Cora's Bud

This morning we were eating breakfast and Cora was dawdling a bit, not too interested in her food. I passed her a cup and said "Here you go, Bud." Her eyes lit up and she said "Can you be Elise?" I agreed and finished the rest of breakfast as Elise. It was amazing. I didn't change my voice or anything, just said "bud" at the end of every sentence.
"Have more eggs Bud."
Are you going to finish your cereal, Bud?"
The effect was magical. Food gone.

Cousin Elise--priceless. And missed by her little bud.

Oliver's Travels

Oliver discovered the kitchen cabinet this morning. The silver knob caught his eye and he crawled over to examine it. As he pulled on the knob the door swung open, and as it did his weight shifted and he swayed to the side. He did this for a few minutes, swaying side to side, opening and closing the door, without realizing there was anything inside the cabinet. Then he changed his focus and I saw the lightbulb dawn over his head. Aha! There's stuff behind this door! A big bag of cayenne fish rub went right in the mouth. Luckily the bag stayed closed, but it was a sign of things to come. Time for cabinet locks!

Another milestone for Oliver

It seems the developmental milestones are falling fast and furious right now. In the past two days Oliver has mastered the Art of Sitting Up From a Crawl. It's almost creepy how easy it looks already. Sometimes he is snooching across the floor, pauses, and then he glides into a sitting position as if someone picked him up by the shirt.

His second tooth broke through the gums last night, so he's got two on the bottom now. He's always running his tongue over his tooth (now teeth) and jutting his bottom jaw out to feel it on his top gums. He's a trip.

He's a little less super mellow now--starting to get into "where's Mommy?" at times. Aunt Sarah kept him for a few hours this week and he screamed the whole time.

Cora is doing great, happy to be back in school. She's got a major crush on a boy named Daniel. He's twelve. Too old. Probably as tall as Daddy.

Not so sure about this...

Not so sure about this...
Originally uploaded by Wingates.

As you can see, Oliver has passed another threshold, away from baby land and into the world of normal humans. Real food. That means big stinky poops for Mommy and Daddy. Cora has been feeding him at dinner, which is a good way for them to bond. That second tooth will pop through any day now....

Oliver's Fisher Price Ad

Oliver Swing3
Originally uploaded by Wingates.

Oliver is seen here hanging casually in the swing in front of Aunt Anne's new house. He hung out a lot this weekend as the family did an extreme makeover of her bedroom while she was catering a wedding in Florida.

Change is in the air here as Anne will be moving out in a week or two. She closed the deal on her new house this week. Her new house is exactly two-tenths of a mile away from us. I'm said to say we still can't walk there without circuitous backways due to the lack of sidewalks for pedestrians and sense for drivers. Her house is very cute. Three bedrooms too, which we covet. Oliver now sleeps in our bathroom. He's not old enough to know the difference yet, but one of these days he'll wonder how he drew the short straw and sleeps next to the toilet.

Cora and I had karate class tonight. She lined up some stuffed animals as her audience and we performed a variety of kicks and punches. She has been intrigued by it since we saw some demonstrations this summer. The picture is of Cora's best karate pose, showing off her muscles for the camera. I think next summer might be a tae kwon do summer.

Oliver's first tooth....

Oliver's growing up now I guess....no more babies, just big rowdy kids after this. His first tooth popped through his bottom gums two mornings ago, and the second looks ready to push through as well. He's been drooling like a faucet for the last few weeks, so it was a relief to see he had a good reason to drool constantly. He's sitting up well too, but not so well that we don't surround him with pillows. Crawling is a commando-style belly crawl/lunge, often with one arm outstretched for a desired object. He remains humble despite these great accomplishments and seems to still appreciate the presence of his parents.