Violet at 12 weeks

Our little Violet is over 12 pounds now! At a friend's baby shower over the weekend, a number of ladies asked how big she was - I guess she is looking very solid to people meeting her for the first time.

Violet has found her hands in recent days, and likes to suck on them.

At 11 weeks old, she turned over from her back onto her tummy! That's a milestone normally hit at five months or older; Cora was six months.
Now, it was a one-time thing, when Violet was on the floor wiggling around a lot, and she hasn't repeated it. Still, it shows me that this one will probably be a lot more physically inclined than her sister. Violet also likes to stand up when you hold her upright.

She is sleeping about eight hours at night, from 10 to 6 or thereabouts, depending on when she goes down and how much she ate at her late feeding. Sometimes she'll sleep until 7 and then not go back to sleep after eating, which isn't a bad thing, but does throw off the routine we've been doing. I know that as she sleeps longer over the next few weeks we'll start a new routine... which will last a matter of weeks or months.

The last photo made me laugh. Violet seems to be easily able to undo her swaddling, so I'm experimenting with not swaddling her. She seems to do fine without it at night, but often still needs it during naps. By that, I mean she often will not settle down and fall asleep for her naps unless she is swaddled and given her pacifier.
Since it's so hot, I've been swaddling her in just a diaper and putting her ceiling fan on. She loves looking at fans in motion.
Also, speaking of naps, Violet is now past the age of sleeping whenever we are out and about. She will stay awake when I figured she would have fallen asleep, or she'll fall asleep but only for 20 minutes. Thankfully when we are home she takes better naps.

Casey and Bradley's Wedding!

It was a beautiful wedding! A hot day, to be sure, about as hot as the day Stace and I got married nearly seven years ago.

(How did we become the old married couple???)

The gorgeous Lindley Scott House, circa 1911, didn't have air conditioning, so it was a little toasty inside when the bride and her girls were getting ready.

But it was very picturesque.

Cora did a great job following the ring bearer down the aisle, remembering to pause to toss out the rose petals.

When she got to the front, she seemed to forget her next move, stopping to put her finger in her mouth and look around. Auntie Kelly, the maid of honor, motioned Cora forward to stand next to her.

Casey was a gorgeous bride, of course! And Bradley looked very handsome as well; they are an adorable couple. Bradley's oldest brother is a pastor, and he did a great job on the ceremony.

Cora spent the ceremony over on the boys' side, next to the ring bearer. Nate kept her in line, and they entertained themselves with their pillow and basket, and by picking up acorns.

At the end of the wedding, they got a lot of oohs and ahhhs as they walked down the aisle together!

We spent the reception with good friends - Melanie and David and John and Linda - and my parents and Mel and her guy, Nick.
There was an open bar for the first hour or two, so we all enjoyed some glasses of wine.

The food was yummy, the dancing fun, and the slide show cute. Cora sat on Casey's lap for the slide show, so she had the best view in the house.

The only downside to the wedding was that since it was in the late afternoon, owing to the heat, it all stretched bit late into the evening. That meant for two tired little girls, who weren't up to staying till the very end. We would have loved to dance some more and enjoy the cake, and Cora was very, very sad to be leaving early (though it wasn't early, it was after 9).

Hopefully she can dance with the happy couple the next time we see them. For now, they are dancing together in Maui! Lucky kids!

Wedding Preparation

I've hit another patch where I feel very behind with my blogging. So many posts I have in mind, so little time!

Part of what has kept us busy lately was the wedding of our friends Casey and Bradley. Cora was their flower girl, so we've had fun running around getting what she needed for her big day. Then there was the bridal shower, a bridal party tea last weekend, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and of course the wedding itself!

More on the actual wedding when I get another few free minutes. For now, I give you the preparation.

On Sunday, the wedding day, Cora was calling for me at 5 a.m., asking if it was the day of the wedding, and if she could get up yet. She looked out her window and pointed out that it was getting light already. This, from my girl who normally sleeps until at least 8!

She went back to sleep, and later in the morning, had her bangs cut and her hair done in a braid going up and across the top of her head. She was a very good girl and sat so still - she knew what she needed to do!

The next two photos are from the rehearsal dinner. It was quite a dinner for me - Cora sat across the table and several places away from me, on Casey's lap.

She was loving being part of the action, one of the "girls," and Bradley entertained her by tickling her. I didn't even order Cora her food - when it was time to eat, she ate off the bride's plate!

In addition, after I fed Violet, she was happy in other people's arms, so I had a lovely grownup evening, talking to Uncle Bill and my friend Melanie.

Lastly, we have a shot from the bridal party thank-you tea at SClarita's tea house.
That was a lovely afternoon, with yummy scones, tea and little sandwiches. Casey was so sweet to give Cora a thoughtful gift with markers and a pad of paper, so my little girl could entertain herself.

Swimming lessons

Cora is in the middle of a two-week swimming lesson session, and it's going great!

Stace and I weren't sure what to expect when we started, since before last week Cora only wanted to play in our HOA's baby pool and spa, and not in the regular pool.

At her first lesson, she was reluctant to join her group, then reluctant to get in, and then reluctant to kick and go out into the pool in her teacher's arms. But each time, she would end up following along and doing what she was supposed to.

By the third lesson, she was jumping in, into the teacher's arms, and talking about how much she loved her swimming lessons. She is friendly to her teacher, making sure to say goodbye and thank-you for the lesson each day.

At today's lesson, she was going down to the third step and very excited about it, telling anyone in earshot to look at her. "Excuse me! Excuse me! Watch this! Watch this!"

We're having our annual insane heat wave, with highs over 100 for days in a row, and so we've been going to our pool more often. During our latest trips, she's jumping into our arms in the big pool and sticking her face under to blow bubbles. Hopefully this will advance into swimming as time goes on.

Stace and I are so proud of her!

Random Violet

And some Violet photos that have been accumulating... Ain't she pretty? We're seeing this gorgeous smile a lot more these days. She coos, too. And despite the statement on her onesie, she is not high maintenance.

Here's Violet and our friend Rigo at a friend's daughter's Hawaiian-themed birthday party. If you look close, you can see that Violet is clinging tightly to Rigo's lei. We had exchanged babies, and I was holding onto his 2-month-old, Liana.

Another shot I love of Violet.

We are so blessed; she is another great baby (Cora was an easy, happy infant, too). She is starting to reach for her toys, or, at least, she is randomly and repeatedly hitting them.

At two weeks old...

...and at two months. She is slightly bigger than the doll lengthwise, though it's hard to tell here. These photos remind me of a similar blog post I did with Cora here.

Random Cora

(Corrected now with all the photos - don't know how the one of Cora in bed disappeared, I swear it was there when I published this post!)


I've got a number of random shots from around the house from the last few weeks. Here is Cora when I let her serve herself broccoli at dinner. It's not too often that you have to tell your kid to not take so much of the vegetables, that others want to have some too!
Cora slept really late during her Fourth of July nap, and our friends were over at our house for a while before she woke up. That was handy, as they all got to enjoy the sight of her like this - headband, fleece boot and princess shoe.
In these two shots, Cora is swaddling her doll like we swaddle Violet. We love these Kiddopatamus blankets; they make swaddling very easy.
Of course, sometimes I have to convince Cora to share them with me/Violet! It's great watching her play with her dolls though, since for so long she only seemed to like cars and trains. Some of her dolls are now named Violet, while a few months ago they all were named Duckie.
In this photo, Johnny was at our house and Cora was explaining the meaning of the word "option" to him. "Daddy says I can play trains, or play hold-hand football, or go to the pool. Those things are called 'options.' "
(Hold-hand football is a game Stace, Pop and Cora made up.)
A few days ago, Cora wanted to practice writing her letters. She was doing pretty good! It's exciting to think that in upcoming months she'll actually be learning to read.

Family visit

We've had a great time with Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill, just doing normal-life things.

Bill and Stace took a long bike ride on Monday, when Stace was off for Independence Day. They played tennis and then we girls met them at Auntie Mel's Starbucks for a drink, and then we went next door to Dink's for lunch.

During Cora's nap, Patty and I went curtain shopping for our living room. In the evening, we all went to the pool, and Violet had her first dip. She seemed to like it well enough.

On Tuesday, Bill and I took a long walk and Patty had the girls, and she and Cora made a delicious batch of cupcakes.
In the evening, more grilling and swimming. Ahhhh, the joys of summer. We are loving our barbecue!

On Wednesday Bill went to visit some other family members, and Patty and I took the girls shopping for Cora's shoes for her upcoming flower girl duties. In the evening we all went to dinner at Wolf Creek, one of our local faves. It was nice to get a photo of us all together enjoying a meal (even though the photo was framed really poorly by the waitress).

We've enjoyed a lot of dinners together. Yum. Patty is a great cook and she and Bill just know how to put together a fabulous meal. Not very helpful in my quest to lose weight before Casey and Bradley's wedding, but oh well!

Now, Bill and Patty are with my parents in Sedona, Arizona, for a long weekend trip, and we'll see them again next week before they head back to Washington.

A family Fourth

We had a fantastic Fourth of July!

Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty are in town, and we had a great time together at the parade and later at the city's fireworks show.

Unlike most years, this Fourth was surprisingly temperate in SClarita. It only reached the 80s, instead of the 100s that seem to be normal for the holiday.

That, combined with an earlier parade starting time of 9 a.m., made for a very comfortable viewing environment. Stace and Bill, of course, loved all the classic cars.

After the parade and lunch, Cora napped and Patty and Violet and I did some grocery shopping. Then, in the evening, we had some people over for a barbecue.

Grandpa and Auntie Mel came by, as did Linda, Casey and Bradley. Linda brought some delicious salmon that we all enjoyed very much. Grandma, Steve, Matt and Kelly are all at a camp for young people with special needs in northern Arizona.

After dinner, it was fireworks time. We parked at Granary and walked, just like last year, and both girls loved the show. Violet, even at two months old, was watching intently.

Stace let Cora have a turn with our new, big camera, and she took the last photo here of the rest of her family. Not bad!

We noticed a lot of emergency vehicles flying by during the show right off the road we were sitting on. Tragically, a lady blew a red light and hit another car, which then went into a crowd of people around the corner from us. A mom was killed and several kids injured. So terribly sad; the news certainly put a damper on an otherwise great day.

Sisters!

Here are the sisters, each at two months.

I know they're related, but I sure don't see a lot of facial similarities. Very different hairlines, eyes, face shapes, mouths and coloring. Maybe the same nose, and they do have the same pixie ears, but that's about it. Oh, and they are both beautiful!

Violet now enjoys sitting in the bouncer and is entertained by the musical fish display.

Here are some photos of our two girls.

In the changing table photo, Cora and Violet are playing with a fish-on-a-pole (cat toy). Cora opened Violet's fingers to help her grasp the pole.

Cora continues to be an amazing big sister to her Violet. She still likes to help, likes having Violet in her bed with her, and loves to try to play with her. Cora still gets excited when Violet looks directly at her, and she loves to try to make her smile. It's great to watch them together.

I can relate to Cora's big sisterly excitement, as I well remember going to school with an "It's a Girl!" sticker on my forehead when Melanie was born. (I was nine, give me a break!)

It's fun to think about how Cora and Violet's relationship will develop, and how different they might turn out, and again I'm thinking of me and Mel.

You would hardly guess us to be sisters, based on our looks or our interests, but we love each other dearly and share a bond that can't be broken. I pray that Cora and Violet also will be blessed to share that kind of bond. I know, based on other family relationships, that it's not automatic or a "given."

Violet and Cora do seem to be off to a great start!