ALL ABOUT CORA: 18-MONTHS

That's right, not only is today Jay's 35th birthday, but it's Cora's year-and-a-half birthday!

So, what's Cora like at 18-months-old? Well, she's even funnier, wilder, and more talkative than she was at 15-months. She's this little person that gets us giggling with her goofy antics and nearly brings us to tears with her sweetness. She's a whole lot of awesome in one tiny package.

Her hair is growing. She has a few inches now. Jay says she looks like a troll doll...

She weighs almost 23 lbs. She goes in for her 18-month well baby exam after the new year, so we'll get her exact measurements then.

She honestly has enough words (commonly used and not) that we aren't bothering to keep track anymore. She's still a big fan of nodding her head yes though. She loves yes and no questions, and she always has an answer for us. She's very polite and will usually say "kank-oo" without prompting. Though we still have to prompt her to say "pease". And to use her words for something rather than just whine for it. She IS a toddler, after all.

She has the BEST facial expressions! Good, bad, happy, sad, and everything in between. She still works a serious pout when it's needed too.

She's becoming more friendly with our friends (and even strangers) and will often say "Hi!" or "Hello", and loves to say "Bye-bye!" while waving. A few individuals will get kisses blown at them (with our prompting), and she gladly goes to some of our gal pals (sometimes reaching out for them in preference to being held by us). For the most part though, she's still pretty shy. Or maybe 'reserved' is a better word for it? She's cautious. We don't have to worry about her running off with a stranger.

She loves to help around the house. She hands me dishes from the dishwasher, helps me transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer, throws away trash (and food crumbs) that she finds, puts away everyone's shoes (in the proper places!), and organizes all sorts of random things.

She still eats more in quantity and quality (i.e. veggies) than James does at each and every meal. And her milk intake is holding right around 4 sippy cups per day.

She loves her new daycare and all the teachers that work with her (and the preschool classes too). Her new best friend is Julieann (they are almost the exact same age, both blonde-haired, blue-ish-eyed sweeties, though Julieann is noticeably thicker and taller than our petite little girl). She never complains at drop off anymore (not even on Mondays!), and is sometimes hard to scoot out the door at the end of the day.

Her favorite toys are of the sorting variety. Shapes and colors and cups and whatnot. Though she loves to push around cars and trucks and trains too. And she still spends a lot of time 'cooking' in her little kitchen. She is becoming more and more interested in books, and will often come looking for a lap with book in hand. The only problem is that she turns the pages way too fast for us to actually read a story to her. She's not big on her baby dolls yet, but she does keep one (and her stuffed monkey) in her crib for snuggles at night.

Speaking of her crib, she has been sleeping through the night for almost a month and a half now. I know, I've been hesitant to blog about it for fear of reversing the trend. She still sleeps with her paci and her blankey. She's now sleeping in her big bro's room (we moved her crib in there about 5.5 weeks ago, before our November family visits kicked off). She sleeps from 8:00pm to 6:45am on weekdays (we usually have to wake the kids), and 7:30ish on weekends. She still takes one long nap mid-day from 12:00pm-2:00pm, and occasionally in the car at random times.

She still loves shoes. She currently has 3 pairs of sneakers and her black Maryjane's that she rotates through. And she's still particular about which pair she feels like wearing. Sometimes she asks me to put a bow on her head. Our girl likes to accessorize!

Let's see, what else, what else?... I had fun 'interviewing' her in the bathtub last night, so here ya go. You can see for yourself how dang adorable she is:

Happy 18-months Baby Doll!