May Pictures

We took a day trip to Canyonlands National Park. It's a two hour drive from GJ and we unfortunately only had enough time to do one short trail. We'll have to come back another day when we have more time. Cora's a great hiker. She usually falls asleep and lets us do the work!

Cora is comfy in her Snuggli, and sound asleep.

This was Cora's Mother's Day present for me - lots of smiles! What more could a mom ask for?

So cute!

Her true-blue eyes always get lots of comments - the color didn't turn out as bright in the picture as they are in real life. Lately she likes to play with the pacifier and chew on whichever end makes it in her mouth; she hardly ever sucks on it anymore!

This is a group of the high school students that Brad went paintballing with last week. I find it humorous that the one wearing white is the one going to Marine boot camp next month! Brad said he did well, despite standing out so much! From left to right: Brad, Addie, Marshall, Ross, Kasey, Taylor and Andrew.

The first week of May we went to Golden Bell Camp in Divide, CO, for the yearly gathering of the Association of Reformed Youth Pastors. It was a small group this year but it made for a great opportunity to do some "visioneering" and encouraging.

This was a geocache hike with (from left) Nick Int'hout, Steph VanderHart, Ryan Link and Brad while at the gathering - after all, true bonding happens out of doors. Nick is carrying Cora in preparation for fatherhood - his wife is due with their first in August so he was getting some practice in.

We've been busy this month...and we've just reached half-way! It's a blast! We're thankful to have so many opportunities to do different things and for so many wonderful people to do them with!

4 Month checkup

Wow, time is flying! And we've just begun...

Cora had her checkup on Thursday. She weighed in at 13 lbs, 1 oz (50th percentile) and measured 25 inches long (60th percentile). The doc said that was great so nothing to worry about there. He said we could start Cora on solid foods when we're ready...We don't think we're ready yet! Though it would be fun to experiment with, we're in no hurry. Then she got her shots...no fun, lots of tears, but once she got over the initial shock she did great.

Cora has finally been starting to sleep longer for her naps. For about the whole month of April the longest she slept during the day was 45 minutes. I wasn't too worried because she was still sleeping really well at night and I had been moving her bed time earlier so she was (and still is) sleeping 10-11 hours at night. Occasionally she'd wake up once to eat, but the last two weeks she's been sleeping all night again. Now, I said I wasn't too worried...well, I was a little worried because she would wake up horribly. Crying, rubbing her eyes, almost screeching or wailing - so I knew she was probably still tired and hadn't slept long enough, but nothing seemed to help. I tried rocking her to calm her down again, feeding her in case she was waking up because of hunger, leaving her to fuss and cry (which made it worse), just giving her the pacifier. It didn't seem she was able to sleep longer the 30-45 minutes. It was comforting to hear from a few other moms that their kids had gone through a stage like that - and it was just a stage. So I kept being as consistent and patient as I could.

Now it seems that the last week she's started sleeping longer for her naps all on her own. The last three days she took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, and this morning her first nap was an hour and 45 minutes! The best part was that she woke up like she does in the morning - she makes some noise, maybe a little whining, so we know she's awake but she seems rested, content and ready to greet the world! Hopefully this continues!

Anybody have advice about when/how to start solid foods? I'd love to hear stories or experiences! I've done some reading about it but it's always nice to hear real-to-life advice.

Stranger anxiety?

Last week we drove home from the youth pastor gathering with two yp's with us - Rick and Brian. Brian and I were in the back seat with Cora in her car seat between us. Cora stared at Brian for almost two hours straight, studying his face (maybe she dozed off for a while). He tried everything to get her to smile or respond to him, but she just looked at him. I wondered Brian if he was starting to get uncomfortable with such an intent gaze focused on him for so long! Finally, after two hours she started smiling at him and interacting a little bit. I couldn't believe it took her so long!

There were also a couple instances during the gathering where she started to cry pretty seriously while someone else was holding her! Normally, Cora gets passed around and seems fine being held by anyone, but last week I really started to notice some hesitancy. I wondered if it was the beginning of "separation anxiety" but I thought (and hoped) it's a little too early for that. Then tonight I read this at http://www.americanbaby.com/ for 18 week old babies (I can't believe she's that old already!):
Social Development: Although it's still too early for full-blown stranger anxiety, you may notice that your little one is getting picky about his company. He recognizes and is developing a strong attachment to you and the people who regularly care for him, and is curious but more reserved around others. When he meets a stranger, he'll study the new face for a long time before favoring the visitor with a smile. Once he feels comfortable, however, he'll turn on the charm, showing off his new skills and babbling happily to his new friend.

That is exactly what I've started noticing in Cora! This little girl, who will babble up a storm at home, turns almost silent and incredibly observant when we go somewhere else. Another thing I'm starting to suspect is that she will smile more quickly for women than for men. I'll keep watching and see if it's true. She smiles up a storm for Brad, of course. She loves her daddy!

It is so fascinating watching Cora grow, learn and develop new skills. Within the last week or two she's really started to hold up her head for long periods of time when on her tummy and grabbing whatever object she can get her fingers around and bring it straight to her mouth. We really have to be careful about what we leave near her, now. Another skill is rolling - she hasn't rolled from her belly to her back for a long time, but she's started to roll to her side (usually the left) when she's on her back. Today she had her whole body rolled to her tummy except for her shoulders - one arm was stuck in the way. What an amazing kid!

Here's a link to more photos...They are basically a photo-flip book. If you could go through the all the pictures really quickly it would look like Cora was moving. Enjoy! (To see larger versions of the pictures just click on one and go through them like a slide show.) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20129&l=1c6b1&id=592975435

Cool Shades

Brad does not approve of this picture but I think it's cute. He he. He thinks baby sunglasses are vain but I wanted to start her young protecting her eyes. He said to write that he thinks it's ridiculous at this age. Lara, what do you think? Don't worry, it's not a big deal over here so you won't be "taking sides" :) I just can't believe she leaves them on her face!

Still working on neck strength...it's coming along!

We're off to a youth pastor's retreat for a few days. Happy May everyone!

Mount Garfield Hike

Monday we made an attempt at hiking Mount Garfield. It's a local "must-do" trail - one that everyone asks if you've done yet. It's a fairly grueling short two miles, gaining 2000 feet. It's one of those hikes where you're not sure which way is worse - going up where you pray your lungs don't burst, or going down where you pray your quads don't give out. We actually only made it about half way because there were some nasty looking clouds coming and there are serious warnings about not doing the hike if the trail is at all wet. We thought it better not to chance it with our little girl along. Good thing, too, because it did rain later. Plus, it's not at all a trail I would want to be on if there is anything more than a gentle breeze. As you can maybe see in this picture, much of the trail is the top of this ridge and is about 5 feet wide, then drops off steeply on both sides. (For those of you wondering: Yes, I conquered a little bit of fear on this hike.) Cora lost her pacifier on this hike, too. She spit it out at a point where it bounced off the trail and tumbled down a couple hundred feet...We weren't about to go after it. She has more at home!
If you're a Facebook friend there's an album of more pictures posted there. If you're not, copy and paste this link in the address field.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17008&l=dd4cf&id=592975435