PORTRAITS AND YEARLY UPDATES

 I know, we took each of their yearly portraits late (a month or more after their birthdays), and are even later getting them posted to the blog (and uploaded to Snapfish). Somehow the task just kept getting away from us (it's a team effort). So, without further ado, here are our favorite portraits that Jay took to commemorate James' 8th birthday and Cora's 7th birthday:

 The kids grew a lot in the past year (literally and figuratively). If we recall the correct stats (since James is now 8.5 years old and Cora is 7.25 years old, and the sidebar on the blog shows their current stats, not their 8 and 7 year stats), James was 60 lbs and 50.5" while Cora was 50 lbs and 48.5". She tends to stay right around 10 lbs and 2" behind him, though she's determined to maintain the same number of teeth lost (seriously... it's been 7 months since she pulled that upper incisor and there is not even a hint of it breaking the surface yet).

Normally I would write a lengthy update about their current activities, favorites, and behaviors, but since I'm really late writing this and I'm combining them into one post, I'll just give a short summary...

In his 8th year, James continued to play soccer and progress through the Cub Scout ranks (he graduated to a Bear just after his birthday last spring). He took up dance in January, taking 3 classes (ballet, Acro, and boys dance) and really enjoying both the lessons and end of year recital. He had a stellar end to his 2nd Grade year and received many accolades in both math and reading (most of which us parents weren't expecting him to receive, so it was a fun surprise). His personality and behaviors are pretty well established at this point, and he continues to be a friendly, sweet and sensitive, creative, calm, well behaved, loving and cuddly, witty, aims-to-please kind of guy.

In her 7th year, Cora also continued to play soccer and have fun with her Scout friends as a Daisy (she graduated to a Brownie at the end of the year). She excelled in Acro and continued to smile her way through ballet and jazz - she truly loves dance and is always extra happy on dance class days. She progressed so much with reading during her 1st Grade year and was her TA's favorite kid (because she was always so helpful and cheerful at school). Our Queen has some pretty set-in-stone behaviors herself (some, despite our best efforts...) - she's outgoing, fearless, compassionate, imaginative, independent, and strong, all of which she is very proud of.

We know we're lucky to be on this adventure with these incredible kids, and we couldn't be happier with the paths they're taking already in life. We are blessed, and we work hard for them. We are so very proud of their strengths and individual characteristics, and we will continue to support them in their endeavors (academically, athletically, and any other way they choose - while they are involved in many of the same activities these days, that could always change). They keep us busy, but we make it all work and still manage to carve out family time and opportunities for adventure, which always seem to bring us closer together and remind us to be appreciative of each other.

ALL ABOUT CORA: 6-YEARS-OLD

So..... running just a little behind on posting Cora's yearly update (sorry Baby Doll). Just like with her 20 Questions post, the one downside of traveling on (and leading up to) her birthday is that things get busy and mama gets forgetful. But Cora's 6th year deserves recording, so without further ado...

Cora's 6th year was a good one. She ran her first obstacle course 5K (Tomahawk Tromp, last August), she learned to read (and graduated kindergarten near the top of the STAR Early Reader scale), she got glasses, she lost her first two teeth, and she finally got back on her bike with confidence! She had three wonderful trips to Gramma's house and the Atlantic beach and one awesome trip to Grambot and PawPaw's house and the Pacific beach (and added another National Park to her passport book with Lassen Volcanic). How many 5-year-olds do you know that get to dip their toes into the ocean on both the east and west coast?! Other adventures included Great Wolf Lodge, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Rocky Springs, Excalibur, Canton Christmas Lights, Jacksonville Zoo, Curry Farms, Chattanooga and Raccoon Caverns and the Tennessee Aquarium, the Ice Cream Safari at the Jackson Zoo, Legoland and Disney World, and a few beautiful State Parks and Natural Areas. It was a busy year for her between all the adventuring, school (her first year in public school and dealing with larger class sizes and more limitations), fall and spring soccer (she truly is an athletic child, and it really shows on the field when she's in the mood to give it her all), her first year of Girl Scouts (cutest little Daisy you ever did see!) and her first all-girl Campout, and of course dance (including participating in her first production number). I'm not sure I could call last year a true "Fantastic Five" (at least not in the way I imagined it, based on the promises I'd heard of 5-year-old girls becoming significantly calmer, quieter, and less sassy...)

Oh the sass! And the backtalk!! And the fussy noises she makes when she doesn't get her way (that make us want to strangle her)!!! It is such a constant battle (both at home, and at school, starting those last couple of months of kindergarten - she went from nearly all purples every week to MANY yellows and oranges and even some reds), and everything we've tried has yet to curb it. There has been soap, there has been loss of privileges, there has been loss of toys, there have been many MANY instances of being sent to her room, and there has even been some spanking. Nothing has worked and it honestly seems as if the issue is getting worse as we roll into this 7th year... We can stop it quickly when it starts, but we can't stop it from happening to begin with (and it happens EVERY day, often multiple times per day). I always vowed (before having kids) that I would not be "one of those parents" whose children threw tantrums in public places or disrespected adults. We've succeeded on the tantrum front, but I feel like it is even more embarrassing to have to discipline her for sassing me or back-talking me in public. And don't even get me started on how embarrassing it is to have her teacher call me about such behavior in the classroom. She has been writing a LOT of lines lately...

But back to happier topics! Despite her penchant to ruffle the feathers of adults, she seems to consistently be a very good friend. She made a new best friend at Daycamp this past summer (Mary Morgan, who goes to a different school and is soon moving away from our area, unfortunately), had a few close friends at school last year (Alanna, Trey, Ruby Rose, and Willow, before she had to go back to Ohio in January), became closer with some of her dance class girls (she especially loves Cara Beth, who is also a Girl Scout friend), became closer with Lauren (now that Lauren is older, she and Cora can really pair up, and its so nice for Cora to have such a sweet little friend who seems to, for better or for worse, look up to her a bit), and has remained extremely close to her brother (choosing him above all others more often than not and still working the system together).

She is still a night owl more than a morning person. Bedtime is 8:00pm (or a little later) in the summer, but during the school year she's in bed closer to 7:30pm most nights (not including soccer practice nights). Now whether she's goes to sleep at that time (or even before 8:00pm) is a consequence of whether she received ample time to run/swim/swing/play/dance that day... Sometimes I go back to check on her at 9:00pm and she's still reading books by the light of her LED "Elsa" Christmas Tree (and her rainbow, and her MANY nightlights - there isn't a bare plug in her room). Sometimes she drifts off before I pry myself from her bed after our song and snuggles. She almost never falls asleep in the car (excepting summer Daycamp evenings) or naps on weekends, so I assume she's getting the sleep she needs.

Cora is still our busy, happy little girl. She is never bored and is fully capable of entertaining herself in almost any situation. Her imagination seems to know no limits, and she often recruits James into her make believe worlds (though that goes both ways, since he's just as creative as she is). She loves to help take care of the chickens and rarely complains about helping with yardwork (mainly just clearing sticks off the lawns/walkways and making burn piles). If she has a choice between outside and inside, she'll choose outside every time, even if it's insanely hot and humid and buggy. She'd wash the dishes if I let her (but it takes too much time and wastes way too much water), she still helps with laundry (sorting socks and transferring loads), she LOVES to help me bake (not that I do it very often), and when I clean house on weekends she'll usually offer to help with at least one task. Though she doesn't like cleaning her room. And especially not her closet. She is SO GOOD about doing her own chores though (of which she has very few, and feeding Jude is her main task each morning and evening) and never needs to be told twice (and often remembers on her own before needing to be asked at all), and sometimes we catch her doing James' chores too. Our girl has a very tender and giving heart. And she is clever and independent and just plain adorable. We consider ourselves very lucky to be on this adventure with her.

6-Year-Old Top Three:

Movies: Frozen, How to Train your Dragon 2, The Lego Movie

TV shows: Teen Titans, Wild Kratts, My Little Ponies

Toys: costumes, baby dolls, Barbie's
Games: playing house or school, cards (Uno and Slamwich)

6-Year-Old Stats:

44 lbs and 46.5"

ALL ABOUT CORA: 5-YEARS-OLD

Here we are again at that Big 5.0 milestone! Only this time it's our BABY Doll who has somehow turned into a big girl kindergartner overnight...

Cora's 5th year has been a bit of a wild ride, as her personality and independence has developed even further (though sometimes changes on the hourly...) and her dramatics have multiplied beyond anything we could have expected. It's been fun (yes it has, it really has!), and there have been some amazing milestones and sweet moments that are too numerous to recount here, but we're now looking toward her 6th year to give us that "Fantastic" Five. It's coming. I can feel it!

While her sass has not disappeared, we are finding ways to get a handle on it more quickly when the outbreaks occur (and the soap does still make appearances as needed). She still attempts that fake crying nonsense, even though she knows we won't fall for it. Our go-to with her these days is to just send her to her room when she gets ornery so that none of us (James included) have to deal with it. Not that this is a new development, but I still have to stop myself from giggling when she marches down there screaming and crying, and slams her door (well, as much as you can slam a door that has a safety-bumper at the top), only to get immersed in her dolls or books, then come out sweet-as-pie 5-10 minutes later, having completely forgotten that she was sent there for punishment...

Cora had a great school year and learned a lot (though the first half of the year, while she still had Ms. Kati, was far more productive than the past few months...), and while she truly does love school, she is REALLY loving summer vacation and Daycamp at the YMCA. She is a water baby through-and-through, and the opportunity to swim for 1-2 hours every single day is a dream come true for her (plus, she gets to swim after work with mama and daddy once or twice per week, as well as the weekends). Her hair is paying the price (not green thankfully, but dry and brittle, which is extra problematic for her already thin mane), but oh well. She's happy, we're happy. She is getting to play with new friends, including LOTS of little girls her age (Agape's summer school program was very small, and we know she was often bored or lonely being stuck with the "babies" most of the day there) and plenty of somewhat older kids (the main span seems to be ages 5-8 at our Daycamp - there is another at the Ver Beck location where more of the older kids go). She sees James every single day, and they play together of course, but it's nice that there are enough other children that they can each do their own thing and have some independence from each other (since this next school year will be VERY different for them, being in completely different classrooms all day long and perhaps not even overlapping for lunch time or recess - we don't know the schedule yet, but we were warned that they might not see each other much, since the kindergartners are a bit more secluded from the older kids at Southpark).

As far as their sister-brother relationship, it just continues to blossom. Yes, there are arguments, but for the most part, we are thrilled with their daily interactions and how well they play together. There is no doubt that they are each other's very best friend and confidant (the whispered secrets are becoming more numerous around the house lately, not that we can't still hear them... little kids and whispering...) Cora still likes to "mother" him - doing things for him and worrying over him and reminding him about what he is or isn't suppose to be doing, but he doesn't seem to mind. When she needs help opening a pack of gummies, he's her man. They have a good system going.

Cora is learning to read! She knows plenty of sight words, and has learned how to sound out pretty much anything else she comes across, as long as it doesn't have a tricky blend or silent letter (she's listened to James learn about long and short vowels, and while she still has a ways to go, she gets the concept). We have no doubt that we'll consider her a "reader" before kindergarten starts in August. We work with her each night at bedtime (taking turns with the kids, so they each get one-on-one time with a parent so we can really pay attention) and we see improvement each week!

She doesn't nap anymore. At all. UNLESS she falls asleep in the car unexpectedly. This is fine though, because they don't have nap time at Daycamp and she won't have nap time in kindergarten at Southpark next year (no idea why they did it for 5 and 6 year olds at Agape anyway...) She easily sleeps 10 hours a night (whereas she used to be a light sleeper, she now sleeps through the night without fail and usually sleeps in 30-60 minutes later than James in the morning, as long as he's quiet and stays in his room). Bedtime is still usually around 8:00 (or 8:30 if we're running late), and she isn't awake for 30-60 minutes talking to herself in the dark anymore - since we've been laying with the kids until they fall asleep (which we started doing for James' behavioral issues, but has benefited Cora equally), we know for a fact that she falls asleep more quickly now.

Her appetite is still large and predictable (feed her by certain hours of the day or pay the price!), and she still has the same favorite foods: pancakes!, fish (especially mahi mahi and tuna filets), potatoes/sweet potatoes, rice, bread w/ butter, chicken (depending how it's cooked - sometimes she fights us on it), turkey (only if it's from Thanksgiving or so thinly sliced it's "shaved", and best eaten in the shopping cart while fresh off the deli counter), broccoli, corn, peas, carrots (and rarely asparagus), apples and applesauce, cantaloupe, grapes, raspberries and blackberries, vanilla coconut milk, V8 and Fruitables juices, gummies, crackers, raisins, nuts (especially dry roasted peanuts and the ones she has to crack from their shells, plus pistachios and cashews), sunflower seeds, and cheese (mozzarella sticks and freshly shredded sharp cheddar with tortilla chips are her favorites). Rarely do we have to argue with her over dinner the way we do with James, which is surprising because she snacks between meals far more than he does.

 

5-Year-Old Favorites:

Movies: Little Mermaid, Book of Life, Frozen, Brave, The Lego Movie

TV shows: Wallykazam, Teen Titans, Octonauts

Toys: costumes, baby dolls, Barbie's, stuffed animals, puzzles, pegboards, Legos

Crafts: painting, coloring, chalkboard/sidewalk chalk, cutting and gluing/taping random things

5-Year-Old Stats:

39 lbs and 43.5"

She really is a fun little girl, full of personality and intelligence, always busy, always doing something creative or imaginative, and always wanting to help and be involved in whatever I'm doing. I love that! There is no better sidekick for mama than my little spitfire! Though there are tough moments with her most days (and in those moments I often have to remind myself that she's her morther's daughter...), the awesome far outweighs them, and we know we're blessed to have such a confident and independent kid. But turning 5 or not, and no matter how much independence she has, she'll always be our Baby Doll!

Happy Birthday sweetpea - we love you!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 4-YEARS-OLD

If this photo doesn't demonstrate how much Cora has grown in the past few years, I don't know what does. Between her long hair and LONG legs... Crazy that she still fits (comfortably!) into this pink romper. It's fun to look back over her past portrait sessions (years 1, 2a/2b/2c, and 3) and see how much she's changed, yet also realize how much she has stayed true to her personality (oh those facial expressions...)

And on that note, here's the annual round-up of all things Cora!

At 4-years-old, Cora is a force to be reckoned with... Unlike the move from 2 to 3 (leaving the toddler years behind), and as wild and exciting as her fourth year was, we are not sad to be leaving the 3's behind (forever!) as our youngest turns 4 today. The 3's are just not our favorite age. Nope. And though we hear conflicting adjectives to describe the 4's (I'm talking to you Karyn!), we're crossing our fingers that we get the Fantastic Fours with our girl, 'cause we're ready for a year less filled with drama and sassiness and potty accidents!

As in years past, we'll admit that this little queen of ours still rules our household more often than we'd like (we're trying people, we really are), so it's quite appropriate that she celebrated her birthday dressed as a Queen this year.

Our girl can fake cry like an Oscar winner. This works very well for her in public situations. Not so much at home, but that doesn't stop her from trying. She can turn the switch on a dime too. Combine that with her vast array of facial expressions, and her love of singing and dancing, and I seriously wonder how we don't have a little child actress on our hands... The good news is that when that switch flips in the positive direction, she is just the absolute sweetest and most adorable little girl on earth. And she knows it! (Which can be equally as problematic at times...)

Her sass is still a constant (and growing) battle for us. It manifests itself in dirty looks, body language, harumphs, door slamming, outright defiance, a little eye-rolling, and some phrases that would make you cringe (if you weren't trying so hard not to laugh about the fact that a 3-year-old can turn a phrase like that...) Sass (of any kind) is a zero-tolerance offense in our house - you get one chance to correct the behavior or you bite the soap. Unfortunately, while the soap threat does actually work these days, it doesn't ALWAYS stop her from continuing her rampage. In those instances, we generally send her to her room so that we don't have to listen to her meltdown directly into our souls.

As for the potty accidents, you're all well aware of our lengthy battle... Was it physical (small bladder), mental (wanting to stay the baby), medical (unlikely, since her docs ruled out all the major causes and we were able to correct the small issues easy enough), revenge (many accidents happened during time outs or tantrums), or laziness (many other accidents occured while she was preoccupied with something she refused to take a break from)? Probably a combination of all of it, but we are thankfully well past it at this point (she's been mostly accident-free for over 3 months now - we really think the clincher was being in dance class, where undies under tights are not allowed, and witnessing other little girls get sent out of class early for having accidents). Occasional accidents still happen with her (and she could care less when they do, so we don't make a big deal out of it), but those for sure can be attributed to her being busy playing (or reading books) and not wanting to take a break, so we are no longer stressing about them. We worry the accidents will be more frequent over the summer months (because we spend a LOT of time outdoors, where she has a harder time admitting she needs a potty break, especially when there are no bathrooms nearby), but we'll just have to see how it goes. We're just thankful the trend finally turned itself around!

Starting at the end of last month, she moved up into James' class for summer school. There are far fewer kids at Agape in the summer, so there are less teachers and classes are combined. The director was unsure whether to put Cora with the 1-3 year olds or the 4-6 year olds, mostly because she worried about having siblings in the same class, but we worried that Cora would be extremely bored in the younger class (especially because, by our accounts, she seemed extremely bored for the second half of the school year with the 3-year-olds). Turns out that she and James are doing very well together. Ms. Tina keeps them separated during seatwork and Montessori centers (more to keep James focused than prevent conflict), but they play together at recess and sit together during circle time and lunch, and usually nap (or is it "nap") next to each other. Ms. Tina informed us that Cora tends to act like a mother hen with James, which we don't doubt for a second, since we see similar behavior at home. She is always "doing" for him and worrying over him and reminding him about what he is or isn't suppose to be doing. Good. Takes the pressure off us parents. Ha! They are still the best of friends, and conflict between them is really very minimal these days. We love that she's finally being challenged at school (not just doing THE SAME EXACT WORKSHEETS EVERY SINGLE WEEK) and feel that it's going to help prepare her for 4K with Ms. Kati in the fall, which is pretty exciting! She shows so much interest at home when we do early reader books or flashcards with James, and she beats him to the punch way more often than he'd like when we quiz him, that we expect her to continue to be one of those kids that just loves all things school! And reading (give her a stack of books, and you won't hear a peep out of her for 30-60 minutes, and we LOVE that) We find books in her bed in the morning more often than not, meaning she has stayed up past her bedtime reading by the light of her nightlights, but we won't complain... as long as she stays in her room!

Lets see... What else do we normally sum up in these yearly recaps?...

Sleeping? Speaking of that staying in her room after we declare bedtime... yes, this year has been HUGE in the sleep improvement department. We may have lost naps for the most part (they supposedly happen at school, definitely still happen in the car if we time it right, and occasionally happen at home on weekends if mama naps with her), but bedtime has become a breeze and she sleeps through the night in her own bed 90-95% of the month. Incredible, right? We want to move her out of using pull-ups overnight, since they are dry about half the mornings of the week, but we're not willing to regress in the sleep department, so until she's 100% dry overnight for a month straight, the pull-ups stay.

Eating? Yup, she still does it. A lot. It's seems like she's been growth spurting for months. She's not quite the adventurous eater that she used to be, but she enjoys lots of veggies and fruits, tolerates cheese and some meat (mostly fish, but chicken and occasionally turkey work too), and could live off "snacks" and "treats" if we'd let her (not that we would). Bags of crackers and gummies can still calm her when she becomes a "hangry" beast, and she's finally gotten on the bribery train as far as finishing certain dinner items to be allowed to pick a treat from her "munchbox" (the princess lunchbox where her leftover holiday candy lives... when mama and daddy don't raid it...)

Favorites? Her favorite movie is Frozen (obviously), though The Croods is a close second (which is funny because we fully expected to hate that movie, yet we actually love it too). Her favorite TV shows are Octonauts and Paw Patrol (which we approve of due to the lessons in animals, nature, and teamwork). Her favorite toys are her dress-up clothes (every day, all day - many outfit combinations!), baby dolls (and stuffed animals), Disney ballerina princesses (and any princesses, honestly, and even Barbies as of late), crafts (coloring and painting, especially), puzzles (as always), and once again, various building toys (we keep catching her with the Lincoln Logs, Pegboards, and Magneatos lately).

Current (unofficial) Stats? 34.5 lbs and 40.5"

In summary, she is still our highly independent, strong-willed, confident little girl, and those are definitely characteristics that we approve of. Long live the queen!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 3-YEARS

Well, today is the day. It's the day we've been looking forward to for weeks, yet also dreading for months. Cora is 3-years-old now, and that means we now have two preschoolers in the house. There is not a bit of baby left in our girl - she's growing up before our very eyes, becoming stronger and smarter and more independent every week. These are all wonderful things, of course, but as parents, it's also a little hard to watch your kids get bigger, reaching new milestones and leaving their babyhood and toddlerhood behind. Especially when they're the baby of the family. So don't mind us if we walk around with tears in our eyes for a few days - we're happy and excited and SO PROUD of our big girl, but we're also saying goodbye to the baby years, and it's not easy.

At 3-years-old, Cora is quite the character. She is the queen of silly (and sometimes creepy) faces. She sings and dances constantly, often making up her own songs and melodies. She laughs hysterically at herself when she does or says something that she thinks is funny, and she will repeat herself (much like her PawPaw!) if needed to make sure everyone heard her and responds appropriately.

She can also swing a swift 180 in less than a heartbeat when she is upset about something. This girl can still throw a mean tantrum, and her tears are crocodile-sized, complete with screams and red face and all. You thought she knew how to get her way as a baby or toddler? You should see her now. The Queen still reigns around here folks, and we're not ashamed to admit it. We try to roll with the punches and pick our battles, but please don't think we let her get away with things just because she knows how to put up a fight. We're not THAT soft. Luckily, her sass has been mostly curbed (due to the threat, and occasional use of "washing her mouth out with soap"). While it took only once or twice for James to get on board with not sassing, post soap introduction, it took Cora months, so we're pretty happy to be where we're at right now. She doesn't get sent to time out very often, and she rarely hits and never bites anymore. Again, more good, growing up benefits, reminding ourselves that it's actually kinda nice to be moving out of the baby phase...

Now don't get me wrong, she may be a bit of a drama queen, but she is also one of the sweetest and most caring kids we know. She has that future-mother instinct that causes her to ooh and ahh at babies and kittens, hug her daddy extra tight when he looks sad or stressed, pat mama's back if mama complains about feeling sick or sore or tired, kiss her brother goodnight every night whether he wants it or not, run to the defense of her friends or brother, consoling them as needed, blowing kisses to strangers and making new friends everywhere she goes and hugging her friends' parents (specifically doting on other daddies...), and just generally being adorable and lovable. She has always been one of the favorites at school (both of the teachers, and the other, older-than-her kids), and since she used to be so shy, we assumed it was just because she was so smart and cute. While that's still true (that she's smart and cute), we're really amazed at how much more social she's become in the past year.

As for the technicalities, Cora is still our awesome eater, still our less than awesome sleeper, and once again an awesome potty trained preschooler. She is still hanging right under 30 pounds, though her height has increased to at least 37.5" (we're pretty certain she's going through a major growth spurt at the moment). She doesn't have her wellness exam (see, I didn't say well baby...) until the end of July, so it will be a while before we have "official" stats. What's official though, is that today, at 12:17pm, she turned 3. And thus we move onward as our Baby Doll (the nickname will never change) enters a new phase of life, and we watch her with pride and amazement. We love you Cora!

CORA'S 2-YEAR BATHTUB INTERVIEW

I know, she's almost 25-months-old and I'm just now posting this. I took the video the night before her birthday, but it was LOOOOONG, and it's taken me a while to find time to edit it down. It's not as varied as her 18-month video, but it's enough to show some of her quirks (using her thumb and index finger to show her age, singing randomness, and her Southern Belle/Canadian "accents"):

(I just thought I should translate that song for you, since her singing voice is generally less articulate than her speaking voice. Here are her "lyrics": Rockabye baby, in tree top, the water falls, and get you out, A B C D EFE. That's a mix of Rockabye Baby, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the ABC's, in case you were wondering. She cracks me up!)

ALL ABOUT CORA: 2-YEARS!

Cora turns 2-years-old today. At 12:17pm. It's hard for us to believe her second year is already coming to a close. Our baby, our Baby Doll, our precious little girl is growing up. It's been such a fun and busy year for her, filled with changes and milestones and lots of "firsts".

She is an independent spirit. Strong-willed, proud, and confident. A sassy girl, full of personality and attitude. She is as different from her brother as can be, and so similar to her mama it's scary. She is the fire in our family's furnace, and we all make efforts to reduce the amount of steam she lets loose.

Of course, our little Queen is also as sweet as they come, freely giving her hugs and kisses and "I wub you's" to mama and daddy and James, as well as her friends and teachers. She is not the shy little girl that she was 6 months ago. Sure, she may run from strangers or hide her face, but if she knows you, chances are she wants you to hold her and give her your undivided attention. At least for a few minutes.

She has a caring and sharing heart, and loves to help others. Other than Jay, she's my best helper for household chores. In addition to emptying the dishwasher, moving clothes from washer to dryer, picking up trash, and putting away shoes, she now cleans up toys and books. Awesome!

She may do best when on at least something that resembles her routine, but she can go with the flow and adapt as needed to new situations and delayed naptimes. Just don't forget to feed her! Cora's appetite is strong as ever, and she hasn't slowed down on the variety of foods she eats either. We love that we can feed her just about anything, and the only things she's picky about tend to be greasy or super sweet things that we wouldn't want her to eat anyway. We JUST introduced juice to her on a daily basis (V8 Fusion, to help ensure she's getting enough veggies in her diet). She's down to ~3 cups of coconut milk per day. Her favorite foods are eggs, pizza, rice and beans, certain casseroles, corn (she still eats broccoli and carrots and green beans too) - especially on the cob, grilled cheese and tomato soup, pancakes, and cereal with coconut milk. As for snacks, "gummies" can cure anything. ANYTHING. I keep packs in the "diaper" backpack at all times. Enough to share, since they work miracles for our little buddies too!

Her favorite "toys" are books (the "Yes Yes, No No" Lisa Patricelli book is her favorite right now - she loves to recite the picture captions, along with a new flip book she just got from her Gramma about rescue vehicles and a rescue dog - she remembers where "Russ" is on every single page), chalk, cars and trucks and trains, her kitchen, and her "babies". Oh how she loves her babies these days! Bubble and Erin and no-name baby and "Bear Bear" and "My Monkey" are toted from room to room (sometimes she asks me to put them in her little sling so she can carry them around on her back), cared for in the cradle and highchair, and taken into her crib at night. She requests kisses for herself and each "baby" at bedtime, then we have to tuck them all in together under the blanket. Is she the cutest or what?

 Her official 2-year wellness exam isn't for another month, but her unofficial stats are 25 lbs and 33" (that's 25th % for height and 50th% for weight). She's gained about 5 lbs and 4" this year (for reference, James gained 7 lbs and 6" in his 2nd year, and was 4 lbs heavier and 3" taller than Cora at this age). She's getting taller and stronger. Her limbs and belly are thinning out, and she doesn't look much like a baby anymore, but she's still a bit of a peanut, I suppose. She sure doesn't act like it though! She thinks and acts like a "big" kid. She's been in the 2-year-old class at school for almost 6 months now, she hangs out with her big bro and his older friends after school and on the weekends, and she holds her own with the mixed age group of kids at the YMCA daycare. Looking at her, you think "baby" (especially when she's snoozing in her carrier or has managed to sneak a paci out of bed), but the minute she starts moving and running and climbing and dancing and talking and singing and reciting and giggling and sassing, you get thrown for a loop, thinking this little bitty child is perhaps much older than you thought...

At 2-years-old, Cora is...

Sleeping through the night! This is her 3rd stint (she did it from 3-4 months, 17-18.5 months, and now 21 months and counting, with a couple bad weeks here and there). Please oh PLEASE let it be a permanent phenomenon this time! She still sleeps in James' room, in her crib. And while we're considering moving her to a mattress on the floor (and maybe back into her own room, since she and James have started keeping each other up at bedtime, making it a VERY long process lately...), we might not. I mean, come ON. She SLEEPS right now. We'd be crazy to mess with her routine at this point (though we did let her try it one night recently, and it didn't go over well)! However, when she does wake at night (which she does occasionally, but at least not regularly or often anymore), it's either because she's lost her paci (we recently blogged about why we're still letting her have it for naps and overnight) or needs to go potty (or has wet the bed). Luckily, if it's just a paci misplacement, we can find it and settle her back to sleep within minutes (usually). Lord help us all if she wakes up even slightly damp though, or even worse, needing to poop. Then she can be up for HOURS. I'm not exaggerating. She will get out of bed half a dozen times to sit on the potty and do nothing but toot, then lay in her crib shifting and kicking and tooting until she decides she needs to get up and try again. And don't you dare think we're allowed to leave the room until she is peacefully back asleep. Thank goodness we have an abundance of pillows in there! The potty wake-ups are obviously a new thing though (they started during Potty Training Bootcamp a couple weeks ago), so we still consider her to be STTN. She sleeps from 8:00/8:30pm to 6:30/7:00am on weekdays (we usually have to wake the kids for school), and 7:30 on weekends. She still takes her mid-day nap, generally from 12:00-2:00pm as set by the daycare schedule, but sometimes later (due to being out of the house on adventures), and sometimes she only sleeps for an hour or hour and a half. Oh well, we'll take what we can get. When she wakes early, she usually just lays in her crib or looks out the window or talks to her babies anyway, letting James sleep, so it's not a big deal.

Potty trained! Mostly. Just like her big bro, she got the concept of peeing in the potty within a few days (though the occasional accident still occurs, we think a couple per week is pretty good for a 2-year-old!), and stopped having poop accidents after the first week. She even wakes up at night to pee rather than wet her bed. Seriously. James STILL doesn't do that (though he is dry overnight, so he's just really good at holding it all night long). However, unlike James, she doesn't want our help, and prefers to go it solo, always saying "No! I do it my-sey-elf!"

Speaking like a little Southern Belle! The child has so many words and phrases, you might be shocked to realize that you can, in fact, have a lengthy little conversation with her. She even has her own growing page of Cora-isms. She can tell jokes! But the funny part is that she is in the phase (or maybe she really IS getting a southern accent) of drawing out MANY of her 1-syllable words into 2 or more syllables. For example, when she sings/recites the Five Little Monkeys book, she says "Five 'lil monkeys jumpin' on bey-ed, one fell off an bump his hey-ed, mama call doc-a, doc-a say-ed, no moh monkeys jumpin' on the bey-ed!"

Singing and memorizing! She knows her ABC's. Twinkle Twinkle. Itsy Bitsy Spider is a favorite. Gramma taught her Skiddermerinky-dinky-dink recently and she tries hard to sing along with James. She chimes in with bits and pieces of songs and books, or even better, throws everything she knows together into one song, which often sounds like this: "A B C D E-F-E, dia-moh in da sky, won-duh uht you are, up a spout, down came a rain an wash a pider out!" So yeah, she still talks like a 2-year-old, with lots of words with the endings dropped off, or R's turned into W's and such. You'd be surprised how clearly she says most things though. Take banana for instance. She literally yells "Ba-na-na!" very excitedly whenever she sees one or wants one. James JUST learned to say banana, instead of "Bana", which he used for over a year. She just blows us away with her speech on a daily basis. On top of knowing her ABC's, and a few songs, and bits and pieces of books by heart, she can name all her friends and some of their parents, her teachers, her pets, and almost all her family members (by photo). She knows most of her shapes, a couple of colors, and a few numbers. She really is an extremely bright little girl, which in a way tells us that she's going to be even more of a handful as she gets older...

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!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 15-MONTHS-OLD

Cora turned 15-months today, and we are amazed at how far she has come in the past month and a half... I don't know whether it's just that she's her own person, or that she benefits from 2nd child syndrome (yes, there are benefits!), or that she has James around to look up to and copy, or whether her gender plays a role (since girls are purported to learn certain things earlier/faster than boys), or if it's a combination of it all (most likely), but she truly is an intelligent and interesting little girl. Yes, a little girl. The baby she once was is quickly disappearing, and is being replaced by a lovely, sweet, thoughtful, smart, opinionated, and adorable little girl.

COMPREHENSIVE WORD LIST:

mama ("ma-mahn" or mama), dada ("da-goo" or "da-doo" or dada), hello ("hewwo"), hi!, uh-oh, whoa, wow, up, go, car ("cah"), Cora ("Co-wa"), no, mine, thank you ("kane-ku"), I got it, get it, boop, poop, nose, toes, popcorn ("a-cohn"), Aw man!, nipple, eye, shoes, ball, necklace ("neck-iss"), papa (for Grandpa, just like James says it!), yellow ("wewwo"), book ("bap"), belly button ("be-buh"), tada!, I'm tired ("I tied"), muah!, excuse you ("cuze-oo"), gorilla ("gilla"), bear ("beh"), baby ("bay"), kitty/cat ("kiddie/ca"), Jude ("Dude")

BODY PARTS SHE CAN POINT OUT (on herself and others):

nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, belly button, nipple, ears

OTHER RECOGNITIONS:

She is getting really good at following direction, and does so to the point that people actually make comments about it now (surprised that she listens and understands so well at her age). She'll hand things to me, or over to her Daddy or James, when I ask her to. She knows what most of her toys are and can find them or put them away as requested. She eagerly goes to retrieve her shoes when we tell her it's time to go outside. If you mention food in any way (breakfast, lunch, snack, eat, dinner), she immediately runs to her chair and cries to be put up at the table (then points at her bib and yells "Mine!" until you get her situated to eat). I must admit, she is becoming easier and easier to deal with the more she's learning to express herself and thus have her needs/wants met in a timely manner.

PHYSICAL SKILLS:

walking, running, bouncing, climbing, slipping shoes on, helping to get herself dressed or undressed, hugging (tight clasps around the neck), clapping, high-fives, giving "Cheers!", and carrying 3+ items at a time or moving a heavy item

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES:

puzzles, sorting, "cooking" in her kitchen, copying James (do ANYTHING), going for walks (whether walking or strolling or wagon-riding), coloring/painting, sliding, climbing the stairs, snuggling the kitties, holding and "using" the phone or camera, and "helping" Mama or Daddy with the laundry or dishes or cooking.

DISLIKES:

She STILL hates to get her PJ's on after bath time. And she now fights us on diaper changes as well (all day long, not just at bedtime). Other than that, I can't think of anything she protests.

TO SLEEP OR NOT TO SLEEP:

That is still the question. She had been sleeping through the night about 3-4 nights per week for a while there, just long enough to get our hopes up that a permanent change was on the horizon. Now, all of a sudden, she is back to waking most nights. She isn't waking with hunger or teething pain or sickness. She's just waking. And the girl has got us figured out. She uses her ear-piercing scream to get us running downstairs, taking 2 steps at a time in our stupor, trying to prevent her from waking her brother. She calms down as soon as we make our way to her crib. As we replace her paci and tell her to lay back down and go to sleep, she simply reaches down to grab her blankey, then, lovey in hand and paci in mouth, reaches up and coo's at us to pick her up and take her over to the guest bed for snuggles. And if we don't? She starts the screaming fit again until she gets her way. I'm starting to wonder whether she'd do better by herself in a bed, rather than the crib. After all, we DID have James out of the crib by this age...

IN HER BELLY:

Cora eats everything in sight. She hasn't met a food she doesn't like, and she can literally snack all day if we let her. In fact, she will often hand us her desired snack from the "kid drawer" and/or her snack trap (or "snap twap" as James calls it) to fill up. Or she'll stand at the fridge and complain until we get her some cheese. We honestly don't know where she puts it all! As for liquids, she is currently nursing twice a day (first thing in the morning and again at bedtime) and drinking 24 oz of coconut milk in between. No juice for her yet (other than the sips she steals from her big brother's sippy cup now and then). This past weekend was our first with a non-nursing naptime (since I stopped pumping last week), and she did just fine. I'm now on my second week of not pumping, and while I don't miss it, I had thought I would be more excited about it. But there has been no fanfare. I just decided last Monday that I was ready to drop that final mid-day pumping session, so I did. I was only getting a couple of ounces anyway. After a combined 26 months (including 300 hours for James and 160 hours for Cora, a grand total of 460 hours!), I am no longer a "Pumping Working Mama" (one of the many groups I had joined on BabyCenter for support over the past 3 years). It feels weird. But I'm still a nursing mama, and for that I am grateful. I still don't have an end date in sight, and I'm OK with that. We'll figure it out when we get there. In the meantime, I have no doubt that my milk supply will last for 2 feedings a day for as long as Cora and I are interested in doing so. I had wondered whether it would really work to be so "part time", but hearing her hungrily gulp her milkies in the morning and sweetly savor her bedtime snack has me convinced - this is right for us.

WEIGHING IN:

At 20.8 lbs on the home scale. And measuring an estimated 30 inches. And she's currently getting all her eye teeth. Her 1-year molars are completely in already, giving her a total of 12-going-on-16 teeth! She's a growing girl, and she reminds us of it daily!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 13.5-MONTHS-OLD

This girl of ours is impressing us daily. And since I didn't do a 13-month post, I figured I might as well do a 13.5-month post. That should get us through to 15-months, right?

Her skill set is growing at a rapid rate. Really. We had forgotten how fast things go once they hit 13-months... She's walking faster every day and becoming more and more agile (she can walk up and down stairs while holding onto one of our hands or the rail, she can spin on a dime, she slides off the couch and beds with ease, she jumps/bounces high while holding onto her crib rail, and she can get herself up off the ground by squatting without even using her hands for assistance). She knows where things go (for example, she knows where to find her shoes, she puts her baby doll in her cradle, she understands that the phone goes to your ear and the toothbrush goes in your mouth, and she puts books back on the bookshelf). She follows simple commands (such as "Take your shoes to Daddy", "Hand Mama your cup", "Find the ball", "Put your baby in her cradle", and "Don't touch the trash can"). She still loves to clap and dance, and will break into it the second you start singing to her, especially if it's the "Happy and you know it" song. She has over a dozen words/phrases already (car - which was her first word way back when, though she never really says it anymore, Mama - often said in a whine and with a cajun feel to it "Maman!", Dada or "Da-gu", uh-oh, whoa, go, Cora, hello - usually said while 'answering' a phone, bye-bye - said while waving, up - when she wants to be picked up of course, mine - she learned that one from James perfectly!, thank you - sounds like "kane-ku" and she even uses it correctly!, I got it - another phrase copied from James and while she doesn't say it clearly we know what she's saying, boop and poop - which she repeats whenever one of us says them), and ball (her latest word, which she says surprisingly clearly). I guess she tricked us with all those months of silence. She may not have been a babbler, but she's definitely going to be a talker!

She is down to one bottle per day at daycare (right after lunch/before naptime) and is taking two sippy cups of coconut milk. We used the last of my freezer stash on Friday, and I only had enough breastmilk for one bottle this morning, so there you have it. I refuse to put coconut milk in a bottle at this point, so she's moving up. I'm still pumping twice/day at work, so I'm still getting enough for one full bottle each day. Next week she moves up to the K1 room at daycare though, where bottles are not "allowed". We'll see what happens... She always holds her own bottle at daycare anyway (and has since she was really little, like around 5 months), so I wouldn't doubt her new teacher will let her drink from a bottle at lunch for a week or so while she transitions. We're not stressing over the transition from bottle to sippy this time though. Not like we did with James (Is he still getting enough milk? Is he staying hydrated? Is he getting enough calories every day?) She's not going cold-turkey, so she'll get used to it. She's getting to be a big girl already...

She's gaining again now that she's feeling better, but isn't up much. The home scale put her at 19.6 lbs tonight.

ALL ABOUT CORA: 12-MONTHS-OLD

Baby Doll, there aren't enough words in the English language to accurately describe you at this age. You keep us guessing. You keep us on our toes. You keep us laughing, and sighing, and sometimes counting to 10. We love you to pieces, and it has been an amazing first year with you! Watching you learn and grow and go through all your milestones has been an absolute pleasure, and you've surprised us on many occasions. Your personality really is something else. You are hilarious, and you know it. You know how to get a smile out of us. You know how to get away with things you shouldn't be allowed to do. When you raise your eyebrows at us, or cock that head of yours to the side like a puppy, it's all we can do not to crack up completely. You are easily excited and entertained. You still prefer company as opposed to playing on your own. You love your big brother like no other. You're still your Mama's girl, but in the past month you've started showing preference for Daddy on more and more occasions. You eat with the best of them. You are consistently the first AND last person sitting at the table. You are starting to pick up more words and gestures each week. You're learning to walk, and are becoming more daring every day. Whenever you hear music, even if it's just Daddy humming, you start dancing. Sometimes you even dance to the music in your head. You are the sweetest little thing. Thank you for being the daughter we'd always dreamed of having. Love, Mama and Daddy

12 month stats: 20 lbs even and 29 inches long, 6 teeth, nursing 6 times per day (no more MOTN feeds), and STTN about twice/week (it's a start). That's a gain of 14 lbs and 10 inches this year!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 11-MONTHS-OLD

She's almost there...

SHE MIMICS: She copies James' actions (sitting in her recliner and stomping her feet just as he does, throwing tantrums in the exact same manner as he does, and basically just trying to do everything that he does), our random noises and facial expressions, and our actions (clapping, waving hello and bye-bye, putting her arms up over her head - "So big!", and playing peekaboo). She's learning to walk. Even though she still dislikes cruising behind a wheeled toy, she will gladly stroll around while holding onto one of my hands. She looks like such a big girl when she's just walking beside me. We definitely think she'll be walking soon. She recently learned to stack rings, which really surprised us. We bought James this ring-stacker for his first birthday, and it was at least 2-3 months before he finally learned to stack them, rather than just bang them together. Maybe Cora's fine motor skills are more developed due to the Baby Led Solids? Food is a great motivator, after all. Check her out. She's so patient and determined. And so proud of herself when she gets it. She could do this all day...

SHE SLEEPS IN HER CRIB: No really, she does! I nurse her to sleep (or let Jay give her a bottle), then she sleeps in her crib until her 3am feed. Which she sometimes bumps up to 1am or 2am, but still. She's sleeping in her crib again! She even does so for naps, both here and at daycare. Victory!

SHE TALKS: Her words this month include "uh oh", "whoa", "mama" (usually only said when whining for me), "dada", "bye-bye" (complete with hand wave, on occasion), and "Cora". Yes, I'm serious. She repeats her name and says it quite clearly.

SHE HAS HAIR: Still not much, but it's enough to hang over her headbands. Easy to see on white, though her hair is still very light in color. And we suspect she's going to have full head of very fine hair (just like her mama) when it eventually grows in.SHE HAS NEW TEETH: This month she got 2 more incisors, both up top. This makes a total of 6 teeth now. We can't remember what order the teeth are "suppose" to come in, but they look pretty funny right now, that's for sure. Her bottom 2 teeth are close together and long (since they came in almost 5 months ago), but the upper 4 teeth are all short and widely spaced. Our friend Sharmila says that the Hindu believe tooth gaps up front and center are lucky, so maybe Cora will be very lucky in life. Regardless, I suspect we'll be dealing with braces for her someday...SHE UNDERSTANDS COMMANDS: More and more. Including commands such as "lay down". When I'm fighting her to go back to sleep in her crib (without picking her up), I tell her to lay back down, and she does, every single time. Very dramatically. Then she lifts her head right back up and whines at me. We play this game for 30-45 minutes sometimes... If we tell her not to drop something over the side of her highchair, she'll pull her hand back. Of course, she often just sticks it right back over, so we have to repeat the command again and again. Or she'll then drop it with a big wave-like motion across her tray, making a giant mess. If we tell her to "Stop" or "Sit down!" she usually does. Or at least pauses before going back to getting into trouble. She crawls over to me when I call her for diaper changes or milk. She'll hand over items (usually leaves or trash or bits of food that James has dropped while running around) to us when we ask her to. She gives kisses on command. She'll perform the "full of crazy" charade when we prompt her. She dances when we encourage her. She is becoming very attentive, and we love it.SHE WEIGHS: 19.6 lbs, so she's finally slowing down on her weight gain. You wouldn't know it from her appetite though. The girl can eat! And she eats anything and everything. And takes her sweet time. She is always the first one with food on her plate, and the last one still sitting at the table, still chewing away, at the end of the meal.

ALL ABOUT CORA: 10-MONTHS-OLD

The past month has been especially busy for Cora as far as milestones go. Last month she learned to push up to sitting, cruise, and pull up to standing, then quickly learned to crawl during the first week of this month, all in that order (out of "order", I know, but that's Cora, always keeping us guessing). She now follows us all over the house (and whines the whole way if she's mad that we've walked out of the room for a minute or that she can't keep up with us). James waffles between thinking it's hilarious (teasing her by placing objects out of reach so she has to crawl for them) and thinking it's annoying (since he has to keep moving to avoid having to share his toys with her). She crawls both on hands and knees (slapping the floor with her hands as she goes) and up on her feet (monkey-walking). She is SO strong! When standing, she almost always holds on with just one hand, and she's not scared to let go and lean/step closer to us. She's already getting good at walking around while holding onto our fingers (though she doesn't trust James' dumptruck yet). At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if she's walking by 1-year. But then again, you never know. She's certainly tricked us (I mean, SURPRISED us) before.

She can clap her hands on command (and on her own when she's happy and excited). We've been singing the "If you're happy and you know it" song a lot lately (James likes when we change the verse to "stomp your feet!"). She loves to flap her arms and "dance". She dances while sitting (bouncing her torso up and down and back and forth) and also while standing (bending those knees and doing squats). She can already bend over to pick something up too, without losing her balance or grip on whatever she's holding on to.

She says "Uh oh" and means it (for example, when she drops something). And she learned to say "Mama" (bestill my heart!) She is ridiculously vocal all of a sudden. She babbles and squeals constantly, talking to herself and to James and to her toys, and occasionally to Jay and I as well. She and James have even had a few little conversations that only they can understand... She is SUCH a happy baby these days!

She has 4 teeth now. The top center incisors started coming through at the end of last month, and she's had the left tooth for about 2 weeks now, the right one for about a week. So they're a little uneven in length right now, which is awfully cute. She eats 3-square meals a day and of great variety (usually). She's started to show preferences for more foods, and to actually turn her nose up at things occasionally (though that may be due more to her ear infections than actual food dislike). She's been eating more foods you would usually associate with older babies and toddlers lately (like pizza, which was a big hit), and we are absolutely encouraging her. I think mac-n-cheese is still her most favorite food though. And spagetti. Funny how much she loves pasta, considering that James wouldn't eat it at all when he was younger...

She's sleeping well (despite her ear infections and teething), even skipping her 7th nursing session (that MOTN feed) on some nights (although on those nights she usually wakes EARLY to eat, like 5am - though I can usually convince her to go back to sleep afterwards, following a bit of a chat session). And she still sleeps with us (despite her fall off the bed). There is just something about waking up with her in my arms, or feeling her little inquisitive hands playing with my hair. We have no plans to move her out of our bed anytime soon.

With every new accomplishment she makes, I feel shocked as I watch it unfold before me. I don't remember feeling that way with James. With him, it seems I anticipated each milestone and anxiously awaited it. With Cora, I am just so much more laid back, knowing that she will do things in her own time. So much so, that I think I am forgetting what an 8-month-old and 9-month-old and 10-month-old is "expected" to do. I don't "expect" her to do anything, so I have been pleasantly surprised over and over the past few months. It's fun, because it makes her accomplishments even more exciting!

And now, we have only 2 months left of her infancy, as her 1st birthday looms ever closer. I'll be sending out a birthday mission to you all soon, rest assured...

By the way, she's 19 lbs even this month.

ALL ABOUT CORA: 9-MONTHS-OLD

MODE OF TRAVEL. Cora prefers to slide and spin and side-step these days. She can go quite a distance on the tile or hardwood on her tummy, sliding backwards. And she spins circles enough to reach out and grab something (or someone). However, in order to move forward on her belly, she generally demands a hand or two. She grabs our fingers and hoists herself forward. Apparently she doesn't mind rug burns. Of course, she really likes standing. She can ocassionally pull herself up, but more often complains until somebody stands her up against something. And just this weekend, she started to cruise. She takes tiny little side-steps, and it's oh-so cute! CONSUMPTION. Cora is still nursing 7 times/day (including a MOTN feed - that's Middle Of The Night for you non-accronym-loving folks). And if we're eating, she wants what we're having. She doesn't get 3 meals/day on anything resembling a regular basis yet, but we're quickly working up to it. In fact, today marks her first day getting 2 meals at daycare (breakfast and lunch). It also marks the first day in which she is getting 3 bottles at daycare. I'm not committing to it (I reserve the right to change my mind at any time), but most likely I will not be nursing her at lunch anymore. Since she's in the 6-12 month room now, her 'schedule' is shifting, and it's getting harder to time her lunch with my lunch break. And when I get there, she's so excited to be going into her old room (where the rocking chair is located), that she's pretty distracted and is not nursing as well. She now tolerates spoon feeding for yogurt and applesauce, so yogurt is her usual breakfast. With some fruit and Cheerios on the side. And she now eats her veggies in bite-size pieces (mom and dad said her diaper following her first mixed veggie night was very 'colorful'), though we still give her big chunks/slices as well (depending on the veggie). She eats anything we give her and is not at all picky.

SOUNDS. Cora is really starting to form the beginnings of words now with all the noises she makes, and is using more consonants each week. She has also started 'conversing', if you can call it that, in which she imitates some of our sounds and movements. Her signature move is a big double arm flap accompanied with a "Guh!" and a head nod. She has developed an adorable, happy squeal that she uses whenever something strikes her fancy (and which James likes to imitate, of course). And while there is actually very minimal fussing and crying from her lately, her new habit is to 'whine' with a "yah, yah, yah, yah" when she is displeased. Of course, if you don't quickly rectify the situation, she can still escalate to screams and cries to get her way. Long live The Queen!

SLEEPING. Cora is still sleeping with us. We debated trying to wean her of the habit, but ultimately decided that we both like snuggling with her all night long. It's a great way to reconnect after not seeing her all day. And I like not having to get out of bed to nurse her in the MOTN. So instead, we took our bed apart and put the mattress on the floor. That way, if she rolls (or scoots) off, she'll only fall from her own height. Much safer that way (and we weren't interested in getting bed rails). And our room is well babyproofed (since James has always spent a lot of time up there). We keep our doorway gated off (because of the stairs), so she won't get far, even if she gets off the bed. Someday she'll STTN again (that's Sleep Through The Night, of course). And someday she'll sleep in her own crib (or bed?) again. Until she (and/or we) are ready though, we'll be bedsharing. Poor girl doesn't even like her crib for daytime play. There must be something about the prison-like bars that displease her...

STATS: 18.6 lbs and 27.25 inches

ALL ABOUT CORA: 8-MONTHS-OLD

MEASURES: 18.0 lbs and 26.5 in. And she's still holding at 2 teeth (the bottom center incisors), despite all the hand gnawing and toy chomping and drooling going on. She has some fuzzy blonde hair, but only about an inch all around (no Mississippi Mudflap for this girl).

SLEEPS: In our bed, with us, all night long. When she isn't awake or semi-awake to nurse, that is. I haven't been able to lay her into her crib in her room successfully for almost 2 weeks now, so I've given up trying. Perhaps we'll be moving our mattress to the floor. Or installing bed rails. Or even buying another twin mattress to place on the floor in our room, just for her. We shall see. We certainly don't want Baby Doll rolling or crawling off our bed. Not that she rolls. Or crawls. She still sleeps in one spot, on her back, all night long. The most movement I've seen is when she gets furious that she wakes up alone and scoots herself up toward the headboard (like a little upside-down inch worm). She's back to napping in her swing, when she's not napping with me. I admit I kinda like the excuse to nap with her (at least at the start) though. She slept for over 3 hours that way each day this weekend, so I really can't complain.EATS: Lots. She nurses 7+ times per day/night. She very rarely sleeps through the night these days, and will wake anywhere from 1-3 times/night to scoot close to me and grab (literally) a sleepy snack. During the day, she eats 2-3 solids meals. Always dinner, and usually lunch. On occasion we give her some breakfast too. She's a big fan of Cheerios right now, and will demand them if she sees them sitting on the table. Bossy!

(Check out that double chin!)

SAYS: Not much, but she's definitely getting more talkative. I catch her babbling to herself now when she plays alone, or when she's in the car (which is much more entertaining than the crying she used to do in the car)! She can put a few consonants together with her vowels, including 'c/k', 'g', 'y', 'w', 'n', and most recently 'd'. Her first word is 'car'. Yup, you heard that right. Car. All you have to do is ask her "Cora, what do you want for your birthday?" and she'll answer with "cah". And yes, I'm serious. We know she doesn't understand what she's saying, but she still says it. And it's hilarious, considering the car is one of her least favorite places. So maybe she learned it because it's one of James' favorite words (and favorite toys). Of course, Jay and Grambot swear they heard her say 'Dada' while Skyping today. I'll have to double my efforts with teaching her "Mama' I suppose...

DOES: Assisted situps and standups. She's trying to pull up on her own now too. She sits great and can bend completely forward or sideways to grab a toy, then get herself back into a sitting position. She can now sit in a restuarant highchair and grocery cart. She likes to stand or kneel in your lap. She's a great dancer (bouncing and arm flapping and head banging). She can spin herself in a circle to "chase" you or grab a toy if you've stranded her on her tummy, and she can scoot backwards (but not too far).

DOES NOT: Play on her tummy (long). Or sleep on her tummy. Or enjoy anything that has to do with laying on her tummy. I swear this girl is going to skip crawling all together!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 7-MONTHS-OLD

The past month has been a whirlwind.

Cora survived 2 long road trips, started eating solid food, and sprouted her first 2 teeth. Her personality is shining these days, sometimes with bubbly laughter and big smiles, and other times with fire and frustration. There is so much she seems to want to do, but can't yet, and it makes her mad! Not to mention, she is showing signs of separation anxiety (she no longer tolerates her adults ducking out of sight, and she is very clingy at night). Cora has always been pretty opinionated and sensitive (we like to tease her about having a pea under her mattress, the little princess...), but those traits seem to be enhanced this month. She spends much more time playing by herself these days though, whether sitting up on her own or in her Bumbo, or laying on her tummy (she finally likes tummy time!), and she can even scoot a little (backwards only, and just a few inches) and spin in a circle. She bounces wildly in her jumperoo (and on our laps), can stand well while holding onto our fingers for balance, and babbles with a few consonants and vowels combined (nothing recognizable yet).

She still nurses 6-7 times per day/night, and eats one solids "meal" per day (dinner with the family). She has become easily distractable during nursing sessions, which may be part of the reason she was waking more to eat at night (when there is less activity in the house, although it was probably also due to the fact that she was sleeping with me a lot - hard to pass up a meal when it's right in front of your face). Her sleeping patterns have been unpredictable lately, to say the least. With all the holiday travel and bedsharing, she stopped sleeping through the night all together, and also refused to stay asleep in her crib for longer than a few hours at a time at night (and all this after half a dozen attempts on average to transfer her from my arms to the mattress). She has a new teacher at daycare as of this week (an expectant mama transferred from the 2K room down to the infant room for a slower pace and lighter babies to lift), who is working diligently with us to get Cora on more of a nap schedule, while napping in her crib (something she has never, ever done before this week). We are hoping that better/longer and more structured naps will lead to better sleeping at night. So far this week she has slept through the night three nights in a row (the first night after her new nap routine she went right to sleep, the next night we did cry-it-out, and last night she went to sleep, then woke for a 15 minute fuss session, then put herself back to sleep while we watched her on the monitor). We'll see what the weekend brings with our attempts at napping her in her crib here at home. Oh, and strangely enough, even though she's been sleeping unswaddled for almost 2 months, she still sleeps all night long on her back, right in the center of the crib. It's pretty cool, because we haven't had to change the position of the monitor, so I can still watch her breathe and check on her without even lifting my head from my pillow at night!

I am still nursing her on my lunch breaks, and haven't decided yet when to stop. I love getting to spend that 30 minutes with Cora during the work day, and have the opportunity to reconnect with her and visit with her daycare providers (those ladies love to chat at lunchtime when all the other babies are sleeping, so I get to hear a lot of details about Cora's day). I am in no rush to give it up. I am, however, sending bigger bottles to daycare as of this week. Last month Cora started to consistently finish her 4 oz bottles, so we started offering 4.5 oz. When she then started finishing some of those bottles, we upped it to 5 oz. Now, if you read the books and all, you'll hear that breastfed babies increase their milk intake significantly from birth to 2 months, then pretty much plateau until they start eating solids, at which point they will either maintain or decrease the amount of breastmilk they drink. Well, while that was true for James, Cora is breaking from the norm (imagine that!), and I'm just not worried about it. Besides, I have quite the freezer stash for her anyway, should I ever need it. I think I'm up to 200 oz now!

Cora no longer takes baths in her little baby bathtub. She either bathes with James (and one of her parents, to hold her steady and protect her from her wildly splashing brother - though she's sitting so well on her own we could probably let her go it alone soon) or showers with Mama (excellent for steaming out the boogies in the morning). Her hair is starting to grow in, slowly but surely. Very slowly. It seems to be a light blonde color, and is so soft and feathery that I find myself petting her constantly these days. Good thing she doesn't mind!

She has become very grabby. Her aim is usually right on target and her grip is painful. When I eat while holding her (as I still end up doing through most of every meal), I now have to watch every bite I take so that she doesn't swipe it from me. Needless to say, I've become a fast eater again. And a messy one, since dodging baby hands is not my forte. One last thing, Cora got her flu shot this week. When we got back from Florida I learned that at least one kid in each of James and Cora's classes was out with the flu (or bronchitis), and I realized that since Cora is over 6-months now, she could get it. So in she went. The crazy girl didn't even flinch! Not at all what I was expecting from my normally melodramatic daughter. I guess she just wants to keep me on my toes, eh?

Oh, and as for her monthly stats, we estimate her weight to be 17 lbs even this month.

(This is Cora telling me that our photo shoot this morning was O V E R)