Little Sister Cora : Fall is here in MN! One month home

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I have written. Things are just rolling right along, and it's hard to have time to fit it in. Cora is doing new things by the minute it seems like, so I've already missed documenting some "milestones" I am sure:)

Sophie started school on Sept 3rd. She was very excited to get back to school, for maybe the first time in her career! Cora must have felt that enthusiasm, because once she realized that sophie was going to school, she was ALL about "way-shu Cora's school?" She has a constant rolling dialogue of "way-shu" something. It's usually mama or daddy or sophie, or grandma or whoever is visiting that day. But anyway...she saw sophie get on the bus, and that was it. I think she was confused by where Sophie was actually going, and was screaming and crying to beat the band. But then we drove her to her school, to show her, and then all was fine. But that prompted her asking about Cora's school, in which she WAS registered, but we didn't plan on starting her for a few more weeks (kindergarten that is). But we went over that day, and met her teacher, who was very nonchalant about the whole thing, to my dismay. Cora liked her, though, and was all excited, and was waving "bye" to mom - she thought she was all ready for school. Not so much. We did bring her the next day, first day of Kindergarten. We had an eye dr appt in the morning, so brought her in a few hours late. The short version is that it did not go well. She was scared to death of me leaving, was scared of the teacher and classroom, and just overwhelmed all around. We made it about 20 mins, but she was melting down, and wouldn't even go in the classroom after touring the school with the class. So we wrapped that up pretty quickly, and decided to take a step back. Do pre school for a while, and then maybe try Kindergarten again when she is more comfortable with the school idea.

Fast forward a week and a half, and she started preschool on Friday (yesterday). She did AMAZING! We got to go in a few minutes early, meet her teachers, let her get lay of the land of the room and stuff. They had awesome toys and stuff, so she was thrilled about all of that. Then the kids trickled in, moms and dads left, and I left about 5 mins after "class" started. She was super brave, and the teachers and other kids were wonderful. It's only 2.5 hrs, but she stayed the whole time on her own, and only had some tears twice. Minor moments, which the teachers were able to calm quickly. And then my mom and I came back, and she was super happy, and very proud of the artwork she had done that day. When we left for lunch, she said "go get snack, and then come back?" She really liked it, and I was so happy and proud of her.

So that's the school deal. She'll do preschool 3 days a week, and I know she will do awesome. She is a smart cookie, and picks up on things so quickly. Oh plus - her preschool is in the same building as sophie's school, so that helps too. Now if only she could ride the bus to preschool, her life would be perfect! She is obsessed with buses. She and I even took the bus downtown one day last week, just so she could go on one. That was a fun outing overall. Except i forgot the stroller, and she had an owie on her foot, which meant me piggybacking her all over downtown. Even at 39lbs, I'm too old for that!

So now that Sophie is in school, and James is working, Cora and I just pal around during the day. She is sweet and funny and stubborn and exhausting, all at the same time. She wants my (or james') attention pretty much 100% of the day. She will play with her dolls, or do puzzles or play legos or watch tv - but with all of that, she likes to have a pal. Which is me. So it doesn't leave much time to get other things done during the day. But I indulge her MOST of the time. This is our bonding time, and man are we bonding! I think I get an A+ in that so far. She's such a sweet girl, it's hard to say no to her anyway. But we are working on her doing more things independently, because obviously that is the path we need to be on. But in the same breath she IS very independent. Another constant is "Cora do it" - she does want to do things herself, just me to be there watching, basically, or helping when need be.

But I love our time together. Sitting in the bean bag snuggling and watching Totoro, or dancing around to music. Or her doing my hair in the most beautiful styles for an hour+ each day. (she really is quite talented with that). I can't wait to see her every morning, padding out to the kitchen, or wherever I am. I also can't wait for 8pm to roll around so I can have peace and quiet too, I'll be honest about that. But I think that's every parent. I'm not ready to send her off to school 7 hrs a day, and I got all weepy thinking about that. We worked so hard to bring her home, and we missed out on so many years with her. The idea of sending her off all day already just breaks my heart. So I'm glad the Kindergarten thing is not happening quite yet.

Today was an especially frustrating day, more with sophie than cora. Sophie is still overall doing good, but I think she holds alot of feeling in, and then they all come rushing out when she's tired or cranky. She is jealous of the balance of attention, of Cora's cute clothes and shoes (yes shoes!), and losing her place as the baby. So Sophie tried my nerves more than ever today, and we spent most of the morning battling with her. But then tonight, Sophie took cora out for a walk, got her all dressed up in her rain gear, played with her on the trampoline. And read her the sweetest bedtime story. So I know she loves her little sister. OH, she was even mad at Cora today because Cora got to ride in the burley, behind my bike. "she doesn't even have to do ANYTHING, she just gets to sit there. It's not fair". Meanwhile, sophie had to ride her bike 10 miles. Yes, it was not a good morning. I ended up eating many doughnuts today. James had to talk me down off the ledge a few times. Thank goodness for him!

And Daddy - yep, Cora still loves her dad, but now Mom reigns supreme. But she will follow him around when he is home as much as she can. Darn work!! He's busy as every but does a good job of helping out once he gets home. And as always being the voice of patience when things gets tense around the house.

The language is coming along really well too. Cora understands so much of what we say, and can get some simple thoughts across to us. I'm not worried about that anymore - she'll be talking up a storm before we know it.

Other big things that we've been doing:

Doctors visits. Eye doctor appt went well. Her right eye is healthy and strong. Her left eye is tiny and undeveloped, and not anything they can do to help her see out of that eye. So we got glasses (today!) to help protect her right eye, and give her better vision out of it. We will work on getting her a prosthetic left eye in the near future, got some referrals for that. She is adorable in her glasses, and seems to like them okay.
pediatrician visit was uneventful, Dr thought she looked great, and all the test results came back clean. We have a few immunizations to do to bring her up to speed, but overall she is a healthy little girl!
went to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house, overnight. Did a pontoon ride, swimming in the lake, jumping off the raft, riding 4 wheeler, and tubing behind boat. whew! it was a big day. And sleeping away from home for first time. Did great with it all!
Did time with the babysitter alone, and also alone time with gramma Jeanne - making strides!
Started swim lessons, which she LOVES! I can't wait to take her again tomorrow night.

Good night!

Michelle

picnic at Minnehaha Falls - sweating to death!