Elsie 2 and a half

This picture pretty perfectly represents Elsie at 2 and a half.  She is our fun, beautiful, and crazy little daughter!  She is full of energy and excitement!  She likes to run around the house and get into things and invent her own little games and play scenarios.  She wore this outfit all morning after I took this picture, I guess she decided it was better than what she had been wearing.

The most common phrase we hear from Elsie and that we hear on a daily basis is "I wanna help myself!"  It means - don't even try to help me, I have this covered and don't want a drop of assistance.  It can really test our patience when she wants us to standby while she gets herself dressed, goes to the bathroom, washes her hands, etc.  If we help her when she doesn't want to be helped, she starts a mini meltdown and will cry.

Elsie is a lover.  She likes to give us hugs and kisses.  She has been a Mama's girl over the last half a year.  "I want my mom!" has been another common phrase that we hear. She will tell me that she wants to cuddle on the couch.  I love our cuddle time but sometimes she insists she wants to cuddle while I am in the middle of taking care of the other daycare kids.  She will give random "I love you"s to all of us in the family.  She really loves Cora and Cora is just now starting to be able to handle some of Elsie's big squeezes.

One of Elsie's favorite play activities continues to be playing with babies.  It was just Christmas and of course Elsie got new toys but the thing that still really excites her is a new baby doll to love, feed, rock, and change!  It has been fun to watch her turn into a big girl and see her play in so many ways.  She will play at a doll house and have the figurines eat, sleep, dance, and go to the bathroom.  A favorite game of hers is to get dressed up and say she is leaving the house to go to to work or go exercise (the main reasons Matthew and I leave).  She also really likes games and fine motor activities - matching games, puzzles, nuts and bolts, etc.

She still loves to sing.  She knows lots of songs by heart now that we've sung during circle time.  I listened to a lot of Christmas music over the last few weeks and Elsie started running around the house singing them.  About a month ago, we were watching the CMAs and every time a performer came on Elsie pointed to their guitar and said "I want a guitar like that."  That is what she asked Santa for and she got a little one!  She has been playing it and singing along.

We love our strong-willed, funny, and feisty girl so much!

Cora 12 Months

Cora is one year old!  We are almost a month past her 1 year birthday now.  After Cora turned 1, we got her pictures taken, had a Dr. Seuss birthday party, and then got full swing into the holiday fun and craziness.

Here is my munchkin on her 1 year birthday...

At 1 year....

Cora is a sweetheart!  I have probably written that in many of these monthly updates but it continues to be true!  She is such a little cuddlebug.  When she is held, she likes to cuddle in and rest on your shoulder.

She is a quiet little girl.  She keeps her voice to herself a lot but will also go on babble tangents.  She says b words - baby, buh bye, and just babababa.  She also says mama and dada.  I think I have heard her say "up" but can't be certain if it wasn't just coincidence.  She has also said hi.  No baby sign yet, she just whines when she wants something!

Totally still a mama's girl.  I love that we have a special bond but also wish she would go to others more freely at family events.  If she is fussy or just got up from a nap, she needs me to hold her.

She loves to crawl and climb up on things.  She crawls onto doll beds, the bumbo, her walker, the fireplace step, and right up the stairs if she ever notices a gate or door open.

She hasn't started walking independently and since I still think of her as a baby, I haven't given it much thought.  With Elsie, I was always walking her around with her hands held and setting her up next to her walkers - things I should start to do with Cora.  However, one of Cora's favorite things to do is push chairs around our kitchen and to stand near toys and push them around the basement, so she has kind of taken over with that on her own.

She is in the stage of exploring and likes to take everything out of its spot.  She is very quick at finding little things and getting them in her mouth.

Her 4 top teeth have been pushing through over the last few weeks.  That makes for some crabby days.

She is somewhat of a pickier eater - she loves bread, fruit, cheese, and noodles.  She is not always good about eating veggies and meats which is what she needs more of according to her hemoglobin counts at the doctor.  She still nurses in the morning and sometimes other random times too.  She still has a bottle at night.

I can't find the stats from Cora's 1 year appointment!  Matthew was just sorting through some papers and may have tossed it out.  I think she was around 18 pounds at her appointment.  I know she was in the 7th percentile for weight and the PA was slightly concerned about this because she was no longer following her growth curve.  She is a peanut!

Cora 11 Months

*Blink* and my little Cora is already about to be 1 year old.  Time definitely goes by faster with the second child.  Cora is our little surprise baby who shot into this world and has been such a huge blessing to our family!

At 11 Months....

Cora responds more quickly when I call her Cora Bora then when I just say Cora.

She is on the move.  She has a little run crawl.  When I call for her she will speed right over with a smile on her face, happy to come to mommy!  The funny thing about her crawl is that she keeps her pointer fingers curled in when she is crawling around.  She is also on her feet a lot and has been cruising next to furniture.

Still a total Mommy's girl but will actually be happy in other's arms now while I am around.  However, whenever I come back home from being away, she cries as soon as she sees me, demanding that I come get her.

She now has 4 bottom teeth and I think she will be getting more.  She has had some difficulty getting down or staying down for naps lately.

Thankfully sleeping through the night.  This past week she wakes up between 5:45-6:00, breastfeeds, and then goes back to sleep for another hour or so.  There was a few nights in a row where she got up in the middle of the night but it luckily did not continue.

She waves hi and bye and makes sounds but doesn't really say many words yet.  She will occasionally say "mama" but it is more of a "mamamama" when she is upset and wants me to pick her up.

She is seriously the happiest little girl.  On the weekends I have been putting her down for her morning nap an hour late because she never gets fussy and I forget that I need to do that.  She will cry when woken up from sleep because of teething or if I need to wake her up for some reason and she will also whine for more food, other than that she is happy go lucky.

She likes to explore and take things out of baskets, etc.  She likes to open the drawers under the TV and every once in a while her finger will get stuck in there but instead of yelping right away she gives me a look as if to say, "mother do you see what is happening here?" and then will start to cry if I don't notice.

Generally naps twice a day about 9:15-10:30ish and 1:00-3:15ish.  Rarely but still occasionally takes a third nap if the other ones are cut short.

Eating lots of solid foods now.  Pretty much off of purees now and onto finger foods.  I've started to feed her anything that we eat unless it has nuts, citrus, or is spicy.  Breastfeeding 3 times a day with a bottle of formula at night

Sometimes when she is excited or when she is waving to someone, all 4 of her little limbs get moving and it is the cutest thing.

She is a total little peanut and everyone just loves to snuggle her up!

Cora 10 months

My sweet little baby is 10 months old.  I just love her so darn much!  She was not the happiest the morning of her 10 month birthday and I was trying to rush the photos before daycare started, plus I couldn't find her bunny.  I tend to blame her crabby spells on teething.  Who knows?

The cutest little sad face...

By the time big sis Elsie came in to bug her she was cashed.

In the evening, I found her bunny and was able to take more pics!

As I was taking pictures of Cora, Elsie was standing next to me taking her own pictures.  Then when I told her she could get in the pictures, she continued to pretend to take pictures.

At 10 months....

I've notice Cora imitating things she sees.  She was laughing at a daycare friend who was shaking her head and then Cora did the same thing.  She also imitates little things during songs.  She loves circle time but is rarely awake for it because it is during her morning nap time.

She is crawling all over the place.  She loves to investigate all of her surroundings.  I think her favorite thing to do right now is to pull things out of boxes like toys from a bin or clothes from a basket.

She has her 2 bottom teeth and I think more will be coming in because she has been drooling more.

She still breastfeeds 3 or 4 times a day and then has a 6 ounce bottle of formula before bedtime.  Someday I will miss our cuddle time while she breastfeeds.  She likes to grab at my face and put her hand in my mouth, goofy girl.  She eats her 3 meals a day, mixture of purees and cut up foods.  She is in the stage where a lot of the food I cut up for her ends up on the high chair somewhere instead of in her mouth.  She is a picky eater and denies a lot of veggie purees.

She is finally sleeping through the night for the most part.  She goes to bed at 8:00.  This morning she actually slept through the night until 7:00.  Often times she wakes up between 5-6, eats, and then goes back to bed for a bit. She takes a morning nap at 9 and an afternoon nap at 1.  If she wakes up before 3 in the afternoon, then she goes down for a third nap.

She makes a funny face where she scrunches up her face and blows air out of her nose.

She is a mommy's girl.  I love to hold and cuddle my little bug.  When she gets upset she will crawl after me and tug at my leg.

She has the sweetest personality.  She jabbers and babbles with a smile on her face.  She hasn't really said any words yet that I know of.  She will wave at people too.  We love her so so much!

Cora Bora

My little girl just pulled to stand tonight!

She is growing up before my eyes!

 

 

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Cora 9 Months

At 9 Months...

Cora likes to hold her cousin's hand...

 

She makes faces in photos that I didn't think she'd make until she was a teenager...

 

She tries to take off because she has started to crawl!  She crawls all around whichever room she is in but it is a slow and steady crawl

 She likes to dance.  It was the cutest thing when she danced to the music at her Auntie Becky's wedding.

 

She is so very loved on by her sister...

She will always crawl to her cousin Izzy to see what she is doing.  Sometimes Izzy likes when she comes to play but not when it involves pulling her hair.

 

Practices yoga....:)

 

Is content when given space to play by herself.

 

She is so darn cute and just my little peanut.  I am having a hard time believing she is 9 months old.  When I started writing this post I wrote that she just turned 7 months old, I guess that is how I see her.

 

She has her first tooth!  We noticed it a few weeks ago.  I attribute this to her crankier attitude.  She is back to being herself more - eating again, moving around, and playing.

 

She breastfeeds 4-5 times during the day now.  She still wakes up once a night to eat however.  We just got back from a trip to IL but before that she had slept 3 nights in a row through the night.  We will see if that continues now.  If not, I am ready to start cutting her off from the night feedings.

 

She is back to eating solids well and has about 3 ounces, 3 times a day.  She still prefers fruits but is getting better with veggies, especially sweeter ones like sweet potatos and carrots.  She eats at least a little prunes each day to help her from getting constipated.  She has started eating pick-up foods as well cuh as cut up fruits and veggies and little puffs.

 

She still takes 3 naps a day.  They are 9-10/11, 12:45-2:30, 4:30-5:30.

 

She loves her Mommy and I love her back!  When we are with a group of people, she prefers to stick with me.

 

She is a total trooper in dealing with all of the attention she gets from Elsie and another girl from daycare.  They love her but can get kind of rough.

 

She has started to make pull-to-stand motions but hasn't done it yet.  Also starting to mimic waving bye to people.

And her stats from her 9 month appointment were...
Weight = 16 pounds 14 ounces (25%), Length = 27 inches (25%), Head Circumfrence = 17.5 Inches (75%)