Little Book Worm

Cora really seems to enjoy books. We are in the habit of reading a couple books before each nap and bedtime, so there alone we read about 6 or 8 books a day together. We keep a basket full of mostly board books next to the rocker in her room for easy access. Often if Cora wanders off from her play area and is very quiet I find her sitting amongst a pile of books in her room. She loves to page through them and point to things. I think she is starting recognize similar things from page to page. The other night we were reading "Goodnight Moon" and she pointed to the kittens on each page! In another book she points to the dogs on different pages. Pretty smart, huh? (I'm allowed to be impressed, aren't I?)
Here's a video of her checking out a book that landed up in the hallway somehow! Don't be offended that she won't say "bye-bye". It usually takes a 30 second delay before she waves...and she seems to refuse to wave just for the camera, but I keep trying!

Last weekend's adventures

Last weekend we had the fun of going to some friends' cabin. It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend - nice sunny weather and tons of snow already on the ground. We had fun snowshoeing and snowmobiling (snow machining) and hanging out. The internet is terribly slow tonight so I'm not posting any more pictures here. But if you want to see more there are some already up on Facebook.

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91360&l=d97f8&id=592975435

Either click there, or copy and paste. It's up to you! Enjoy.

Also, after the fun of spending Friday and Saturday up there, we went to Montrose (Cora and I) and the cabin (Brad) on Monday and Tuesday. Brad and his dad snowshoed into the cabin hauling 3 sleds of supplies for the High School Winter Retreat that will be up there next weekend. Cora and I stayed with Mom in Montrose. Brad and Dad worked REALLY hard to get in to the cabin - there is a TON of snow I guess. I'm excited to see it next weekend. Cora will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa in Montrose while we are at the retreat. I'm excited to go, but this will be the first time I will be away from Cora overnight! I know she'll have a good time with mom and dad, but I will miss her! And I will have a good time, too. The bummer for the weekend is that the water system at the cabin broke so we won't have running water and will have to melt snow! Sounds easy but it's actually a bit of work. You have to hand it to these high schoolers that they are going to hike uphill, hauling their gear and food in 3 feet or more of snow, to a rustic cabin where they don't have running water, electricity, cell reception (at least, rarely) or an indoor toilet! It will be a stetch for some of these kids but some others are totally geared for this kind of adventure! Should be fun, but that's a week away yet.

For now, I think Cora is doing some serious teething! She has a runny nose, so it may be a cold, but she is more irritable than normal and is not sleeping well. Can't figure out what else it could be...

Tribute

On Thursday, February 7, we had to say good-bye to Cracker Jack. In the end he had multiple tumors and was full of cancer. He was a wonderful dog for the ten years that he was a Bierma. Jack was a great walking/hiking/swimming partner, watch dog, friend. He was well-trained and friendly. Gentle with Cora, tenacious with a frisbee. We loved him and already miss him!



Update - I have decided not to take the job with Bethany Christian Services. I would love to work for them someday, but it's not the right time for me to take this on. Thank you to everyone who helped me process the opportunity and prayed for me as we made this decision. Brad and I both feel that this is the best thing and I am very happy about how it has gone. It was a lot easier to make this decision than I thought it would be. I am happy to continue subbing a couple days a month and enjoying every other moment I have with Cora and Brad. The simpler, the better.

Here are a few pictures of Cora. She seems to enjoy picking things up...Maybe she's just testing her strength and balance. I don't know. Here she's picking up a potty chair. No, we're not potty training, but I found it really cheap at a second-hand store so I picked it up for the future.


This is a picture of Cora sleeping a couple days ago. I went in to wake her up because we had to go somewhere apparently important (I try to NEVER wake her up from a nap!) I just never get to see her sleeping anymore like I did when she was so much younger so I just had to take a picture of how sweet she looked!

Videos of Cora walking and bathing

Cora is definitely getting more comfortable walking. She will walk until she loses her balance and plops to the ground, then she'll crawl until she gets somewhere where she can stand up again and walk some more.

This is typical Cora during bathtime each evening. She doesn't normally put the measuring cup in her mouth like a pipe, but it was humorous. This is a longer video (2.5 minutes) but if you hang in there for a while you'll see her splashing the water - her new bathtime joy. I only got her doing it a little bit in this video, but her facial expression is great!