One week ago today was the day that Cora knocked her tooth out. It still makes me cringe a bit when I think about that moment and those to follow. I am so thankful that it doesn't seem to bother her. She's still the same bundle of energy that she was a week ago! There were a few rough days when she did not want to go to sleep for her nap or bedtime because she didn't have her pacifier. It was terrible. She kept getting out of bed and would just cry and sometimes scream because she didn't want Jeremy or me to leave the room. It would be really late before she finally went to sleep, and then that would affect her mood the next day. Nasty cycle. After a little tough love, I am so thankful that the past 3 days have been wonderful. She seems to have finally adjusted to the loss of her paci.
Cora is doing wonderful with potty training! Most days we don't have any accidents. She even slept in big girl panties last night and was dry this morning. We're still working on pooping in the potty - she'll ask for a diaper when she needs to go. Anyone have advice on that? She is very proud of her big girl panties. Her clothes fit so differently now!
We had a really interesting day on Tuesday. We had walked that morning with Aunt Amye and Harrison, followed by a trip to Chick-fil-a and Target. I had one more quick stop to make at Lowe's. We went in, got what we needed, and I asked Cora Leigh if she needed to go to the potty. She said she didn't. We checked out, went to the car, started the car to get the a/c going, and got Micah in the car. Then Cora decided she did need to go potty. SO, we turn off the car, get Micah out, and went inside to find a bathroom. We made it without any problem and went back out to the car. I tried to get the a/c going, and I could not get the car to start. It would not even try. Panic sets in. It is naptime for Cora, Micah will be due to eat soon and he's tired, it's really hot outside, and I cannot get my car to start. I ask some passerby's for help and they agree to help me jump my car. So glad my dad taught me to always keep jumper cables in my trunk. I have used them numerous times to help others, and now I needed them to help me! Unfortunately, my battery was so dead, it still wouldn't start. Panic. I called Jeremy. He's in the middle of his afternoon patients. Thankfully, he was able to get his schedule cleared for the rest of the day so he could help me. In the meantime, Micah is tired, and we're walking aimlessly around Lowe's. He starts SCREAMING. This isn't too out of the ordinary, but it is always worse in a public place. Then Cora decides she is going to get upset. She starts crying very loudly. I know all the people who saw me wondered why in the world I had my kids in Lowe's when they were both very obviously upset. I wanted to tell everyone that I couldn't leave - my car wouldn't start. Actually, I really just wanted to sit down and cry with them! My dear sister-in-law was kind enough to get her not quite 2-month old back in the car and come pick up Cora and take her home with her. Something about the adult to child ratio going from 1:2 to 1:1 exponentially decreases your stress load. Micah falls asleep, so we keep walking around Lowe's. When he wakes up, he is SO happy. Hallelujah! He was also ready to eat, so we found some really comfy patio furniture (a nice loveseat) that had pillows, perfect for nursing! I sat in the patio furniture section (with my nursing cover) and got Micah fed. Jeremy finally arrives!! The folks at Lowe's had told me that they would have some tools for Jeremy to use to take the battery out of the car. They did. Unfortunately, they were not the right tools. Jeremy ended up buying an adjustable wrench, but it just wasn't cutting it. After struggling for at least half an hour, he decided that he really needed the right tools. Luckily, it was almost the end of my brother's work day, he works near Lowe's, and he has tools at his work! He was nice enough to bring the proper tools over, and at that point it didn't take long at all to the battery changed out. I am so thankful the battery is all it was. I am also thankful that my husband has a job that is somewhat flexible where he could leave to come help me. How lucky were we that Bryan and Amye were also willing and able to help us out! In the end, I spent 3 hours at Lowe's. That was about 2 hours and 45 minutes longer than I wanted to be there, but in the end, it all worked out!
One last blessing - Micah is sleeping through the night! He had started sleeping through the night every so often, but now it's days in a row...I think it's been 4 days now. One morning started at 5:45, but I'll still take it! How nice to finally get some quality sleep at night! I am blessed.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Crazy Week for Cora Leigh
I am writing this blog with a million mixed emotions right now. It has been quite a week for my baby girl! We started the week with Papaw's birthday which Cora was SUPER excited about. We made Papaw a birthday card - pink - Cora said that was his favorite. :) We were going to Moe's to eat with him, also one of Cora's favorites. As we were getting ready to leave, I took Hazel (the dog) out to use the bathroom before we left. Cora was watching out the sidelights next to the front door. I came in, quickly shut and locked the door, then I noticed that Cora's finger was shut in the door! She had stuck it in on the back side where the hinges are, and it took her a minute to realize that she was in pain. We have a childproof lock on our lever-style front door knob for obvious reasons, and in my panic the thing suddenly seemed like rocket science to open! I finally opened the door and freed her finger, and poor Cora Leigh was just in a million pieces. I felt terrible. I got her a bandaid, which work magic on her, and she was still crying but told me we needed to get in the car and go to Moe's. :) By the time everyone got in the car, she seemed to be pretty well over it. She still told me that it really hurt, but she was no longer crying. Watching your child get hurt is not fun. Unintentionally hurting your child is awful.
The middle of the week was actually really good. We got the carpet laid in our basement (the last step of finishing it!!!), but that is another blog post. Cora is so funny, and there have been a few particularly funny things she has said this week. She always tells me when she is going to poop. After doing so earlier this week, she came to tell me that she had poop in her diaper. After confirming, she randomly said, "I don't want to try and eat it!" Okay....good to know! Not sure where she got that notion, but glad she thought that was a bad idea. Then one afternoon, she was telling her daddy a long, crazy story. He asked her what she was talking about. She responded by asking me, "Mommy, what am I talking about?!?" As it turns out, I don't think any one of us had a clue. Wednesday night, we had taken dinner to one of Jeremy's co-workers who had a baby about a month ago. Cora was getting cranky and whiny on the way home. When Micah started fussing, she was full-out crying. He would stop fussing and would just look at her, as if to say, "What's your problem?" After explaining to Cora (for the umpteenth time) that she was not a baby like Micah, so there was no reason for her to be crying, she told us, "Somebody needs to smack me!" We just cracked up. While we might have agreed, we of course did not oblige this request. And to clarify, we are not in the habit of smacking our children. Cora has been smacking her mommy lately, and we have had lots of talks about it. SO, that is why she knows that terminology.
Then Thursday, we had a really good day. After taking Cora's diaper off that morning, I let her run around without anything on her bottom. She seemed to be doing well with it, so I thought perhaps today is the day we start potty training - FINALLY! After she peed the second time in the potty, she decided she wanted to wear panties. She LOVED being a big girl. She even wore her panties when we went out with my friend, Brooke, for lunch. We had a couple of little accidents at home, but she did great when we went out! She went in the potty for me at the restaurant and got a piece of cake for a reward. (Okay, so maybe that reward was partly for me too...) She hasn't pooped in the potty yet, but she only poops every few days, so I guess she hasn't been "due" for a poop yet. I suspect that will be interesting.
Late Thursday night, around bedtime, I was tending to Micah and Jeremy was emptying the dishwasher. Cora was in the living room playing with a plastic pitcher that she has played with many time before. Somehow, she managed to fall just right on the pitcher, she knocked out her top, front, right tooth. As you can imagine, it was a hectic, stressful, terrible scene for a while. We weren't sure what we needed to do. Eventually, the pediatric nurse on call got back with us and gave us instruction. By then, the bleeding had mostly stopped, but Cora was still pretty upset. Bless her heart. I am glad she is young enough to not really think much about the cosmetic implication of knocking out a tooth that won't grow back in for several more years. Jeremy and I are well aware of it, and we definitely spent some time feeling guilty and grieving the loss of her precious little smile. Both of us immediately thought of friends of ours in Kentucky who have a one year old who has leukemia. When we thought of our struggles, in light of the nightmare they are living, we realized how silly it was to be so upset over a little tooth. Cora Leigh is the same healthy, beautiful bundle of joy that she was yesterday, just with one less tooth.
Last night as we were putting Cora to bed, we weren't sure what to do about her pacifier. We had planned on taking it away around her 3rd birthday anyway, so we decided that it would probably be best just to go ahead and keep it from her. That didn't go over so well, but she got over it and she went to sleep without much trouble.
Both kids slept through the night last night!! I think we probably all needed it. I was glad Cora rested well. She acted pretty normal when she got up this morning. Her mouth was swollen and under her bottom lip apparently took a bit of a blow. She had yogurt for breakfast and as a special treat, I mixed up some chocolate milk - the first she has had as far as I know. She shocked me by telling me that she didn't like chocolate milk, she wanted white milk. Wasn't expecting that one, but I certainly wasn't going to argue.
I spent the morning on the phone searching for a pediatric dentist. Apparently pediatric dentists don't feel the need to work on Fridays. The only one that was supposed to be open today still was not answering the phone by 8:40, so we went with a family dentist instead. We were able to get Cora in to see Dr. Mark Dill who happened to be a childhood friend of Jeremy's. She did really well with Amy who checked her mouth out when we first arrived and did her x-ray. She refused to look at, much less smile for Dr. Mark. He eventually was able to see enough of a smile coupled with the x-ray to conclude that everything looked fine. Basically, we'll just be waiting for the permanent to come in, so for a few years she will have a gap in her smile.
On a more positive note, potty training is going well today. No accidents yet and she even wore panties to the dentist!
Sure hate my little girl ended up growing up so much in one week - first smashed finger, potty training, losing her pacifier, and losing her first tooth. I an thankful she is a vibrant little girl and handling all the change very well so far! Now if only Mommy and Daddy can... :)
Here is a rough pic of Cora's new smile.
The middle of the week was actually really good. We got the carpet laid in our basement (the last step of finishing it!!!), but that is another blog post. Cora is so funny, and there have been a few particularly funny things she has said this week. She always tells me when she is going to poop. After doing so earlier this week, she came to tell me that she had poop in her diaper. After confirming, she randomly said, "I don't want to try and eat it!" Okay....good to know! Not sure where she got that notion, but glad she thought that was a bad idea. Then one afternoon, she was telling her daddy a long, crazy story. He asked her what she was talking about. She responded by asking me, "Mommy, what am I talking about?!?" As it turns out, I don't think any one of us had a clue. Wednesday night, we had taken dinner to one of Jeremy's co-workers who had a baby about a month ago. Cora was getting cranky and whiny on the way home. When Micah started fussing, she was full-out crying. He would stop fussing and would just look at her, as if to say, "What's your problem?" After explaining to Cora (for the umpteenth time) that she was not a baby like Micah, so there was no reason for her to be crying, she told us, "Somebody needs to smack me!" We just cracked up. While we might have agreed, we of course did not oblige this request. And to clarify, we are not in the habit of smacking our children. Cora has been smacking her mommy lately, and we have had lots of talks about it. SO, that is why she knows that terminology.
Then Thursday, we had a really good day. After taking Cora's diaper off that morning, I let her run around without anything on her bottom. She seemed to be doing well with it, so I thought perhaps today is the day we start potty training - FINALLY! After she peed the second time in the potty, she decided she wanted to wear panties. She LOVED being a big girl. She even wore her panties when we went out with my friend, Brooke, for lunch. We had a couple of little accidents at home, but she did great when we went out! She went in the potty for me at the restaurant and got a piece of cake for a reward. (Okay, so maybe that reward was partly for me too...) She hasn't pooped in the potty yet, but she only poops every few days, so I guess she hasn't been "due" for a poop yet. I suspect that will be interesting.
Late Thursday night, around bedtime, I was tending to Micah and Jeremy was emptying the dishwasher. Cora was in the living room playing with a plastic pitcher that she has played with many time before. Somehow, she managed to fall just right on the pitcher, she knocked out her top, front, right tooth. As you can imagine, it was a hectic, stressful, terrible scene for a while. We weren't sure what we needed to do. Eventually, the pediatric nurse on call got back with us and gave us instruction. By then, the bleeding had mostly stopped, but Cora was still pretty upset. Bless her heart. I am glad she is young enough to not really think much about the cosmetic implication of knocking out a tooth that won't grow back in for several more years. Jeremy and I are well aware of it, and we definitely spent some time feeling guilty and grieving the loss of her precious little smile. Both of us immediately thought of friends of ours in Kentucky who have a one year old who has leukemia. When we thought of our struggles, in light of the nightmare they are living, we realized how silly it was to be so upset over a little tooth. Cora Leigh is the same healthy, beautiful bundle of joy that she was yesterday, just with one less tooth.
Last night as we were putting Cora to bed, we weren't sure what to do about her pacifier. We had planned on taking it away around her 3rd birthday anyway, so we decided that it would probably be best just to go ahead and keep it from her. That didn't go over so well, but she got over it and she went to sleep without much trouble.
Both kids slept through the night last night!! I think we probably all needed it. I was glad Cora rested well. She acted pretty normal when she got up this morning. Her mouth was swollen and under her bottom lip apparently took a bit of a blow. She had yogurt for breakfast and as a special treat, I mixed up some chocolate milk - the first she has had as far as I know. She shocked me by telling me that she didn't like chocolate milk, she wanted white milk. Wasn't expecting that one, but I certainly wasn't going to argue.
I spent the morning on the phone searching for a pediatric dentist. Apparently pediatric dentists don't feel the need to work on Fridays. The only one that was supposed to be open today still was not answering the phone by 8:40, so we went with a family dentist instead. We were able to get Cora in to see Dr. Mark Dill who happened to be a childhood friend of Jeremy's. She did really well with Amy who checked her mouth out when we first arrived and did her x-ray. She refused to look at, much less smile for Dr. Mark. He eventually was able to see enough of a smile coupled with the x-ray to conclude that everything looked fine. Basically, we'll just be waiting for the permanent to come in, so for a few years she will have a gap in her smile.
On a more positive note, potty training is going well today. No accidents yet and she even wore panties to the dentist!
Sure hate my little girl ended up growing up so much in one week - first smashed finger, potty training, losing her pacifier, and losing her first tooth. I an thankful she is a vibrant little girl and handling all the change very well so far! Now if only Mommy and Daddy can... :)
Here is a rough pic of Cora's new smile.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Life
It seems the older you get, the faster time seems to pass. I have been noticing this more lately for a number of reasons. First of all, I am very fortunate in that all of my grandparents are still living. I am less fortunate in that my Mamaw B (B is for Bramlett...contrary to what the Quarles girls always thought, I do not have a Mamaw A and a Mamaw B :)) has Alzheimer's disease. While she is still living, she hasn't known who I am for several years now. After Cora was born, she was still with it enough to realize that there was an adorable baby there looking at her, although I don't think she ever understood who she was. One thing you should know about Mamaw B, she LOVES babies! It was so special to get to see them interact when Cora was a little baby. She didn't understand Cora was her great-granddaughter, but Cora still brought a smile to her face and seemingly joy to her heart. Fast forward almost 3 years. I took Micah to see Mamaw B at the nursing home this past weekend. While I did manage to get Mamaw to look at him, I don't know that she ever really saw him. I know if she could think through all the clutter in her brain right now, she would just love him. That's hard. I have such great admiration for my Papaw who goes to visit her every day. The way he loves her, even when she no longer seems to be there, is inspiring. I hope to love my husband that well.
Other life events: my Grandpa (mom's side) is also having some dementia, my great-aunt just died, my other great-uncle is being put on meds for Parkinson's disease (though a diagnosis has not officially been made), and Grandpa's sister is in poor health. When all of these things begin happening, you start to realize how much time has passed and how quickly things can change.
On a lighter note, Cora has also been reminding me how fast time is passing. The girl cannot wait to be 3 years old. She tells people - strangers - that she is going to be 3 soon. Every day she mentions it, hoping that maybe today is the day. Then I realize that in just over two months, my baby girl IS going to be 3 years old! How did this happen already? That precious, tiny 5 lb 8 oz baby that I can still remember cradling in my arms is no longer a baby. She is a little girl, though still precious...most of the time. :) She carries on full conversations with people, she loves imaginative play, she still loves to read, loves to draw, and LOVES to play with playdoh. She has quite an impressive list of songs she loves to sing, and thanks to the show "Little Einstein's," she knows the following musical terms: adagio, allegro, presto, ritardando, accelerando, diminuendo, and crescendo. She even uses them correctly most of the time. She is also learning more about God and Jesus. She frequently asks me to tell her what a song is about when it comes on in the car. Because we listen to a lot of contemporary Christian music, we talk a lot about the attributes of God and how Jesus came to earth to rescue us. Just the other day, she asked me what a song was about and I was explaining that it was talking about how God has always been there and that he is in control of everything. She asked me what God's mom was doing. I tried to explain that God didn't have a mom and that he had just always been there. Cora laughed at said, "Yes he does! It's Mary!!" I was very surprised to see that she understood the connection between God and Jesus at the age of two (okay...almost 3...). Jeremy and I joked that she has 2/3 of the trinity down - now just to get her to understand the holy spirit!
Micah celebrated his 4 month birthday on June 28th. I cannot believe he is 4 months old already. He is also growing and doing great! At his 4-month appointment, he was 17 lbs, 9 oz and 25.25 inches tall. He was in the 90th percentile across the board again. Dr. Good said that he looked great. He is actually already hitting a lot of 6-month milestones! He is getting to be a little less fussy. He still has his moments, but they seem to be less frequent. We're hoping the he is outgrowing his colic. Most of the time, he is a very sweet, happy little boy. He smiles a lot and has the sweetest little chuckle! He was sticking out his tongue the other day during lunch, and his big sister thought that was the funniest thing. :) He also will try to buzz his lips. Sometimes he does really well with it. He'll watch you and try to mimic what you are doing. It is precious to watch. I'll have to try and get a video of it to share.
Here are a few recent pics:
Other life events: my Grandpa (mom's side) is also having some dementia, my great-aunt just died, my other great-uncle is being put on meds for Parkinson's disease (though a diagnosis has not officially been made), and Grandpa's sister is in poor health. When all of these things begin happening, you start to realize how much time has passed and how quickly things can change.
On a lighter note, Cora has also been reminding me how fast time is passing. The girl cannot wait to be 3 years old. She tells people - strangers - that she is going to be 3 soon. Every day she mentions it, hoping that maybe today is the day. Then I realize that in just over two months, my baby girl IS going to be 3 years old! How did this happen already? That precious, tiny 5 lb 8 oz baby that I can still remember cradling in my arms is no longer a baby. She is a little girl, though still precious...most of the time. :) She carries on full conversations with people, she loves imaginative play, she still loves to read, loves to draw, and LOVES to play with playdoh. She has quite an impressive list of songs she loves to sing, and thanks to the show "Little Einstein's," she knows the following musical terms: adagio, allegro, presto, ritardando, accelerando, diminuendo, and crescendo. She even uses them correctly most of the time. She is also learning more about God and Jesus. She frequently asks me to tell her what a song is about when it comes on in the car. Because we listen to a lot of contemporary Christian music, we talk a lot about the attributes of God and how Jesus came to earth to rescue us. Just the other day, she asked me what a song was about and I was explaining that it was talking about how God has always been there and that he is in control of everything. She asked me what God's mom was doing. I tried to explain that God didn't have a mom and that he had just always been there. Cora laughed at said, "Yes he does! It's Mary!!" I was very surprised to see that she understood the connection between God and Jesus at the age of two (okay...almost 3...). Jeremy and I joked that she has 2/3 of the trinity down - now just to get her to understand the holy spirit!
Micah celebrated his 4 month birthday on June 28th. I cannot believe he is 4 months old already. He is also growing and doing great! At his 4-month appointment, he was 17 lbs, 9 oz and 25.25 inches tall. He was in the 90th percentile across the board again. Dr. Good said that he looked great. He is actually already hitting a lot of 6-month milestones! He is getting to be a little less fussy. He still has his moments, but they seem to be less frequent. We're hoping the he is outgrowing his colic. Most of the time, he is a very sweet, happy little boy. He smiles a lot and has the sweetest little chuckle! He was sticking out his tongue the other day during lunch, and his big sister thought that was the funniest thing. :) He also will try to buzz his lips. Sometimes he does really well with it. He'll watch you and try to mimic what you are doing. It is precious to watch. I'll have to try and get a video of it to share.
Here are a few recent pics:
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| Micah looking adorable on Father's Day |
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| Daddy with his babies on Father's Day |
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| LOVE this one!! |
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| Ready to go play in the sprinkler at Uncle Bryan and Aunt Amye's house |
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| Happy 4-month birthday! |
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| Doing his best Vanna White |
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| Adorable smirk |
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| And he's done... |
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