Brandrea

*An extra roll of chub at the top of Cora’s thighs. Squeezable and cute. Maybe she will have finally hit the eighteen pound mark at her doctor appointment next month?

*Forty-five minute naps for Cora. Only twice a day. Not cool.

*A beautiful entertainment center (still to be painted)!

*Speed. Army-crawling, booty-wiggling, floor-wiping speed.

*Cherry chocolate cake balls. Amazing.

*Finger foods. Cheerios, peas, mum mums (also known at our house as “surfboards” and yum yums) and flavored baby puffs.

*The waltz, salsa, and swing dance. Brad had a date last night with four ladies, ranging in ages 7 months to twenty-six years, and we learned some fabulous moves.

Not new, but our favorite, trademark Cora smile:

Today is a beautiful day. We got something like 6-8 inches of snow yesterday and it is shimmering in the sun this morning. Cora woke up an hour ago, ate, and then wanted to go right back to sleep. She has been trying to go down to just one “morning” nap (around noon) and one late afternoon nap; because of this she often wakes around 7:30 to eat and then needs a little more sleep after that – maybe until 8:30 or 9. We have been keeping her up until about 8 or 8:30pm when we can, which has been adjustment for me. For some reason I have an unspoken Babies and Children Should Go To Bed At Seven rule in my brain. But this new bedtime seems to be working well. It makes sense because then she is awake (and happy!) when we are out and about in the evenings.

This morning as I was feeding Cora in bed, she touched my face with her soft hands and I returned the caresses, tracing along her cheek and chin. Some days just have those moments. They are moments that happen every day, but they somehow seem unique. I hold them, breath them in for a minute, and remember that now will only happen this one time.