Idlewild

Saturday was our first trip taking Cori to Idlewild. We had a great time in spite of the really hot temps! Cooling off in the pool after the rides was a big hit.

Kennywood!

Our first trip to Kennywood with Cori!

I've known Jen for 30 of my 36 years ; she is one of my very best friends. It was so much fun to share Kennywood together with our daughters! How awesome it is to see our friendship extend into our daughters' growing friendship.

Toddler Inconsistencies (a Cori update)

When Cori was an infant, probably one of the hardest "lessons" for us to digest was that "learning" wasn't linear. It was more like a Texas two-step - few steps forward, few steps back, twists and turns, etc. For example, she'd be able to sleep really well for a few nights and we'd think we hit some sort of new plateau. Our child can sleep through the night well! Then we'd be bombarded with a few nights (or weeks) or restless sleeping and wakings. Same thing with physical milestones of crawling and walking and even eating. It was frustrating because we knew she could do it, but she didn't always do it. One of my friends put it best to say that babies do not follow linear progression in what they do, and it's something that I try to pass on to new moms (Kacey, Leslie - I'm thinking of you!)


Here we are again with the inconsitencies. Just when we think we've made progess, we hit a few road bumps. Cori has been doing really well sleeping in her "big girl bed". So much so that she doesn't want to be rocked anymore (this really makes me sad; where is my baby?!?). She just wants to lay in bed and fall asleep. Good right? Well, she will only fall asleep if her mommy and Um-ma (grand-ma) lay with her. So we have to sneak out once she is asleep. I KNOW KNOW KNOW that this is wrong - it goes against everything in the sleep bible I believe in (see book to the right. This book is THE ONE BOOK I'd recommend to any parent. We actually own 2 copies!)


I know that it would be much better for her to learn to fall asleep without us, because when she wakes and we aren't there, she'd be able to put herself back to sleep without any fussing. But instead we're teaching her that she "needs" us to fall asleep. When she wakes and we aren't there, she cries out for us. We have to come in and repeat the process. And lately, Cori has been waking a lot when she enters the light phase of sleep (about 3-4 hours into her sleep). The other night she slept 10 hours without as much as making a peep, and we made the mistake of thinking things changed. I guess we needed a reminder as the past few nights have been really rough.


And then there is potty training... Cori can clearly go on the potty when she wants to. And she knows when she has to go. But getting her to put those two together.... it's not all the time. I think we are partly to blame - again with the inconsistencies. Between 3 different caregivers during the week (4 if you count us!), she just doesn't get the consistent reinforcement to keep potty training going right now. Her daycare for example - Miss Donna at the in home place is too busy to really work with Cori on it. She has 5 other kids (2 of which are infants) and can't reinforce much. I understand, but can I again say how much I am looking forward to the new daycare Cori is going to be attending?? And with her Grandparents, Cori is often busy visiting and playing and out and about. It just isn't really practical.


We had a day this week where Cori was really agreeable and kept going on the potty. So much so that we put her in "big girl underwear". After explaining that she had to tell us when she had to go pee, and she can't pee in her underwear... we had 3 accidents in 4 hours. I know that is to be expected, but yet I thought she'd do better. I feel like a lot of it is that she was too busy playing to stop and go (even though we kept asking). Apparently the stubborn apple doesn't fall too far from the tree! But we've had to take a time out from PTing as Pop-Pop accidentially left the essential pink potty at his house yesterday. And then we're going to Kennywood, so that means another evening in diapers, etc. See - we can't be consistent!


Here is your "cuteness of the day" shot. This is Cori helping ME to brush my teeth in the midst of me helping her. God this kid makes my heart melt!

House, house, house

By the end of Friday (so 4 days in) the house was framed, both floors, and all windows in. These guys are fast!! All the doors were in except for the front door & garage door. We even got to walk through the house as the subfloor is down.

Without further ado, here's 115 Brighton Lane! ETA Dec 10th
Here's some inside shots. Kind of hard to visualize but since we're familiar with the floor plan, we have a slight advantage.

Here is the shot looking into the living room and family room.

There is a 6 ft opening between the rooms.

Looking into the kitchen from the family room. The door leads to the garage.

Looking the oppostie way, from the kitchen to the family room. No walls between; all open.

Half of the basement; we plan to finish this eventually.

The other half of the basement. Will be a bathroom & storage. Door leads to back.
Amazing view from our kitchen window!

View from the sliding glass doors / deck.

Without stairs, it's hard to get shots of the second floor!

Family Reunion

Last weekend we went to a family reunion (Dave's step-mom's family) in eastern WV at The Woods. We had a great time and there were 68 of us there for the reunion. Cori did great in the car; it was only about 3.5 hrs away from Pgh. She also had a blast running around yelling "Cousins!" in excitement often.

We took our bouncey house with us for the kids to play with, and it was a huge hit. It will definitely be making the trip with us again and it had already be worth the money we spent!

Girls tend to out-number boys in the family, and we took a shot of Cori with many of her girl cousins. It was quite a challenge to stay still for Cori (the second youngest) and Jolee (the youngest, about 6 months younger than Cori, though much much smaller!)

On the other side of the hill were some of the dads (Dave included) trying to make the girls look at them so we could take the photo.

Cori and Jolee were roommates last year and got along fantasticly again.

I'd highly recommend the resort for family get aways, reunions, or even a Mom & Dad get away. There are plenty of accomidations - last year we shared part of a 4 bedroom house. Each bedroom is private and has its own bathroom. There is a common kitchen which is useful. THis year we stayed in a room with a king bed, free wi-fi, a huge spa tub, and awesome views. There are cabins and lots of other options.

There is a restuarant & pub on site, golf for the men (or ladies!) and a spa for the women (or you metro-sexual men). Free work out rooms, an indoor pool and 2 outdoor pools. There is tennis and volleyball and basketball as well as a big playground. They also have activities like movie night and kids activities that we didn't get to check out. Definitely a nice drive and a great place to get away and spend time together!

First floor

The framing on the new house started yesterday and when I went by today, the first floor is done! I expect that the second floor will be up in full when I go by on Friday.

The front of the house showing the garage on the far right, 2 windows on the left are for the living room and the two on the right are for the dining room. Entry way door & sidelights are in the middle.

Side view showing the bump out for the stone fire place in the living room.

Here's the back of the house. On the far left is the kitchen window. In the middle is the sliding glass doors to the rear deck, and on the right is the double window in the family room.

I hope the Amish laborers didn't mind me taking their photographs thinking I was stealing their souls! I guess this means I won't be buying them a case of beer on Friday as I'd planned; Dave said to take them lemonade like in "Witness" instead!

Lemons

Tonight Cori had her first taste of lemons - we think she liked it, but it's hard to tell with the sour face she makes. Quite funny!

You be the judge....

Old Home Movies

For about 20+ years, I've had a pile of 20+ old 8 mm film reels in a bag in our barn / shed. Recently I bit the bullet and took them into Costco to have the film transferred to DVDs. I had no idea if it would even work, because the film was exposed to hot summers and very cold winters, and it was really old. These are family movies from before I was born up until I was 5.

In case you're thinking about doing the same, the Costco online form (which you must do prior and then take it into your local Costco with the movies) was very easy to use and helps you figure out the price prior to officially ordering. The process took about 3 weeks (remember I had 20+ reels) and I got a call a few days ago that the movies were done. Because I don't have a spare $150 laying around (and it just wasn't factored into our budget), I've not picked the DVDs up yet.

But yesterday I got an email that my DVDs were available for free online viewing. Color me puzzled as I've not paid for them yet. Surely they would charge a fee to see the movies, or they'd only be snippets of film..... Nope! The entire DVD (23 reels actually fit onto 1 DVD) was online for me to watch.

After work yesterday we watched some of the movie online. It's a little odd as there is no sound (other than our live laughter as we watch it) and the chapters skip around from when I was a toddler to when I was a baby to before I was born to when I was a big sister, etc. (None of our film reels were labeled, so they just pieced everything together.)

I ordered a copy of the DVD for my brother and my cousin Tracey who I grew up with. Here are a few pictures to make you smile (and realize what a long way film technology has come!)

This is my brother and me. I'm 2 and he's a few months old.

This is my mom (3rd person in) in 1969 as a Vickette (a high school dance cheerleader)

My brother and me again, about the same age. Look at the old fashioned walker!

Um, this is me getting a bath at a few months old. hee hee

My brother (a few months old) and me (2) with our cat Kermit when we lived in North Huntingdon.

Christmas 1975, right before my brother was born. I'm about 21 months old.

My brother at 3 months old, being held by our grandma Frost and next to our Pap

My cousin Tracey and me on my 2nd birthday - she's helping me read the cards.

My Dad holding my baby brother at a few months old -look at those clothes!!

My second birthday, 1976. It is surreal to see myself at this age and know my own daughter is the very same age!

Aside from the laughter about the funny clothes and hair styles (or lack of, thanks hippie parents!) it is really nice to see relatives who've since passed away. And it is also a real treat to see both myself and my brother and Tracey all playing just like I rememeber!