England update

With Sue and Gord off this week, the time is going by much quicker now. Stace and Gord have been busy the last two days putting kitchen cabinets together for the Howards' kitchen makeover.
On Bank Holiday Monday, Stace, Cora and I went with Dean and Jenny to Weymouth, a beach town on the south coast. The weather wasn't too bad there - cold and windy but dry. (On Sunday, the rain didn't stop all day.) The town was packed as there was some sort of festival going on for the holiday weekend, and it was a great atmosphere. On Tuesday, Sue, Gord, Nan, Dean and the three of us went to visit Hawkchurch, a tiny tucked-away village where Nan grew up. We walked around the old farmhouse she grew up in and visited the village's church and pub. We then went down to Lyme Regis, a beautiful fishing town on the Dorset coast. Though dry, the weather was quite cold and very windy, so we didn't stay too long.
Cora continues to entertain us with her development. She is reaching for things more often and holding her head so well. She sometimes even keeps her head steady and level when I'm picking her up off the bed. Still not much luck getting her to take a bottle, sadly. Sue and I went to Mothercare yesterday, a big store like Babies R Us, and bought an expensive and funky-looking bottle that we'll try out later (http://www.breastflow.co.uk/). Cross your fingers, everyone, because Stace and I plan to leave her with Sue and Gord Friday night to spend the evening with Dean and Jenny, and it would be fantastic if Cora is pleasant and eats something while we're gone. Oh, and speaking of pleasant, that screeching cry we mentioned in an earlier post keeps rearing its not-so-pretty head. Since she started making the noise in England, I hope she leaves it here as well!
In other Cora news, we have had very bad luck using disposable diapers while we've been here, with her poop leaking out just about every day. We're washing her clothes so often, I'm wishing I had just brought along her cloth diapers, as it would have been easier and cheaper to wash them then buy throwaways AND wash her clothes all the time. I think my memory of changing her entire ruined outfit, with her on her travel changing mat on the floor of a dirty, tiny Glastonbury bathroom, my head right next to the filthy toilet, will be with me forever.

Village Life

Still enjoying our holiday... Here are shots of Nan with Cora in the cafe, Dad with Cora on her first visit to a pub (The George), and Mom and Cora at the Pinnacle, a Martock landmark. The weather has stayed decent, but the forecasters are calling for rain, cold and wind for Sunday and Monday, which figures as Monday is a big national holiday here.
We haven't been up to much, but it's been very relaxing and fun to show Cora off. On Thursday afternoon we made it up to Ham Hill, which offers beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and villages.
Cora is doing great. Wednesday and Thursday nights, she went to sleep easily at night and slept through to 7:30, so she's sleeping nearly as well as she does at home. She has been making great baby noises a lot more often, including a new screeching sound yesterday morning. She's happy to pass out smiles to all the new people she's meeting. Still not much progress getting her to take bottles again, though Sue has bought some new nipples we're trying out. Everyone has been impressed with how well she's holding her head up - with her neck strength, she's much easier to carry around, and I'm just about able to carry her with one arm for lengthy periods of time.

Meet the Howards...

...Wells-Burrs and just about everyone else.

We're in England! Cora is enjoying her first trip back to Daddy's homeland and hometown of Martock.
We were nervous about the long flight, but Cora did very well. We had a little leather bed that attached to the bulkhead wall in front of us, and she slept a good six hours, and only cried a tiny bit at the end of the flight. Waiting for us at the airport were Stace's mum and dad and brother Dean and sister-in-law Jenny. When we arrived in Martock, we went to Stacey's nan's house so Cora could meet her Nannie.


We've been fortunate to enjoy some lovely weather; yesterday (Tuesday) was absolutely beautiful and warm. Luckily, that was the day Stace played golf with his friend Andy. Usually when Stace returns and plays golf with Andy, the weather is decidedly unlovely. While Stace played golf, Cora and I spent the day with JT. We had a California-style lunch in the back garden to soak up the sun, and even got a little sunburned! We also walked into the village to see the Treasurer's House, a 1260 stone building managed by the National Trust.
Today we're off to have lunch with some more of Stace's friends, and tonight we'll watch the Liverpool-AC Milan football match.
Right now, the birds are singing, the cows are enjoying their lunch out Sue and Gord's back window, and all is well.

On Mother's Day

I had been eagerly awaiting my first Mother's Day. I think because I'm a full-time mom now, it meant a lot to me as I've reassessed how I see myself - I'm not the working-woman-newspaper-reporter person anymore. I am a wife, a friend, a daughter, sister, precious child of God - and a new one, Mom. And I'm enjoying this new role.
Alas, like many things we look forward to so much, this one didn't quite meet my expectations, as I spent Friday night through Sunday morning sick, much of the time in bed, and too much of the time, sick in the bathroom. On Saturday morning I felt like "death warmed over," as my dear grandma would have said (stomach problems, headache and a 102 degree fever), and Stace had to work. And there was this baby who needed me - needed to be changed, needed to be fed, needed to be loved. And so, with God's strength and a new-found mother's ability to put others' needs ahead of my own, I did all of those things the best that I could. She did spend a good hour-plus in her bouncer while I rested in bed. And we got through, and Stace came home and took over.

Thankfully, on Sunday afternoon I ended up feeling just well enough for the three of us to join my own family for dinner in Ventura. And Stace and Cora gave me a wonderful present, a homemade DVD with video and photos of me and Cora over these three months.

We're getting ready for our upcoming trip to England! Stace was last back in November, but it will be my first trip in just over a year, as I didn't go while I was pregnant. We have seats on the plane with a fold-down bassinet in front of us, so that should help make Cora (and us) more comfortable.

Cora has been using her hands more and more to hold onto and grab things. She also is quite the little kicker, and she is babbling more often. And, she is taking fewer - and shorter - naps, unfortunately for Mom. Not that Mom has any right to complain, as Cora sleeps 10 hours a night. On the negative side, she also has been fighting taking her milk from a bottle. She took to the bottle so well when we introduced it at three weeks, and we were good for a while about having Stace give her bottles, both for their bonding and for the sake of keeping her used to them. But it is a bit of a pain, because while she's eating, I'm pumping, to keep my milk supply up (and to supply milk for those bottles); it is obviously easier to just breastfeed her. So we got lazy about it, and now we're paying for it! We're determined to get her taking bottles again though, I want to be able to go out for a few hours without her!
(The photo is by my dad - he posts his photos of Cora at www.chriswahla.com)

No longer a newborn?

Cora is three months old today! She is about 11 pounds, 13 ounces and 23 inches long.
She is so alert, so much of the time. She has always been an alert baby, but now that she's awake more, it really shows. She seems to notice everything and follows things with her eyes and head.
She still loves her hands, and besides eating them, is practicing using them for other purposes. Yesterday she and I went to Starbucks in the morning (what else should a stay-at-home-mom do?) and she spit up enough to soak through the one burp cloth I had brought. (Bad mom! Should have known better, this kid can spit!) So I put several napkins under her chin. A few weeks ago, this would have worked just fine. But yesterday, she soon had both of her fists clenched around napkins. She likes to hold burp cloths and burp blankets, as well, and sometimes will bring them to her mouth.
She now has turned over from tummy to back several times while we've been doing tummy time.
And with her reaching three months old, Stace and I are having to suck it up and give up her bassinet. I know many parents don't like having their babies in their room, but we've really enjoyed it.
Last week we put her to bed each night in her crib, and it went very well. But we brought her back into our room for the last several nights.
She sleeps so well! She has been going down between 9:30 and 10, and I feed her around 8. She may awaken before 8, but she is happy and content, just looking around and apparently waiting for me to come and feed her. I am so, so blessed by her. The only thing is, and I'm not complaining!, I miss cuddling with her early inthe morning. When she was getting up about 6, I would feed her then in bed and we would go back to sleep together until a more reasonable hour. It was very sweet. Oh well...
As for these photos, I couldn't decide which one I liked better of her playing in her crib, so you, my dear readers, can enjoy them both. I think that in the top photo she looks like the Gerber baby. Granted, EVERY parent thinks their kid looks like the Gerber baby...
And the bottom photo is from one of our last nursing/cuddle sessions in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Medieval Times

After chatting to Mum and Dad on the video phone Sunday morning, Lisa, Cora and I went to a Medieval Tournament 40 minutes north up the freeway.
It was fantastic.
The tournament was put on by the American Jousting Alliance who actually compete at this type of thing. I thought it was going to be a demonstration but it was an actual competition.
















The participants showed their skills at sword fighting, spear throwing, archery and hitting the rotationg shield thingy. All the riders were very skilled horsemen and the horses were magnificent.














At the end of the day's sport came the main event. Again I was imagining a gentle demo on jousting, but these blokes went for it. They really went for it!
Riders were dismounted and lances were snapped. No one got really hurt though, which was very surprising.



We all had a great afternoon, including Cora, who caught up on her sleep.

Award Winner

On Thursday Dad and I drove Mum to the Millenium Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA where she received a Regional Champion Award from the Southern California Association of Governments. She got the award for media and communications, for the reports she wrote for the people of the Antelope Valley to keep them informed about transportation, the economy and housing.

Here she is with her plaque.

Previous years winners have all been TV presenters from LA. This was the first year the award went to a local newspaper reporter.

I was nice and quiet until Mum had to get up and make a speech, then I decided I had to cry, so Dad had to take me out of the ballroom and watch and listen from the door.
I don't care though, that's my job.

Does it get any better?

Here is what Saturdays were made for...

Laker Girls (and Bloke)

We took Cora to her - and our - first L.A. Lakers game Sunday, watching them fall to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs. What a great atmosphere, such a cool experience! I've always wanted to go to a Lakers game, but not badly enough to pay the high prices. (And, of course, we're baseball and footie people more than any other sport...)
On Friday, after a very long work week, Stace was given tickets to the game from his boss. His work's seats are really good, in a section with a special entrance, special parking and waiters taking your food orders and serving you.
It was cool seeing Kobe Bryant in person - along with former Laker greats Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who were there for the game, and stars Jack Black, Jeremy Piven and Jack Nicholson. Nicholson, who's been a season ticket holder forever, can be (barely) seen in the action photo in the front row, to the right of the purple advertising board/table, with the dark shades.
We think Cora enjoyed it - she wore a purple gingham dress, so she looked the part of a little fan, and she definitely liked looking at all the lights. She also managed to take a nap on Grandpa's lap.

Cora 'n Kelsie

My friends from Pepperdine, Mark and Lylia, moved to Santa Clarita a few years ago and had their first daughter three weeks before Cora came along.

We took our labor/birth classes at the hospital together, and it's been great having Lylia nearby to discuss pregnancy/birth/new babies. Since our girls were three and six weeks old, we've been getting together about once a week to walk off our pregnancy pounds and compare notes. It's already fun watching our girls get bigger and reach those little milestones, like reaching for things and giggling.

Here you can see how they've changed already - the first photo is from the first time we four got together, when Cora was three weeks and Kelsie was six weeks. The second photo is from Wednesday - Kelsie is nearly 14 weeks, and Cora is nearly 11 weeks. (They both had Friday birthdays.)

Getting stronger

Cora seems to be getting bigger and more grown up each day. We notice she is talking more now, and sometimes we can have a little conversation with her, with her cooing in response to our speech.
She still is enthralled with her bouncer, the blue fish-covered thing above. She can kick some attached, hanging toys and make the bouncer make noise, which she loves. I know if I need to put her down to do something, I can put her in the bouncer and she will happily entertain herself.

I gave her some tummy time in her crib this morning, and she lifted herself up on her

forearms really well. She then rolled over onto her side! That was a first. Then I grabbed the camera to try to recreate the magic - no such luck. She was DONE with tummy time, thank you very much.

When I turned her over and turned on her Pooh mobile, all was better.

Other tidbits: she is keeping her hands open more often. While she formerly kept them clenched into fists at all times, now she will have them open at times, and she sometimes won't grip a finger when placed in her hand. She also will stay awake a lot more often in her stroller when we go for walks. Even when I think it's naptime, and she falls off to sleep in her stroller, we'll often peek in and see her eyes wide open 20 minutes later. And, she is gaining better neck control all the time. It's easier to pick her up, as she can support herself better.

Oh! The Pain

Cora is on the verge of outgrowing her bassinet, as you can see. She also seems to be outgrowing the need to be swaddled - after a recent nap I found her like this, with a free arm and leg.
Stace and I took her to her two-month doctor's appointment on Wednesday, where she had her first set of shots. Poor kid started crying as soon as we were in the exam room, and only stopped here and there. As you would expect, she didn't like her shots. She was sleepy and a bit fussy that night and through today.
As for the numbers: weight, 10 lbs, 10 oz - 30th percentile. Height, 22 3/4 inches, 54th percentile. Head circumference, 15 3/4 inches, 73rd percentile. With the head, she so far seems to be taking after Grandpa Wahla and Aunt Melanie. Today (Thursday) we walked to Hart Park with the Partridges, had lunch there and saw the new baby bison that was born to the herd living on the property.

Searching for Vidal Sassoon

Where has all of Cora's hair gone?

It falls off as she sleeps (the blanket in her bassinet has quite a bit of her hair on it) and we also find it on her clothes. She has an interesting style at the moment, long on the bottom and balding in the middle. A bit of a monk mullet, you could call it.

We had a big weekend with the Partridges here - after the zoo/Dodger game Friday, we went to Hollywood and CityWalk on Saturday and to Santa Monica on Sunday. In a coffee shop in CityWalk, we actually met a married couple with kids named Stacy and Lisa. We both thought we were the only sets of Stacy/Stacey and Lisas in the world. This Stacy also has English parents, who lived in the British Virgin Islands, though he was born in the U.S.

Friday the 13th..........

......No sign of Jason.

On Friday we all went to the LA Zoo. I am now officially a family man.

Just look at Duncan and me. A right couple of .......old men.

After the zoo trip we headed over to Dodger Stadium to watch the Dodgers open up a can of whoop ass on the San Diego Padres, winning 9-1. The 3C's (Connor, Chelsea and Cora) were all kitted out in there Dodger colours.

Cora's first Dodger game. She was fine but a bit jumpy when the crowd cheered loudly.

Cora in her frogs

At the suggestion of my college friend Sophia, we have been using cloth diapers since Cora's umbilical cord stump fell off. We made the decision based on the environmental reasons and the cost - since we can reuse them with a second baby, we're only buying diapers for one kid. I wash them myself, which is a bit of extra work, but not too bad since with a baby you end up doing laundry seemingly every day anyway.
There are many, many types of cloth diapers, which can be a bit overwhelming. We're using two types - a simple system from a company called diaperaps (www.diaperaps.com), and fitted diapers from www.clothdiaper.com. The fitted diapers are just that - they have elastic around the legs and look similar to a disposable diaper. Both types require covers - like the cute frogs Cora is modeling here.
There are fancier cloth diapers just like disposables, only washable - no covers required.

Our friends the Partridges are visiting now from England. They have a 14-month-old girl and a 5-year-old boy. We went to the park today, which we'll probably do frequently. We also plan to go to the zoo and to a Dodger game...

Happy Easter!

Cora wishes everyone a happy Easter!

She was very good for her first time at church - slept nearly the whole time, and never made a sound.

Stace was off on Good Friday, so we took a short one-night trip to San Diego County, our first time away with Cora. She slept in a little travel bed and did very well.

Inside, outside

Cora will be two months old on Monday, so I thought it would be fun to look back on how Cora and I looked just over two months ago, and how we looked a few days ago. Thanks to my dad for taking these shots...

Cora continues to amaze us with her sleeping ability. For the past three nights, she's gone down between 10:30 and 11, and woken up between 7:45 and 8:30.

Mega walk

We're starting to see Cora's beautiful smile more often.
And in the last two days, she has really fallen in love with her mobile. She gets excited watching it, kicking her legs, waving her arms and making her "monkey noises," breathing really fast and loud. We can wind it up over and over and she seems so happy there.

The other photo is from our long walk on Saturday. Stace and I used our new pedometer for the first time, so we now can finally see how far we're going on these mammoth excursions we've been taking. On Saturday, we walked five miles, all the way to the mall, mostly using Valencia's fantastic paseo system. The paseos (well-lit and well-manicured walking paths that go through the neighborhoods) and the city's bike trail are two of our favorite things about living here. We stopped once on our walk for a nursing session, eventually had lunch at Subway near the mall, and then nursed again in the "family room" in the mall. The family room is great, too - several curtained booths for privacy while feeding baby; couches and toys with Sesame Street on the television; and numerous changing stations with diaper wipe warmers and bottle warmers. There's a microwave and child-sized toilet and sink. I have a feeling we'll be using the room a lot over the next few years!
After our day out, we took the city bus back home - my first time using public transportation in town! It was only a dollar per adult, pretty outstanding.

Entertaining herself

I recently wrote about how Cora is often happy in her crib looking at her mobile and on her changing table, looking at her "BABY" sign and her hand and footprints. Here is the photographic evidence...
And a shot of her with her pacifier, or dummy, as her dad of course uses the English term.

This morning we were surprised to be awakened at 3 a.m.! It was the first time she has wakened that early since she was 2 weeks old (five weeks ago). She ate voraciously, she must be hitting another growth spurt. Babies are supposed to hit a spurt at 6 weeks, so she's due for one. Still, after going to sleep after her early feed, she didn't wake to be fed again until 9 (at which point she acted starving again; six hours is a long time!). From mom's perspective, since I'm blessed to be at home with only one little Cora to look after, it doesn't make a difference for her to wake at 3 or at 6, as long as we both get that long stretch until 9. Generally, she is still going to bed between 10 and 10:30, and sleeping until either 4 or 6/6:30. Oddly, she rarely wakes in the 5 o'clock hour.

In other news, we've noticed recently that Cora startles much more easily and often. During her first month, she hardly noticed noise, and we could practically run the vacuum in the same room she slept in without waking her. Now, if she's nursing and I speak loudly to Stace in the next room, she just about jumps. Today she startled when I pulled the string to start the sound on her musical Pooh bear.

Big day, little day

On Tuesday, Cora and I went to downtown L.A. to pick up her birth certificate from the county health department. (We had to make the trip because we want it sooner than it will be ready from the recorder's office.) Now we can apply for her passport, so we can take our first big family trip to England in May. We've now bought tickets for the journey as well; it will be great to have her meet her English friends and family and for Cora to see her Nan and Pop again.
While we were downtown, we stopped into the county Hall of Administration so Cora could meet some of the people I worked with while I covered county government.

After our big day, we barely left the house Wednesday, and I had my first day where I actually took an afternoon nap and stayed in pajamas most of the day. I have a good reason - a mild fever and headache kept striking off and on. Hopefully I'll be feeling great soon and this won't turn into a full-blown illness.