13 Months Old!

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

Cora's First Birthday Party

I had a lot of fun dreaming up what Cora's first birthday party would look like. I scoured Pinterest during naps and when I was avoiding grad school assignments, and I felt so intimidated by all of those creative-types out there. I'm so not crafty. I mean, I like thinking up crafts, but figuring out how to execute them? Not exactly my forte. And let's be honest, Cora will absolutely not remember her first birthday, so while the party was for her, it represented way more than that.

To us, Cora's first birthday party was about us loving our first year as parents and as we fumbled our way through the dark, friends and family came out of the woodwork to support and love us as we figured out how to love our daughter best, how to balance our new lives as parents, and how to reach out for support when you'd rather not ask for help.

Cora's party was so much more than celebrating her first year of life and our first year as parents; it was about celebrating the community that came together to love on us as a new family. We are forever thankful for the encouragement, love, walks, laughs, and babysitting that our friends and family have given to us. It's hard to explain the feeling of pure thankfulness and joy that pulses through my heart when I see people loving on our daughter so extravagantly.

We have been so blessed and we are so thankful.

And how this party came together is a true testament to how much our family loves us. I had a killer last couple of weeks with school coming to an end, and our family swooped in and created beauty from the ashes of my half-finished, over-achieving, totally particular, party plans. It was miraculous that it all came together, and I have to say, I was so incredibly impressed.


The night before...

Pretty sure they fluffed pom-poms for two hours, sorry!

I'm so mean! Look how tired they are!

The morning of...

The party guests arrive!

She loves that push toy.

 And then the cake.

We're so thankful for everyone who came to help us celebrate the most amazing year of our lives!

Major thanks to John Yoo and Brian Gregson for the amazingly wonderful party pictures. Such a wonderful gift to be able to simply enjoy being there and not worry about the details being captured.