A Busy Holiday Season Thus Far

Thanksgiving has already come and gone, and we have begun looking forward to Christmas!
I had a great Thanksgiving at Mimi and Papa's house.  They had so many new toys for me to play with and everybody had a great time with me running around everywhere.  For the most part, Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing.  I was worried that it would be really cold in Chicago and I wouldn't have the opportunity to go outside and play, but I got to go outside a couple of times, when it wasn't raining of course!  Mimi and Papa took me down to the beach one day to play on the playground and I also enjoyed running around their backyard.  As long as I had my coat and hat on the cold didn't bother me at all.  
All of my meals were really delicious.  I ate so much it was so good.  Thankfully, I am a growing girl so I could eat as much as I wanted.
We have been making preparations around the house for Christmas.  Daddy started by hanging Christmas lights on the house which make it look so pretty. Then, this weekend we went in search of the Young family Christmas tree. It wasn't as magical as last year because it wasn't snowing outside. but it was a beautiful, warm sunny day which is hard to complain about.  After the nice tree man put the tree on the top of the car, we drove it home.  Daddy did a great job setting up the tree, and after all of the limbs settled, it turned out to be a VERY nice tree.  In the evening, we decorated the tree.  I helped Mommy put the first ornament on the tree and then I helped put all of the boxes away after the tree was decorated.  The tree looks beautiful.  Daddy built a nice stand for the tree to keep it higher off the ground hopefully I won't get into trouble.
Now that we are all decorated and ready for the holiday, we can just sit back, relax, listen to Christmas music and wait to see how many gifts under the tree are for me!!!

My New Bathroom

One of the paintings I did at school for Halloween!

Last week, Daddy finished the bathroom project.  Now I have a beautiful place to take my baths and brush my teeth!  I am so lucky.  He did a really nice job - and I really appreciate the pretty tile around the bathtub.  Hopefully next time I'm in the bathroom brushing my teeth or taking a bath someone will take a picture of me in my bathtub!

Watching the Christmas Parade!

This weekend was the Raleigh Christmas parade.  We were planning on going to see it, but then this week Mommy and Daddy both got sick so they didn't think it would be a good idea to stand outside in the cold.  So instead we watched the parade on TV.  I was okay with that because I could sit on my pony and watch it.  Mommy taught me how to squeeze pony's ears to get him to sing his song so I listen to it all the time.  I could hear that song over and over and over again - it just makes me smile!  
I've added some new words to my vocabulary recently.  I am now really good at saying, "Daddy" and when I am in the backyard I walk up to trees and say, "Tree".  When I see Sophie I tell her. "Hi Sophie!" and before I got to bed every night Mommy or Daddy read the letters in my name to me and say good night.  I'm having trouble with the first part so, I only say, "Eeeaaaa".  I'll get there eventually.  

Trying on Mommy's shoes

The weather outside is still pretty nice outside so we have been taking a lot of walks to the school.  Because Daddy is done with the bathroom, he can come on walks with us.  I like doing things as a family.  This week we are going on a family trip to Chicago for Thanksgiving!  There will be plenty of stories to tell about our adventure to Mimi and Papa's house!

A Busy October

Last week, Mommy left for a whole week to go somewhere for training.  I had such a fun time with Daddy.  He did a good job taking care of me.  When Mommy got back, I almost didn't remember who she was, but it didn't take me long to get back into the groove of things.  Right before Mommy left for the week, I got into a little bit of trouble. Daddy had been spending a lot of time in the bedroom working on the closet project and one time I got out of Mommy's sight and I snuck into the bedroom without her seeing me.  Unfortunately, I tripped an fell over a pile of wood and I came down on a sharp corner and cut my lip pretty badly.  Luckily, it bled a lot at first, but stopped just as fast as it started.  Mommy and Daddy were worried, but everything turned out okay.  It healed really fast and never bothered me, even when I ate.

I am preparing for Halloween.  It may be fun to go as a ghost since I love putting things over my head.  While Mommy was folding laundry today, I took the sock bag and put it over my head and pretended to be a ghost.  Mommy and Daddy had fun playing a game with me.  I would cover my head, and then pull the bag off and they would say Peek A Boo.  That would make me laugh!
I am perfecting more words these days.  I am excellent at yelling, "Yee Haw!" It's all the pony riding that I have been doing recently that got me so good at saying that.  I also do a really good job saying, "Ball."  I say it when we throw the balls around the house and I see a lot of kids playing at the school with them.  When I see them, I point and say it.  Other than that, I've been up to my same old tricks.  

Fall Weather

Eating oatmeal in my warm pajamas

Its the beginning of October, and its starting to feel like fall.  All of my summer clothes are getting packed away and I get to wear some new long sleeved outfits.  I even have new pajamas that keep me warm all night!  There isn't a whole lot of new things to report, but that I have been trying out a lot of new sounds with my mouth.  I now say Baaa Beh and am perfecting my wave so that every person I see I can wave to say Hi!
I'm learning what my belly button is now.  If Mommy or Daddy show me theirs, I walk over by myself and lift up my shirt to see if I have one and I do!  For a long time I was afraid of belly buttons, but now that I know I have one, they aren't so bad anymore.  
The other day at daycare when Mommy dropped me off I had a bad breakout in hives.  My face got red, my eyes puffy and the rash was all over my neck.  I wasn't too happy about that, but shortly after Mommy left, it went away and I felt fine.  It seems like I get the red rash and white dots a lot on my face, especially when I drink my milk, but they go away just as fast as they come so I don't worry about it too much.  I am totally used to the taste of whole milk now.  It took me a while to get used to it, but last week I started drinking just milk without any formula in it.  Eating is fun; I like to eat what Mommy and Daddy are eating and its nice to taste new foods.  
Now I must get back to opening kitchen cabinets and reading my books.  I am just too busy these days to sit and write all the time!

Carrying around a basketball that I found at the school

Hi!

I have been a busy little peanut recently!!!  There have been so many things I want to do these days, I don't have time for this computer stuff anymore.  I am really enjoying eating dinner with Mommy and Daddy these days.  For the most part I get to eat what they are having for dinner, however I usually have to start earlier than them and I end up finished after them because I'm a slow eater.  Mommy and Daddy say its healthy to eat slow, so I'm never in any rush to finish eating.
I've also been practicing with my vocabulary.  I have moved away from my uh oh's and started saying Hi! and A, B, C. Sometimes I wonder why Mommy and Daddy keep saying Hi to me when they have seen me all day long.  I say hi back, just to be nice, but I think they are silly for doing that.  Almost everyday I get to go for walks in my wagon.  Sometimes, Mommy takes me to the field at the school and lets me run around.  After a while, I get tired so I run back to my wagon so Mommy can walk me while I relax.  Daddy hasn't been joining me for my walks because he is busy doing work in their bedroom.  He is making a lot of loud noises and I'm not allowed to go in there when he is working.  I do get to see when he is done at the end of each day, which is exciting.  He us building a new closet so that my bathroom can be bigger!  I can't wait to see when it is finished.
I got a red soccer ball for my birthday which I am having a lot of fun chasing.  I like to run after it when Mommy or Daddy throws it and I am so nice to bring it back so they will do it again!  The past few days it has been cooler outside so I have to start wearing pants.  This morning Daddy dressed me in all pink.  Later on during the day after Mommy changed my diaper she forgot to button my onesie before pulling up my pants, so I looked like a little dancer with a leotard.  It made them laugh, so it didn't bother me very much.

Grown Up Foods

Quite a bit has been changing since my first birthday!  I went to the doctor last week. Of course, it wasn't very fun because I had to get some shots, but I am up to 19lbs 4oz and I'm growing right on schedule.  My doctor says I can eat all the foods Mommy and Daddy eat, and I can drink real milk now.  The grown up foods are fun, but I'm still not so sure about the milk.  Mommy and Daddy are starting to figure out how I like to eat too. They bought me some new dishes that stick to my tray so I can't throw them around and spill my food.  And, as long as they cut up my food into small enough pieces, I will definitely put it in my mouth and eat it.  I'm still trying to get the hang of holding a spoon, but sometimes it's just easier to use my fingers.  After this past weekend, Mommy and Daddy are glad that I am eating so well.  After the doctor on Friday, I came home and my tummy was upset.  During dinner I had to throw up.  Then I kept throwing up after dinner until finally everything was out.  Then I felt better.  This was the first time I had ever been sick like that - it was NO FUN!  At least it didn't prevent me from getting a good night's rest.  I woke up ready to go the next morning!
This evening we went to the school in my wagon so that I could run around in the grass.  I've never been able to run across a field before; it sure was a lot of fun!  It's like I had no limits!  The weather is starting to cool off a bit and not be as hot as it was in the summer, so we are starting to take family walks every day again.  

THE BIG ONE

Last week I celebrated my first birthday!!!!  My birthday started out like any normal day. Mommy took me to daycare and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Early in the afternoon, Daddy came to pick me up and I went home to spend the afternoon with Mommy and Daddy!  After a nice afternoon, we got ready to go to a Durham Bulls game!  I got to meet a lot of people who Mommy works with and I ate lots of baked beans!  I love baked beans!  I also love running around and making people smile.  I did a really good job of that at the baseball game.  I don't actually think I watched any of the game I was too busy exploring.
On Friday, my cousins came to visit.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy were so excited to see me! Before I knew it, Grammie and Grandpa arrived too.  All of my family was here to be with me for my birthday party, which was scheduled for Saturday!  Although it was kind of hard to get to sleep on Friday night with all the anticipation for my big party, I slept well.  The best part was, when I woke up I got to see Grammie and Grandpa.  We had a nice morning together.  It was really dark, rainy and windy outside.  Apparently, there was a hurricane outside.  Hurricane Irene had arrived on the day of my birthday!! The weather wasn't so bad in the morning, but it seemed to get worse as the day progressed.  

Lots of preparations were being made for my party: cooking, baking, decorating, playing with my cousins! Grammie made me a lamb cake for my birthday too!  It was a cute lamb, and it looked so pretty.  Just after we got done taking pictures with the lamb cake, THE POWER WENT OUT!!!! It was dark in the house, but not too dark to see my big Happy Birthday sign hanging in the window!  When my birthday party finally started, more of Mommy and Daddy's good friends arrived.  Everyone was talking and saying happy birthday to me.  It was a fun time!  We ate food (Grammie fed me beans, my favorite) and enjoyed everyone's company.  Then, it was time for presents!  I loved all of my presents.  At first, I didn't really know what to do since it had been so long since I had last opened presents.  After a while though, I got into it.  When I opened the rocking pony, I got scared.  I didn't like it around me and everyone was laughing.  I don't know why.  I didn't thin it was funny, it was scary.  After my gifts were all opened it was time for cake!  I had a beautiful lamb cake AND a cake that said Happy 1st Birthday Cora too!  TWO CAKES!  I felt so special.  Daddy lit the candle and then everybody sang happy birthday to me! We blew out the candle and then I got to try the cake!  The lamb cake was delicious.  I was very well behaved with the cake - I didn't get too much in my hair and I licked my fingers so that I didn't get cake everywhere.  It was such a good birthday - I had no idea that so many people loved me that much!  No wonder I'm always so happy!!

When the hurricane finally left, the sun came out and it was beautiful outside.  I had a nice Sunday with family.  We got to go to a hotel and play on beds (my favorite) and then I ran around while everyone had breakfast.  Unfortunately, after breakfast, my cousins had to leave.  They had to go make sure everything was okay at their house after the hurricane.  Grammie and Grandpa were still there, so I got to spend time with them.  In the evening, Mommy and Daddy left for a while and I had a fun time with Grammie and Grandpa.  We played together, ate dinner and went for a walk in my wagon.  I wish I could see my family more often - I love them so much.  Too bad I don't have a birthday every month!!!

Graduation

This week I graduated into the "waddlers" room at daycare!  Ms Jennifer says that I'm doing a really good job adjusting to the new eating schedule and I'm getting much better napping!  On water day Wednesday, I was so exhausted from playing in the water I slept for 3 hours!!!  I really like the new room at daycare because the other kids and I get to sit in our own chairs at a table and eat lunch and afternoon snacks together.  At daycare, they have been letting me use spoons on my own to practice eating!  I've really started to get a hang of this eating thing! For the most part its FUN!  When I am home in the afternoons and I eat my snack with Mommy and Daddy and when we are eating goldfish, they let me put my hand in the bag and pick my own fish out to eat!  I'm also getting to be really good on my feet too - when Mommy and Daddy let me out of my stroller while we are shopping, I can disappear very quickly!  I keep them on their toes!
This afternoon, I got to go swimming!  I had such a fun time!  The baby pool is my favorite - its the perfect depth for me because I can walk around the whole thing!  There is a big pole that sprays water into the pool and its fun to get splashed in the face! Even though I managed to bump my toe the wrong way on the concrete and rip off my small toenails, its not bothering me too much.  I hope it grows back though!
I have also started to climb on things; I figure if I'm already walking, I may as well just start doing everything else.  While Mommy and Daddy were eating dinner tonight, I decided to climb up onto my highchair. With the tray pulled off of it, I can grab the seat and climb up onto the foot rest!  My muscles are so strong!!!

Busy Body

I know!  It has been FOREVER since my last post!  It has been such a busy summer!  And because I STARTED WALKING over two weeks ago I haven't had the time to sit down and write. Plus, we have had so much company visiting on the weekends, I have too many things I want to do with my visitors!  Mimi and Papa just left from their weekend visit, so I'm finally going to sit down and write about how my summer has been since our family vacation!
My First Steps

On Thursday, July 28 I took my first steps!  When Daddy picked me up after daycare, my teacher told him that I had taken a couple of steps on my own.  When I got home, I took a few more for Daddy! Let's just say, the rest is history because I haven't turned back since my first steps.  Now, two weeks later I'm such a pro at walking.  I can do full U-Turns if I need to turn around quickly, I can carry multiple toys at a time, I can get up all on my own without assistance (which only took me a week to figure out) and I'm trying to figure out how to do the hokey pokey.  Mimi and Papa tried to teach me this weekend and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it!  I am just having such a good time exploring everything standing on my two feet I'm just loving it!  I also figured out two weeks ago how to drop the balls into my ball tracker - every time I drop another ball in the right spot I clap my hands!
My Godparents Visit

The weekend after I started walking, my godparents, Uncle Dickie and Louisa came to visit!  I was so excited to share my newest skills with them.  Although I always take a while to warm up to Uncle Dickie, by the time they left I felt so comfortable with him, he could feed me my bottle.  While they were visiting, we went to a Durham Bulls game!  I had so much fun walking around the ball park!  Both Mommy and Daddy took turns walking me around and Uncle Dickie carried me around for a bit explaining how the game baseball is played.  I had a great time, it was so nice of them to come visit!
Mimi and Papa Visit
Just this past weekend, Mimi and Papa came to see me!  Although I won't get to see them on my birthday since Mimi starts school a few days before my birthday, I got to have a nice weekend with them all to myself!  They do such a good job babysitting me - they love reading to me and I LOVE to make them laugh!  It was so much fun doing the hokey pokey with them.  We also got to go shopping this weekend and I helped pick out my birthday present!  I picked out an awesome Radio Flyer wagon!!!  We brought it home and while I was napping, Daddy and Papa assembled the wagon so when I woke up I went for a walk in my new wagon with Mimi and Papa!  I feel like such a queen in my wagon!  I love it and I loved spending time with my Mimi and Papa this weekend!
I have to say...after a day of walking, falling, exploring, talking, opening doors, peeking out windows, jumping on pillows I am so tuckered out.  Sometimes I can't even stay awake long enough for Mommy to come home from work!  Its no big deal though because Daddy is a great guy to take naps with after school!

Summer Vacation: Part II

Although the summer heat was intense, we beat the heat and had a great trip visiting our nation's capital with its monuments and museums.  Mommy and Daddy learned some new things about me on this trip: I enjoy screaming in places that have echoes, I do not like dark museums, I like to sneak into rooms if the door is left open, I'm a charmer in restaurants, and no matter where you put me to bed, I will sleep all night long.  We had such fun filled days on our trip, its no wonder I slept so well at night.

On Tuesday we woke up and had a nice breakfast at the hotel.  Without wasting a minute, Mommy and Daddy loaded me into my stroller and we were walking down 16th street towards the White House, where President Obama lives.  After taking a peek of the outside, we were already off again towards the National Mall.  Once we arrived, we viewed the Washington Monument, then walked over to the World War II Veterans Memorial.  We stayed there for a bit and remembered my great grandfather, Gramps because he is a WWII veteran.  No sooner did we take a moment for some photo opportunities when we were off again towards Constitution Gardens where we stopped so I could eat breakfast.

Mommy walked around with me for a bit after breakfast, and then we walked over to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  I remember it being very quiet as we walked along the wall, and it was so shiny that I could see my reflection in it.  At the end of the wall, we kept walking along the sidewalk and it took us to another large monument: the Lincoln Memorial.  Unfortunately the Reflecting Pool was drained due to renovations, so I couldn't see any reflections in it.  We went inside of the Lincoln Memorial and got into an elevator which took us up inside where there was a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln.  It was huge!  There was so many people there, we didn't stay long.  Back at the bottom again, we walked back towards the mall and into another memorial, this one for the Korean War Veterans.  It was cool seeing the oversize statues of soldiers.  We took a moment to rest in the shade at this memorial in preparation for a short walk around the Tidal Basin.  Along the way we stopped at the FDR Memorial.  I liked this one a lot - mainly because I got to get out of my stroller and enjoy some of the waterfalls built into the walls.  It was starting to get really warm by this time so I was happy to get back into my stroller.  We strolled along the water towards the Jefferson Memorial and once we arrived there, we got onto another elevator to see a statue of Thomas Jefferson.  There are so many interesting memorials to see in Washington!  By this time I was pretty warn out.  Luckily, our next stop was the Holocaust Museum.  It was cool inside there, but once we got inside the exhibits, I wasn't so happy.  I didn't like the dark areas - which was basically the whole museum.  We had to hurry along through the exhibits; I felt bad because it was so quiet and solemn and everytime I made a noise, it made Mommy and Daddy disappointed.  Finally we made it through - and did I ever scream for joy once we got to the brightly lit areas.  After we left the museum, we walked back toward the hotel and stopped off for dinner along the way.  We were all hot, thirsty and tired from walking so much so we enjoyed sitting for dinner.  We had delicious Lebanese cuisine.  When we were ready go, we had a nice casual walk back to the hotel.  The room we had in the hotel only had a shower, so it was fun getting a bath.  Mommy would hold me and daddy would shower me off - it was a fun change from my tub at home, but I miss eating my bubbles!

The next day we woke up and had a nice breakfast again.  When we left the hotel, we walked to a Metro station.  This was a fun experience!  We went deep down underground, bought some tickets and then got onto a train that took us to Arlington Cemetery.  We went to the visitor's center and bought some tickets for an open air bus that took us to the major sites in the cemetery: JFK's burial place, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers where we saw the changing of the guards and the Arlington House.  We saw some neat views of downtown Washington, DC from there.  Once the bus tour was over, we got back onto the Metro which took us back to the Smithsonian.  Daddy was really good at navigating the Metro - it always got us exactly where we needed to go.  Once at the Smithsonian, we walked up the Mall a bit towards the Air and Space Museum.  It was very crowded there and we were so exhausted from our morning that we didn't last too long before we decided to leave and head back to the hotel.  I got to play around a bit in the hotel before dinner.  We had a nice walk to a Japanese restaurant and a nice dinner once we got there.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and were all ready for a shower and bed.  Walking around all day is exhausting!!!

We woke up on Thursday morning - I couldn't believe it was our LAST DAY already!  I wonder what was in store for today???  We walked down to the Museum of American History and started our day there.  I liked this museum more than others.  The things to look at were much more interesting, AND it wasn't as dark.  After an enjoyable morning there, we walked up the street to the National Archives.  We got to see the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Because I was in a stroller, we got to bypass the long line and go through a special entrance!  We looked a some other exhibits there, then made our way to another museum.  Along the way I took a nap, and when I woke up, we were at the Building Museum.  It was really big inside!  We spent the afternoon there, and when we were done, we took the Metro back to the hotel.  We relaxed for a bit and then went out for dinner.  I think each day, we took on a few less things, mainly because it got hotter each day we were there and we wanted to be relaxed on our vacation.
On Friday we packed everything up for our drive home.  We stopped unexpectedly on the way out of town to see the National Cathedral.  I'm happy we stopped because it was an amazing place.  The ceilings were so high and the windows were beautiful.  There was even a chapel that had chaired sized for small people like me!  After touring the Cathedral, we got back into the car and headed home. I had such a good time and I'm so glad Mommy and Daddy took me on a summer vacation!!!

Summer Vacation: Part I

We just returned from a wonderful family trip - I'm still helping with the laundry and taking it easy to recover from all the fun I had with my family last week.  Since we did so many things, I will split it into parts.  Its not easy sitting for a long period of time and typing.  After spending Thursday evening packing everything, we woke up Friday morning and got in the car and drove for a long time!  We were headed to Philadelphia where we were going to meet Uncle Dickie and Louisa.  We arrived late in the afternoon, and was I ever excited to be out of the car.  I got to meet some new dogs, Walter and Lady who were both very nice.  I liked Lady a little better because she didn't lick me or jump up on me.  We played around a while, then ate dinner and relaxed.  Before I knew it, I was already getting ready for bed.  I guess it was mainly a travel day, but I still had fun, and I was tuckered out from all the travel.

Trying out my birthday gifts!

When I woke up in the morning I got to open up an early birthday present from Uncle Dickie and Louisa!  It was fun - and I even got to try on some of the clothes that they got for me.  After a late breakfast we had to leave.  We had to get back into the car so we could drive to New Jersey.  The ride wasn't nearly as long as the day before, but there was traffic so it seemed like forever.  Eventually we made it to our hotel - which had a great view of New York.  You could see all of downtown from our window, so even though we didn't actually go into the city, I got pretty darn close!  Soon after we unpacked our stuff in the hotel, Grammie and Grandpa arrived!  Shortly after that, my cousins came too!  It was like a big family reunion!  We all gathered together in the hotel for a while, and then decided to go for some dinner with even more people!  We had a nice dinner outside, but it always seems like my bedtime creeps up on us so we had to leave to go to bed.  I tried to be on my best behavior meeting all of Daddy's family - I think I did a good job!  Everybody was so happy to finally meet me! Mommy and Daddy set up a really cool bed for me in the hotel room - they hung a blanket over a lap so that the light wouldnt bother me while I was sleeping but it was like I was in a big tent!!!

Swimming with my cousins

The next day we woke up and spent more time with family.  I got to go swimming with my cousins - Kaitlyn did a really good job swimming with me.  After that, we had to get showered and ready for a big wedding!  Mommy, Daddy and I got all dressed up and soon left with Grammie and Grandpa to go to a big church where we saw Daddy's cousin Laura get married.  There were people in the pews behind me smiling at me I had plenty in the church to keep me intrigued so I was very well behaved.  It was a beautiful ceremony and before I knew it, we were outside taking family photos and back in the car.  When we got back to the hotel, Randi - one of Mommy's friends met us.  Mommy talks to her a lot so it was nice getting to meet her.  Unfortunately, I was not allowed to go to the reception for the wedding, so Mommy, Randi, Kaitlyn, Lauren and I went out to eat together.  I had such a fun time with them!  It was like a girls night out! My cousins are so much fun!!!  I love them!

Posing for a picture outside the church

On Monday morning, we all woke up (some more slower than others because they had fun the night before) and went out to eat breakfast at a diner.  There must have been 40 people all gathered together! Soon after we finished eating though, we had to say goodbye to everybody because everyone was going home.  We were only getting the second part of our trip started!  Next stop: Washington, DC!!!!

Me and Randi: "Smiley Face"

Me and Randi: "Fish Face"

Me and Randi: "Another Picture? Face"