FANCY FEET

It's been cool enough that we've been sending Cora to daycare in long-sleeves, pants, and socks all week. But because her socks refuse to stay on her feet, we decided to try shoes (well, slippers, really) today. They stayed on all day and she looked so cute in them!

I'M LOSING IT

My hair, that is.

I knew the time was coming, but I forgot just how quickly it hits! About 2 weeks ago, right before Cora turned 3-months-old, it started to happen. And by last weekend I was able (unwillingly) to pull out handfuls at a time. All day long. And I think it may be even worse this time than it was with James. It's going to be a long, vacuum-laden couple of months... Good thing hair grows back!

Hopefully a shorter 'do will help!

TUBES ON THE HORIZON

James went to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor this morning. The verdict is that his ears still have fluid and are still infected, and are quite full of gunk. The solution is tubes. He is scheduled for the procedure next week on Wednesday morning. He's not the least bit concerned, but his Mama is feeling pretty nervous about her baby going under anesthesia...

(Like his new SNAPPING bedtime diaper? Go Gators!)

FINALLY FALL!

That's right, it's finally cool enough to start going for walks after work again. Hooray!

POLITENESS FOR DADDY, BUT MAMA GETS SASSED

That's right. James sassed me for the first time this morning. Verbally, anyway. As of this weekend, he very clearly says "No" in the cutest, most determined voice. No more "Nah". It's "No" all the way now. After he woke up, we were playing in his room, and I told James that he needed his diaper changed. He promptly walked to the door, waved at me, and headed down the hall. I told him to stop, and "Come back here mister". He paused, turned back towards me, gave me the sassiest little look, firmly told me "No", and then continued on his way. The little stinker!

Right after that diaper change, he suffered his first major head bump. The first to leave a mark. A "goose egg", actually. And it was mostly my fault. I was changing his shirt ("Arms up"), and as it popped off his head, he lost his balance and tipped head-first into the corner of his dresser (next to me). We're just lucky he didn't cut himself. He did pop a blood vessel though. Great. He's gonna look like a million bucks at daycare tomorrow. Not to mention the doc on Tuesday...

Later in the day, I turned my back on him for a SECOND (well, maybe 10), and he had somehow climbed up INTO the drawer of the coffee table.

Our coffee table is very lightweight. I'm surprised the whole thing didn't topple over on top of him. He had been trying to get to the TV (which is strapped to the wall, don't worry). So, the coffee table has now been moved. Again.

After an unsuccessful day of napping (neither kid wanted to nap on schedule) and the resulting crankiness (hey, we're allowed to be cranky when the kids miss their naps!), we decided to head out to The Hat for dinner on the porch. The weather was perfect for dining al fresco, and the fresh air kept Cora happy. Next on the agenda was Home Depot (for a new shower head, since Jay broke our 7-year-old version, and a retractable clothesline, for sunning the cloth diapers outside). Then the grocery store (Kroger is delightfully vacant on Sunday evenings, by the way). James has been saying "Up" (again, clear as day, with much emphasis on the "ppp" part) for over a week now. We love it! And we're suckers (he's gets picked up every time he says it, which is why we think it has stuck so well - he knows it's effective). However, I've been trying to teach him to say "Up please", not only to start working on his manners, but also so that I don't feel so bossed around. Because it's bad enough being bossed around by your 1.5-year-old. Now that I'm also being sassed, something must be done. But I digress. So, I've been working on "please". (We've been working on "thank you" for a VERY long time, but no success with that one yet) Of course, who does James say it for first? That's right. You guessed it. His Daddy. Every time Jay took James out of his carseat this evening, James said "Up". So Jay said "Up please?" And James would then say "please" (or "peace", as it actually sounds). Adorable, eh? I hope I get my turn tomorrow...

JUST JAMES

Reading in the kitchen...

...and playing with bubbles in the tub!

(Yes, that's a balloon string there. Don't ask us. It was his idea.)

BUMBO BABY

Since Cora rolled as soon as we started doing tummy time again (after a brief reprieve due to her extreme dislike of being on her belly), we figured we should give her a shot at the Bumbo. She is quite strong after all. Especially her ab muscles - she's been able to do assisted sit-ups for over a month already (with us holding her hands and guiding her up). She took to the Bumbo right away (unlike James) and didn't fuss at all. She probably would have stayed in there a while, but James showed major jealousy (first time ever!) and did NOT want to share his old chair with her. (In fact, he's been sitting in it all day. And the second time we give Cora a turn, he tried to pull her out by her shoulders...) So, since James wasn't sharing, and she seemed to like sitting up, we decided to let her join us at the dinner table in the highchair. The dinner hour is still her fussiest time of day, and although she enjoys the swing now (whether sleeping or awake), she will not tolerate it during dinner time. I usually end up nursing her at the table while I eat. But not tonight! Tonight she sat next to me in her highchair and we all enjoyed a peaceful meal. She even reached out and grabbed the lion a few times!

(We ended up having to prop her up with towels because she's a little too small for the highchair)

NEWBORN STASH SOLD!

Since Cora is no longer using her newborn stash, we sold it, piece-by-piece, over the past 2 weeks. We recouped $213.00 (=84%) of the original $255.35 we spent. That means we actually only spent $42 on diapers during Cora's entire first 2 months of life (since the one pack of sposies we used were the ones the hospital gave us for free). We would have spent $250-300 had we used disposable diapers during that time, since newborns go through an average of 12 diapers/day. Any sposie users out there jealous? (Just think of all the extra hairbows I can buy Cora with her diaper savings...)

Anyway, now that she is sleeping through the night (she has been sleeping 10-11 hours straight since she turned 3-months-old, with a few exceptions, such as the night of the full moon), we needed to get her some overnight diapers. We loved using the newborn prefolds and fitted diapers with her newborn covers, so we thought it would be worth trying a larger prefold and one-size fitted with the one-size FLIP covers we already own.

Enter James, our heavy-wetter extraordinaire.

Since we had them on-hand, we first tried a FLIP organic insert (which looks and functions like a prefold, and has great absorption) with a FLIP cover for James overnight. To keep the wetness off his skin, I laid a microfleece liner over the top. It's a bit bulky on, but then so are his double-stuffed BG 3.0s (his normal overnight diaper). We tried this setup for a few nights, and while the insert was always completely soaked by morning, his skin was dry and there were no leaks. The FLIP covers are really awesome! Because they have the flaps at the front and back, they work a lot like the BG 3.0s to prevent wicking when pajama bottoms fold in under big baby bellies. And the fact that they have snaps rather than velcro means that we now have a new overnight diaper for James, since he has already learned to undo the velcro of his shoes, and we'd rather not experience him learning to undo the velcro of his diapers... So, you guessed it, we sold his four BG 3.0s (as well as the one BG AIO with velcro that we had received free with purchase). It's fun to sell diapers... We also tried an insert with a FLIP cover for Cora. We had some of the gDiapers gCloth inserts laying around, unused, since we sold James' little gPants last spring. They are extra absorbant because they have a hemp back (which also keeps it from sliding around inside the cover, we've found). Plus, they have a fleecy, stay-dry layer on the top side that goes against the baby's skin. We are finding the stay-dry factor to be extremely imporant with Cora because she can't stand to be wet for even a SECOND. Ever since we switched her to stay-dry fabrics at night, she's been sleeping longer stretches. And though we never had any leaks with this setup, we started using 2 stacked gCloth inserts recently because 1 insert alone was completely soaked from front to back, so it was probably just a matter of time... The only problem with these is that even though they are the larger size gCloth, they fit PERFECTLY into the FLIP cover when it's snapped down to the smallest rise setting. That means that when Cora grows into the next setting, the gCloth won't cover the entire inside of the diaper, and that just won't work.

So, another option is to use a one-size fitted diaper with the FLIP cover. For this experiment I purchased a couple of used Bagshot Row Bamboo "Tucked In All Night" fitted diapers (praised for their design, as well as their absorbancy). BSRB diapers come with an extra long double snap-in soaker (like an AI2, except without the waterproof layer). I folded up the soaker to make 4 layers of absorption, folded down the rise in the front, Snappi-ed it shut nice and tight, then placed a FLIP cover over the top. It fit well and lasted all night long. No leaks, and the outside of the fitted wasn't even wet in the morning (though both soakers were soaked all the way through). Success!

Additionally, that adorable Bebe Britches diaper I splurged on has also proven to work well overnight. It's an AI2, so it doesn't require a cover. It's getting a bit faded from the wash, but it's still soft as ever (inside AND out), and fits much better now that I learned how to snap-down the rise (Margie and I had NO idea what that extra row of snaps was for until I emailed the WAHM and asked for an explanation - tee hee). We find this news very exciting because Margie's new business (Sassy Britches, scheduled to open October 1st on Hyena Cart - link already added to the sidebar of our blog!) will be selling a very similar type of diaper, so we can always get more cute diapers (without having to stalk for them!) that we now know will work well overnight too.

Of course, we had already purchased a couple of BG 4.0s (the newer version of the 3.0, now available with snaps and in more colors) for Cora. We're eliminating all velcro from our stash, and not just because toddlers can undo velcro. On occasion velcro causes "diaper chains" in the washer and dryer, which is not good for the diapers (or their resale value), even when the laundry tabs are used. Snapped diapers thus tend to last longer. Sure, you can get a more customized fit with velcro, but our babies are doing fine with the available settings on the various CottonBabies brand diapers. The 4.0s have worked great for Cora overnight with just the longer insert snapped-down to newborn size (she's too little to wear bulky double-stuffed pockets right now). And the pale lavendar "Bubble" color is so sweet looking!

You know, the longer I do this cloth diapering thing, the more I love it! Who knew DIAPERS could be so fun?

POTTY MOUTH

This post is just for my grandpa. James and Cora's great-grandpa. Why? Because he likes to tease me about how often I write about my babies' bowel movements. So here's another one, just for him!

James has started showing one sign of potty training readiness. Lately, as he's dirtying his diaper, he stops what he's doing and says "uh oh". Sometimes he crouches while doing so. And usually he says "uh oh" again when he's done. We won't be starting potty training anytime soon, but it is a relief to us that he is at least recognizing when he's going to the bathroom. Prior to this, we never knew he was dirty until we smelled him. The boy just didn't care. Hooray for small milestones.

And not to leave Cora out of the discussion, Grandpa will be glad to know that she no longer poops every day. Nope, not even every other day. Her pattern seems to be every 3 days right now. But don't worry Grandpa, she's plenty gassy in between.

Love you!

CORA'S ON A ROLL!

Cora rolled from tummy-to-back tonight, three times in a row! Yay Cora!

(And no, that is not glitter in Jay's hair... kids will do that to you!)

HAPPY 95TH GRANDMOTHER/GG!

Today is Jay's grandmother's 95th birthday!

We missed the festivities over the weekend (since neither Jay or I have any vacation time due to maternity/paternity leave and south Georgia is too long a drive not to at least make a 3-day weekend out of it), but we received some wonderul photos today (thanks Aunt Cheryl)!
Happy Birthday Grandmother/GGmama, we love you!

A LITTLE FACE TIME

We figured out how to get Cora to tolerate tummy time for longer than 3 minutes at a stretch...

That's right, now she'll go 5-7 minutes before she gets bored or tired!

(Sometimes it's the small victories that make parenting so rewarding)

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

While we still stand by our parenting philosophy of "Whatever Works", we have now added a new motto to the lineup: Divide and Conquer!

Honestly, the further we get into this "two under two" and "two in diapers" lifestyle, the more we wonder whether our 2:2 ratio is even fair (on some days, anyway) and the less willing we are to be outnumbered...

Don't get me wrong, during most hours of most days, things are surprisingly smooth and easy (far easier than I expected, actually), but then there are those times that regardless of our titles (Mommy and Daddy), experience (hey, we're not first-timers anymore), and seniority (well, that one's obvious), Cora and James still seem to have the upper hand around here! Those instances are generally when both babies want to be fed or held at the same time, which happens quite often - our munchkins are hungry little cuddlers! It's OK though. We're learning to pick our battles and split baby duties in new ways. And to resort to whatever measures are necessary to get a job done! Sometimes we each take a baby. Whichever baby will allow us to complete a task with the least amount of trouble and/or resistance. Sometimes one of us takes both babies and the other one accomplishes a task. Sometimes we trade babies mid-task. Sometimes both babies get strapped into carriers and/or the stroller while we complete the task. And sometimes, truthfully, we give up on the task and just play with our kids, together. Yet somehow things always seem to work out just fine. We may be washing diapers and doing dishes at 10pm, but the chores do get done. Most of them. And those that don't must not be all that important anyway. Right?

18-MONTH CHECK-UP

This morning James had his 18-month well baby exam. We weren't shocked to learn that he weighed 27 lbs (fully dressed), since he's been to the doctor pretty much every week for the past month and they weigh him at each visit. He's probably at 26.6-26.8 lbs when only in his diaper. We were, however, surprised to find out that he is 34 inches tall, since we swear he was only 32-ish inches at the beginning of the month when we measured him at home for his monthly stats. Must be growth spurt time! Of course, the nurse did measure him with his shoes on, so I'm going to subtract a half inch for accuracy. Oh, and his head is up to 49cm around now. With those edits, that puts him into the 60th percentile for weight, and the 80th percentiles for height and head circumference.

The good doc didn't ask any specific milestone questions, but rather asked us about his development in general. Perhaps she didn't want to "lead us" with questions?... We discussed his increased vocabulary and recent use of short sentences (two words strung together, such as "All Gone" and "All Done"), talked about his running and climbing, mentioned his ability to point out most of his body parts and connect noises with the animals that make them, his blossoming understanding of just about everything we tell him or ask him or show him, and his awesome memory. She seemed pleased, so I guess that's what she wanted to hear.

He got his final vax for the year: Hep A. And he doesn't go back for another well baby exam until he turns 2-years-old. Wow, that's a long time between visits! We weren't expecting that (we figured we'd be back in 3 months again). We're not complaining though. Now, if we could only stay out of the pediatrician's office all together until then...

Meanwhile, we'll be visiting the ENT next week. James' left ear is still severely infected, so it seems tubes are on the horizon. The very near horizon, we hope. The poor kid is in pain (this is the first time ever that we've noticed him pulling on his ear, so it must be feeling worse than usual). He has to finish out this round of antibiotics, but hopefully that will be his last Rx for a while!

(Oh, and we found this turtle crossing the road on the way home, so we just HAD to show James! He thought it was pretty cool, and we kept having to pull him away so that he didn't get his finger too close to those chompers...)

TO THE BEAT OF HIS OWN DRUM...

Or, bang of his own crayon.

James colors quite unlike his peers (his E is on the far left):

He does stay within the lines though...

WHILE DADDY STUDIES...

...we visit a new park with Christina and Will!

THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT JAMES...

(It was chocolate milk...)

FROPPER FUN

James' Uncle Davey and Auntie T'in gave him this Fropper for his first birthday. He was too short to use it until he turned 15-months, and even then he just scooted here and there, barely touching ground with his tip-toes. Now he's a pro though. He bounces and glides all over the house (this thing has an amazing turn radius). He can even get it up and over the baby gates. He LOVES his Okiedog Fropper! Highly recommended for other munchkins out there (once they reach about 32" in height, anyway). Thanks again guys!

ODYSSEYS AND SIENNAS AND SEDONAS, OH MY!

Yup, another day of minivan shopping. Well, researching, anyway. Of course, first we got to spend 2 hours and 15 minutes at the VW dealership, waiting to get a part replaced on the Jetta, only to learn that the idiots ordered the wrong part. A month ago. Yes, they will be hearing from us. Not-so-nice things from us.

Oh well. At least we had fun playing in their toddler room...

I don't take enough pictures with my baby girl.

(Don't mind her lack of interest in the camera. James was being far more interesting with the Barbie phone he found.)

I wonder if he was texting 911-GRAMBOT?...

Eventually we did get around to the test-drives though...

NIGHT AND DAY

This is Cora when she is hungry and tired and angry (AKA ready for bed)...

...and this is Cora in the morning, happy after 11+ hours of sleep - way to go chica!

HE'S TOO SWEET

James is such a sweet kid. He really is. I learned yesterday from another mama at daycare that when she was there dropping her baby off, the 1K room was coming in from outside playtime. She said Hi to James and one of his classmates. His classmate was feeling shy and stopped in his tracks, unwilling to go past this mama. So James backtracked, took hold of his arm, and guided him around her and into their classroom. I loved hearing that! I know he is a gentle soul, but I really had no idea that he was developing such compassion already. Way to go James!

Everything else about his week has been rough though...

On top of the two ER visits and the subsequent pain he went through at home as we had to thoroughly cleanse his most sensitive parts, he suffered a major biting incident at daycare the other day. Now, don't get me wrong, we fully understand that toddlers bite (and hit, and scratch, and even pinch). This is not the first time that James has come home with a bite or deep scratch. That is not what bothers us. The problem is that he came home with EIGHT bites, one of which broke the skin on his shoulder blade (through his shirt), and three that have left dark briuses on his upper arm. And the real clincher? His teacher had no idea when or how it had happened. We were very upset to discover these bites because that degree of fighting should NOT be allowed. There is no reason for his teacher not to have stepped in and put an end to the biting before it reached that point. There is no way that our baby boy WASN'T crying when that deep bite occurred. Needless to say, his teacher has been severely reprimanded by the director, as well as the headmaster of the school. And we fully support this, as we have had reoccurring problems with her since James moved up to her room in August. Mostly the consistent problem of her leaving the kids in their highchairs for far too long in the afternoons, to the point where they are all crying and basically ignored by her - lovely, eh? We don't care how much James loves her (and he really does, and always has, since she was his first teacher when he started daycare at 3-months-old), we can't let that soften our view of her in these instances. As the parents, we must be the advocates for our children. At 18-months-old, he can't speak for himself. And he doesn't defend himself. He is a lover, not a fighter. He certainly doesn't know that it's his teacher's fault he was hurt so badly. And he certainly isn't holding a grudge against whichever child (or children) were responsible for the biting. But this lack of intervention (and lack of attention) had darn well better stop. Now. Our boy is far too sweet to have to deal with all this.

And on that note, I just want to drop a quick public service announcement to the other parents we know. As parents, we also need to trust our own instincts and do our own extensive research. For example, before James was born, we had researched the reasons for circumcising. And the necessary care and cleaning of uncircumcised boys, once we decided that James would remain intact. I learned that they should NOT have their foreskin retracted for cleaning. We followed this protocol for his entire first year with the agreement of our pediatrician. Then, at his 12-month well baby exam, the doctor told us to start retracting for cleaning. Disagreeing with her, we did not do so. At his 15-month well baby, she told us again, tried to retract it herself, and upon discovering that he was not retractible, basically scolded us for not doing it. Thinking that perhaps his pediatrician was right (aren't we suppose to be able to trust our doctors?), we started doing it. Fast-forward 3 months. James developed an extremely painful abscess and granuloma, as well as balanitis, which, coupled with the yeast infection, swelled his boy parts to the point that he couldn't urinate. Add in the terror of his ER visits, his lack of sleep those nights, and being held down by multiple strangers to poke and prod his most private parts. Then, we had to continue to pin him down for 3 daily scrub sessions at home, kicking and screaming from the pain, until the infection healed. It took days until he was back to normal. Could he be more traumatized? I think not, and none of it would ever have happened had we just LET HIM BE. After all this drama, we learned that the foreskin is attached in the same way a fingernail is attached to the finger. Retraction causes the tissue to tear. How would you like it if somebody ripped YOUR fingernail off? We are so, so very sorry James.

And I'm sorry for this long vent, but we've been traumatized ourselves by all this. Everyone keeps telling us that James won't remember any of this, and I hope they're right. We are heartbroken that we allowed this to happen to our baby, and WE sure won't forget it. So, moral of the story? Don't trust everything your doctor tells you. Don't blindly follow their instruction. Don't feel that you have to do what they tell you if you don't agree with it. Research further, and present your findings to the doctor. If you can't agree, and can't agree to disagree, perhaps you need to find a different doctor. Unfortunately, many of the older doctors out there were trained back in the day when circumcism was a routine procedure. They don't realize they are passing on bad, antiquated advice. Always go with your instincts - there's a reason for the saying "Mommy (or Daddy) knows best"!

Oh yeah, and if any of you are ever doing a diaper change on an uncircumcised boy, please, "Only Clean What is Seen".

3-MONTH COMPARISONS

Who does everyone think Cora looks like most? Her big brother? Her Mama? Or her Daddy?

DAYCARE IS EXHAUSTING!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 3-MONTHS-OLD

At 3-months-old, Cora is becoming quite the little charmer. She smiles. She coos and crows. She bats her eyelashes. She's starting to giggle. She responds in different ways to each of her parents, to her brother, and to her daycare caretaker and the other babies in the nursery. She fusses less in general, and her witching hour is nearly non-existent these days. She is becoming a tiny little person, full of love and fun and possibilities. Oh how we've looked forward to this age!

Cora weighs approximately 12.6 lbs and is about 22.5 inches long. We think that's pretty remarkable, considering that babies aren't expected to double their birthweight until they are 4-5 months old. James didn't reach 16 lbs until his 5-month birthday, and Cora is nearly a pound heavier than her birthweight doubled already, at only 3 months. I wonder if this means she's going to be a real chunker? Or do little 6 lb newborns just put on weight faster, then taper off earlier? We shall see... Cora naps 3, sometimes 4, times during the day. Her naps last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours at a time. We've noticed that the better she naps during the day, the better she sleeps at night. And while she still loves to be held, she is willing to sleep on her own for most naps, whether in her stroller or swing. Sometimes even the guest bed.

Cora sleeps sooooo much better at night now, usually waking only once to eat, then going back to sleep within 30 minutes. Don't get me wrong, she was never a night owl (she never once had a middle-of-the-night play session or bout of fussiness, like James used to do as a newborn), but it was getting awfully tiring to get up with her 3-4 times/night to nurse her and stay awake for an hour each time because she didn't want to stay asleep out of my arms. For the past week she has had one nice, long sleep stretch (6-7 hours) at the beginning of the night, every night. There was even one night where she slept right on through from 8pm-5am! (Can we get a repeat? Please?) Although 6 hours is technically considered "sleeping through the night", the most coveted of baby milestones, I'm not ready to call this habit of hers a milestone yet. Maybe next week. Though the best part, perhaps, is that once Cora starts screaming for sleep (yes, she actually screams when she's tired and wants to go to bed), we can swaddle her (yes, she still requires swaddling to sleep on her own, and we even prop her between a set of sleep positioners so that she feels "cuddled"), feed her (yes, I nurse her to sleep - it works for us), and put her down without her waking up 3 or 4 times wanting to be picked back up before she finally settles in for the night. That was such a frustrating game... Maybe it was our fault though, as her new self-imposed bedtime is 7:30pm, and we had been keeping her up until 8/8:30pm when James goes to sleep. We'd prefer her to stay awake a little later in the evening so we can play with her, but we admit that her earlier bedtime is quite convenient for getting James the one-on-one attention he craves from each of us, and it makes bathing him and putting him to bed so much easier. Oh yes, and it's oh-so nice to be able to sleep for longer than 2-3 hours at a time!

(This is how she sleeps at night - the lights were off, I just have a really good flash!)

While she is starting to really enjoy floor time (on her back, under her play gym), Cora still hates tummy time. She has plenty of strength in her neck, but she still fusses and spits when we force her to lay on her tummy. She'll give us about 3 minutes of happy gazing before she gets mad though.

(See that furrowed brow? She is thinking "Mama, you better hurry and snap that picture because your time limit for this photo session is just about up!")

Cora is finally opening up her hands, and not just keeping her thumbs tucked tightly into her hot little fists all the time. This is reducing the amount of finger lint we have to pick out at bathtime, which is awfully nice. It also makes it possible for her to hold onto toys if we place them in her hands, or if she inadvertently grabs onto one of the toys hanging from her play gym. She can get an excellent grip on my hair though, on purpose and without assistance, anytime it's within reach. Yay. Perhaps it's time I visit the salon...

Cora is reacting to all sorts of noises now, as opposed to just our voices. The cat's meow can cause her to flip her head around in an instant to search for the source. Her brother's squeals make her squeeze her eyes shut, then wide open after she rememberss that he is not a threat (at least, not most of the time). Her Daddy can scare her (which we discovered unintentionally), and the effect is lasting (hopefully she won't be a grudge-holder when she gets older). She likes to watch the TV if it's on (which it rarely is). If we shake a rattle, she smiles at it. When we talk to her, she "talks" back. And if we play her music from James' baby iPod, she'll kick her legs and wave her arms and smile big while staring at the flashing lights. She is too cute!

(By the way, that is her "coming home" outfit. It hung off her as a newborn, fit loosely at 2 weeks, and now she looks like a stuffed sausage in it...)

Cora is enjoying her baths more and more these days. She used to fuss at me, preferring her Daddy to handle her baths, but she now coos and smiles for both of us during bathtime. And even though she's packing on the pounds, it is finally getting easier to clean under her neck. Her thigh rolls are a different story though... So, in summary, Cora is simply not a newborn "baby lump" anymore. And we are not sad to be hitting these milestones (as we were with James) because while we know we'll miss her newborn months, it's just so nice that things are getting easier, and we honestly can't wait to watch Cora interact with James, who will hopefully be her best buddy soon! He sure loves her! We know because he is always patting her tummy, rubbing her head, kissing her, or trying to share his thumb with her. He even reaches out for her and tries to take her out of our arms now and then - perhaps thinking she would be as easy to tote around the house as Bear Bear? And she just smiles and smiles at him. It's really quite adorable.

Happy 3-month Birthday Cora! We love you baby doll!