And now it’s Cora’s turn.

Oh, the fun you have waiting for you!

(Please disregard the plaid sofa.  I can’t believe that I bought that.)

Here is what I bought:

Perfect for playing with puzzles or coloring.  Or eating Gerber puffs.

Cora has the Fisher Price car that is a part of the series and loves it.  It came in purple and pink, too, but I bought primary colors so Calder and John David don’t have to play with “the girl bus.”

Another bus, this one inflatable and it can be used inside or out.  With 25  squishy balls to roll around in.  

6 hours later: I think this one is going back.  Inflating it is going to be a pain and I’m worried that the walls aren’t that sturdy.  

And last, a pool

All of these diversions should make Nana’s house a fun place to be.  And allow us to sit in the back yard and have a glass of wine or two.

This project has been on my To Do list for weeks.  Okay, months.  And this afternoon I was in the mood to do them.  I drew the pattern on the Pellon bonding paper and then ironed it on the back of the fabric.  Peeled off the paper and then ironed the applique to the onesie.  Except for when I ironed the wrong side of the elephant’s ear and bonded it to the soleplate of my iron.  Grrrrrr.   Grosgrain ribbon trims the sleeves and they’re ready to go.  These are 18 month size so I’m going to have Cora test-wear one.  Then her Dad can see if he can make the applique fall off in the washer/dryer.  If anyone can do it, Ryan can.  (love ya, Ryan.)  If they fall off, it’s back to the sewing machine and I’ll zig zag them on.

And that was my creative Memorial Day.

Since minute one, Cora has been amazing us with her power of observation.  She stayed awake for hours after birth, eyes open, taking everything in.  One of the Labor and Delivery nurses commented that this was quite unusual for such a “fresh” one.  Having spent years working in L&D, I agreed.  Very unusual.   She continued to show us how she’s watching every move we make.  At 8 months, we were startled at Christmas to find that she understood how to play a chase game around an ottoman.  At 10 months, she knew to pick up the TV remote and aim it at the TV.  Because that’s what the big people do to get it on.

This afternoon when Anne picked her up at daycare, one of the caregivers said, “this baby is really smart.”  Well, yes, we know that.  But today’s trick amazes all of this.  There’s a sorting toy there that is something like this:

 Willis was watching Cora stack the shapes on the spindles which is difficult enough.  But she was sorting them by color.  He called the rest of the caregivers over to watch.  Then he dumped them off the spindles, mixed them up and gave it back to her.  She did it again, all sorted by color.  They said they had never seen a baby this young who could do this.

Cora is 13 months old.  Anne said, “We’re toast.”

So when I woke up this morning with a headache, I knew that sitting in front of a computer screen all day wasn’t going to fly.  I wasn’t sick enough that I had to stay in my PJs and lie on the sofa.  So I tackled the bookcases.  Our church is going to have a book sale in August and has begun accepting donations.  I was ruthless.  Out went books that I bought over ten years ago when we lived in Minneapolis that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet.  A couple bags were filled with books on religion that I’ve read but no longer fit into how I look at things.  And then some odds and ends.  The end result was over three full shelves that are now empty.  

As we now move into month 5 of Dave’s unemployment, I’m starting to look around and wonder how long we’ll be in this house.  (I’m sorry, Lincoln friends.)  Does it make sense to stay in Nebraska when the rest of the family is in the Southeast?  No.  But we don’t exactly have a plan as to how to make this move.  

In the meantime, I’ll empty out closets and bookcases in case we decide that it’s time to go.  Sigh.

So what have I done so far?  Well, yesterday I crammed it full of doctor’s appointments (3), knitting and a movie (Angels and Demons, I’ll give it an A-.)  Today I’ve got knitting guild and I’m presenting the program.  I was going to do one of the Fiendishly Difficult Stitches that I learned at Stitches South in April but even at home the other night, it proved to be too fiendish for me to work up a sample swatch.  As I was getting frustrated with a TwSSK (twisted slip slip knit), I thought, “I am hating this; why would I want to TEACH this.”  So I’m going to present the Daisy Chain stitch.  Doesn’t that sound much sweeter?

I also ran to the post office to pick up a registered package which I haven’t opened yet.  It is from my knitting exchange friend in the UK and she always sends tons of wonderful goodies.  I’m delaying the enjoyment for just another few moments!

How does BBQ spare ribs on the grill sound for dinner tonight?  I thought so, too.  Looks like the day is all mapped out for me.

We’re on summer hours but since I’m working part time this year, I elected to stay on my same 8-3 schedule with an hour for lunch.  The full timers are working 7:30 – 4:00 with a half hour lunch.  It was always nice to be able to go home an hour earlier but I hated, HATED having only 30 minutes for lunch.  Choke down a sandwich, gulp down a drink and it was time to go back to work.  Yesterday I used my hour to go to Barnes and Noble and today I stopped in at the International Quilt Museum to see an exhibit which has been here for 6 months but is leaving on Monday.  I work three blocks away from the place, I get free admission, and I never found time until today to go.  Well. Worth. It. 

I bought three books at B&N yesterday.  One by John Shelby Spong and another by Marcus Borg to continue my journey into “progressive” Christianity.  Apparently “liberal” is not really the right word for this “emerging” (as compared to “earlier” which is still practiced) paradigm.  I’ve been feeling tormented for quite awhile because my heart says one thing (“You were raised to believe this) and my head—which is winning–says another (no, No, NO!)  Finding Borg has lifted a great weight from my shoulders.  I am not exaggerating.

So today is my last day working this week and I have a 4:00 eye appointment where my eyes will be dilated to the size of dinner plates and will stay that way for about 12 days hours.  It just feels like days.  My eyes are so, so sensitive to that dilating stuff and I would rather go to the dentist every month than the eye doctor once a year.  Really.  I’m hoping for good news again.  For those who don’t know too much about diabetes, it can wreak havoc on retinas.  Ten years out from being diagnosed with diabetes, about 90% of people will have retinopathy which is what leads to blindness in diabetics.  Last year it had been 14 years from diagnosis for me and I had zip and zero retinopathy.  Partly luck, maybe.  Partly keeping my blood sugar under control. definitely.  Yay me!  Still, I can’t be complacent so I will trudge over to the opthamalogist and endure this torture.

What else.  It will be a busy weekend but I should find some time to post some more pictures.  A couple to tide everyone over until tomorrow.

and a YouTube video of the boys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDl9hz1Gia4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftwoonesies%2Ewordpress%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded

” I think I can fit under the sofa, too.”

This concert made me/us realize how much we have missed classical concerts.  Nashville, being Music City, seems to have something for everyone.  And the Schermerhorn is an incredible concert hall.  I recommend it to all music lovers.

This morning I bought a book that I’d had my eye on for a few months: The Last Mrs. Astor.  A biography of Brooke Russell Astor.  I was flipping through it, looking at the pictures which is one of the fun things about biographies, and saw a picture of the first Mrs. Astor.  Her maiden name: Schermerhorn.  I’m sure there must be a connection.  But isn’t that how it goes?  A name you’ve never heard of before pops up twice in two days.