That Family by the Bay: southern ca

Dear Cordelia,

I've been falling behind on your monthly posts lately for a variety of reasons. I would love to say it's because I'm so busy soaking up how amazingly wonderful you are, but the truth is, you're so busy that you wear me out and I spend nap time cleaning, preparing for dinner, folding laundry, showering, and watching an occasional tv show. You know, the things that you'd rather not let me do when you're awake.

You're worth every moment of not doing what I want though, don't ever doubt that for a moment.

I'm also late writing this and taking these pictures because I have to wait for the weekend so that daddy can be home to place you on the blanket before you scoot over to me and demand to be held. We're working on this separation anxiety, baby girl, we're working on it.

Let's see though, this month you went to go see Santa at Tilden's Winter Wonderland. You rode the merry-go-round like a boss and you really didn't want to be sit in Santa's lap. I can't blame you, I think bearded men are creepy too, but this guy is really nice, so you may want to think of warming up to him for next year.

This month, you helped us pick out a tree and you had fun looking at the lights and pointing at the ornaments. You were shockingly great at just admiring it from a distance.

This month, you celebrated your second Christmas! We drove down to southern CA and you cried for five hours. Five. It was miserable for everyone, but we figured out you were growing some molars, so the ride back up was much more pleasant thanks to some advil. When we were down in Westlake we met up with mommy and daddy's friends, spent time with both sides of our family, and enjoyed watching you explore Nana and Pop's house. We had two Christmases and it took you a little bit to figure out the present-opening business, but once you figured it out, you were unstoppable! You are one very loved little girl.

Playing with Piper!

Trying to get all the cousins in one picture. Chaos.

This month, you became attached at the hip to Piggy-bear, the stuffed animal that Uncle Scott and Auntie Coco got you for your birthday. You won't go to sleep without it, you won't leave a room without it, and if you see it during a meal, you're all done and ready to go cuddle with it. It's very cute to see you drag along this little piggy wherever you go.

This month, you are beginning to understand so much! You know when you want something and you are not afraid to make that known. You throw fits when you don't get your way, and you now know how to effectively employ the word, "no." Game. Over.

This month, you learned how to say "poops." I want to be proud, but I would have liked it better if you had learned how to say mama before poops. Honestly, I'm a little offended. Whenever I ask you to say "mama," you look at me with your little smirk and either say "no, no, no" or "dada!" Stinker, you keep me on my toes!

You also know how to say, please (pee-z!), which is also your word for banana. Your other words include: ball, owl, brush (of every kind), dada, book, bath, uh-oh, hello, bye-bye, O-doh (Olive), woof, duck, quack, shoes, and I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. You give very wide-mouthed, affectionate kisses to both daddy and I, and you love to give hugs complete with pat-pats. You love trying to brush your own hair, trying to put on your hat, and trying to put on your shoes.

This month, you can often be found tugging at my pant legs when I'm preparing your meals, or playing with your ball track that I found on craigslist. Every time we walk into the living room you yell "ball, ball, ball!", squirm out of my arms, and scoot yourself way over to the ball track. You love the red balls the most. You also love playing with your school bus and tractor, and you dance your heart away when they play music. You love to dance.

This month, you have no intention of walking anytime soon, and that's just fine by me.

This month, you went on an egg strike. You typically have an egg every morning for breakfast, and you decided that it wasn't for you anymore. Your favorite foods are avocado (in any form), black beans, banana, pear, blueberries, strawberries, sausage, green beans, carrots, gouda cheese, baby dahl puree, beef marrow puree, japanese sweet potatoes, yogurt bacon, tortilla chips, ground beef, and carnitas. You like anything that has a nice depth of flavor and you reject anything that's too plain. I still can't get you to try broccoli or cauliflower, but I still try.

This month, you still take two naps from 10:45-12:15 and 2:45-4:15, you nurse at least 4 times a day, but you've been asking for more lately, and I'm happy to oblige. You had a nasty cold this month, and I'm thankful that I can still nurse you when you don't feel like eating much.

Poor, sad, teething baby.

This month, you are still in 12-18 month clothes, with some 18-24 month long sleeved onesies and dresses thrown in there for length. You are still on the middle snap of your cloth diapers, and size 4 diapers when we use throw aways. You have have been teething up a storm this month. You have two molars that just popped through, and it looks like the canines are on their way as well. You won't let us get a good look at what's going on in the upper portion of your mouth, but I assume that those are coming soon also.

Next month, I'm looking forward to some quality time with you at home before school starts up again. You are strong-willed, and I'm learning how to set boundaries and stick to them, and you are learning to push them. I hope your teeth either come in or give you a break from the madness though, it's hard seeing you in pain. Next month, I'm excited to see how much more you will understand and how many more words you'll find. I love our morning snuggles, and I hope that we'll continue that tradition! I love watching you grow from this blob of a newborn to this opinionated little scooter of a baby. And, let's be honest, I would call you a toddler, but you have to earn that by walking.

Cora Lynn, I love experiencing life through your eyes. I'm so thankful that I get to be at home with you and spend as much time together as we do. I can't even tell you how much I love you. You wear me out sometimes, but you're worth every moment.

Even when you learn how to say poops, but you still don't say mama.

Love,
Mama

In Cora's short 8 months of life, she's been to four weddings. Both of our brothers got married this year, and two of Stu's high school buddies got hitched this year as well. I would have ideally liked to do a post for every wedding, but with the way life is going, that's not going to happen. And barring any late surprise weddings, our wedding season for 2012 is officially over. Whew!

Life with a baby is, well, different, and that permeates every aspect of life, weddings included. I have to say that of all the parts of my daughter and parenting that I love, parenting at weddings is way more difficult than I imagined. I know it will get better as she gets older, but for this year? Weddings were exhausting, out of our normal daily routines, away from our home, and not carefree like the days of yesteryear. And while we're adjusting well to parenthood, weddings were the thing this year that made me miss pre-baby life the most.

But weddings are wonderful, so they are worth it. I love seeing two different personalities come together in one big celebration. I love ceremonies and seeing how they reflect the couple and their love for each other. I love watching family dynamics. I love being there to support the beginning of life together.

And so, here were the weddings of 2012.

Keith and Lindsey's wedding was in January in Ann Arbor. Cora was a mere 7 weeks old, and she slept most of the time, which made it fairly easy. It snowed on their wedding day, and their reception was in a cool barn complete with a caller for square dancing. Their day was so them in every tiny detail. And I was so overwhelmed with all things babycare while Stu was busy being a groomsman, I barely took any pictures.

First flight!

Brothers

Ties knitted by Wendy

Baby Mohawk!

Inflight entertainment

Ryan and Katy got married in July in Southern CA. We drove down for a long weekend and stayed in Anaheim. Stu had a lot of groomsmanly duties to attend to, so I spent a lot of my time with Dayna and her daughter Piper. The location reminded us a lot of our wedding venue, and it was cool to see all of the creative details that went into the planning. Though, it was such a long, nomadic day, by the end of it I looked totally wrecked. Cora was a champion though, she fell asleep in the ergo till the bitter end and slept for 12 hours that night.

First dance

Piper, Pat, and Dayna

Arya and Saman, next in line!

Frowny faces

Piper and Arya

Dancing with Daddy

Sleeping in the Ergo

Arya and Saman got married at the Biltmore in Los Angeles and it was by far the fanciest wedding I have ever been to in my life. Arya told me to wear a floor length gown (like it was no big deal, because I totally have 5 of those hanging in my closet), and so I took the opportunity to rent something that I would never wear otherwise. It was like Halloween in August, and I'm pretty sure that judging from the stares from the gaggle of tourists checking into the Biltmore didn't really know what to make of Stu and I as we walked through the lobby for a picture. The wedding was over the top though! It was my first Persian wedding, and they go all out for sure! Cora slept through the ceremony, hung out during the cocktail hour, and slept through the dinner that was served at 10pm. We left after dinner though, and we were sad to miss out on all the dancing.

Beautiful Biltmore

Baby at the Biltmore!

Daddies and their baby girls

Pat, Piper, and Dayna

First dance

My brother, Scott, married Coco a week after Arya's wedding, and it couldn't have been more different. We flew to Portland and got to spend time with family before the wedding on Saturday and meet Coco's family as well. It was a small, 40 person wedding with a low-key reception in their backyard. It was super fun to be so relaxed, and I had the honor of standing next to my brother as they exchanged vows.