Chattering

::le sigh::

Its an interesting situation. I'm ready to go back to work and do experiments and interact with my labmates (who I really enjoy). I'm ready to have a normal daily routine that doesn't involve diapers 80% of the time. I'm ready to have a few hours to myself everyday. I'm really looking forward to doing some science and having high end scientific conversations that aren't about physics. 

What I'm not looking forward to is leaving Cora for a big chunk of each day. I know I'm not the only person who's had to deal with the separation anxiety and mommy guilt issues, and that makes it a little easier. That and knowing that the women at the daycare we're using are wonderful, loving people who will take the best care of her. (Seriously - the woman we talked with when I went to visit gave me a hug and promised me Cora was in good hands. All the other ladies came to look at Cora and coo over her.)

So, in order to maximize and really take advantage of these last few days, I have declared them to be "no work all play" days. I'm not doing any unnecessary chores, running no unneeded errands, and taking a break from cleaning. Instead, I'm spending lots of time cuddling and "playing" with Cora. 

As much as anyone can play with a 6 week old. 

We sat on a palate made up on the living room floor for some play time yesterday. Cora squirmed and flailed and whipped her head back and forth. She gurgled and cooed and blew bubbles. I watched and tickled and occasionally got hit by a flailing limb. 

When I pulled out my camera to take a little video, shyness apparently kicked in. The squirming slowed down. The noises all but stopped. She turned her head away. I don't believe she's old enough to either recognize the camera or be shy, but she certainly didn't want to cooperate. 

After 4 attempts I finally managed a decent video, complete with cute baby noises. 

Today we're going to the park for some sunlight (as long as it's still cool when Geoff gets back from his bike ride). Maybe we'll pack a picnic, too, if the timing is right for lunch. Then we can stroll around the little walking path and lay in the shade of the huge oak trees in the park. Not a bad way to spend part of the Labor Day weekend!

P.S. I've never uploaded video before, so please leave a comment if it doesn't work and I'll try to figure it out.

One Month

Cora is officially one month old today! Hard to believe.

In the past month she has:

• Gotten a lot of hiccups (we both have them right now).
• Started looking directly at us and following us with her eyes for a few seconds.
• Developed more predictable eating/sleeping/playing patterns. 
• Started staying awake and alert for several hours at a stretch. Thankfully she's still a great sleeper and lets us get our shut-eye at night!
• Developed better head and neck control. Cora can now hold her head up stably for a good 10 to 15 seconds at a time.
• Given us a few precious smiles.
• Finally lost her umbilical cord stump, just yesterday. I kept it instead of throwing it away so Geoff could see it when he got home from school. I just new he'd want to see that shriveled up little piece of nastiness. Which reminds me, I think it's still sitting on the changing table - must remember to throw it away.
• Learned how to read and to solve differential equations.

Okay, that last one may not be strictly true.

Anyway. One of my coworkers gave me this really great idea of a way to document Cora's first year of life.  It's called "Marshmallow Pictures" and it's meant to capture your baby's development not only in growth, but also in her ability to interact with her surroundings. Here's how it works:

On her monthly birthdays, set her up in the same place. Same surroundings, same furniture, same everything. In front of her, set a marshmallow with an unlit candle in it - one marshmallow for each month of life. Then take a picture (or several). My coworker loves looking back at the pictures of her 3 kids and seeing them change from sleepy newborns who don't care about the marshmallows to inquisitive babies trying to grab them and shove them in their mouths.

It was a fun little photo shoot! Clark (the dog) just observed for most of it, but then decided to see what all the fuss was about for himself.

Day at the Park

Today was the last full day that my family was here visiting. A very active 5 year old and 3 year old don't do so well cooped up in a small apartment all day, so we decided to hit up the local park while it was still cool outside (below 95 degrees). There are several nice parks in our town, and one not very far from our place. We had a fun couple of hours until the sun came out in full force.

We played.

We slid.

We sat in the shade.

We found a nice shady spot and decided to take some family pictures.  Mom was put on camera duty for the group photos.  Half of the pictures, Geoff and I look horrible because Mom was only focusing on cute Cora!  Still, several pictures turned out great; here are our favorite shots from the day.  

Finally, our favorite of the family portraits, which Geoff cropped for our new header:

We've had a great time having family in town to visit, whether they stayed or were just passing through. It's sad to see them go, since we don't get to see our family nearly often enough. But I suppose that's one of the reasons we were so keen to start this blog - so you could all see Cora progress from a sleepy newborn to a screaming or smiley baby, to whatever she becomes in the future.

introductions part 2

Here are some more pictures of Cora being introduced to her family.  This is Gena's cousin, Aimee...

and here she is with Aimee's daughter Ali, followed by her nephew, Damien, playing with her tiny feet.

introductions

A few family members were able to make it down to visit this week, and we are having a great time introducing them to our new addition.  First my mother, Paula, was here for an entire week.  She was more than excited to meet her first granddaughter, and was a huge help while she was here.  Gena and I got a little spoiled having her cook and clean for us all week long!  We did let her hold Cora a few times though, so she was happy.  We realized a little too late that we didn't get any pictures of just her and Cora, a mistake we'll have to remedy during her next visit, but here she is with one member of the next visiting crew.

As you probably guessed, the second crew included Gena's mother Leta, our niece and nephew Ella and Weston, and our sister-in-law, Stephanie.  Here are Weston and Ella posing with their first cousin, and Stephanie with her first niece.  

Here is Leta adoring her fourth (and favorite we're sure) grandchild.  

Tomorrow we're hitting up the park, so hopefully we'll get an actual picture of GG&Co that is worth posting, so stay tuned for our first family portrait!  I'll leave you with one of our current favorites, hope you enjoy!  Believe it or not, the bracelet she is wearing was handmade by her Grandad, Matt...it has her name, a heart and a cross, and Cora loves to chew on the strings!

PS - Congratulations Cindy and Jake on your latest family addition, we wish you the best of luck with your 3rd beautiful child!