ALL ABOUT CORA: 2-MONTHS-OLD

From 1-month to 2-months, she gained almost 2 lbs (she weighed 10.8 lbs on the home scale tonight).

Cora is an eating machine. She nurses almost constantly in the evenings (yay), and much more through the night than I expected at this age (often 2-3 times). She now drinks 4 oz bottles at 9am and 3pm while I'm at work. And when she's hungry, you'd better feed her immediately. She could care less if she just ate 20 minutes ago. In reaction to this feeding frenzy, her upper thighs have developed marshmallow-shaped rolls and I've started calling her "Chunk-a-lunk". Oh yeah, and she grew out of her newborn clothes last week.

In related news, she is also affectionately called "Stinkerbell" lately. She can't be Stinkerdoodle like her brother, since that's his nickname, but she is now competing with his newborn ability to clear a room. Luckily, her air bubbles come out the front end far more often than the back... (She's an excellent burper, by the way. Very juicy.)

And remember what a great sleeper Cora was last month? Well, that lasted another 2 weeks, then at 6-weeks-old she started acting like a newborn... Refusing to go to bed (i.e. stay asleep longer than 10 minutes) until 10pm, sometimes later. Refusing to sleep by herself (needing to be held and walked around FOREVER, or needing to sleep with Mama). And fighting the swaddle, yet refusing to sleep without it. Thankfully, this new trend may be turning around over the past few days (we all hope).

She is still not a fan of Tummy Time. While she prefers to be held in a similar position on our chests, she'll be darned if she'll tolerate it on the ground, even with the mini Boppy pillow. We can get 2-3 minutes of grunted effort before she starts to fussin', followed shortly by screaming for rescue. Have I mentioned that this child has quite a set of lungs on her? Oh yes, she does. As well as a flair for the dramatic already.

So, I will state again for the record: as long as you give Cora what she wants, when she wants it, she's an easy baby. Otherwise, she lives up to her firey name...

(By the way, she did NOT enjoy her first dip in the pool today... in case you can't tell)

In other news, she is becoming more and more interactive with us. She "coos" and "crows" and "talks" to us, gives us big beautiful smiles, intently stares at our faces and other objects, turns her head to follow us when we walk past her, actively tracks objects, and has started in with the crazy leg kicking while laying on her back during floor time (which she tolerates in short spurts, as long as you are right there with her - she is definitely not an "independent" personality yet). She is quickly moving out of the "baby lump" phase, and we're loving it.