Mini vacation

While Cora has been to the beach a couple of times, this was the first time with her mommy and daddy bringing towels, a picnic and swimsuits! We had a great weekend with our dear friends John and Linda and their girls. We went to the beach Saturday and Sunday, as they live just a few miles away from the sea. The weather, sorry to say to our friends in England, was stunning. Our main concern was keeping enough sunscreen on Cora and making a makeshift shade. On Saturday, that meant the boogie board balanced above her, and on Sunday we brought a small rain umbrella. Cora enjoyed her trip, taking a couple of naps and playing (including playing with her sippy cup - she might have even got a few sips of water down her throat!). She wasn't thrilled with the actual ocean water, however, when Stace took her in (only her feet and legs). She cried. I think she was a little scared, and it was so much colder than the pool at home! Stace and I both had a lot of fun in the waves, and the water was refreshing and not-too-cold, even for me.
Stace and I also enjoyed walking around Hermosa Beach, where we found a neat hole-in-the-wall children's boutique ( www.sol-baby.com if you're in the area) . Stace was thrilled to find (and buy) a lullaby version of Led Zeppelin! So fun.
In the evening we all went to the Whale and Ale pub and had fish and chips.











Speaking of food, it seems that Cora is getting closer to being ready for more than mama's milk. She is more interested in what we're doing when we're eating, and she often reaches for what we have. On Saturday I was enjoying a juicy nectarine and Cora wanted some, so I let her have a few sucks. Yum!

Hot, hot, hot

Some photos to warm your day.
We're in the time of year when we have to wait until the evening to go use the pool. Too hot otherwise. We're planning our first official beach trip this weekend.

Silly mom

I have discovered the joy of dyeing diapers. I realize most of you reading this will think I've completely lost my marbles, but yes, I did use the words "joy" and "diapers" in the same sentence. But being that I'm not artistic or crafty in ANY way, I have been so pleased at the results of my first dye jobs! Cora's formerly white prefold dipes and natural (unbleached) fitted diapers are now an array of colors, as you can see. Now I can pick out which pretty color to put on her when it's time for a change. And I'm not quite done yet; a friend is going to give me her leftover navy blue dye, and I saved a few dipes for that color.

Cora is getting a lot better with her sitting up. Sometimes she will stay up for 5-10 seconds before toppling. She and I are making new friends in our Stroller Strides workout class, too, which is great. There are several other new moms with babies about her age, and it's nice chatting with them.
I am going to the class three times a week - at least I am attempting to. Yesterday it didn't work out so well. I was all ready to go, Cora was in her car seat even, and I couldn't find my lens. This sounds funny unless you are the person frantically searching all the places it NORMALLY is and having no luck at all. It got too late to go to my walk. I finally found it at the edge of Cora's crib; I must have put it down as I was putting her down to bed the night before. So we then left to take a walk of our own. When we reached the gate on our way back home, I spotted our house/gate keys on the driveway, where I apparently dropped them. They had been run over who knows how many times, and one key was broken, and the house key was very bent and unusable. Thank the Lord that I had my cell phone, and that Stace was at his desk when I called. He was my hero, coming immediately to my rescue. He even was able to pound the key into flatness with a hammer, and it now works again.

Sail Away

LA Galaxy V Chelsea

On Saturday the LA Galaxy took on Chelsea in a friendly match at the Home Depot Centre, all part of the World Series of Football. The series also featured Tigres, from Mexico and Suwong, from Korea. We also went to the Chelsea v Suwong Blue Wings game on Tuesday that Chelsea won 1-0.
The Galaxy-Chelsea game was a sell-out. Everybody had come the see the stars of the Premier League. Oh yeh.... and a certain David Beckham. As you can see from the photo above, his arrival has been quite the event. Nearly every Galaxy shirt had his name on the back.

It was not the greatest game but very enjoyable. Chesea ended up winning the game 1-0 with a John Terry goal.
The loudest cheer of the evening came when Beckham entered the game as sub. The whole place went crazy. It has to be the biggest cheer I have ever heard for a player coming into the game. He's carying an injury so only played for the last 12 minutes. It was crazy, the cameras were on him the whole game. I think they forgot there was a match going on. I also saw his skinny wife, Posh, from a few feet away. She was being followed around by a pack of photographers. Anybody would think they were the King and Queen of England, not some once pretty good footballer coming to the end of his career and his has-been member of a crappy teeny bopper pop group.

Can You Spot the Cat?

Let's play a little game. Find Somer!

Five months, one week

Those of you who follow Cora closely might have noticed I forgot to mention Cora hitting five months old last Monday. She is indeed, and I would say she is 14 pounds 5 ounces and maybe 26 inches long. She likes to giggle at her daddy when he is being silly, and is a good audience for him when we go to the pool and he does his various diving and underwater antics. She likes to practice sitting up; she sometimes sings to her toys; and she'll holler when we have left her when she wants us to come and pick her up. She is doing well with tummy time now, and can play with a toy in front of her while on her stomach. She sometimes moves her legs as if she wants to move forward, but I don't think she is very close to crawling. She is also now very active while nursing, and likes to hold onto my hair or my necklace or whatever I'm reading.
We recently went to our friends' Keith and Tracey's house for a barbecue and fun in the pool. They had this great little boat that Cora absolutely loved. Stace now has ordered up one for us.
Above is "Uncle" Keith with Cora, and below, Cora is in a high chair for the first time. We'll have to get one of these in the next few months!

Cora exercising

Champions League Cup

Liverpool came close this year.

Stace got a lot closer.

Here we are with the European Cup.

AC Milan, not the team but representatives from the club, are setting up an academy here in Santa Clarita and they brought along some silverware to show off.

If this were any other country in the world you wouldn't be able to get within a mile of this trophy. There would have been crowds queueing up for hours to get a glimpse.

But this is America, and not even Friday's Beckham arrival will turn football into the force it is all over the rest of the world. Not yet anyway.

The Cup was on show at the Newhall community centre and Lisa, Cora and I were able to walk in, straight up to the famous old cup, no crowds anywhere, just a few kids hanging around.

The only other time I've seen this imprssive prize was on a stadium tour of Anfield with Smally, Gouldy and Lee Atkins. At that time they had won the competition on four occasions and had the cups on show, all in a row.

As you can see, Cora was not impressed.

In Seattle

Here's Cora with the family. The kids are now 15, just about 17 and going on 19, and they are the most delightful teens you could care to know. I so enjoy spending time with them.
Cora's first boat trip - our ferry ride from Seattle to Bremerton. See the Space Needle?
On the shore of the Hood Canal.
Cora and I are home now. We survived our trip home, but it didn't go very well. Cora shrieked/screamed for much of the first half hour and I finally took her to the back of the plane, where we hung out with the flight crew for the rest of the flight, until the fasten seatbelts sign was lit again for our landing. It was a little surprising because she normally is so pleasant! But it's over now and we're back in the swing of things at home. We went for a nice walk yesterday, Stroller Strides today and will walk and go to Gymboree tomorrow. Daddy is very happy to have us home.

At the Lake

With some hard work by Uncle Bill and William to get the boat ready, we all managed to make it to the lake on Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect, as it was for our entire trip, as you can see.
Here I am getting ready for my first tubing experience.
I smiled and screamed a lot. And I stayed on the tube the whole time! OK, Uncle Bill took it easy on me because, as he said, he wanted me to try it again in the future.
Meanwhile, back on the shore, Aunt Patty and Cora enjoyed the soft grass. She said Cora really loved the grass and was having fun touching it.

Here is Cora spending some quality floor time with Uncle Bill and cousin William.
Aunt Patty was impressed with Cora's splashing ability. Cora gave the mirror and counter a good washing. She just started splashing in the bath about two weeks ago, when we started taking her into the pool. Something must have clicked. She gets very excited as she splashes.
Here Cora meets Dinky the Chihuahua. Dinky was a little nervous about the meeting.
Abi the cat, on the other hand, was glad to make Cora's acquaintance and was eager for Cora to pet her.

Cora and I have flown to Seattle to visit my dear Uncle Bill, Aunt Patty and cousins Elizabeth, Alison and William. They are having a great time visiting with Cora, and vice versa. Today, on Saturday, we have had a lazy day staying in and watching a movie, after a big Friday shopping in Silverdale, the main town near the small rural village where they live.
Later we hope to hit Big Beef Creek when the tide is low and the bald eagles are everywhere, snacking on shellfish. We also hope to do some clam digging of our own, and take the boat out tomorrow.
We flew in on Thursday, and Cora did pretty well on the plane but she did take a lot of energy from mom to stay relatively happy. We did lots of bouncing and singing, and also had a clothing change after her disposable diaper again FAILED. Why I tried them again, I don't know, but she's in cloth while we're here and we've had no leaks. I must get over my aversion to using cloth on airplanes, or just remember to bring many changes of clothing for myself and for Cora.

Happy Rebellion Day...

...As Stace would say.
Cora braved the 100-degree heat to see her first Fourth of July parade through Newhall. Since we live right off the parade route, it's become our tradition to walk on over and enjoy the festivities. Stace loves the classic cars. We were blessed to find nice people who shared their shade (they had brought a foldup canopy/pagoda), and with an occasional breeze, it wasn't too bad.
My sister was in the parade, wearing her costume for the upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast at the local theater. Mel is in the musical, which is my favorite movie. Well, that and Princess Bride.
We had a little battery-operated fan for Cora (seen at top with Grandma) , and she found her favorite way to keep cool (see photo).

A week of new experiences

Cora has had quite a week, by her standards. She has learned that she has feet, she has learned to bang a spoon, and she had fun playing with other babies at our church's Vacation Bible School.
First off, the latest discovery: spoon-banging. Stace and I wanted to get a not-too-expensive but not-fast-food meal Sunday evening. We went to a place that was kid-friendly enough and featured the bonus of outdoor seating, in case Cora was too fussy for indoor dining. While waiting for our dinner, Stace held Cora on his lap and I got a spoon for her to hold. She studied it in her hand and then hit the table with it - what a wonderful, satisfying noise! Bang! Bang! Bang bang! She looked so pleased with herself. Of course we didn't bring a camera to dinner, but here you see her with the spoon after we got home. (If any ladies reading this are wondering, she is wearing a cute little dress with panties that go to a different cute little dress. Daddy dressed her, and believes that since they are both flowered and pink, they match fine. Who is Mommy to argue?)
Cora also now has found her feet, and likes to hold them up when she is getting her diaper changed. Very helpful! When I tried to capture this cuteness on the camera, she let go and started grinning away instead. Oh well. I also need to work hard to capture her biting her tongue. When we were in England, she found her tongue and was often working it around her mouth or chewing it. A month later, she continues to chew her tongue, sticking it between her gums on the side of her mouth. She looks like a cow chewing its cud. I think it could be a comfort thing, since she gave up pacifiers when she stopped taking a bottle.

This past week, Cora and I were at church every day at 9 (go mom!) to help at Vacation Bible School. We helped in the nursery, and Cora loved playing with the other babies and with the variety of toys she doesn't see at home. She is shown her in the jumperoo, with the diaper bag and blanket under her feet to give her a boost so she could jump.

So much to see!

Here you can see Cora in her infant carrier, happy as she can be. This is from a walk a few nights ago that ended up taking about two hours instead of 45 minutes like we figured it would. Stace had her facing forward for the first 45 minutes or so, and then we switched her around and she took a nap, snuggled into his chest.

little fish

After a successful first dip a few days earlier, on Saturday night we went full on with Cora and the pool. We got the swim diaper and put her in up to her neck, and she loved it! She did some kicking and arm waving, and when we held her out she seemed to know to kick intuitively.

The water was warmish, since the weather has been so hot, and the sun had gone down far enough that we were in shade. It was a perfect setting. It was great for Stace, who loves swimming and is looking forward to taking her to classes once she is old enough (six months at the YMCA).

I can also report that as Cora approaches five months, she is becoming MORE. She is more fun and also more demanding. On Sunday, Stace and I had the idea of going up to the English pub to enjoy a Sunday roast dinner, but as we were getting ready we realized it just wasn't going to work. Cora was only happy in our arms, or in the infant carrier, and she would scream/shriek when we put her down. Not exactly restaurant behavior. So as lovely and giggly as she is sometimes, Cora is definitely no longer easily portable!

Play Time!

Cora has her first Gymboree class this week and she loved it! The class is for babies six months and younger, and about nine babies and their mommies participated. She was very enthusiastic and interested in the songs and activities, and especially in the other babies. We sat next to two six-month-olds, and Cora could hardly keep her eyes off them as they sat up on their own and reached for toys during tummy time on the mirror. Cora did very well during tummy time in that she kept her head up high for a long while before tiring out. But she hasn't started reaching for toys while on her tummy yet.
We also did a bit of baby massage and tactile play, using a paintbrush so baby can feel the new texture. Cora really did enjoy herself, and I'm looking forward to taking her back again.
Also this week was Stacey's birthday. My mom came over and watched Cora so we could go out to eat on our own - it was great! That was the fourth time we've been out without Cora, but the first time we've been out on our own. Besides the meal, we had birthday cake all together. When he blew out his candles, Cora cried! I think it was the smoke that scared her.
Another Cora tidbit I can point out - in the top photo, see how the back of her head looks a little like a face with her bald spot forming the mouth? We've noticed in the last couple of weeks that Cora has two crowns.
Also, Cora is now big enough to ride in the infant carrier facing forward, and she LOVES it. Last night we went to Trader Joes and instead of pushing her in the stroller, Stace wore her in the carrier, and she was loving it. She was excited, looking all around, kicking her legs and waving her arms. She is the same when I wear her when I'm doing things around the house.

another round?

Cora had her second round of vaccinations Tuesday afternoon, another four shots plus a liquid dose. You can see her here showing off her bandages, along with her prettiest new cloth diaper. The shots went much better this time in that Mom didn't cry. Cora, on the other hand, did a bit of screaming. She wasn't herself Wednesday, either, and was just fussier than normal. The official numbers show her to be a long, lean baby. She's 25 3/4 inches long (90th percentile!) and 13 pounds 6 ounces (35th percentile).
On Wednesday morning, I took part in a local Stroller Strides class. It was great, and I think I'll start going regularly. The hourlong classes are lead by a fitness instructor and include a lot of strength training along with the walking. I love walking for exercise, but normally don't do much in terms of strength so this will be good for me. Plus it's a chance to meet other moms.

The second photo is from Monday afternoon; we went to the swimming pool (Dad was the only one to get in) and Cora fell asleep on her towel on the lounge. She was so cute, 'sleeping like a baby.'