Courtney Wearing My Shoes

Recently Courtney has reveled in walking in my shoes or her father's shoes. Here's video of her putting the shoes in the right place and stepping in.

Bow Battle

Courtney has never had a haircut, and her bangs are hanging in her eyes. Every morning I pull back her hair with a bow and she pulls it right back out. So I found an old huge obnoxious bow I used to wear in the 90s and I put it in my hair one morning. Then I said to Courtney, 'Mommy wears a bow in her hair, and Courtney wears a bow in her hair.' It worked for a little while before she pulled it out again. So now I try this every morning, putting one in my hair. I'm hoping she will leave it in for longer periods of time each day. (Edited to add photograph of this monstrous bow from the 90s!)

Courtney & Reilly Cat

Courtney loves the live cats at the house as much as her stuffed cats (all named Meow). Here's Courtney interacting with the one live cat that doesn't run away - Reilly. Reilly is our 10-year old orange tabby and he's got a laid back philosophy about life. Babies don't seem to bother him as you'll see...

Bottle Battle Ends

Today the Battle of the Bottle has officially ended, after about 16 days. We decided on Jan. 1 to begin phasing out the bottle, and it was tough on Courtney. I had been advised by the pediatrician at Courtney's 12-month appointment to make sure Courtney was completely off bottles by the time she was 15 months old, but I put it off for more than a month because of the holidays. She was getting such constant attention from visiting family members, plus our schedule was disrupted by traveling, so I admit I wussed out. But I decided New Year's Day to start the process. For the first 4 days we only offered sippy cups full of milk, and she completely refused them, going so far as to throw them on the floor. During the same time, she was drinking lots of juice and water out of these same cups - she just did not want to drink milk from them. On the 5th day, I broke down and gave her a morning bottle because I was starting to feel sorry for her. For the next 8 days or so she only had a bottle in the morning and sometimes at night. One day she and I went to Babies R Us and picked out some special "milk cups," which didn't help at first. So during these 16 days she went through the following: she would point to the bottles on the countertop and cry (I put them away after that); she would walk around and whine; she continued to throw the cups on the floor; she started pulling her own hair in frustration and saying "ow," which really broke my heart; on about day 10 she agreed to drink milk from the milk cup for the first time; and then by day 16 (today) she was taking the milk cup with no problems at all. It has not been very fun for us, and I don't think it was fun for her, but it's over. Until the next battle. Whew.

Biloxi Trip

We're in Biloxi for a meeting for my work. (I just found the memory card with these photos on it and wanted to post before it's too late!) Here are the 4 of us couples together at Hard Rock Cafe Biloxi (never thought I'd say that). Robb, Fran, Pax, Jennifer, Hermine, Bill, me and Todd. We also ate at Mary Mahoneys and I took the photo below of the view of the Beau Rivage hotel from the restaurant. We are enjoying the Beau Rivage hotel room and especially the suite upgrade I got at no charge.

Mamaw and Pawpaws Visit

Here's a picture of Courtney's latest trick. I had taken out the ladder while she was down for a nap, and I forgot to pack it up. Next thing I knew, she had found it. Note that she put her best purse over her shoulder for the trip up the ladder. I won't include the first photo I took - the one of her standing on the top step of the ladder - because I don't want to be reported to child services :-)
Here's Courtney with Mamaw and Pawpaw this weekend. She developed "armitis" again this weekend and did not want to be put down!

Our Girl Returns

Mama Lyn and Courtney have had a vacation together this week. Courtney went home with her and stayed for a few days, and they have had a grand time. I went today to Hattiesburg to pick her up, and it was fun to see the look on her face when I walked in! But it wasn't a few minutes longer before she said "Daddy?" I told her Daddy was at home, and that Courtney was going to get in the car with Mommy and go home too. We are glad to have her home, and thankful that Mama Lyn enjoys keeping her sometimes so we can have dinner out and sleep til 8:30 a.m! Thanks Mama Lyn!
Courtney's favorite things to do with Daddy: sit in his lap and play the piano with him, be tossed in the air or turned end over end, picture flash cards, the chasing game, count to three, sing the 'happy and you know it' song, and play peekaboo.

What I've Been Reading

On Audiobook: A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engele. Unabridged and read by the author. Great young adults book.
In Hardback: The Likeness by Tana French. Gripping. French does conversations like no one else. Satisfying ending.