Holiday Cheer

I have to admit that I'm usually the kind of person who has the Christmas tree down the day after Christmas easily saying good-bye to the hype of the holidays. Except this year. I found that enjoying the holidays with Corinne made me very emotional to let go of the green, the red, the lights, and even Frosty (which we watched a total of several hundred times). Of course, it wouldn't be connected to the pregnancy hormones which can set me emotionally off balance at any moment. :-)

We had such a grand time at Uncle D's for the holiday. They were brave enough to host all of the Rutledge clan for a week, including the dogs! (Personally, I think the dogs got the best end of the deal. If the house got too crazy, you just grabbed a couple of dogs and 'went for a walk.')

Corinne bonded very well with all of her cousins. Gus shared all of his costumes and took her under his wing. Owen observed her from a distance but warmed up enough to share his building blocks and keep a close eye on her for us. Corinne couldn't get enough of 'Baby Tess.' She even named one of her baby dolls after her upon our return. This was a good sign for Mommy. I was afraid she might pull out the jealousy coat, but she was all about loving on Tess, touching her and being generally aware of her whereabouts. But don't let Tess's sweet face fool you, she is quite a ham herself and will soon give those boys a run for their money!

So, I'll post my photos and say 'Bye-bye, Santa, bye-bye Frosty' for this year. (Sigh).

Two peas in a pod.

Getting goodies from gj.

See, Tess, these velcro together. I'll share this one with you.

Could you deny this face anything?

Happy New Year, everyone!

Road Weary

We arrived in North Carolina late Sunday night to a houseful of Rutledges all awake and eager to see us. Corinne finally dozed off in the car the last hour of our trip, only to awaken to two eager 3 year olds ready to romp! What followed was a very late night for all of us as we tried to finally wind three wild children down for bed. Corinne had quite a time trying to go to sleep. On top of being waaayyy overstimulated, she was in a foreign environment, and it was way past her bedtime. Long story short...we all (Roman, Corinne and myself) finally dropped off to sleep around 1:15am, on the floor, on her pallet.

Monday brought even more excitement. Corinne tried as hard as she could to keep up, but alas, during lunch, the lack of sleep overpowered her.

Here's to an early bedtime!

Kiss and tell

I hope we haven't tried to instigate change too soon for Corinne by altering her crib to a toddler bed. For weeks now it seemed we had a seamles transition with her often waving bye-bye to Roman or me, eagerly awaiting the night's slumber. The last few nights, however, have brought upon a screaming little girl who yells, NO! when we try to leave for 'night-night.'

We anticipated possible trouble during nap time, though. And we got some. She's been a little too eager to say 'bye-bye, mama' and have me close the door. I could usually hear her rummaging around and could tell what she was into. This day there were no snores, but a quiet child. Hmmmmmm......

Aside from sleep issues, Corinne continues to delight as her vocabulary expands. It seems her emotions have expanded also after a previous report from her day-care teacher. Roman arrived to pick her up last week only to be told that "Your daughter's been kissing boys."

Roman replied, "Oh, really? Like maybe, Wells?" (Wells is one of Corinne's favorite playmates at school; we also run into him at birthday parties and the beach).

Miss Mary said, "How did you know?!" Roman just chuckled as he looked over her shoulder to see Corinne walking right up to Wells with both hands outstretched, lips puckered. Poor Wells didn't know what'd hit him. Hey, at least she's affectionate, right?

Have a great week.

C'mon, Chloe!

Corinne's favorite evening activity is gathering everyone in the house to our bed to read stories and hang out until bath time. She can be quite demanding if you aren't ready to head back when she is. The other evening she decided that the dogs needed to hear the story, too. She had quite a time trying to convince Chloe to do what she wanted her to do. Welcome to our world, Corinne. We've been trying to get Chloe to listen to us for 12 years!

Northern Fairies

We all enjoyed a visit from two Northern fairies this past week, Roman's mom from Michigan (Mimi) and sister from Seattle (AA: Aunt Angela). The week started off Southern with Roman and Angela cracking crabs. We ate in style all week as Roman donned his chef's hat. Crab cakes, pumpkin curry soup, shrimp and grits, salmon and spinach pasta....mmmmmmm. Lucky for us Corinne is a fabulous eater. She ate her share right along with the rest of us!

Her latest move is the upside down hand, "Where's _____?" We interpreted this as "Where's the washcloth?"


Corinne is really into singing lately and wakes up belting out "ABCDEFG...then repeats ABCDEFG" or jumps to "QRS." She's quite the songbird. Mimi and AA were told on many occasions, "Mimi, SING!" Our car resembled the Griswolds as we motored around Charleston singing "Row, row, row your boat." Right on cue, Corinne shouts for the next soul to chime in the round then ends in a rousing applause for us all. Could we have a conductor on our hands?

There was no shortage of sitting on the floor playing this week!

Mimi and AA also decked Corinne out in fun clothes including some fancy skirts and princess shoes. Corinne now ventures into her room and dresses herself in every hat, shoe, and accessory she can find.

Who said ruby slippers can't be worn with pjs? Watch out, Gus!

Angela brought Corinne the latest stuffed favorite to date: Ernie. He was lucky enough to go on our morning walk with us.

Right after Mimi and AA left, Roman and I moved Corinne's bed into the transitional bed for toddlers. She's always been a pretty good sleeper, so we figured we might as well try it. Especially if we want to use her crib for the new baby months down the road. She is learning the freedoms of the new arrangement, however, and piddles and plays before she nods off. Poor Ernie got the raw end of that deal today.

Angela arrived with an early Christmas present: the FLIP camera! I think this was her way of saying, "hint, hint." :-) You can see here that Corinne insisted on learning how to use it also. Corinne is all into electronics.

Cell phones are the favorite electronic as probably so with most children, I'm sure. She has her own (several, actually) but only the real ones will do. Unless of course, it's a clock. Does she know something we don't?

We really appreciate Mel and Angela making the trip down. Traveling isn't easy these days, and I know Corinne had a blast all week! All weekend long she looks at us and says, "AA bye-bye?" Very observant. We miss you guys and thanks for everything!

Trick or Treat!

I've always loved Halloween, and now that Corinne is old enough to enjoy it, too, I love it all the more. Pappy and gj have been down all week, so they've helped out with parties and the annual 'trick or treat.' Corinne, gj, and I made cupcakes for the school party, half of which the adults ended up eating (yum)! Not to mention that we raided Corinne's candy stash after she went to bed. (Shame on us, right?!) She actually had a death grip on the pumpkin, and we ended up sending her to bed holding it. Luckily, she wasn't yet aware that it was actually candy inside. She was more interested in the fact that that pumpkin was 'mine'!

Check out our little butterfly fairy...

.... and Hip Hop Fairy

We even did the carving of Jack. Corinne was quite thrilled with the results.

Did you notice the boots? Gus, beware! Some friends donated these 'lizard' boots to Corinne last week, and they are quite popular around the house. We were able to get her to remove them for a bath, but, alas, she ended up sleeping in them for the night.

Prancing around

Have a great week!

Monkeyin' Around

Corinne has really taken to her monkey in the last few weeks. Oddly enough, Roman and I both had monkeys as children. No bears here. I still have my old monkey, actually. So, I guess it's natural that she has an affinity for them. We really began to notice what a sidekick monkey was when we found him perched in odd spots around the house. I began snapping photos of her growing affection for showing him her life. See for yourself.

"Ready to chase Chloe?"

"Buh-bye, Dada!"

"Don't let Chloe eat the snacks, Monkey."

"Hold on tight."

"Wheeeeeee!"

Luckily, Monkey was prepared outside with his sunscreen.

"Brusha, brusha, brusha....."

Unfortuately, it wasn't Monkey who was playing around and pulled over the marble top end table, tearing Corinne's toenail. She was lucky enough not to break her big toe, but the damage is pretty gross. We've been watching and waiting for it to fall off. I have to say she's pretty tolerant of us soaking, dressing, and cleaning it. We've made such an impression that she tried to sit Monkey on the toliet to dress his toe! Couldn't get that photo, though, as we were racing to save Monkey from the realms of toliet bowl water.

Have a great week!

Crumptons expand

At least one of us will literally be expanding that is. Here he/she is, baby #2! So far, so good at 13 weeks. We have an April 2 due date. We've told Corinne that Mommy has a baby in her belly, but she's clueless. Of course, we'll keep updating as the baby progresses. Isn't it amazing how much they're formed even this early? You can see the hands/arms flailing around the head and the little legs on the other end. Once again, Roman is adamant that we don't find out the sex of the baby. I have to admit the second 'go round that I would like to know. The planner in me wants to have all of the old clothes sorted and organized, etc. But, I guess it can all wait. :-)

Enjoy the weekend!

Well Read?

Ok, my cousin Brooke put this post on her blog (see Celebrate the Everyday!) and I had to rise to the challenge. Evidently, the average adult has only read about 6 titles from the list. I bolded the titles I've read. Mom and Angie will probably bold the whole list! I've read 42. Not a very good number for a librarian. Guess I need to get busy. Happy Reading.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials- Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (Also seen the movie)
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (Does starting to read it count?)
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time- Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce 7
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92.The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Where the wild things are

Last weekend we headed off on a road trip for our friends', Joe and Julia, wedding in Asheville. It was so good to see many friends that we just don't get to hang out with much now that little bit is with us and our social life is very slow. :-) We actually got a babysitter and attended the wedding sans Corinne.

Julia's night

Roman, Justin, and Dave contemplating the 'Electric slide'. Haha

Pal'ing around with Elizabeth

We did take Corinne to the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville during the day. The gardens were gorgeous. I'd been there once years and years ago, but they've made so many improvements and additions that it was a new experience for me. I was mainly looking forward to showing Roman the quilt garden. The link shows what it would look like. We only saw it in its planting stage. Still, other exhibits like the bonsai garden and colorful wildflowers were worth the visit.

I'm not sure what this one was. It reminds me of Mimi's morning glories, but it was as big as the spread of my hand!

Of course, the wildest flower of them all...

Corinne has been learning her colors and is telling us that this 'baba' is red! So far she can recognize the difference between some colors but will only tell you when something is 'lello' or 'red.'
This is just a little note on the side. I dropped Corinne off at daycare Friday morning and as we were entering, a classmate and friend, Katilyn, was entering with her father. The two girls squealed and shrieked to see each other, then ran full speed ahead down to their room. It was the first time I've seen her get so excited about one of her classmates. They had the workers peering out of other rooms to check on the commotion.

Another cute story, induldge me here, from daycare... one of the teachers informed me that Corinne gets quite irritated at the wood chips from the playground that work their way into her shoes. She sat down to take her shoes off and a little boy from her class, Gavin, came over to put his arms around her (he thought she was upset). A few minutes later, the same scenario ensued, yet this time he planted one on her! Her first kiss! The teachers said it was too cute. Roman wanted to know if he needed to have a talk with the little guy.

We're enjoying a cool day about 65 out! It's a welcome change from the muggy, mosquito-hungry heat.

Have a great week.

Mosquitoes, Hurricanes, and Guitar Hero

School has definitely gotten off to a good start. Summer is always fun, but by August the heat and the mosquitoes can ruin anybody's picnic. Besides, the thrill of making muffins with Mama was wearing off.




We started our school year to a new school-wide reading program that culminated last Friday. I don't like to toot my own horn, but I was pleased that our student body and efforts were recognized on the local news.

(The video hasn't been working, so here's the link: http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0808/548702.html)

We had a national young adult author, African drumming groups, a Holocaust survivor, and 2 Vietnam veterans to speak to students who read books of similar topics. Who said reading and books were dead?! :-)

The Bensons graced us this weekend with their crew. Corinne and the kids played so well together. When she wasn't following in Wesley's (older) footsteps, she was taunting Maddox with the latest toy of choice. The real treat was the Wii, Guitar Hero, and the rockstars that came out of the closet.

Trina and the boyz

Roman takes on Wesley

Now we sit and wait to watch the local coverage scare everyone to death about Hurricane Hanna on its way. Not to sound to disrespectful of the media, I realize that we are fortunate to be kept informed and out of harm's way. But after living here for 12 years, we just can't hit the panic button just yet. The groceries are already out of water and the gas pumps are triple deep. It's Tuesday. This storm might hit Friday or Saturday. Needless to say, we do have our evacuation plan in place. We'll hope for the best.

Have a great week!

Melanie

Relief!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a Relief!!!

Upon Corinne's last doctor visit we once again mentioned our concern for Corinne's constant runny nose and nighttime cough. For the past year (yes, it started last August) the doctor has suggested that it is just a minor cold and an artifact of her being in daycare. Honestly, Mel and I were a bit skeptical. Well it has not stopped with her not attending daycare this summer so the doctor suggested removing items from her crib and trying to isolate the "allergy" (i.e. wool, satin, etc). After Corinne has been sleeping with absolutely nothing in her crib except a blanket (a different one every night) nothing seemed to work. Then a couple of weeks ago we were invited to dinner with our friend 'Berta. She suggested we stop using fabric softener and BAM!!! that was the culprit- no more pics or videos of snot rockets to spoil Corinne's baby pictures

-THANKS 'BERTA!

P.S. 'Berta's from Michigan

Young 2's

Corinne has started back to daycare and Melanie is back at work. To our surprise Corinne has been moved up to another room called "Young 2's". We like to think that our daughter has moved up due to her capacity for learning/maturity/advanced manners, but something tells me it was a logistical choice made by the daycare-you make the call ;)

As I was writing this blog, Melanie called me in a mournful tone. Apparently Corinne cried this morning being dropped off at daycare. I'm sure it won't be the last time-Better you than me, Mel.

Thanks Aunt Angie for the books they are soooooo cute!

Best Friends-Chloe is so patient when Corinne wants to put goggles on her

Four of these bad boys grew in our landscaping this year, no doubt from our compost!

Corinne's favorite pasttime-reading, thanks Pappy

Playmates

My time at home with Corinne this summer is about to come to an end. Honestly, it has been a challenge and an adjustment for me to keep her entertained and socialized as well as occupied while I attempted to get stuff done at home. Going back to daycare will be bittersweet. She is really asserting herself as the 'two's' begin to settle in. Roman and I agree that we're going to have to get tough with her now. We'll have to endure some screaming tantrums. Ah, lovely.

While Corinne seems to have a strong will, she isn't overly obstinate about getting her way. I'm learning the art of letting her think she's getting her way :-)

Corinne's favorite playmates are the dogs. She loves to hug and kiss all over them. They love her mealtimes. I loved watching the two of them playing (and, ahem, sharing) Corinne's snack. Just for a quick translation, Corinne is calling 'Ah-ee, Ah-ee' which is her version of 'Chloe.'
We can no longer enjoy the computer by ourselves now. When she gets really quiet, I get worried. Here's where I found her the other day:

The young navigator

Just chillin'

There is no shortage of books at the house, and she loves to curl up with a book either by herself or with us.

Enjoy the weekend!

Dog Days

Wow! Is it already the end of July? Where did the time go? After traveling around most of June, we settled in to the slow, humid days of July here in Charleston and have been enjoying as many outdoor water actvities as possible. Corinne loves the beach. She's content to eat sand and build castles as well as charge forward into the waves. Splash Zone is another outdoor favorite. I have to say that this one is Mama's favorite! I love taking her down the slides and for a relaxing ride on the lazy river.

Corinne's language skills grow daily. As they say of small children, their little brains are sponges soaking up much more than you might think. She's even beginning an interest in 'potty' talk. She now knows what her diaper is and what goes in it! :-) During the day, she'll approach me tugging at her diaper telling me what's in it. Of course, I rushed out to purchase some training potties hoping to expedite the process. (Sigh) But, no. She wants to carry it around the house and won't sit on it. It'll be slow going, I'm sure, since she is so young. But she didn't learn to walk in a week, either!

We seem to get lucky with our neighbors getting rid of toddler items. This time, a Fisher Price Outdoor Castle playground was left by the road for trash day. Yep. Roman and I could be seen at 10:00pm walking up and down our street carrying huge plastic walls into our yard. It's perfect! Corinne is all about the slide. See for yourself:



Lastly, Roman and I have been discussing the need for a new car for months now and yesterday we finally did it! We are the proud owners of a new Subaru Outback. Yes, we are now a Two-baru family.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Delightful Tess

As usual, we all had a grand time watching young children rip and roar through various activities while on a visit to Derek and Amy's home in Raleigh. This particular trip had Mom and Dad visiting at the same time. Tess was a highlight of the weekend as we all delighted in watching her squeal and grin at the chaos occurring around her. She just lights up at our antics easily making us act as foolish as possible to earn one. She is finding her voice amidst 3 older siblings/cousins, four family dogs, and the adults. The weekend culminated with her dedication at the church. The rarity of having all of the Rutledge families together made it even more special.

Pappy: (sigh)

Tess: Mmmmmm watermelon. Just a liiiittle closer there, gj.

Uh, hmm. GUS has my watermelon, gj!

Weekend highlights included:

*wrestling with Pappy and Uncle D

*eating watermelon and ice cream

*riding, no sitting in the red wagon

*wheeling around in new big wheels

*addition of new and exciting headgear for Gus (there's not a pic of him all weekend without the helmet!)

*watching Uncle D-man swat hundreds of flies

Goodbye, Fireman's Hat!

Gus-man to the rescue!

Serious discussion

Things that help keep the adults sane:

*refrigerator full of good beer

*Derek's homemade strawberry daquiris

*Roman's Sweet tea vodka

Flies, Beware!

Love you all!