Good Cora

I've been feeling a bit better this week.
Today, Wednesday, I felt good most of the day, until about 7 p.m. Not bad at all!

On Monday I took Cora to the park to play. She had a great time, jumping and swinging and sliding.
She climbed up the chain-net thing several times by herself, and up to the top of the very tall, twirly slide, and went down by herself. She has come so far from the little girl who early this year didn't like slides much at all.

Today we made our return to Stroller Strides, and it was surprisingly successful. I brought lots of food for me to eat, and between that and the distraction factor, I didn't feel sick once during our workout. It was great seeing the moms again, and Cora was an absolute angel. I wasn't sure what to expect since it has been a full month since we've Strided, but she listened and cooperated the whole morning.

I let her out of the stroller when we stopped for strength training, and she exercised too (see photos, where Cora works out with Instructor Jen). Each time, she hopped back in the stroller quickly and without complaint. I hope this new trend continues! She also was very good at the park, getting out of the swing when appropriate, and leaving without complaint. (I note this because this has been a big struggle in the past!)

I felt well enough for us to then run a few errands, throughout which Cora was a delight. She was so good, I gave her a good behavior sticker when we got home.

(It's funny to be writing this now, as she has had a rough half hour here with a lot of crying and screaming for no good reason. Life with a toddler!)

The last photo is from our dinner out Monday evening. We went to Wolf Creek, one of my favorite local restaurants. We ordered Cora the children's cheeseburger meal, and asked for fruit instead of fries. She was so excited when she saw her fruit - oranges, strawberries and raspberries. She concentrated on it and barely touched her burgers.

Cora has been interested in rhyming words lately.
It started when she was looking through her bird book and mistakenly called the eagle a seagull. Then she said, "Eagle, Seagull" and cracked up laughing, and then repeated it over and over the rest of the night. That led she and Stace to come up with lots of other rhyming pairs, each of which engulf her in laughter. It's really cute.
Also, this morning, she informed me that she calls her blanket "blankie" and her pillow (which she also likes to take around with her), "pillie," which sounds more like "pee-wee."