21 Months and Nearly 9 weeks

Finally a photo of all 3 kids! Little Cora is 21 months old today - ha, she isn't little at all though. She is a tough little girl who loves her brothers. She has yet to really show an interest in the alphabet, (this is killing me) but she does know the letters C, X, and O. Ok, small steps. Cora lives to eat. She is funny about eating too. She ate nearly 1/3 of a Spinach and Feta pizza yesterday - like crust and all - for lunch! For dinner, we had pasta and peas, a family favorite and she ate all but 3 pieces of pasta. Then, Colin got home, filled up his plate, and sat down to eat. Cora was "all done" so she was up roaming around (read: messing up all the toy organizing I had just finished). Oh, wait, Daddy has food now? Yes, the exact same food you just ate. Up in Daddy's lap she has to be. She then proceeds to eat his food, wants his fork (which isn't an option) and eats until she is "all done" (meanwhile poor Colin is just trying to eat something). Wait, he is getting seconds, oh, she wants more. Not, more of the exact.same.pasta that is on her plate - she will scream and cry and pout - not eating those 3 pastas - only daddy's. Sigh. Strong willed child. But so sweet.

She loves lo lo (lotion). She wants to put it on all the time. This is funny to me because I never ever use lotion. She still copies everything Connor does 90% of which is dangerous. She calls herself "Ora" but she can clearly say "Coggie" so we aren't sure why she drops the "c".

Cora is a little mommy. Always strapping her babies in the stroller, swing and bouncy. She loves to play in the kitchen (the play kitchen and the real one). I've noticed both big kids tend to eat even more when they have made it themselves. So we have been cooking in the mornings. This makes dinner time easier and faster. When they want to eat. They want to eat right away.

Cora wears a size 5 diaper and is wearing 24 month clothes. She says "off" when she means off and when she means "on" so it can get confusing. Plus she says it constantly so I basically despise the word "off". "Opie" is still her version of "open" I think it is her second most spoken word. After "off".

A funny after the fact story from last week: Connor has swim lessons on Friday afternoons. Not the best time to be across town but I needed swim lessons and so Friday is the day. Connor gets out of school at 2:30 and swim lessons start at 4:15. Not really worth driving home, disembarking the van (yes it is similar to getting off a cruise ship every time) and getting back in. So I strap Corbie in the ergo baby and sit Cora in the stroller. Corben sleeps. Cora kicks. Connor walks. We walk from school to the park. Swing and slide for 45 min and have a small snack before walking back to the car, loading up and going to swim. I thought Colin was going to meet me and let me take the little kids home while he stayed at swimming. So I leisurely sat in the parking lot while Connor changed clothes and got his towel and goggles and we chatted about his day. I didn't wake up the baby to change his diaper. I was hoping he would sleep until we got home. I didn't put back on Cora's shoes because shoes aren't necessary to ride from there to the house. And since we have a garage and mud room, shoes aren't really essential at all. Well unless Colin wasn't coming. At 5 minutes before Connor is supposed to be in the pool he texts me that he is "leaving now". As small as Birmingham is. It isn't that small. Panic. I texted him to go back to work. No reason to come at that point. Corben rudely awakened. Diaper changed. Bottle mixed. Cora shoes on. Stroller out. Pack up. Hurry inside. Sign in. Connor to the potty (naturally). Hurry down the hall. Made it just 2 minutes late. Now 27 more minutes to feed Corben and keep Cora out of the pool. Totally relaxing. Ha. 4:45 - out of the pool. Change under the towel because I'm not pushing a stroller into the tiny locker room. Go the back way home to avoid "traffic". Call Colin and tell him to stay at work at this point I'm a ragged rock star and have it under control. I tell him we are eating leftovers. Yum. Easy. Done. At home I start the big kids bath. Corben finishes up his bottle in the bouncy and I scrub Connor and Cora. I'm snapping pictures on my phone. All is good. I'm basically watching a tennis match looking at Corben then looking at the tub. I can touch all 3 kids at once that's how small the bathroom is. Baby, big kids, baby , big kids, ba . . Shadow in the water, big kids. Scream poop! Cora out. Connor out. S*#! Literally. Bye bye rock star. Apparently kids do this all the time but it has never happened to us. And Colin almost always does bath. Arrggh. After cleaning and cloroxing and feeding the kids I decided I needed Mexican. My go to stress relieving meal. I would actually eat Mexican everyday. So some tequila queso and veggie quesadilla with spinach and goat cheese capped off a crazy day. For future reference - this is the "I am about to poop in my bath face" Corben is 9 weeks old tomorrow and had his 8 week/ 2 month appointment today. He is 10 lbs 7 oz and 22.5 inches long. 50% for both. He is continuing to learn his new schedule and keeping it as well as a 9 week old baby can. I'll admit that I have been so lazy that to keep him "on schedule/ routine" I will fake him out and pretend that he is getting a bath - but just put him in the water. Really, that is so lazy. He is already in the water - how hard is it to scrub a little soap - too hard for this mama unless I know he is super dirty. For Comparison: even though they aren't exactly the same age at the measurements - which drives a comparison crazy! Connor at 10 weeks: 12 pounds 13 ounces (75th percentile) and 24 1/4 inches (90th percentile) Cora at 6 weeks: Weight: 10 lbs 10 oz. (75%) Height: 23 inches (90%)