The Landry Family Odyssey: Cora's Turn

I wrote some Jack vignettes a few weeks back. And then there was Luke's 6 month post. It was actually Cora who was inspiring me to want to capture what the kids are each up to these days, but...the few free moments I've had recently happened to be ones where the child was KILLING me and my desire to expound on her sweetness was being squashed :)

My special baking helper :)

But then we had this weekend. And it was so sweet! We spent two days mainly just the two of us. And I have been enjoying her so much. She is something to be enjoyed, I tell you. But, she will also undo your sanity. As Jacob says, "she lives at the extremes" and there were several months where it seemed like an equal split. Half the time, she was just so winsome and precious and the other half of the time we were all wanting to scream. (She would actually be screaming; we would usually (usually) just want to scream.)

But Jacob and I both think we are turning a corner. (So now it's not 50-50, it's like 80-20? 75-25?) I remember some incidents when Jack was 3 and change when we felt really tested, so I think it's a natural stage of the 3 year old experience.

But screaming, refusal to sleep, and willfulness aside, I'm just so in love with this sweet girl and I ENJOY her so much. Why?

She's so genuinely excited about life. You know when adults mimic excitement? Well, that's just Cora about anything that interests her. All mouth agape, hands on cheeks, head nodding to underscore! I couldn't love these moments more.
I love, love, love the way she talks. She doesn't say "we", she says "our." As in "Our going to read books now, okay?" She doesn't say "they," she says "them." As in "Them need to stop driving so fast!" Why would I ever correct such consistently cute grammar?
She can take a year to make a point. When she's got an adult's attention, she will oftentimes make lots of clucks and sighs and "um guys" and slit her eyes to the side and take forever to make a point. It's cute.
When I spend time with her, I'm usually chuckling because she's just amusing. She's expressive and funny and witty and imaginative and interesting and it's fun just to watch her.
I feel so lucky to have her, my little girl. Playing with her is different than with Jack. She's bossy (he is too) but the games are different and it's always inventive and evolving. She perches on the table in the dollhouse and says "Guys, here's what our going to do next." She likes to fix my hair and every time introduces a new tool (a wooden person, a plastic telephone). If you suggest an adjustment to the game, expect to hear "No" unless it's a REALLY good idea.
She shares with me, usually without hesitation.I like this about her nature.
She's silly. She has learned to be goofy from her daddy.
She's smart. Her smartness is so street smart, so emotionally aware. She notices when you are sad and probes to find out why. She'll later reference these moments too. I love how aware she is of feelings.
She's freakishly attached to small things. There are no less than 250 small things in her room (buttons, jewels, coins, rocks, shells, broken things). She organizes them. Lines them up. Puts them in jars. We step on them. We've been counting down the days until we have a small baby on the loose. For now, we alter Jack's (and thus Cora's) favorite show Paw Patrol's theme song to be "Luke Patrol, Luke Patrol, be there on the double!" to make them help us make sure the floor around Luke is safe whenever he is put down. Since he can't really move yet, this is working for now.

She is currently sleeping on her floor - long story

If she could only stop her Groundhog's Day routine of EVERY NIGHT acting like going to bed is this new, hugely inconvenient, intolerable request we are making of her, then we'd be good.

Love you Towa-Wowa, Cora-bell :)