!

Here's Cora with her booty from the Easter Egg hunt! She did seem to be more fascinated by the long green grass than actually finding an egg though...

And, on April 4th, it was a breakthrough! No pictures available yet, but one of Cora's front teeth broke through this morning. Hurray! The other one should be out soon!

Breakthrough!

No pictures available yet, but one of Cora's front teeth broke through this morning. Hurray! The other one should be out soon!

Hello Kitty

Cora got a cute Hello Kitty dish set from Kissie and Pata last weekend. She loves playing with the plate, bowl, and glass, and especially loves eating Cheerios off of the plate! It was a bit hit. Cora also loved having more people around to love her and play with her. Her gum bumps keep getting bigger and bigger, but no top teeth yet!

On March 16th, Cora started clapping while ago (March 16th)! We're so proud of our big girl! 

Clapping

Cora started clapping while ago (March 16th), but we've had a hard time getting it on video. Here she is displaying her ball rolling skills and clapping too.

Outdoors

We made smoothies last Sunday and went outside to drink them. Cora didn't have any smoothie, but she did like the grass! Kevin says that we won't have to mow the lawn this summer if we take her outside enough to play. (Just so you aren't worried, the pieces of grass were so small Cora rarely could get them to her mouth, and when she could, we intervened!)

Stats

Cora had her nine month appointment with the pediatrician yesterday. She is 16 pounds 4 ounces, still in the 10th percentile. She is 27 inches long, so still about average for height. The doctor said Cora most likely wouldn't hit 20 pounds by her first birthday, so she'll be riding backwards in her carseat for a while yet! ... make that 'she'll be riding in her carseat rear-facing' -- not strapped in backwards!...