We traveled to Houston for Thanksgiving and Cora did phenomenally!  It was our longest trip in the car with her (about 3 hours each way) and she barely complained (maybe a little, right at the end).  We bought her a little toy steering wheel / gear shifter toy that she can hold in her lap that makes lots of driving sounds, and she seems to enjoy that.  It was a full day, stopping in at 4 separate houses in one day, and Cora did not miss a beat.  She got to meet a ton of new people in my family and enjoyed herself the entire time.  She especially enjoyed playing with her second cousins Nathan and Andrew, since they were the closest to her in age. She never fussed once all day, which is amazing, even for the pretty mellow kid she is.  We expected the worst, and were pleasantly surprised (I just know that she’s setting us up for something…)

We were glad to finally make it home safe and sound, and now we’re looking forward to traveling in the opposite direction to see Kasi’s side of the family for Christmas in a few weeks.  In fact, we already have our tree set up and lit (a bit different from the last couple of years when we skipped the tree altogether — I guess having a kiddo tends to bring out that Christmas spirit).

We’ve had several people ask us what they can get Cora for Christmas (and then, her birthday coming up in February).  Well, now there’s no need to guess!  We’ve set up a wish list for Cora on Amazon.com.  Of course, you may still feel free to get her anything you like — believe me, she’s not choosy   However, if you need some ideas, this should help you out.

Holy cow I’ve been dropping the ball on posting lately!  Between Cora and getting back into some contracting (oh, and a little more remodeling in the house…), I’ve been juggling a lot of stuff lately.  The last time I posted photos Cora was 6 months old (and that did not even include her awesome 6-month studio photos) — she just turned 9 months old on Monday.  There haven’t been that many changes since then, have there?

Um, yeah… Here’s a brief list to recap some of the new things in the past couple of months.  I’m sure it’s incomplete, but that’s what I get for waiting so long to post.

• Cora graduated from the infant carrier to the larger-size seat-style car seat a few months back.  A couple more months and she’ll be able to face front in the car!
• She is now crawling around like crazy, and the only way to keep her contained is to build a fence around her.
• She definitely understands certain things, like we can call her from across the room to get her attention and she’ll stop what she’s doing and crawl to us.  It’s amazing to see her comprehension increase every day.
• She can pull herself up to standing with ease and has been cruising around on the furniture.  No independent standing yet, but she’s working on that too.
• She’s been eating solid foods for the past couple of months and loving it, including apples, pears, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes and oat meal.  Basically, she eats much better than we do.

• She graduated out of her padded baby tub and is now in the full bath tub since she can sit up without a problem.  Bath time is now one of here favorite things to do, and she loves chasing all of her little bath toys around the tub.
• She’s already showing remarkable musical interest, and even ability.  We got her a little keyboard that has an attached microphone, and she loves “playing” the keyboard and “singing” in the microphone (which is probably the funniest thing she does at this point).  She also really loves sitting in daddy’s lap while I play the piano, and “helping” me with my songs.
• She’s a fantastic sleeper.  She usually goes to bed by 6:30 or so (although that may move to 7-ish soon) and sleeps like a log until 6 or 6:30 in the morning.  Even then, she usually just wakes up to eat and then goes back to sleep until 7:15 or so.  As much work as she is, it’s nice that we get a break in the evenings to relax without her.
• She loves the cats and dogs (much more then they love her at this point).  She’ll now crawl after them and try to assault, I mean pet, them.  Keeps them on their toes!
• She loves turning light switches on and off.
• She’s really showing tons of personality nowadays.  Amazingly she still hasn’t given us a true belly laugh, but she definitely has a sense of humor and a distinct personality.

I’m sure there’s more, but you get the idea.  She’s now a pretty typical happy and healthy 9-month-old (well, actually she’s getting over a mild cold this week).  I’m really enjoying her these days — she’s so much more interactive and fun than even a month or two ago.  But of course, she’s a lot more work now too now that she can get into anything (and usually does).

Since I haven’t posted photos for several months, there are a lot of new ones on our Flickr page (several pages worth actually).  You can go to the main photo page, or here are a few groups of photos you can jump straight to:

• Blue chair photos (I added photos for September, October and November)
• September 2009 (includes our 6-month photo shoot, must see!)
• October 2009 (don’t miss her kitty cat Halloween costume!)
• November 2009

I’ll try really hard not to let several months pass until my next post!  I’ll plan on posting some photos from our first family Thanksgiving within the next week or so

I’ll close out this post with our hands-down favorite family portrait, courtesy of our new photographer-for-life, Ginny B (who we simply cannot recommend highly enough!):

“The academic studies show that what infants learn from watching a family member once takes them four times as long to absorb in a DVD. And the very act of watching a DVD with the pulsing refresh rate of the screen can be at the same time soporific and stimulating, making it more difficult for them to get restful sleep. The only thing they learn from these DVDs is how to watch television.”

Read more.

Good times.  Next post we’ll be back to our regularly-scheduled Cora updates (which I am woefully behind on — I have lots of new pics to post soon!)

We figured out early on with Cora that our typical musical fare in the car and at home wouldn’t work long term.  Many of our favorite artists tend to curse a lot and dwell on topics like drug abuse and depression.  I was bound and determined to guide Cora’s musical life from the beginning so that I can try to avoid getting sucked into the Barney trap (and of course, so that my daughter will grow up with good musical taste ).  I know that eventually there will likely be Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana style concerts in my future, and I’m — ahem — OK with that.  But I refuse to listen to singing purple dinosaurs.

A lot of people talk about how great the Wiggles are — how they aren’t the typical kiddie band, because they were a real band originally and then turned “kiddie” later on.  I looked them up on Amazon where they generally get glowing reviews and 4+ stars on every album.  I’ve had great luck in trusting Amazon reviews in general, so I plunked down 10 bucks and got a Wiggles album.  BIG mistake.  Seriously, these guys are annoying.  Every song is wiggle this and wiggle that — OK, we get it.  I mean I realize that the point is to entertain toddlers, but I don’t understand how adults could enjoy it.  It’s absolutely grating.

I have since spent several hours online searching out stuff that would be good for Cora and wouldn’t drive me nuts.  So without further ado, here are some of my current favorite albums for (parents of) infants and young toddlers:

Snacktime

by Barenaked Ladies

This is a really fun album by a “normal” grownup band that was never too serious to begin with.  The lyrics are playful and often very funny (Crazy ABC’s still makes me laugh).  BNL have been around long enough that they are well practiced at crafting catchy pop melodies and that really comes through on this album.  All of the songs are great, but I challenge anyone alive to listen to Popcorn (track 10) and not instantly start smiling and singing along.

My Best Day

by Trout Fishing in America

This is actually a live concert album, and was my introduction to TFiA.  I subsequently bought one of their studio albums (It’s a Puzzle, which is also quite good) but there is something about the energy of their live set that I really like.  In fact, of the songs that are on both albums, I generally enjoy the live versions more, which is not always the case with other concert albums I own.  Also, being a concert album, it’s a “greatest hits” song list of sorts, and the songs are (mostly) really good.  In particular, Kasi and I both find ourselves singing My Hair Had a Party Last Night and My Pants Fell Down long after the iPod has been turned off.  My hands-down favorite song in my entire “kiddie” music collection at this point is the live version of Alien in My Nose — fantastically catchy and energetic music paired with hilarious lyrics.  When this song comes on in the car even when I’m by myself, I crank it up and sing along — not bad for a kiddie tune!

Whaddaya Think of That?

by Laurie Berkner

This is a somewhat low-key, mostly acoustic album of super-catchy “singer/songwriter” tunes.  The music is good, but it’s the lyrics and melodies that really stand out compared to most other kid’s songs.  Laurie Berkner really has a knack for writing tunes that seem simple, but will really stick in your head and encourage singing along.  The album opener We Are the Dinosaurs will grab you right from the start with its marching tempo, and is one of my favorites.  Some other standout tracks include Doodlebugs, I Love My Rooster (the “cock-a-doodle-doo-dee-doodley-doo” refrain in the chorus is infectious) and Last Night I Had a Dream.

Pop Fly

by Justin Roberts

I don’t really love Justin Roberts’ voice to be honest.  It’s a bit nasally for my usual taste.  With that said, I still love this album on the strength of the music and songwriting, which incorporates a lot of humor.  The opening title track Pop Fly is really funny and the chorus is instantly memorable. Big Field Trip is another one with a great chorus that I love singing to when it comes on.  And of course, the song Stay-at-Home Dad has a special place in my heart since the lyrics hit so close to home for me

Electric Storyland

by The Sippy Cups

This album is seriously awesome, and anyone who is at all drawn to the late ’60’s rock/pop/psychedelic vibe will love it.  Of course I bought the album on the strength of the album title alone (I mean really, any children’s album that is named in reference to a Jimi Hendrix record simply has to be good) and I was not disappointed.  The music and songwriting are infectiously catchy (Drinking From the Sky, Springtime Fantastic, Flower Tower) and you won’t even notice that it’s kiddie music.  Little Puffer is a driving train song with a fun beat and a chorus that will stick in your head for a while.  My favorite song is probably I Am a Robot, a mellow little pop song very reminiscent of old Pink Floyd.  I really can’t praise this album highly enough.  Seriously, do yourself a favor — buy it now.

Smile Smile Smile

by Dan Zanes

This is just straightforward mellow acoustic rock with a fun vibe to it.  The lyrics are not particularly “kid’s lyrics” — they are just nice, easy-listening songs with fun melodies and good music that you could easily imagine hearing on the radio on any given day.  My favorites are Catch That Train and the titular feel-good tune Smile Smile Smile, both of which I sing along to every time they rotate onto the iPod.

I have a lot more music stored in the kiddie collection, but these are just some of my favorites. Do you have any other recommendations for me — I mean, for Cora? If so, let me know in the comments!

I just uploaded a nice big batch of photos for your enjoyment.  They cover about a month-and-a-half of activity (maybe I should post more often…).  You can check out July photos, August photos, or everything.

Let’s see, while I’m here, I guess I’ll mention some things that are new with Cora these days:

• She started sitting up by herself 2 weeks ago.  She still falls off balance a lot, but can consistently keep herself upright for minutes at a stretch.  That core is getting stronger and stronger each day!
• Because of that, Cora finally graduated from the reclining infant position on her high chair into the upright “6-12 month” position.  That’s progress!
• Along those lines, we tried sitting in the grocery basket kiddie seat at the store last week and Cora was able to sit in it just fine.  This will make shopping much easier when it’s just me and her!  Our next “Cora sitting up” activity will be a restaurant high chair, although we haven’t tried it yet.
• She definitely knows her name, which is pretty cool.  You can call her by name and she’ll look up from what she’s doing in response.

• Cora has entered the infamous “grabby stage” where anything within arm reach gets immediately stuffed into her mouth and/or flung onto the floor.  It’s great that she’s learning to control her arms and hands, but they have quickly become lethal weapons!
• Cora loves music.  She not only goes to music class every week, but also goes with me to my piano lessons.  It’s pretty amazing that she just sits there for 30 minutes at a time without making a peep.  Even at home, I’ll sometimes put her in her exersaucer next to the piano while I practice and she’ll sit there and listen to me play (for a little while until she gets bored).  She also loves it when we sing to her — we can usually transform fussing into a smile by singing one of her favorite tunes to her (”Hello to Cora” being her favorite).
• Cora has already outgrown a lot of her 6 month clothes even though she’s not technically 6 months yet (still 2 more weeks).  She’s already wearing 9 month clothes and weighs about 16 pounds now.

So lots of interesting stuff going on.  Our next big adventure will be starting Cora on solid foods, probably in a few weeks.  Cora’s grandparents Dennis and Liz got us a baby food maker so that we can make our own food for Cora from scratch — that should be a lot of fun to play with.  Cora will probably eat even better than we do

In closing, I’ll leave you with my new favorite photo of Cora that I just took last week on our front porch.  I’m really pleased with how it turned out — the natural catch lights in her eyes (reflected trees, grass and sunlight) were really unique and really showed off her (still) blue eyes:

On our way to check out I noticed the sunglass stand, so I thought Cora would enjoy a little impromptu photo shoot:

As people passed by they seemed to get a kick out of Cora having a good time showing off

All in all it was a fun morning, just me and my little gal hanging out together.  So I was a bit perturbed when the girl at the check out asked me “So, did your wife send you out shopping?”  Um, excuse me?  Yes, I need my wife to force me to take my daughter out to the store… alone (gasp!)… to buy her some clothes.  Gimme a break.

I wonder what this girl would think if she went to Home Depot to buy a box of nails, and a man at the check out there were to ask “So, did your husband send you out shopping?”  Exactly.  Let’s all come along into the 20th century together, shall we?  Thanks.

Just a quick post to let you know that I’ve uploaded Cora’s 5-month blue chair photos for July.  Here’s the page that has all of the official blue chair photos so far for easy comparison.  Be sure to browse the main photo collection too for other blue chair photos (like the one to the right).  We decided to make a fun little photo shoot out of it, and I think the photos turned out pretty well.  Of course I have a great model

Cora is looking more and more like an actual little person every day.  It’s been so interesting to watch her grow.  Her face is starting to show a lot of personality and she does everything with a lot of intention now.  In the past few weeks she’s become really grabby — she loves it when I get my face a little too close to her while I have my glasses on.  It shouldn’t be too long now before she figures out how to sit upright on her own, which should make playing a lot more fun — she gets pretty sick of being on her back at this point, so the exersaucer and Bumbo seat are key to keeping her happy.  I’ll post more random July photos at the end of the month, including photos from Colton and Kaity’s visit!

This week has been a bit of a pain. With my bum ankle it’s been challenging getting Cora around, especially when I have to leave the house. It’s been more than 3 days and my ankle really hasn’t improved much, so I guess I should probably go to a doctor soon (before Kasi kills me).

Here’s the jury-rigged playpen I’ve been using lately to keep Cora contained:

Since she started rolling over a few weeks back, she’s becoming more and more mobile. She can now string several rolls together in combination, allow her to cover some serious ground quickly. Of course the pillow barrier won’t last long — once she starts crawling, those pillows won’t be much of an obstacle. But for now, it’s a safe and comfortable spot for her to roam in.

She really enjoys the exersaucer — she’s gotten very proficient at hitting all the noise makers and spinning herself around to get to everything.  She can generally keep herself entertained for 20 or 30 minutes at a time, which is great for me when I need a break to get something done (you know, like sit on the couch and rest).  I would highly recommend the exersaucer to anyone else starting around 4 months old, or as soon as they have enough torso control to sit upright in it using their arms for support.

I have to end the post with a cute photo… Here’s Cora sporting a brand new hand-knit beanie made by Mommy. It’s a bit out of season now given the temperature outside, but it will be absolutely perfect as soon as winter rolls around.

I play basketball every Monday night, and have avoided major injury for many years.  So of course, now that I am staying home and trying to keep up with a 4 month-old, it’s a perfect time to massively sprain my ankle.  Although the photo shows the nice color that’s developed, it does no justice to just how large my ankle has gotten.  I can sort of hobble enough to get Cora to and from her crib, but otherwise I am stuck on crutches today.

Ironically, Kasi was walking to the office this morning when her ankle gave out on her and she fully ate it on the cement.  As much as I would have loved to see that in person, alas I was not there.  Her ankle is OK, but she skinned her knee pretty good (through her pants) and has also been limping around the house since she got home.

At least Cora is fully healthy, that makes one of us!

This was taken right after getting in the car and buckling Cora into her car seat. So this is what it would be like to live on the face of the sun…