Snapshots (10 to 11 months)

Crawling

Now that Cora is cruising in earnest, I wanted to make sure to capture a video of her impressive crawling skills before she really takes off walking.  It's funny to reflect back on where she was just a few short months ago.  Go Cora, go!

Christmas 2012

We just returned from a wonderful visit with the Clerkin Family.  Thank you Grandpa John, Nanna Beth, Uncle Patrick, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Darren, Aunt Kirsten, Aunt Maggie, Cooper, and Jack, for helping to make Cora's first Christmas so magical.  

Cora's 11-month Birthday!

Celebrating in Macomb :)

Holiday Concert, 12/11/2012

And here's one more video post from a friend who caught the concert from a different angle :) 

A very drooly reindeer... the day after this, we noticed Cora sporting the beginning of her first tooth :)

Professional Family Photos (from 9/30/2012)

Thank you to LifeThisDay Photography and Matt Cable for sharing your talent and vision with our family.  Getting professional family photos was such a treat, and we are grateful that this time in our lives is forever captured.

Class Photos, 2012

When I heard Cora would have class photos, I laughed.  How do you take professional photos of a bunch of babies?  Voila!:

Hilarious.  I have to give it up to the photographer for managing to get every baby in Infant 1 looking at the camera.  I also appreciate the artistic license - such as the random scarf draped elegantly across Cora's shoulder.  Or the pine cone, with just a hint of fake snow.

Poppas! + Santa Photos

Thank you for a wonderful visit, Poppas.  You have the magic touch with Cora.  Safe travels home to Seattle - we love you!

 

happy 10-month birthday, Cora Ann!

Snapshots 9 to 10 months

At The Movies

At the movies, Cora-style:

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - M. Proust.

We are blessed.  Love and gratitude to all our family and friends - near and far.  

New Car

Cora seems to follow in her Grandpa John and Uncle Patrick's footsteps when it comes to an appreciation of cars.

*Maybe in the next video, Cora will also dazzle you with her new clapping trick :)  

Weekend with Nanna and Grandpa!

HUGE thanks to Nanna Beth and Grandpa John for babysitting Cora last weekend.  Nanna and Grandpa thoughtfully provided us with a steady stream of photos and videos throughout the visit.  Cora even sent us an e-mail:

Hi Mommie and Daddy. I am enjoying me time with Nanna Beth and Grandpa John. I hope you are doing well, as well.  Love and hugs.  The Bean. (Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4G LTE)

We missed Cora, but it was really nice to reunite with old friends at ABCT's national conference in a low-stress context.  It was even nicer to come home to a house that was in BETTER shape than we left it, and to know that Cora was in such expert hands.  Also, funny that the first hour we returned to Oxford, Cora really didn't want to leave Nanna's side :)  Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad!  (also, Dad, I scheduled my car checkup today... ;)

Welcome, Dominic Jackson Magee!

We can't wait to meet you.  Congratulations!!!

Where's Mommy!?

Petting Jerry is Hilarious

Sorry for the quality; it's hard to help Cora pet Jerry and film at the same time!

 

Family Walk Part II

A video and two pictures from Daddy's perspective.

Family Walk

Big Girl!

Recently, Cora has developed the ability to hold onto her crib rails and support herself in a standing position.  We're excited about this accomplishment, but also thankful she is not a super precocious walker like her daddy was.

Laughing Cora :)

November, 2012.  Cora thinks it is the height of comedy for me to drop a rubber block on my head.

Summer, 2012 (just found this one!)

Congratulations, Uncles Andy and Brian!

Here is the video we put together for Uncles Andy and Brian's baby shower (going on right now).  We love you guys!

Raking leaves!

Feeling some social pressure (note our neighbor Mary's lawn), we decided it was time to rake the leaves in our front yard.  Josh and I thought that Cora would enjoy this; sadly, her snow suit was so cumbersome that she had difficulty moving and found it quite unappealing.  Still, we got in some nice photo opps (which Josh affectionately referred to as the Paul Ryan of leaf raking, given our actual contribution).    

Happy Halloween!

Mini U's Halloween Parade! (Featured in the video are the Infant 1 and 2 crew: Alisa, Emily, Sophia, Jenna, Cora, Michael, Mr. Paul, and Ms. Krista, Mel, and Paige).  

Cora the Cat

Snapshots 8 to 9 months

Oxford Halloween Festivities

Little Miss Pumpkin attending Oxford's uptown Halloween events!

9 month birthday! (10/26/2012)

Library

Cora at the Lane, Oxford's public library.

 

Cousins!

Cora has a cousin!  HUGE congratulations to Uncles Andy, Brian, and baby boy Magee.

Fall Break

For Fall Break, we drove to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky.  This trip marked several firsts - our first true vacation as a family, Cora's first campfire, and her first 4+ hour car ride.  Vacations are different with a baby, but we definitely had fun.

This video doesn't capture it, but Cora was THRILLED to wake up in Kentucky at about 10:30pm (WAAAAAY past her bedtime).  Telltale signs of excitement: lots of hand clapping, arm flapping, and wide-mouthed baby grins.  

Playing.    

Aunt Maggie visits Oxford! Fun ensues.

Thanks so much to Aunt Maggie for visiting Oxford over her Fall Break.  I truly love spending time with my sister.  She is an amazing aunt, person, and friend.

Painting at Mini U

Mini University, Cora's daycare, has started using Teaching Strategies Gold to communicate online.  This message and the corresponding image made us smile:

"We put Willow and  Cora at the table to paint. They both just moved the paint on the table,never putting the paint in their mouths."

Leaving Cora at daycare hasn't been easy, but it's reassuring to know that Cora is receiving such high quality care.

Country Apple Fest

Today we attended the Country Apple Fest in Lebanon, Ohio.  It's a treat to take Cora out in big crowds like this, as she tends to be very entertained by the people and activity.

Happy 8-month birthday! (9/26/2012)

Miscellaneous iPhone snapshots, 7 - 8 months

Army Crawl

Cora's newest mode of mobility.

Visiting with Grandma Mel

Thanks for a great visit, Grandma!  Happy birthday! :)

Cora and her toothbrush

Happy 7-month birthday (a little late!)

From 8/26/2012

Random iPhone Photos from earlier this month

Labor Day weekend + visit with Clerkin grandparents

Photos from Labor Day weekend with my parents.  I'm inspired by their recent 39th wedding anniversary.  Thanks for all your generosity and love, Mom and Dad!   

My dad has never had the most creative names for toys ("Pink dress barbie... yellow dress barbie... " <fast forward 25 years>... "Miss Broccoli... Mr. Monkey..."  It's nice some things never change :)

Max and Cora

Laughing and Playing

Learning to crawl

Laughing!

Watch to the end to hear the best laugh :)

Weekend Away with Grandma Mel

Last weekend, Cora and her daddy visited Grandma Mel in Columbus.  This was an especially momentous visit as it marked the first weekend Cora spent away from her momma, who was attending a wedding in Wisconsin with old friends.

  

We love you, Grandma Mel!

Fun times with Poppa Mark

Thanks for the love, Poppa!  Your little party girl is absolutely smitten.  

Tickle Bug and Peek-a-Boo

Tickle Bug!  Cora's laugh is magical.  I could listen to it all day.

Cora is starting to develop some serious 'object permanence,' making these baby games so much more fun.

Hueston Woods State Park

Cora and I are continuing to enjoy our time together this weekend.  Today, we took a little drive to Hueston Woods State Park.  As luck would have it, there was a triathlon event; of course, Cora was very interested in all the people.

Here are the cell phone selfies from our hike:

A word of caution: if you do plan to venture out with a baby during an athletic event, beware of the corny jokes.  "She needs to actually run in order to get a medal!"... 

Happy birthday, Daddy! (8/8/2012)

We love you :)

Girls day!

Daddy is at a wedding in Philadelphia this weekend, so ... party time!!!

And by party time, I mean that we ate some delicious carrots for a mid-afternoon snack.

Later we went shopping at the Tri-county mall to get work clothes for momma.  The funniest part of the trip was when I let Cora roll around on the floor of the dressing room.  All was going well, until I looked down and saw her gumming a pretzel left by a previous patron.  Come on, Macy's!  Don't you have a cleaning staff?  Not my proudest parenting moment, I'll admit... but, Cora enjoyed that so much more than sitting in her stroller watching me try on clothes.

All in all, a very fun time.  I love these full, long days with my sweet and silly girl.

Healthy Baby: 6-month checkup

Today Cora had her 6-month check-up, where we met her new pediatrician, Dr. Grace.  Cora handled the battery of shots like a champ, and continues to be a delightfully healthy baby.  Her stats: 14lb 1 oz (25th percentile) and 26.5 inches (75th percentile).  Josh and I have discovered that these percentiles don't seem totally reliable as they vary depending on what chart you use.  Still, it's nice to hear that our little bean is right where she should be "on the curve."

More importantly, Cora seems to become more smiley, happy, and interactive every day.  We're pretty sure we have a dancer on our hands!

I like this video because it's a great example of how Cora always becomes a bit impassive in front of the camera; part of why we have such trouble capturing her smiles for posterity.

Sitting!

Cora has been making overtures toward sitting for awhile, but this afternoon was the first time I could confidently say that she was capable of sitting solo.  Hoooray, baby girl!  

Sitting (July 30, 2012)

She is still wobbly and can only sit for a short while before toppling over.  Still, if this developmental milestone is anything like its predecessors, she will master it in no time.  Next step: crawling.  Eek!

6-month birthday!

Cora is a little sick today (and through the powers of disease transmission, so am I!).  But, this doesn't diminish the gratitude I feel to experience the incredible gift of being Cora's mom.  I wouldn't trade this love for anything in the world.  Sweet dreams, baby girl...

Cute video from Miss Maggie's daycampers:

Baby in the Mirror

Much like Schrödinger's cat, whenever Cora is observed--especially with a camera--her behavior changes.  


Today was one of those rare instances where we were able to capture her silliness when playing one of her favorite games: Baby in the Mirror.  

Rolling Buckeye!

Cora has become a master roller.  Go Cora, go!

It is amazing how FAST she develops.  Case in point:

Elise Marie Clerkin

June 9

PublicFriendsOnly MeCustomClose FriendsOxford AreaSee all lists...FamilyMiami University, Oxford, OhioNorthwestern UniversityMacomb High SchoolUniversity of VirginiaProvidence AreaBrown UniversityAcquaintancesGo Back

Good news: Cora has mastered the back-to-tummy roll. Bad news: she can't flip herself back around, and has a fit every time she does this. Help!!

108 · 

Introducing Solids

Today marked a special day for Cora: the introduction of solid foods!  At this point, eating solids is more about getting to know different tastes and textures, versus providing significant caloric intake.  So, we opted to start with a sweet potato, to (hopefully) begin Cora's lifelong appreciation of vegetables :)

Cora did pretty well, although you can see we initially forgot the bib.  Details, details.

Special thanks to our friend, Amanda Morris, for the fabulous Baby Cookbook.  My favorite thing about this book is that fancy sounding recipes like "sweet potato puree" are nothing more than "potato + water."

Clerkin family reunion, Oxford edition

Hands down, my favorite thing about living back in the Midwest is being closer to family.

We enjoyed a great visit from the Clerkin side last weekend... Nanna, Grandpa, Aunt Maggie, and Uncle Darren.   All we needed were Uncle Patrick and Aunts Jennifer and Kirsten for a full Clerkin family reunion.

Of course, the visit was well-documented.  

Thanks, Dad, for being our videographer!

Saturday morning

Swimming

RedHawk Land

Nanna Beth and Grandpa John

first Fourth!

Happy Independence Day!  Such a great time to reflect all the blessings we have, simply because we were born in America.

To celebrate, we woke up bright and early to enjoy a swim at Hueston Woods Lake, before the sun became blindingly hot.  Cora inherited our ghostly white complexions, so we slathered on the SPF 1 billion and tried to stay under an umbrella.

Continuing the celebration at home, daddy made a delicious and 'cruelty free' feast of shish kabobs, corn, and asparagus.  Yum!   Meanwhile, Cora wore her most patriotic outfit, which ironically is a blue and white Parisian sailor suit from Uncles Andy and Brian.  We ended the evening with a festive Sparkler Show in the backyard, since Cora's bedtime rules out the nighttime fireworks.    

Don't ask me why I seem to be taunting Cora in this video... honestly, I'm a very loving mom most of the time :)

Sparklers!

Don't drink the bath water!

Poppas and Cora's 5-month Birthday!

Cora's 5-month birthday gift was a visit from her Poppas!  We enjoyed a wonderful visit together, including...

a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo,

celebrating Poppa Mark's 56th birthday,

reading (these were taken June 26, when Cora turned 5 months),

a walk through the Formal Gardens at Miami University,

and frisbee golf.

Of course, no visit from Mark and Rich is ever complete without delicious food!

Thank you so much for making the trip from Seattle, Poppas Mark and Rich.  We love you, and we're so grateful for your visit!  Cora is one lucky grandbaby.