Hey Cora! It’s your two month birthday today and what do we have in store? That’s right, more trauma! First round of vaccinations were on the agenda. We’ve really got to get the hang of celebrating these milestones in ways that don’t HURT. But give your parents a little time, we’ll get the hang of it.

STATS

• Length: 23″
• Weight: 11lb 6oz
• Head circumference: 39 cm (that’s double since birth!)
• Sleep: averaging 5.5 hours at night.
• Dirty Diapers: PLENTY
  • (case in point – she managed to sneak one by her diaper onto my pants while at the Doctor’s office today. Lucky you, I didn’t take a picture.)
• Cuteness: I’ll let you be the judge…

Check out the photo album of moments from Cora’s second month.

Cora would like to thank the Art Institute of Seattle* for allowing her to model in this year’s hottest sculpture art* for All Hallow’s Eve.

She has been training for two months for this opportunity and is honored to support the artist with her beauty.

Happy Halloween!

* no one went to the art academy and pumpkin carving can only loosely be called sculpture art in some circles.

Additional Halloween fun was had with Cora’s birth month buddy, Orion. They make a cute couple don’t they?

Happy Birthday, Cora Marie!

You’re over 9 pounds and getting longer and more muscle control. You’re more alert when awake and sleeping longer stretches (especially at night, thanks sweetie!). There isn’t a day that goes by that we aren’t amazed at your existence and the wonder with which you discover things each day. Like your hair and how strong your little arms are. Or that your daddy really likes to blow strawberries on your belly, and you know NOT to justify his efforts with a response.

Unfortunately, as a birthday present, your parents decided to get your frenulum cut. Thankfully it was very quick and only slightly painful (akin to biting your tongue or cheek for those of us with teeth). It heals very quickly and will hopefully improve our experience together breastfeeding. It should also improve your ability to use your tongue in speech, wiping food from your teeth and ensure you are able to continue to breastfeed as you get older and need more milk.

This procedure was recommended to us by lactation consultants and a breastfeeding specialist. Largely because I was keen to reduce pain when nursing. I’m really hoping I wasn’t being too selfish, but we were assured the long term benefits far outweigh the risks.

In addition to these events, here are some pictures to commemorate her first month!

Cora’s First Month – Web Album

1 week old

2 Weeks Old

3 Weeks Old

4 Weeks Old

The outpouring of gifts and hand-me-downs from all of you has meant that we have much more than we can possibly use to help Cora have the best new life. We firmly believe she can’t learn too early that one of the best parts of life is giving back whenever possible. We have had so much support from our friends and family, she would like to ask for any additional gifts to go to those less fortunate. We’ve decided to ask all those interested in giving anything else for Cora, consider instead making a contribution to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Tx instead.

We’ll happily continue to take cards and well wishes however. They are making great decoration for her nursery and remind us daily of what a great set of friends and family we have!

We are sooooo incredibly lucky/blessed to have such a great support network and incredible family. We’re definitely also lucky enough to have steady jobs and be in a stable situation that we can take the time to learn how to be parents. But even better than that, we were able to have our parents visit and help us through these first weeks.

First let me say that, first time grandparents are a TRIP! The excitement and love is overwhelming. Downright cute. And I can’t tell you how excited the new grandmas were to find out we had a girl. Can you just say that Cora will have no shortage of pink in her wardrobe for years to come.

Also, do expect a reappearance of the Mr. T onesie, complete with a pastel tutu, courtesy of Auntie Brie. If Brie would let me get her in one, a picture of her with Cora will be on the blog soon enough!

Since we’re talking about family, I wanted to share this lovely shot of the Moore’s and Sean and I at the baby shower/BBQ hosted by my fam in Houston when Cora was -2 months old:

Dad, Sis, Ma, Me and DSH

Man oh man this has been fun. I’m probably saying that because I got nearly a full night’s rest last night, thanks to some creative feeding schedule tricks and my awesome man. But the main reason it’s been so fun can be seen below…

Cora’s 1^st day in the great big world! In daddy’s arms, happy as a clam.

2^nd Night of life: NICU Phototherapy for hyper bilirubin (jaundice). While

this isn’t exactly happiness, knowing that it helped her to be healthy and

vibrant has been a blessing.

But she gets some loving and grub from daddy while in ICU.

Taking baby home!

Daddy and Cora time, first day at home.

After eating some of the good stuff.

Catching some ZZZzzzz’s

Our little Glo-worm! Swaddling makes for not only quality sleep time but real cute pictures.

And of course it’s always a good time to monkey around!     Or sleep. She

does a lot of that. Good thing she’s so flipping cute doing it.

AJ and I are incredibly happy to welcome our beautiful little girl, Cora Marie. She was born on September 4, 2011 at 11:51 AM at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington. When she was born, she weighed 7.04 lbs and was 18.75 inches long. I have to say, as a the “labor coach”, that AJ did an incredible job with labor and pre-labor, and I will leave the details for her to tell. There were no complications with the labor or delivery and Cora was born completly naturally with out any issue.

Like her mom and dad, Cora was born with jaundice and she had to be admitted to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for light therapy to treat the jaundice. We may get to take her home tonight (fingers crossed).

AJ is doing really well, and is bouncing back from the labor and delivery incredibly well. After Cora was born and we were moved to a recovery room, she was already walking around which astounded the nursing staff. All-in-all, the family is doing great and couldn’t be more excited for all of the adventures to come.

I’m seriously worried about this problem that has come up. As I approach my due date, I’m having a whole new set of emotional responses to any new stimulus. I like to call it Babygetoutitis. I am not good with uncertainty as many can attest to (hell I don’t even enjoy surprises even if it is something I like!). It’s made the time drag on ever so slowly these last couple of days. I’ve transitioned my responsibilities at work, and I can’t pick up new projects in the meantime. The laundry is done, the shopping list for baby completed, the classes and reading are in the bag. Just missing is family member #3. I mean sure there is probably a load of other things I could be doing to be ready – filing that paperwork just sitting on my desk, organizing the pantry alphabetically, sorting the sock drawer by length and color. But seriously, can’t the munchkin just join us already?

We finished our child birth preparation class and we’re supposed to continue to practice all the skills we were taught. One in particular was swaddling, and as I didn’t practice in class, I thought I should hone my skills at home. We didn’t have a big plastic baby, so I used my trusty owl doll. Sean practiced being daddy and looking cute. I think he did a pretty good job. For those of you who remember our couch however, he was a little concerned about his ability to get out of the couch with the baby. More practice required I guess, because the owl baby ended up in a less than optimal position….