Age of Lady Cora: 3 months, 19 days
Family,
And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where the Bull is currently battling gout but
admiring the gorgeous weather outside. And the good news about being immobile - plenty of time to get caught up on the blog! So let's get amongst it, shall we? :-)
3/12 - So JT broke out a new feed pose for Cora today, putting her arm right behind her head and putting her left hand on her chest. I am still doing it my way (Cora propped up on the couch), but hey - we'll do ANYTHING to keep food in that girl and keep her from spitting up. And for the record, whatever we did today worked, as Cora took 33 oz!!!
Also, Kim was still here, and she was amazed that Cora was already swatting the little spinners on the Baby Bjorn. She said James didn't do that until much later and was truly shocked that Cora was already showing interest and making contact.
On the Kaitlyn front, her obsession at the moment seems to be with little figurines. She's been that way for awhile (like Liony from Valentine's Day). Now, however, she's got a small plastic suitcase full of them and carries them around everywhere. Sometimes I capitulate and let her sleep with them, but more of the time I make them watch over her from the dresser while she sleep. I know, I know...tyrant.
3/13 - Not much to report today except to say that Cora took 33.5 oz! HOLY MOLY!!!!
3/14 - Today was a great session at the pool with her. She and I really played and had a good time. We played this game where she chased me, and it wore me out! Basically I was just kicking while she swam either freestyle or like an otter, and she would pop up and yell, "Kick forward! I want to follow your bubbles!" I will say - that kid is FAST in the water. I was impressed by her speed and really had to work to stay in front of her. Little Ledecky in training! :-)
Another funny thing right now - K LOVES Snow White at the moment, and she really, REALLY likes the "High, HO!" song that the dwarfs do. Well, I started making up a little rhyme to it a few days ago, and now she is CONSTANTLY asking me to sing the "Seven Dwarfs song." It is tough, however, as she always wants new rhymes. At present I've got a version for preschool ("we will see Kate, it will be great, high ho") and a version that basically tells the Snow White story (complete with bloodthirsty lines like "Wicked Queen said get a knife and take her life, high ho"). K indicates which one she wants by either saying "Sing the 7 Dwarfs" (that means the pre-school version) or "Sing the 7 Dwarfs and the Wicked Queen" (that's the other version). I have had a few days where I've probably had to churn out 15-20 rhymes! I think I've acquitted myself well...even if it's not quite Chaucer. :-)
K is also getting better with her verbs, which has been neat to watch. Oh, and we've started counting school buses on the way to pre-school. K LOVES this, and we guess before we get going how many we're going to see. K usually guesses a higher number than me, but more often than not she's right!
Also, she and Kate went to story time at Meck today (that's the church they go to). It must have been a blast, but anytime K is in Kate's presence, you can pretty much guarantee they are going to have fun.
On the Cora front, we tried waking her at 7:45 AM today, and I do think it helped, as it gave us a start time and a lot more flexibility in the schedule. More to come on whether or not we can continue it, but that was a good lift out of the gate.
Lastly, 2 GREAT quotes from the Sneetch:
1. "Hey mommy, how's Cora doin' on that boobie?" Note: she'll also ask this about the bottle and will follow it up with: "How many ounces do you think she'll take?" Don't ever think for a SECOND that little ears aren't hearing every single word you say...
2. "I want PBJ but I don't want bread."
Seeing mom and Steve at the gas station was a HUGE plus and gave us a big lift. That let K have some bonding time, gave us a chance to just sit and visit, and really helped provide that big "second break" in the trip we needed. All in all, it was a PERFECT first day in the Volunteer state!
3/17 - So this day was one for the books, as it was almost a "Disney moment" for me. Disney was amazing on many levels, not the least of which being that I was able to take my family and experience with them something my parents had done with me. This was a similar moment, in that I was taking my family to the TN Aquarium, a spot my mom had taken me an Nanny back in 1993. :-)So the day started out GREAT - we had coffee (the coffee maker exploded due to the wrong filter, so we got SBUX), slept in, and casually made out way to the aquarium. We spent FIVE HOURS there, and it was just INCREDIBLE! While K was too small to touch the animals in the touch tanks, she absolutely LOVED the butterfly garden and did get one to crawl onto her finger! The fish were really, really cool, and throughout the entire place we just had a blast. It was a very relaxed day for the most part, with one exception. :-) After days of the volcano sitting dormant, Cora had an EXPLOSIVE poop. Now under normal circumstances, this would have been fine. However, this occurred during the ONE HOUR WINDOW where we as a family weren't together. JT was pumping in the nursing nook while I walked through with K (we were then going to trade and I was going to feed Cora while JT walked the area). For some reason, Cora didn't think this was a good idea and woke up early. She then refused to feed and proceeded to EXPLODE FECES all over the place. This because a double problem when JT didn't have enough wipes to cover it. So let's just picture the scene: K and I are riding the escalator down to the basement to get JT. We hear screaming LONG before we make it to the nursing nook. I open the door to find Cora bottomless, JT topless, and poop pretty much all over our changing pad. The air smells like the bathroom after a Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest. JT looks exhausted, and K is confused. Picture her then getting frustrated and nearing meltdown (more to come on that later). Bottom line - it was a mess. We rallied and had a great rest of the day. It was just tough for Cora because she never really got comfortable and slept, neither in her carrier nor in the Ergo baby.
Highlights from the Aquarium:
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| Stopping for a lunch break overlooking the Tennessee River - this was neat. |
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| I love this photo - "under the water and dreaming." |
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| The scene of the crime - the screams would have been right at home in a horror film...as would the poop. |
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| Born on a mountain top in Tennessee... |
GREAT video of it), and K seemed to get really scared when playing with Granddaddy at one point. We were playing the "save me from Granddaddy" game, and at one point he said, "I'm just gonna keep you - your daddy can't save you!" Well, I think that freaked her out, as she got silent and just ran over to me, clinging to me like a second skin. She then broke down crying when Alice, while trying to calm Cora in a dark room, told K several times (politely) to stop turning the light on before saying it a bit more forcefully. K lost it, ran to me, and then cried in bed. But the good news - both kids slept like CHAMPS!
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| And obviously Cora needed a bath after the aquarium incident...which she wasn't best pleased about. |
We had a little birthday party for K and Brylie that evening, featuring pizza, ice cream, and cake. As you might well imagine, K was in HEAVEN! However, at the end of the night, she did devolve into complete meltdown. She even woke up at 3:45 AM screaming in the midst of a nightmare, but when I went in there, she was crying and screaming in her sleep. I tried to soothe her, but she never actually woke up and eventually (rather quickly actually) just faded back to sleep.
One funny note about the house in Chattanooga - the place was GREAT, about 1K square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. However, it was the first time K had ever been in a 1 story house (when she was capable of speech, anyway), and she kept asking, "Dada, why is this house so small? Where is the second floor?" She kept looking at the attic pull-down door and saying, "the upstairs is there. It was really interesting to watch, as it just shows you how children and their expectations are shaped by their environments.
The day's highlights:
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| Victory! Ad-man and the Bull conquer Raccoon Mountain! |
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| K at the Jump Park by Chattanooga Brewing. |
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| Birthday girls! |
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| The cousins had a BLAST - K loves playing with Brylie. |
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| "Impossible...things are happening every day..." |
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| K's Rapunzel hair - made by Granny A. AMAZING! |
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| Cora received Cabbage Patch hair from Granny A... |
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| Which she didn't particularly care for. :-) |
3/19 - Today was another big parenting milestone (for an East Tennessean at least) - a visit to Rock City!!! This was a hoot, and K really LOVED it! I think she probably loved all the puppies she got to pet more than anything, but she had a blast. We danced to Irish folk music, walked on the swinging bridge (K absolutely LOVED that), and visited the Fairy Tale grotto. We actually went through the whole place twice and spent a good 4 hours there. The weather was amazing, and K really, really enjoyed herself. Cora was really well behaved as well, and it was on the whole a perfect happy day and perfect ending to a great visit to Chattanooga. Truly, I was impressed with what they'd done to the city - especially the River walk! We closed that day with a visit to Riverfront Park, where JT walked with the girls and I got a quick run in.
The Rock City Highlights:
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| K dancing with the Rock City leprechaun. |
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| K's second favorite activity - the swinging (and bouncing!) bridge. (The fairy tale grotto was #1). |
Rock City really was a stroll down memory lane. Everything looked pretty much just how I remembered it - especially all the little gnomes. :-) They were still selling rock candy, and they were even selling the EXACT SAME SWORDS THAT I HAD PURCHASED 28 YEARS AGO. And the funny part? They were only $4! How much must they have cost 3 decades ago?!?!?!?!?!?
K was so exhausted that night that she didn't even run out while getting tucked in. The ritual is always that she runs out, and that night she said she wanted to. However, in the .0000007 seconds it took me and JT to stand up and walk out, K was already asleep! Oh, and another side note - while we were in Chattanooga and looking for shows for K to watch, we stumbled upon a live action version of Cinderella from 1965. Folks, I've got no lie to tell - it is HORRIBLE!!!!! However, K absolutely LOVED it - watched it 5 times in 4 days! And what's even funnier - she knows the words to some of the songs! And let's be clear - this is NOT the Disney version. This is the Rogers & Hammerstein version. And what is too funny? Alice saw it on and said (without any prompting) "Oh my goodness, Cinderella! I used to love that! It came on once a year and we never missed it." My jaw hit the floor.
In looking back on Chattanooga, I love the way it all worked out. We were never rushed, did a ton, had good family time, didn't spend a ton of money, and maximized the experience. I definitely think we would go back there (and will), but I think we'll do it as an extension of an MTSU, Nashville, or Knoxville trip vs. making it a standalone.
Oh, and K's great quote that she's saying right now: "I can do that by my own." I mean, I like the ingenuity of mixing by myself and on my own. Good work, kid. :-)
3/20 & 3/21 - We drive to mom's on the 20th, and over the course of that day and the next just had a great time relaxing and eating. K stalked the cats all over the house, crawling around on the floor and constantly checking on (and petting) Emmi. She absolutely LOVES her Vol Nana!
The only thing that was tough at the house was that Cora was in the room with us. Cora was really good the entire time, but it was tough for her because her bed was right beside the alarm speaker, and there is this SUPER SHRILL beep every time any door opens. Mom and Steve are used to it, of course, but they kept forgetting about it and kept opening doors. Luckily it never woke her during her big evening sleep - that was a blessing!
Highlights from the time with Vol Nana:
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| A little stop en route home - Smoky Mountain Brewery... |
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| Birthday girl yet again!!!! |
3/22 - We hung out at mom's through lunch today before rolling over to Knoxville, where we crashed with the Rice clan. I went to the game with Johnny (sat with his mom, whom I hadn't seen in donkey's years) while the girls stayed home and had roast/put the kids to bed. K ended up sleeping with Sam in Jack's room (Jack wasn't super excited about sleeping with a girl in his room), while the boys ended up sleeping in Sam's room! Too funny!
The evening was pretty funny. Those kids all had school, but to Kaitlyn this was the ultimate sleepover. She kept talking to Sam, who actually taught her how to "pretend she's asleep" when an adult comes in the room. Of course, you then hear the footsteps and know that they are up. And come to find out, it was almost always my daughter, running out to try and catch the cat and pull her into bed! What was also funny was the moment where Johnny asked: "Who's that snoring?" Jenny and I chuckled, because K snores like a BANSHEE at home. Hilarious.
It should be noted that K's exhaustion started to show on this day, as she slept for an hour on the drive to Knoxville. As this never, EVER happens anymore, that was a sign that K was beyond tired and really needed to rest. It made the drive angelic - Jenny and I could get used to this!
The Knoxville highlights:
Zoo pics -
The "cousins" -
And my favorite - GO VOLS at Schultzbrau:
3/23 - After a good night's rest for the girls (Cora was mental when we put her down but later sacked out HARD in the pack 'n play), we headed out to the Knoxville Zoo. This was Kaitlyn's 4th or 5th time there, and at this point she knows the spots she wants to hit. We spent a ton of time at the two playgrounds (especially the indoor one while JT was pumping and I was feeding Cora), and K and I also got a ride on the carousel (K missed a step getting on and went BALLISTIC - I had to pull her off while she composed herself before we could get on the next cycle). The funniest part was while I had K and JT had Cora. I put K in the stroller - INSIDE THE INFANT CARRIER - and pushed her around. She thought it was hilarious. All in all we spent 5 hours at the zoo - not bad for the cost of admission!
K made a friend there, and we actually spent some time chatting with the little boy's mother while we waited for a little snack from the food truck for K (it was a Cuban-Irish fusion thing - pretty good really). We then rolled back to Johnny's, where we at steak like KINGS and just chilled for the evening (it was a blast). K melted down that night at bedtime, as she was sleeping on the main bed vs. the trundle but wanted the trundle. I think she actually wanted the blanket on one vs. caring about the mattress but regardless, she was inconsolable. Finally when I threatened to take her away from Sam and put her down with Cora, she got quiet. She said, "I don't want to hear her crying." JACKPOT.
3/24 - This day was a drive over to Murfreesboro, where we checked into our supercute little townhouse before heading out to watch Pattie play softball. We actually got a good hour of family time with Pattie beforehand, and we even drove as a family to run around the campus. We walked into the student union, and Kaitlyn wanted to run up 3 HUGE flights of stairs. I didn't think she'd make it, but that kid was a rock star! Way to go, Munchkin!
On the Cora front, two things to note today. First off, she found her hand! Seriously - it was too cute. She was sitting on the couch looking around, and then suddenly she looked at her hand with absolute amazement. It was about the cutest thing ever. Also, JT and I made a big executive decision today - we stopped giving Cora Zantac. It just felt to both of us that lately she'd been fussier in the feedings involving the medicine, and we also thought that she was spitting up more whenever we introduced it. Given that she'd been keeping more food down over the previous few weeks, we decided to go for it and see if we noticed a difference.
3/25 - A great day in the Boro! We watched 2 MTSU games this day, and it was just a fun day to watch softball, walk campus, and hang out. K was obsessed with 1 thing from the moment we arrived - POPCORN. Seriously - she kept saying, "Pop, Pop, Pop, Corn!" It just about drove me batty, but Jenny did a nice job of politely checking me and telling me that she was just excited about it. And boy, was she ever!
After the games, we rolled over to May Day Brewing, where K and Alice played this hilarious little headband game (it was like Taboo, but you worked together and tried to describe the image the person was wearing - but couldn't see - to them). Also, the hilarious moment - I am sitting there drinking my beer when all of a sudden Kaitlyn walks up to me dressed like one of the step sisters from Cinderella! Alice had actually MADE the costume during the week! HILARIOUS! I just couldn't stop laughing. Nor could I stop marveling at Alice's creative abilities - too funny!
The evening was good - we did dinner and then headed home early, where JT was basically passed out while pumping on the couch. #OLD! Oh, and did I mention that we had Cora sleeping in the massive walk-in closet in our room? Seriously - that little townhouse was PERFECT for us - exactly what we needed for this weekend. Such a great day!
3/26 - Before leaving the Boro, we popped over to Pattie's house to check it out. It was pretty fun, as we walked in to find a few girls absolutely HUNG OVER on the couch. Imagine their excitement when Cora started screaming! It was really pretty funny, but they were good sports about it. The funniest moment was when, while carrying Cora out in the infant carrier, I looked at the kitchen passthrough to see the girls doing shots of vodka mixed with coffee. Ah, how different our lives are...
Boro Highlights:
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| Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop-corn! |
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| JT finding a spot to block the wind and feed Cora. |
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| K was a master at this game! |
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| Impossible!!!!! |
We then rolled to Knoxville (the girls were EXHAUSTED and both slept practically the entire 2 hours!), where we hit the Cash P with the Rice clan for drinks and dinner at Soccer Taco. It was a lot of fun to watch the kids running around and playing. K had a blast running around with Sam (she loves that girl), and all the kids did a terrific job of entertaining themselves. The funniest part to me was watching them play foosball at the foosball table. When K ran over and I said, "How was foosball?", she kept rolling her eyes in exasperation and saying, "Dada, it's called SOCCER!"
One other thing that's funny is that she's now constantly asking, "Does this rhyme?" And while at first she just used nonsense words, she's now really getting the hang of it and is in fact saying words (and sentences) that rhyme. The other day she dropped, "What do I have to eat to get my treat?" She then realized what she'd done and said, "Dada, does that rhyme?" I think she's got the gift, baby!There was a meltdown of epic proportions on the way to dad's (where we were spending the night). K was singing "There are 7 days" and kept trying to figure out what day it was. Well, she kept missing the day and getting increasingly frustrated. After her sixth failed attempt (that's right - she'd said them ALL but Sunday) she just flat went CRAZY and started screaming "TELL ME WHAT DAY IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!" And even though we did, she was beyond consolation - the cerebral cortex had been overridden with fury. Oh well, so it goes. At least she slept like a champ that night!
So today was a very emotional day for me: the last time (realistically) I'd ever see GMT alive hearthside. In the late afternoon we made the drive over to Needmore Road, where we found Grandmother in her usual spot - in the front room at the table. As I'd been forewarned, she was slipping quickly, and during this visit see did seem much, much less tethered to the conversation. At this point she can't really move, can't see out of either eye, and is starting to sleep some in her chair due to the morphine required to alleviate the pain from her open sore. I had already said my mental goodbye to her back in November when we gave her a birthday card for her 100th, but today was about something different. Today was about saying my emotional goodbye and about completing the great circle of life - presenting the child named after her to her in the homestead.
Obviously we weren't able to string together much conversation, but we did get some great photos. But in that great miracle of God, there was a moment of clarity when Dad asked, "Mom, what was your mother's name?" She quickly responded: "Cora Ellen," at which time dad got the chance to introduce her to our little miracle. I got a little teary-eyed on that, but nothing prepared me for the goodbye. As we got up to leave, Dad started wheeling GMT back and said, "Say Goodbye to Grandmother." The significance of that sentence wasn't lost on me, as it really was the last time I was ever going to speak to her this side of Heaven. I couldn't really keep it together (but tried as best I could since I was sure K wouldn't understand). I walked over, kissed the top of her head, gave her a hug, and told her I loved her. We walked her into the front room, where K started playing the old piano while we got grandmother settled into her chair. I then gave her one last kiss on the head, looked around to secure one final memory, and started the walk out the door. All that remains now is the spiritual goodbye, and based on what dad is telling me (I'm writing this on 4/19 - GMT didn't get out of bed yesterday and may never again), it won't be long before we do that one as well. I know it will be a day of tears, but given the life she'd led, her current condition, and the knowledge of where she's going, I have to believe there will be more tears of joy than there will be of pain and sorrow that day. But this blog isn't about that - it's about the girls and our life in CLT. And to that we must now return. But I can't leave this entry without out saying I love you, Grandmother. You are an amazing woman, and you have been such a pillar in the community and answered prayer for so many people. Granddaddy is waiting for you, and I am so happy that, after almost a decade, you're not that far from the greatest reunion you'll ever experience.
Cora only had 4 feeds this day, and we were a little worried. However, as it did work (from a schedule perspective) and she slept through the night, we are going to try and move to 4x daily from here on out.
3/29 - Cora is officially out of the swaddle! Simply put, she is just DAYS away from rolling over (she's so close), and it's time to ensure she's not in a straight jacket when that day comes. We are still swaddling her body, but her arms are now free. It's AMAZING how quickly she's nailing all these milestones - such a different experience than with K.
3/30 - So we visited the ENT today, where K underwent an Audio test. This was a really interesting experience, as they put her in a soundproof vault and tested her hearing. I was in there with her so she wouldn't freak out, and the audiologist did a terrific job with her. It was a little sad to watch, as there was one point where the sound was clearly getting lower and K couldn't hear it. She was supposed to say "purple" whenever she heard a sound, but after awhile she just started saying it even though she wasn't hearing anything. She then looked at me and said, "Daddy, I don't know what I'm supposed to do." It was sad to see her trying so hard. 
Upon review, it turned out that, while her inner ear was perfect (near perfect hearing levels in the nerve), there was considerable fluid in the middle ear. that confirmed our fear - the girl needed a second set of tubes! The good news - there has been no permanent hearing damage. The bad news is that she's really not heard much for the last 3 months below 45 decibels. That means that she's not heard when I've spoken to her softly and has had trouble hearing me when there is other ambient noise present. Poor thing! Luckily we got on the schedule for 11 April - right before I had to go back to work and in the midst of her spring break. Yay!  |
| Three months and growing! |
3/31 - Cora was up at 3:45 on this day, and we didn't get her down until 5 AM. Why, you ask? BECAUSE SHE TOOK 9 OUNCES IN AN EATING BINGE!!!!! Good times...
Okay, that's the recap for my last full month off. Chat with you soon, when we talk about the return to work and (hopefully) finding a new normal.
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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