Too Busy To Blog

It is hard to believe so much time has passed since our last post, but we Bennett’s have been busy, busy, busy.

Cora had a visit from her honorary aunties Becky, Brianne, and Hikari over Memorial Day weekend. I met these wonderful ladies while in college at UGA. I completely took for granted the years we shared the same zip code and in Hikari’s case, the same apartment. We try to see each other at least once a year, but it’s not nearly enough.

I have such fond memories of our time in Athens. One particular memory was after the 2004 presidential election when we all went out to lunch together. Brianne calmly made the statement that she “would like to have a baby by the next presidential election”. I immediately began to hyperventilate thinking we she was not ready for that! She politely informed me that her reproductive decisions didn’t involve me. How ironic that I’m the first one of us to bring a baby into the mix.

While the were in Chattanooga, another former roommate, Kerry, came through with her entourage.  We hadn't all been together for over 5 years, and Chattanooga will probably never be the same.  I love these women, and Cora will grow to love them too, especially when she finds out how much blackmail they have on me.

Soon after what Hikari coined as “Panty Party 2010”, the Bennett’s headed for the beach. Daniel and I honeymooned on Cape Cod, and we were thrilled at the opportunity to return to Chatham, MA with Cora in tow. Cora and I flew up a few days earlier than Daniel and met his mom, cousin Bea, and sister Beth at The Avola. The ocean air was relaxing and has been attributed to Cora’s hair growing like a weed and the appearance of Cora’s first four teeth. Other milestones accomplished during our stay were pulling up and learning how to crack lobsters! Okay, the latter still needs a bit of work, but she’s well on her way.

While in Massachusetts, we met up with a friend from grad school, Heather, and her husband Matt. They were gracious enough to come have dinner with us before Cora’s bed time which technically means we had something more along the lines of lunch, but whatever you want to call it, it was great seeing them.

Once back in Chattanooga, we met up with yet another UGA friend, Mary, her husband, Steve, and their adorable kids Mason and Reagan. We spent the day exploring the Coolidge Park and feasting at Tony’s. There is nothing like out-of-towners making you take advantage of your own back yard!

In addition to a wonderful education, I’m most thankful for the amazing people I met during college. A liberal arts education changes your worldview, but these people have changed my life. Having the opportunity to reconnect and introduce Cora to several of them has been the highlight of summer vacation.

After nearly three weeks, vacation came to a screeching halt. Daniel has been hard at work putting the finishing touches on his MA degree which should be completed by the end of the month. My job as a college advisor is heading into its peak season, so my workdays are so jam-packed that I barely have time to pump the bumps let alone think about updating Cora’s blog. But thanks for bearing with me. More to come soon!

Achoo!

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body”. --Elizabeth Stone


I’ve read this quote before but it has never felt more true than the last two weeks. Unfortunately, Cora’s been sick for the past 10 days or so. It started out as a runny nose and resulted in several secondary infections. She’s been such a trooper though. She’s never complained. Not once. I took her to the doctor because her eyes were filled with goop only to discover that she had other things going on too—ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and pink eye. There is nothing more heart wrenching than having a sick baby. I’ve felt totally helpless and must make a point to by stock in Kleenex.

Couple that with taking my first overnight, out-of-town business trip since Cora’s birth, and you have a total basket case on your hands. For three days and two nights, I felt completely preoccupied with thoughts about what Cora was doing. Sure I enjoyed having a hotel room to myself and uninterrupted sleep, but I felt lost without my little one in tow. I had every confidence that she was in good hands, but it’s a strange feeling to be without your child. I will never comprehend how someone could choose to separate themselves from his or her child and not be a part of his or her life. I miss her when I am at work and when she is down for the night. I have to fight the urge to go into her nursery, pick her up from her crib, and hold her because I realize that we both need sleep. Nevertheless, I count down the hours until she wakes up with that HUGE grin on her face. Daniel and I race into her room each morning to see whose eyes hers will catch first and will be the recipient of her toothless smile.

The plus side of Cora not feeling well is that our active baby has become so much more snuggly. She’s content being held and just resting her little, snot-filled head on your chest. She’ll gaze into your eyes and gently place her hand on your mouth, nose, or eyes and explore the contours of your face with her teeny-tiny fingers. As a result, each of us who care for her has gotten her “bug”, but it’s hard to complain when she hasn’t. Plus, I’m so happy to be home and get to hold that squishy little baby body in my arms!
Through these experiences of Cora being sick and me being away for a few nights, I’ve realized that my heart will forever be outside of my body. Yet it’s hard not to feel like a sweepstakes winner. As I celebrate my birthday, I’m so thankful for my family and friends, and especially for my little girl who is on the mend. She is my heart, and I cannot imagine life without her.

2038

I often wonder what Cora will grow up to do.

When I think back on my childhood answers to the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I have a hard time recalling all of the occupations I mentioned throughout the years -- garbage truck driver, orthodontist, superhero, psychologist, Oprah – you know, the usual’s. The truth is I can be very indecisive. Once in college, I changed my major at least a dozen times only to eventually decide that my experiences in being so indecisive comfortable in a variety of majors was the perfect foundation for a career in helping others choose their academic programs and professions. Go figure.

Daniel, on the other hand, was a notoriously horrible student. He was never a behavior problem in class, but he absolutely never applied himself either. School was boring, and homework was stupid. Summer school was his vacation vocation. Ironically, he is now a teacher.

Of course we are all more than what we do for a living, and as can be seen from our histories, one’s career choices can be surprising. Yet I sometimes find myself trying to glance into the future to see what Cora Wren might be up to when she’s our age. Yikes!

My hope for her is that she can find herself with a big ol' smile on her face. She’s getting lots of practice these days at doing just that, and her smile is contagious too. If you don’t believe me, just watch this:


New Year, New Adventures from Amanda Bennett on Vimeo.


I can guarantee that neither of us ever dreamt that we would be lucky enough to be mom and dad to the sweetest girl on the planet.  Those are the jobs and titles we’re most proud of!

Crying It Out

Cora isn’t much of a sleeper. She averages about 12 hours of sleep per day, and she racks up the most zzz’s during the nighttime. She doesn’t like to nap, and if she does doze off during the daytime hours, it’s usually for a 30 minute power nap. And the true kicker is that she will sleep in her crib at night, but refuses to sleep alone during the day. Despite her sleep deprivation, she’s a very pleasant and happy child. But I’ve marveled at other parents who seem to schedule *their* lives during their children’s naptimes. We’re usually up and at ‘em by 5:30 a.m. and don’t stop until around 10:30 p.m. Cora has a strict 8 p.m. bedtime. The other hours in the day are hers for the taking.

Getting Cora to sleep at night has been very tricky too. Once she’s down, she usually doesn’t wake more than once during the night. The pediatrician says she should be able to sleep 11 hours without waking, but that almost never happens. Getting her to sleep has proven to be the source of much debate and turmoil for us. We started a “bedtime routine” when she was about 3 months old—our version of the 5 S’s: soap (warm bath), swaddle, story, snack (nursing), and then the sack (crib). I was guilty of using the "snack" part to get her to sleep and then putting her in the crib and quietly exiting the room in hopes of not being detected. It worked for a while…until it didn’t and then I realized why every parenting book on the planet says “don’t nurse your baby to sleep”. Because when it doesn’t work, you’ve got nothing except a very unhappy baby on your hands and a bad habit to break.

The past few weeks, we’ve gone back and forth on the best way to get Cora to sleep. We tried EVERYTHING to no avail. More out of defeat than anything else, we began letting her cry it out. During the beginning, I think we all cried ourselves to sleep. It goes against everything I thought I believed in. Fortunately, Daniel and I are a pretty darn good team. When one of us is weak, the other seems to muster the necessary strength to pull us through.  I usually left him in charge of listening to her and checking in on her every little bit, and I tried to find a place in the house where I couldn’t hear her screaming and could partake in some self-loathing. I’m not going to lie, the beginning was horrible. But I realized we had to stick with the plan. Pretty soon she was going to be able to pull herself up in the crib and stand screaming. She, too, would soon have words to scream.  We needed to get this under control quickly.

After a few days, she has begun to go to sleep without much of a fight. She’ll frequently wake up in the night and put herself back to sleep. The results are in and crying it out has worked for us.

This little lesson has taught me so much about being a parent. First, parenting isn’t always easy no matter how effortless some people make it look. Also, what worked yesterday, may not work today. Additionally, theories are useless until you’ve had an opportunity to test them. And perhaps most importantly, doing what is best is sometimes unpleasant, but it needs to be done no matter how difficult it may be.  Then you go and put her in a frog outfit and sunglasses and suddenly it's all worth it.

Until next time, you’ll find us all resting a little easier.

Luckier than the Irish

Our little Cora is growing right before our eyes. She was 16.4 lbs and 27 inches at her 6 month check-up. She’s eating more and more “solid” foods and less and less mother’s milk. She uses rolling as her primary (solo) form of transportation. She can sit unassisted for a few seconds before falling over. She’s incessantly jabbering and reaching for things. I constantly have to pull things from her hands. I now see the world through a “potential choking hazard” lens. She can splash a lot of water these days--she’s graduated from the kitchen sink to the bathtub for bath time.  And here she is on St. Patrick's Day sporting a cool outfit that is sure to make you smile.

Other milestones for the Bennett’s include moving into our new house. The 30 minute versus 5 minute commute to work has taken a little getting used to, but community and neighborhood are completely worth it. I can’t imagine a more ideal neighborhood for our growing family. A fence is going into the backyard this week, so the cats can rejoin us soon. Anyway, we LOVE our new place and can’t wait for more of our family and friends to come visit. We’ll post pictures soon I promise. Additionally, Daniel’s still working hard on his master’s degree through TN Tech University. It’s mostly a distance education program with the majority of classes online and few here in the Chattanooga area. He should be finished by December 2010!!! And I’m looking forward to my friends Cora’s aunties Becky, Brianne, and Hikari coming out for a visit in late May.

Life hasn’t slowed down, and I suspect this is the pace to which I must acclimate. But these days are so precious. I want to savor every single second of every day, but inevitably day turns to night before I’ve truly had a chance to appreciate it fully. All the while, I realize we are so fortunate. Please don’t pinch me because if this is a dream I don’t want to wake up.

Happily Homeless

As I walked through the house for the last time, I tried to collect all of the memories that had occurred within those walls and take them with me.  Unlike all of the boxes neatly packed and labeled, I'm sure there are memories that will be left behind forever.  I'm truly saddened that you will have no personal memories of living on Crompton Street.

You won’t remember:

• My disheveled appearance rushing to work the morning after standing in the bathroom for over an hour, holding a pregnancy test that said “positive” trying to let it sink in.
   
• The expression on your dad’s face when he learned exactly what I meant when I said we’d “gotten a souvenir from our trip to Chicago”.
• Playing footsie with the cats as they napped on my growing belly.
• Us hanging the pink “C”, “O”, “R”, “A” letters above your crib or the tiny birds in your nursery when we found out we were having a girl and naming her Cora Wren.
   
• Our joy in bringing home a healthy, beautiful baby girl from the hospital and welcoming her into our world.
• The droves of people who came to meet you.
• Granny Pritchett singing Miss Mary Mack to you when you were just days old in the same fashion she had done for me when I was a little girl.
• Trying on your first Halloween costume.
• Enjoying tummy time while gazing at your mutt puppy.
• The smell of your first cedar Christmas tree or the sound of the crinkling paper as we opened your first Christmas presents for you.
• Playing with the gorgeous and hilarious girl in the bathroom mirror.
• Seeing your first snowflakes.
• Sitting on the kitchen table in your Bumbo chair, under the Rosie the Riveter poster, eating your first bite of bananas.

You won’t remember these things, but they all took place in your first house-a house that you won’t have memories of either. You'll see all the pictures and think that you remember, but at 5 months old, it's an impossibility.  I’m sure, throughout the course of your life, we’ll drive you by a few times a year (definitely around Christmastime because your dad is sentimental) and tell you about your first house and all of the good, the bad, and the ugly things that happened there. Without a doubt, even though we’ve lived there for over 5 years, my favorite memories are those that happened in the previous 5 months with you.  You truly made our house on Crompton Street a home, but we are off to bigger and better things.  In a few short weeks, we'll move into your new house.  This will serve as the backdrop to most of your childhood.  I so look forward to all the memories to come!

Hollaback Girl

A few weeks ago, I promised pictures of Cora and her first tastes of solid foods. Let me begin by saying that I don't know what all the rice cereal hype is about. Cora concurs. She didn't even eat a true bite of the stuff. "Mostly milk on a spoon? No thanks."

But oh bananas (and you thought beans were the magical fruit)!!! She can't get enough of them. We've tried avocados, apples, strawberries, green beans, pears, green peas, and carrots. She'll eat all of them as long as there is a banana chaser. I must admit that bananas are the ideal "first food"; they are convenient because they come in there own packaging and are easily transformed into "baby food". But everyone is worried that she might be getting too much of a good thing. So far, things seem to be "working out", if you catch my drift.

In other news, Cora has mastered the art of rolling over. She's been doing this trick for several weeks now, intermittently. The true problem arose when she began to rollover, from her back to her tummy, at night. We've been drilled to ALWAYS put her on her back to sleep, but she wouldn't stay there. After a rough couple of nights, we called the pediatrician's office and they suggested this trick with the towels. So far, it works.

Happy Valentine's Day

Last year on February 14th, we told our parents that they were going to be grandparents. It marked the end of keeping the hardest secret I’ve ever kept, and the beginning of our new, wonderful life. Love for this little baby was in the air long before she was even born. We took a Hallmark-manufactured holiday and made it truly something to celebrate.

While I was pregnant, Cora was growing and developing tremendously. I, too, was growing, thanks in part to an insatiable ice cream craving. But mostly my body was changing to accommodate the developing life within. During regular prenatal visits, the medical staff would measure my fundal height to make sure Cora was on track. My growing belly served as reassurance that everything was okay and a constant reminder that soon we would be parents. Often, people would see the baby bump and comment or give me advice. Most frequently I would hear about how my life was going to change. Without prior knowledge or experience, this is something that I naively thought I understood.

Now that she’s here I realize that indeed, life has changed. How foolish to think I think I was prepared for this little bundle and the catalyst she has become in my life. It is truly something that you can’t prepare for. It’s wonderful. It’s indescribable. It’s immeasurable. I've fallen in love again. My heart is growing by leaps and bounds, but this transformation isn’t as obvious to the average passerby-unlike those days where my belly served as physical marker to the world that tremendous change was occurring.

Whenever life starts getting to me, I look at that little, cherub face, and all my troubles melt away. I hope Cora knows, without reservation or special occasion, she is loved. She's my Valentine everyday of the year.

Happy Valentine's Day, baby bird!

4 Month Check Up

Coming from a background of having pets and not babies, we mistakenly refer to Cora's pediatric appointments as "trips to the vet". I'm still not sure if we call her shots "vaccines". I think "immunizations" is more appropriate. Speaking of doctors and shots, Cora had her 4 month check-up today. She’s a whopping 13 lbs., 13 ozs. and 25.5 inches! From all accounts, she is perfect. Sure, I am biased, but the doctor (an expert) has confirmed it. She’s growing. She’s reaching all of the developmental milestones appropriate for her age. She is adorable. She’s thriving. This is such affirmation for us rookies. We must be pretty good at this parenting thing. Either that or our baby is impervious to our incompetence. It’s probably too soon to tell.

In addition to getting her new stats, she also got her shots/vaccines/immunizations. She took them like a champ. Daniel and I were in pieces. Soon enough she began cooing and smiling, so we were soothed. We even got the green light to start experimenting with some solid foods! Mama Mae has been waiting for this day for the past four months. Finally the girl can eat! Pictures to follow.

Among the other happenings, Cora got to enjoy her first, real snow. Here she is all bundled up.

The storm moved in just in time for me and Daniel to get off work a tad early on Friday. This gave me some time to catch up on some video making and blogging.
I continue to be overwhelmed by the immensity of how much I adore this baby. Sure there are moments when I feel like inquiring about Erlanger hospital's return policy, but the truth is, I wouldn't trade anything for this sweet, little bundle. She made me a mom and Daniel a dad, and for that I am eternally grateful. My hope is that we can make her proud.

Stay Tuned

With all this spare time I have as a new mommy, I like creating little video montages of Cora and her favorite people and mutt puppy.  Those of you who are facebook friends have probably already seen these two, but just in case you haven't, here they are again.


12 Days of Cora from Amanda Bennett on Vimeo.




Supposed to Be from Amanda Bennett on Vimeo.


Folks have been asking for another video.  So without further ado, here's the latest edition for your viewing pleasure!


Home with Cora Wren from Amanda Bennett on Vimeo.

You've Got To Start Somewhere

It’s safe to say Cora Wren got ripped off when it comes to parents. We are rookies in every sense of the word. Sure, we have good intentions, but for the most part we have no clue what we are doing and just get by on trial and error. It’s been a baptism by fire; learning how to change diapers, managing feedings, give baths, stop the crying, and find the right place to snap the snaps on those little sleeper outfits have all been hard lessons for us. Plus there are all those things we need/want to do and never find time to do it because we are knee deep in dirty diapers. For example, I’ve been reading other baby blogs and thought, “I should do one of these things”. Well, that was about 3 months ago, and I’m just now getting around to it. Cora has admirers all over the globe, and I thought blogging would be a great way to keep you all updated on her latest adventures.

So, for starters, let’s recap the past 4 months. Cora was born Friday, September 25th at 3:49 pm. She was 8 lbs and 14 ozs and 20 ¼ inches long and filled the world with happiness that I never dreamt possible. She was perfect in every way and came home 24 hours later. This is when things really started to get interesting. The first night she was home, she slept. What? I thought babies were supposed to cry and be up all night. Not our girl. She wanted to catch some serious zzz’s. But Daniel and I were sleepless and restless. We stayed up all night, completely exhausted from the past few days, weeks, and months, but unable to take our eyes off of our little girl. She was finally home and too small and perfect to leave there all alone in her crib. Eventually we became comfortable with her being there and started getting some sleep ourselves. Now, I long for those sleep-filled nights. Since about 3 months of age, she wakes up a couple of times a night for feedings.

Although completely jipped on her parents, Cora hit the jackpot when it comes to her grandparents. Indeed they are grand. My mom (Mama Mae) and Daniel’s mom (Nonny/Not/G-Mama/G-Not/etc…Rosy’s had a hard time coming up with her grandmother name, so you can vote on your favorite) take turns keeping her throughout the week as I went back to fulltime employment December 1st. This girl gets so much special, one-on-one attention from these ladies that there is no doubt that she is going to be spoiled rotten. When I get home from work, I frequently find her in her “When Mommy says no, ask Grandma” onesie. Daniel’s dad (Poppy) taught us the best colic remedy in the world…fridge sitting. Yep. Put the baby on top of the fridge, hold her there for a few seconds, and she quits crying and starts laughing. Can you believe that? Anyway, they totally rock. We are pretty convinced that these are not the same people who raised us. They must be body doubles or something.

Anyway, back to Cora. These days she can do some pretty cool stuff. She’s holding her head up and becoming more of a fan of tummy time. She can almost reach the floor when sitting in her jump-a-roo. She chews her hands and can touch her toes. But best of all she smiles almost all of the time. She smiles with her whole body too. Her ears and shoulders go up, her mouth opens wide, and she curls up in the most adorable way. I’m such a huge fan of that toothless grin. It will truly melt your heart.

I’ll try to update often and keep you posted, but who knows how far this little blog will take us. Suffice it to say, we’re off to a good start and I look forward to the memories to come.