We had a very nice visit to Chico after Christmas.
Olivia and Dana sat together and chewed some toys. There was a sweet mutual curiosity with just a little reaching and tapping and pointing.
Cora sang a short song about Cousin Dana's visit, and I asked her if she had written it in anticipation of Cousin Dana's arrival, or if she had just
made it up on the spot.
Cora piloted one of the world's most high powered swings, with Daddy manning the control center on the ground. She soared up and down and around, doing spinning tricks and contributing commentary. She told me that she'd had a dream about frogs, and that she was going to dream about Winnie the Pooh.
Slow modems, please be patient.
Dream About starring Cora with music by John Fahey
Now for some catching up...
Here's a picture of the kids table at Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Tim's for Thanksgiving. Cora & her cousins mostly played, there wasn't much actual eating going on!
On December 7th, Cora, Olivia, Uncle Lance, Aunt Barbara, and I traveled to Lake Tahoe to visit my parents at their time share condo in Incline Village, Nevada. Grandma & Grandpa Ford live in Georgia so we don't see them very often. This was their first time meeting Olivia. It had snowed the night before we got there so we were lucky to have a little snow to play in. Cora was very excited about the snow and it was Olivia's first experience with snow. We all had a great time, visiting and playing. We spent the night and even visited with Great-Grandma Ford, and great aunts & uncles who arrived Monday from Fresno: my Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Tony, Aunt Marlene, and Uncle Johnny. Here's a snow picture from the trip; Cora & Olivia in the snow with Grandpa Ford and Uncle Lance.
Last night was the Christmas performance at Vina Elementary, Andrew's school. Aunt Cristina came with Cora, Olivia, and me -- thank goodness! We were a little late and had to stand outside to watch the end of the little kids' performance, but got inside to see the big kids' play, an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol." The students did an excellent job and Olivia seemed to enjoy it immensely, even trying to sing along a few times (sort of). Aunt CC took care of Cora and was a tremendous help, I'm not sure how I would have managed to keep the girls quiet and happy by myself! Santa Claus arrived after the play and Cora actually sat on his lap, although I don't think she would talk to him.
Well, the girls are awake now and breakfast is calling. Today is Daddy's birthday so Cora & I plan to make a cake.
I have a lot to write about and catch up on! We had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Cristina's house in Forest Ranch. Grandma Julie & Grandpa George came up as well and Cora was very excited to see them. Cora, Olivia, and I then had two more Thanksgiving dinners at Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Tim's house in Roseville. The first of these was a very large gathering of aunts, uncles, cousins, and relatives from Oregon & southern CA. The second was a smaller group for leftovers including Uncle Lance, Aunt Barbara, Cora & Olivia's Great-Great Aunt Vi (my grandma's sister), and her son and his wife, and of course Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Tim.
Olivia likes to babble a lot now, often sounding a lot like "da da da da da." Last week Olivia and I were listening to the audio clip of cousin Dana from her page when Olivia got a very interested and intense look on her face. Then Olivia started talking back, trying to have a conversation with Dana! It was so cute, as if Olivia realized that here was someone who sounded just like her, someone who spoke her own language!
Olivia has been getting around pretty well, still not really crawling, but mobile nonetheless. She can crawl backwards for a little ways, and the rest is turning around on her belly or rolling around until she gets where she wants to go. She has been getting into her sitting position more often as well. Olivia can get into a very concentrated mindset when she is trying to get to something and she gets pretty frustrated when she reaches something only to have it taken away by mommy. Books are a favorite target, she likes to put them in her mouth. We are going to have to go through baby proofing all over again, mostly with things that Cora can play with, but aren't safe for Olivia to put into her mouth. Cora of course has reached new heights since she has realized that she can reach almost anything with the help of a well placed chair. She's known this for quite some time, but recently she has realized that she can drag a chair quite some distance to achieve her goal, before the chair had to already be there or be close by. We have to be careful of anything that is left out on countertops or just about anywhere that can be seen!
Cora's favorite fairy tale right now is Cinderella, there's a video that she likes to watch nearly every day that I recorded for her off tv, a short half hour latina version of Cinderella. Then she likes to be called Cinderella and dressed up like her as well. She doesn't quite get the concept entirely, she forgets that Cinderella had to do a lot of cleaning and hard work. Cora says things like, "Cinderella never picks up chess pieces," when she is asked to do some clean up! She loves to wash dishes though! Shhe will stand on a chair in front of the sink and play in the soap and water for a long time.
Well, Cora and Olivia are awake now, so it's time for breakfast.
