January 19

January 19. One year ago I spent my last day as a full-time reporter for the Antelope Valley Press. (I wrote about it here ) Nearly a year to the day, I returned to Palmdale for another good-bye lunch. The paper's long-time assignment editor, Linda Lee, is stepping down from the position after a number of years, both as a reporter and editor. Linda always treated me very well, and I appreciated her understanding as I dealt first with a long-distance relationship (which required time off) and later with a pregnancy filled with morning sickness. It was neat being back to see many of my old friends, and it was fun showing Cora off. Thankfully, she was a dream baby at the lunch, even during the speeches. She was content to eat the whole time, taking breaks to point at things and giggle. She seemed to be trying to giggle and clap appropriately, when the adults were.
Here are the best parts of my new life as wife and mother. On weekends, Stace will often bring Cora in for feeding in the morning, and then they will play in the bed. Here, Cora is practicing standing.

Playful baby

Peekaboo is still a favorite game of Cora's, and I've found it to be a good distraction when it's diaper-changing time. She is getting better at hiding her face with her hands, as you can see here:

She also still loves dancing, though this isn't the best example of that.
Other Cora tidbits: for the past few days she's been busy practicing sitting up, from the lying down position. When on her tummy, she scoots backwards and then tucks her legs up and under her, pushes back, and voila, she's sitting.
She also likes to wave at me, when I come to get her out of her carseat. As soon as I open the car door, she's waving away, sometimes with a big smile on her face, and other times with a serious expression. It's still hit-or-miss whether she'll wave at new people, when we encourage her to.
On Wednesday I took Cora into the doctor's office for a quick weight check. She was 18 pounds, 5 ounces, just one ounce bigger than she was at her 9-month appointment. She's gained 3/4 of an inch, to 28 3/4 inches long. The doctor looked at her chart, and knowing how "big" Stace and I are, said she is probably just fine. She is burning calories with all this crawling/scooting!
Stace said I should mention the yummy, healthy quiche I made tonight. He loves it when I make quiche, but the fat is of course in the crust. I used whole wheat couscous, mixed with some egg white, and pressed it into the pie plate. I also used the carton egg white mix, instead of whole eggs with their yolks. Tomatoes, onion, ham and cheese comprised the filling. Stace loved it, and had nearly half of it himself. We enjoyed dinner after a walk - Cora and I met Stace partway as he was on his bike ride home. It's a good life.

New toys

Stace is getting a little help here in sanding Cora's new toy box. It's all assembled now, and Stace is now filling and sanding the nail holes. We're awaiting hinges and decorations and the assembly of the bench seat, and then Stace can begin varnishing. He used beautiful wood, so we won't need to cover it with paint.
Here is Stace's newest toy - a Thomas the Tank Engine Hornby train set. We got it off of EBay for a great deal, and it will add to Stace's childhood train set collection. Cora and Somer are impressed.
We had a nice weekend. On Saturday, we had friends over for a girly party in the morning (Stace and some others went hiking) and then we went bowling in the afternoon. I even did some baking beforehand, for the morning event, when I had a consultant from this company called Once Upon a Family come and speak. Everyone came back to our home after the bowling for a Christmas gift exchange. Since we don't host all that often, it was nice to have friends and family at our home.

Not until you're married!

When is it too early to have that chat, the one all parents dread? Here is Cora and William playing...

Bananas and toy boxes

Here's some photos of Cora having "dinner" tonight, on her 11-month birthday.
Stace and I were having leftover Mexican lasagna (from this great recipe on my friend Sophia's Web site - I highly recommend it!), but it wasn't something Cora could have. I got out the yogurt and a banana, planning to give her chunks of it, and before I knew it Stace had given it to her like this. She liked it, as you can see, though I had to stop her from eating the skin and stem a couple of times.
The third photo shows Cora's method of eating yogurt. She likes to open her mouth for me to spoon it in, and then help push it further into her mouth with her hand. It makes for messy eating, with yogurt all over her hands.
We've been busy getting caught up with our friends this week, in person and on the phone. Today (Wednesday) we had lunch with our friends, Elissa and baby Harvey. They're Stroller Striders and also go to Real Life Church, where we've been going since August or so. On Thursday we plan to see Christy and William in the day, and then have dinner with Sarah (another Stroller Strider) and her husband and son.
In other Cora news, in time for her 11-month day, Cora said her first definite word. On Tuesday, we went into the mall pet store to look at the puppies. When we got inside, in view of the dogs, Cora clearly said "doggie." Quite the big moment! Also, she seems to have learned to sit up, from the lying-down position. After a nap today I found her sitting up. Time to get that crib mattress lowered!
Stace has been busy this week constructing his toy box after work - er, I mean Cora's toy box. It's really taking shape, and Somer, the construction foreman, approves.

Weekend ramblings

With four teeth, Cora is enjoying her Cheerios more these days (well, actually I should say her Trader Joe's O's). When I give them to her, she will hold one in between her fingers and crunch them in between her teeth. She also has begun "sharing" her food, or whatever else she finds to pick up. She offers it to you, and then sometimes gives it up when you reach for it.
Doesn't she look sweet in her new lilac outfit? Thanks, Mitchum family! We already had a hair bow that matches perfectly.
She is still sleeping fantastically, and has been in a better mood the last few days. She is getting very good at giving hugs and nuzzles, the kind that melt a mama's heart.
Cora is seen here in the cafe at Borders, where we stopped for a hot drink (and milk for Cora) after a shopping trip at the mall. I was a good girl and spent ALL my birthday money. Thanks, Sue, Gordon and Mary! I purchased the reddish sweater and dark green-blue corduroys you can (kind of) see me wearing in the photo, and a pair of dark jeans and another pair of beige corduroys. I really needed the new trousers, as my figure has changed quite a bit after 11 months or so of nursing Cora. All of my pants were too loose on me, making them hang down too long and then be too long as well. It was great buying pants that fit (or will fit, after hemming)!
On Saturday, Stace installed a new toilet in the spare bathroom, and put in our new home theater system (another great Christmas gift for which we're most grateful). I think he wished he had gone to work instead! He also has spent a lot of time this weekend designing the toy box he plans to make for Cora. From what he's shown me, it will be amazing, and perfect for the great toys Cora received for Christmas.

Back on track

We are happy to report that just in time for my birthday (Thursday), Cora is back to herself. Today, Friday, she didn't wake up until 7 after going down at 9:30. What a relief! If only Stace could sleep so well - the jet lag is still waking him up at 3 and 4 in the morning, and he's having trouble getting back to sleep.
The photos here are from my birthday dinner at Claim Jumper with we three, and my parents and Melanie. Cora was fairly well-behaved.
I had a delicious chicken pot pie (thanks for the suggestion, JT!), which was so big, it will be dinner again tonight. Stace had the rotisserie chicken, as he is back to eating well after quite a few sausage rolls and pasties and fish and chips and pork pies in England. His cholesterol check is next week! I'm very thankful for the lovely presents , and am looking forward to doing some clothes shopping with my birthday gift certificates to Ann Taylor!
In the smiling photo, you can see the other little 'gifts' Cora got for Christmas, those pesky two front teeth. They appeared around Christmas time, and probably contributed to some of the screaming we reported earlier.

Also Thursday, we visited Lylia and Kelsie. We haven't visited each other since September, so we both noticed quite a change in our girls. Kelsie will be one in a few weeks!

Home again

We made it back home by about 8 p.m., local time, on Tuesday night. I can report that the flight was better than our way in, with Cora sleeping for almost three of the nearly 11 hours. Her nap of two-plus hours allowed Stace and me to get some needed rest, and she was content to sit and play in the bassinet while we ate dinner. I thank the Lord for both of those things, as Stace and I were both very hungry. Cora also did plenty of crying, as she was overtired because she needed more sleep than she got. It was a lot of work, and Stace and I took turns trying to keep her happy. Mercifully, she slept fairly well last night in her own bed, and perhaps she will get back on Santa Clarita time quickly and easily.

Our Christmas holiday is winding down, as we fly home New Year's Day. Monday is that awkward day of washing and packing and visiting and trying to enjoy the time here while dealing with the sadness of leaving. For my part, I am dreading the flight home, and praying that Cora gets on track when we return home with her sleeping. She hasn't adjusted at all to the time difference, and therefore has been sleepy and a bit cranky a lot of the time. I suppose if/when she gets back to sleeping at night, I will appreciate it a lot more.
Anyhow - top photo is from our night out in the pub Sunday night, with two sets of brothers and their wives. With Cora having no schedule whatsoever, it was nice because we could go out and not worry so much about rushing home to feed her and put her down for bed at "bedtime."
Next photo is Duncan getting reacquainted with Cora, at the Pizza Hut he manages.

Then we have Dunc and Lindsey's daughter Chelsea, who is absolutely adorable. She will be two in February, right after Cora turns one. She chattered away (mostly unintelligibly) and loves playing with her baby dolls. Then you see Stace with Chelsea and big brother Connor.
Finally, Cora with the Richards clan. It was great to see them and see how their two are growing up so well.

First Christmas Fun

Cora enjoyed her Christmas meal - she had bits of turkey and carrot,

and spoonfuls of mashed potato and parsnip.

She did very well in the gift-opening part of the day. Here, she is playing with her new animal train from Nanny (Stace's nan). She got some great toys that move and make noise that she can crawl after, along with some very nice bears and clothes. And, in proper English Christmas tradition, Cora is wearing the paper crown that came out of a Christmas cracker. For dessert, she liked the jello part of the fruit/custard/jello trifle.

On Boxing Day, the holiday the day after Christmas, we went to Dean and Jenny's and checked out their new conservatory (what Americans might call a sunroom). It's beautiful, a very nice addition to their beautiful home.
Today, we took a walk down to Martock's shops to get Cora some saline drops for her runny nose. She was awake several times last (Thursday) night, but slept better than any night since we arrived. While we've been here, she's improved her waving and dancing abilities.

Nightmare Before Christmas

Cora wants to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! She is looking forward to opening presents later in the day, after our big Christmas Day feast. At the moment, it is early afternoon and she is taking a nap. That is a GOOD thing. But more about that later.

Here are three generations of Howards at the Kingsbury Episcopi church, where Stace was christened as a baby. We went with Gord's sister and her adult daughters and grandson for the Christmas Eve service. It was neat attending such a traditional service in a beautiful old church, very different from what we are used to.
Before the service started, Cora and Ben played with Sue and Gord. Ben is 2 1/2, and the son of Stace's cousin Karen and her husband, Martin.
The children were given special oranges with glo-sticks, since candles have been outlawed by Health and Safety. Lovely!
And back to the sleeping - and the title of this blog entry. Our dear sweet baby has been body-snatched and taken over by Monster Cora. She is wide awake every night for several hours, and last night spent several hours screaming. Literally, screaming, without console. Dean and Jenny had spent the night, so there were six adults kept awake all night with her. We're getting close to our wit's end with her. Advice, tips? We're open! Stace and I figure it's our due, since she's been such an easy baby for so long. She is tired enough in the day that she quickly becomes cranky and screams in the daytime, too. I've been trying hard to put her on her normal daytime eating/sleeping schedule, in hopes that she would then go to bed easier. She is going to bed fine, but then wakes up and starts screaming. Today I think I'll allow her to nap much more than normal, and perhaps she'll catch up on sleep and be better able to sleep tonight.

Oh, on a sidenote, while we're in England we're not downsizing the photos before putting them up. Please leave a comment if this is a problem. (If it's not a problem, maybe I'll stop spending the time to downsize them when we get home too.)

Return to England

We've arrived back in England for Christmas, safe and sound. It's great to be back, seeing family and friends and getting some real Christmas-y weather.
As for the flight, the best thing I can say is that it's over. While she slept nearly the whole time on her first trip to England, at three months, this time around she screamed for much of the first five hours. It was pretty miserable for us all. We got off to a late start, with the plane not leaving until 10 at night, and the lights were on until probably midnight (California time). Cora wouldn't think of sleeping while there was so much to see, and by the time the plane was dark, she was far too overtired to go to sleep. We even gave her two doses of baby Benadryl, to little avail. She finally did go to sleep, thankfully.
Our friend Andy was kind enough to make the drive out and pick us up. We got back into Martock around 9 at night (England time), and got to bed around 11. Obviously Cora wasn't sleepy then, and she played in bed and "read" her books for a long while. Today, Friday, I'm trying hard to get her onto her normal nap/eating schedule, and hopefully that will pay off with her resting better tonight.

Cora is enjoying the attention from her Nan and Pop, and she's loving seeing all of Sue's stuffed animals.
Today, we bundled up and went for a walk through the village, delivering a few Christmas cards. The temperature was in the upper 30s, so we had Cora in her sleeper, a long-sleeved shirt and fleece pants, a thick vest, mittens and a hat, and her warm bear coat.

We picked up lunch and ate at Stace's Nan's home.
She gave Cora a lovely Christmas card, which she played with for a while.

Sparkle

In Santa Clarita, we may not have white Christmases, but we do have bright, twinkly ones. It's a big thing here to go around looking at streets where residents go all out in decorating with lights, animatronic reindeer and assorted seasonal eye candy. On Sunday evening we showed Cora (shown here in our new carrier, which also works as a backpack carrier). She loved it!

Since we're leaving this week for England, we exchanged gifts with my parents and sister on Saturday.





Cora liked her new toys, and today entertained herself (and me) by throwing the rings nearly out of her reach, then getting them and throwing them again. She also is enjoying her newfound creeping/crawling ability. We've put Somer's food bowls up on the counter, as Cora kept going straight for the water bowl. She also likes playing with doors and drawers. She can spend many minutes swinging the doors to her room open, shut, open, shut.
Just a couple of days before we board the big plane! We're all getting very excited, and I have a mental list a mile long of things to remember to do.

Creepy!

Here you can see Cora's latest method of getting around...

10 Months!

Cora is 10 months old! She is chattering all the time still, making noises that sound like "mama" and "dada"; I'm sure some parents might even say she is speaking. It's hard to say that she means what she's saying, though. She has begun making a forward motion when on the ground - a creeping more than a crawling, as she kind of drags her legs forward by pulling on the ground with her arms. She also is now enjoying pulling up to a standing position. She does this at our suggestion or guidance, and isn't yet at the phase of doing it all the time, on her own. Cora also has become very vocal. As in, besides chatting, she likes to scream. She screams out of boredom, to hear her own voice, or to express anger or frustration. I can lift her onto the changing table and she'll start screaming right away, for no real reason. This is fun! I do hope it's a phase that goes away... Any tips, for the parents reading this????
Stace rewarded himself for surviving a painful mouth surgery this week by getting this new Raleigh racing bike. He's been riding his mountain bike to work consistently since late October, and has been looking into getting a new racer for a while. Monday will be his first day riding it to work. As for the surgery, he had it Tuesday in the area where he broke that tooth in late November. The operation is in preparation for crown. The recovery wasn't great, and that was mostly because he found out that he and Vicodin do NOT get along.
And since we can hardly have a blog entry without a pic of Cora, here is a photo of she and I with our new baby carrier, a Hiphugger. It's a pretty simple pouch that makes it easier to carry baby on your hip. As Cora is soon to outgrow the two front carriers we have (a Snuggli and a Baby Bjorn), we bought this one and a Baby Trekker, which works for front or back carries, of kids up to 40 pounds. Photos of that one coming soon!
In other news, we went to the HR Textron Christmas dinner dance on Saturday night. It was nice to get dressed up and to go out as adults, without Cora. Aunt Melanie babysat and had fun with her niece.

Day in the life

When Cora was about a month old, I wrote about a typical "day in the life of Cora."
Here goes again - this is Monday, Dec. 3:
8 a.m. I get Cora up - she is barely awake when I go in. Cora eats until about 8:20. We then get a new diaper and warm outfit on and head to the park for Stroller Strides.
8:50 We Stroller Striders march off on our workout. Cora seems tired and a bit dazed today, at least for the first hour. She then wakes up a bit more and starts chatting.
10:00 Back at the park, we stretch and work our abs.
10:30 We get home. Cora plays on the floor for a few minutes after a diaper change, before going down for a nap at 10:45. I get some laundry going and then go shower.
11:10 I get out of shower and check on Cora - she's asleep! (Sometimes she doesn't go to sleep and she's screaming when I get out of the shower.
11:45 Cora wakes up, and she eats from noon until about 12:20.

12:20 Cora plays on floor with her books, turning the pages and talking to them
12:35 - Cora turns her attention to a box of new shoes
12:50 I put Cora into her Exersaucer and do some more housework
1:10 - Diaper and clothing change, then a few more chores and I finish getting ready to leave. Cora is past ready to go by 1:25, and starts shrieking in boredom.
1:30 - We stop to pick up a prescription, then go to the post office and grocery store. Cora does pretty well through the errands, only fussing a bit (well, screaming REALLY loudly) in line at the grocery store.
2:15 - back at home, time for diaper change and nap. She's asleep by 2:45
4:00 - Somer wakes up Cora by meowing. Time for more milk.
4:30 - Cora plays on the floor of her room.
4:40 - Daddy's home! Cora smiles and giggles when she hears his "Hello!" and then plays with Stace and gets another new diaper.
6 - Dinner time for mom and dad, with some banana and cereal for Cora.
6:45 - More milk
7:30 - Diaper change, and we get ready to go for a walk. Cora needs to get out of the house, she is getting fussy. Dad puts her on his bed while he gets himself ready, and Cora spits up a lot on our comforter.
Dad puts Cora in the car seat while he gets out her stroller. Doesn't she look bundled up?
8:00 - We all leave on our walk, and Cora falls asleep. She wakes up in Starbucks at 8:45
9:00 - Back home, time for nighttime diaper, bed clothes and more milk.
9:35 - Cora's in bed, and sleeps through to about 8:30 Tuesday.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We are in Christmas mode now! On Friday night, we took photos with Santa. Cora didn't love it, as you can see by the photos on the photographer's Web site. Click that link and then use the arrow keys to see the other photos of Cora; there are six altogether.

On Sunday we went to Mountasia for the HR Textron children's Christmas party. Whatta deal, for $2 for each adult, we had In-n-Out lunches, pizza for Cora (she had a tiny bite, we finished the rest), ice cream, game tokens and a present for Cora and another chance to see Santa. In the photo above, Cora is making rattles out of our bags of chips (which we didn't eat, though we did have cheeseburgers and a shared ice cream). It was fun seeing a lot of Stacey's co-workers with their children, including Keith, who was there with his mother, in town from England, and his adult daughter and grandson.
Later in the day, we went to the city Christmas tree lighting at the hospital. Stace jogged there, pushing Cora in her stroller, while I used my rollerblades. Cora had a nap. Before the tree-lighting ceremony, a local high school choir performed, and there were booths with hot chocolate and cookies and crafts for the kids. The hot cocoa was needed - it was quite chilly, by our standards, with temps in the lower 50s.

Stace and Cora in front of the big tree.

In the evening, we opened our Advent calendar chocolates. Yum! Also, I baked a pumpkin pudding with real pumpkin. It's smelling really good, as I write this.

Lastly, for anyone interested in seeing me and Cora on TV, our local cable access channel has a weekly magazine-style show about Santa Clarita. They did a story on Stroller Strides, and I, knowing what reporters are looking for, volunteered to be interviewed when no one else seemed willing. You can watch it by clicking this link. Unless you want to watch the whole half-hour show, speed ahead to about 22:30 minutes into the program.