Pointing: “Can you buy me that book?”
“Which one?”
“The one with the wedding girls.”
“That’s not a book. It’s a bridal magazine.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s to help women plan their weddings. And you are not currently planning your wedding.”
While flipping through the pages of the magazine: “Because I still need to find my prince first.”
“You’re three. You’ve got a few more decades to go.”
Filed under conversation with coraline, coraline, humor
My parents gave Coraline a Dora the Explorer umbrella a while back, and it’s one of her favorite fashion accessories. As it is, she only posed willingly for this photo since she was wearing one of her “princess” dresses. (Taken 4/27/14)
Filed under coraline, photoblogging, photography
“Look, Mommy! I look just like Rapunzel in the tower!”
Filed under coraline, photoblogging, photography
“What does … chocolate milk turn into?”
“Pee.”
“What does … chocolate turn into?”
“Poop.”
“What does … candy turn into?”
“Poop.”
“What does … water turn into?”
“Pee.”
“What does … the fox say?”
“Ni ni ni ni ni ni ni.”
Filed under a conversation with coraline, coraline, humor, personal
Song Lyric of the Day:
I just want you to dance with me tonight / So come on, oh baby / I just want you to dance with me tonight
Olly Murs / “Dance With Me Tonight“
Tuesday night Rich, Coraline, and I celebrated Rich’s 40th birthday. It was a tiny celebration, just our little family, with a bigger celebration planned for the weekend. But we had to mark Rich’s big day on the day of. I made sure to preorder a German chocolate (Rich’s favorite) torte, since birthday cake at a birthday party is sacrosanct to Coraline, and we couldn’t have a devastated 3-year-old bringing down Rich’s birthday. And did I mention that German chocolate is Rich’s favorite? Coraline also insisted on having themed plates because, again, those are absolutely necessary for a birthday. I managed to find some Justice League plates to satisfy Rich’s request for Superman (he politely passed on Coraline’s suggestions of Woody or Buzz plates) and mismatched Avengers napkins since that was what was in stock. When Coraline and I picked up the cake, we also got a Mylar balloon that said “Happy Birthday” on it (she wanted to be traditional), a balloon which is now being moved around our upstairs by one very happy, oddball tabby cat. Coraline and I sang the birthday song, we tore into that cake, and Rich opened his presents. All in all, I think it was a nice little celebration with just the three of us.
Can you tell who was most excited to be celebrating Rich’s birthday?
Rich and Coraline pose for a birthday photo.
Last night was a big night for Coraline (and us as well): her first ballet class. Technically it was a tap/ballet/creative movement/gymnastic class, since dance studios’ ballet season doesn’t begin until August. But to Coraline, it was all about the ballet; she’s been asking to take classes for months and now she’s finally old enough.
Ready to head to her first ballet class
Of course, being old enough to take ballet doesn’t guarantee her paying attention to the teacher, which was a given. Despite her squirrelly attention span, though, she gave it her enthusiastic all. Plus, she was absolutely adorable to watch, as were her classmates — bright tutus everywhere.
Tap shoes on and ready to dance
Coraline enjoyed the class so much that she was actually pissed off when it ended and we told her it was time to leave. She sat down with her back to us, crossed her arms, and sulked. She brightened considerably when we told her she could go again. Now Rich and I just need to figure out which class schedule will work best for us.
Practicing making some noise with her tap shoes
At the end of each day, I ask Coraline what her favorite part of her day was. Some days it’s playing outside at daycare, others it’s hanging out with her grandma, doing artwork, or riding the train at the mall. Last night when I asked her that question, she smiled and said simply, “Ballet.”
Filed under birthday, birthday party, coraline, family, family time, personal, rich
“Coraline, look at me. Smile! Act natural. Natural.” Sigh.
Filed under coraline, photoblogging, photography
“I’m going to have a baby sister.”
“Oh, you are now, are you? Because that’s news to me.”
“Yes. And she will be named Baby Gaga!”
“You know that wouldn’t be her real name, right?”
Filed under a conversation with coraline, coraline, humor, personal
Coraline dictated a letter to Santa. She also decided on the menu of chocolate chip cookies, which she helped make, and chocolate milk, because surely Santa would prefer chocolate over white milk.
Filed under Christmas, coraline, personal, photoblogging, photography
Song Lyric of the Day:
Curly, curly hair / How I love my hair / How I simply want to brush my hair / I simply love my curly hair / I want to wash my curly hair
Hawkeye and Hoe / “Curli Hair“
I have a daughter with curly hair, the kind of curly hair with Shirley Temple-like spirals, that garners her lots of attention. It’s almost become the stuff of legend at this point. I exaggerate, of course, but not by much. Because outside of visits with family and friends, I have yet to take Coraline anywhere and not have people comment on her hair. People either comment directly to us or we hear whispers along the likes of “Look at that little girl’s curly hair!” as we pass by. If we got a dollar every time someone comments on her hair, we would already have a year’s worth of college tuition. At least.
Coraline had straight hair fresh out of the oven.
When Coraline was born, she had straight jet-black hair, very strongly resembling my Mexican maternal grandfather. Once her hair thinned out (don’t you just hate how babies’ hair does that?) it grew back in lighter. I remember the exact day it started to curl: It was the day of her cousin Stephen’s second birthday party. Coraline was about 6 1/2 months old. At first Rich and I thought Coraline’s hair had just curled/kinked up due to the humidity; Stephen’s party was an outdoor one on an unusually warm April day. But then her hair never uncurled.
Coraline’s hair at 13 months old, 6 1/2 months after her hair turned curly.
We have yet to take her for a haircut. Not because we’re afraid she’d lose the curl — so many people say that happens with the first haircut — because her curl is genetic. She gets it from Rich, her grandfather, her aunt, other distant relatives. Her curl isn’t going anywhere. We’ve held off on the first haircut because we wanted to see how her hair grew. And now we know: It curls so much that when we wash it, Cora’s hair reaches almost to her waist. But the curl is so strong it immediately begins curling up again once water passes through it, same as when I comb it out.
My hair is naturally wavy, but nowhere near curly like my daughter’s. A good friend recommended a book, Curly Girl: The Handbook by Lorraine Massey, so I could learn how to manage Coraline’s hair. Because if there’s one thing I want for my little Curly Sue regarding her hair, it’s that she loves and embraces it — and knows how to manage it. The book defines different types of curls; I think Coraline’s hair type leans toward Corkicelli curls. It reminds you that curly hair is not supposed to be washed daily (we wash Cora’s twice a week, more during sweaty summers). It also tells about the best kind of hair-care products for curly hair (botanical based and sulfate free), which led me to the California Baby brand. We use their Shampoo & Bodywash, Calendula Hair Conditioner, and Calming Hair Detangler. Bonus: Since it’s formulated for babies/kids, it’s tear-free. Not that that matters to Coraline. When it comes to having her hair washed, she only very recently stopped screaming like she was being waterboarded.
Spring curls, April 2013
One of my favorite things about Cora’s hair is how it holds its shape. And how it gets Gene Wilder crazy at the end of the day. She and I have a thing we do at bedtime: I take out her hair ties and barrettes and say, “Shake it out!” She shakes her head, knowing and enjoying how fluffy her hair gets. And while I’m not perfect when it comes to managing her hair, I try really, really hard to make sure she likes her hair, because I know so many women who don’t like their curly hair. A few have told me it goes back to their moms not knowing how to manage their hair. I’m trying hard not to be that mom, doing what I can to help Coraline and telling her all the time how beautiful her hair is (which, duh, it is). She’s really confident about her hair, and loves saying, “She has curly hair like me!” whenever we come across a girl or woman with similar hair. So, so far what I’m doing seems to be working. Fingers crossed that it continues to work.
Gene Wilder’s tiny hair double.
Now, when it comes to hairstyles that work with Coraline’s hair, well, that’s a work in progress. Another time, another post. Maybe.
See? Gorgeous curls, freshly washed.
Filed under coraline, personal, photography
Song Lyric of the Day:
Come on, ride the train, it’s the Choo Choo train
Quad City DJ’s / “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)“
Knoxville has a short-line passenger train. Did you know this? Because I only discovered this recently. I’ve heard rumors the last couple of years, and then a few weeks ago my friend Meghan and her husband took their babies on the train, the Three Rivers Rambler. Meghan told me about the trip, which I then told Rich about, and we agreed that it would be fun to take Coraline on a train ride.
Coraline has wanted to ride a real train forever. It’s basically one of her lifelong dreams. (Did you know toddlers could have lifelong dreams? They can.) Thanks to my parents, Coraline’s ridden the little train at our local mall enough times to qualify as a part owner, so when we told her about REAL trains, her mind was blown.
Last Sunday, agendaless and looking to enjoy some quality family time, we told Coraline that we were going to take her on a REAL train ride. In typical fashion, she jumped up and down yelling “Yay!” which she manages to draw out like you would not believe. We packed her little backpack with snacks, Rich and I grabbed our cameras, and we headed down to Volunteer Landing to board the train.
Lindy, the Washington & Lincolnton #203 steam engine for the Three Rivers Rambler.
We quickly found seats facing each other, so we had a cozy seating arrangement. The seats also allowed me to keep my gimpy foot elevated during the 2-hour ride. (The website and conductor say 90 minutes, but ours took two hours including a couple of short stops.)
The atmosphere on the train was very friendly, festive thanks to some holiday decorations, and very family friendly — there were tons of families riding with us that day. Coraline loved everything about it, especially the fact that we could walk out onto the following open-air car while the train was moving (it goes really slow).
Coraline holds up her train ticket.
I of course took tons of pictures, with Rich handling Coraline-escorting duties; my foot was still pretty tender so hobbling around a(n albeit slowly) moving train with an excited 3-year-old was not on my slate for the day.
I did manage to hobble outside with Rich and Coraline a few times, with the beautiful views totally worth the effort. Not to mention Coraline’s sheer delight at BEING ON A REAL TRAIN. Sorry for the caps, but toddler enthusiasm is contagious. And awesome.
Crossing over the Holston River. Note the train’s shadow on the water.
We heard rumblings throughout the ride that a certain magical jolly fellow was going to be making an appearance. Just when Rich and I had given up hope that the big man would show, there he was. Coraline was giddy waiting for him to make his way back to us (we were in the next-to-last row on the last car). And even though she met Santa outside of the mall, she still told Rich that we needed to go see Santa again at the mall so she could tell him what she wants for Christmas. She is a true believer, after all.
Coraline with Santa Claus on the train, the perfect ending to our first family train ride.
Filed under around knoxville, coraline, family, family time, knoxville, personal
