Cora at 2 years and 4 months

I am so amazed at how much my little girl changes every day. I feel like we were just in the pediatrician's office in early February and he was asking us how many words she put together. 3 or 4, I said. The other day, I counted 8. 
"I need a tissue to wipe my nose." Enunciated in a complete sentence. 

"Nips" has changed to "Milk." "Oak" has changed to "Coat."

She remembers everything. Her little friend came over for lunch, and I offered Aniaha a choice of a blue or orange fork to eat with. Days later, I brought out the blue fork that Aniaha had used, and Cora said, "Niaha's fork." 
Whenever we drive near her pediatrician's office, she says "not go doctor."

I absolutely love how she narrates her life. "I'm running. I'm loud. Need socks. Reading my books. Look Mama's phone, want to. Play mine toys. Watch Dora and Boots on iPad." When we are just at home and quiet with no company or pressure, she talks constantly, giving Sean and I a running commentary of what she is doing and thinking. When we are just hanging out - "Mommy, I'm home! I'm home!" My favorite of late is, "I'm being shy right now," as she hugs me and buries her face in my shoulder. 

If she trips or something goes wrong in her mind, she will pause for a second and then say, "I'm OK!"

A few weeks ago she asked me if she could do something, and I said no. She proceeded to tell me, "ask Daddy," as if he would give her a different answer. 

She recognizes all of the letter of the alphabet in capitals but does not know them in order. She will point them out wherever we go. Her favorite is "W"; she gets very excited when she sees one. She can count to 13, but she usually skips 4. She counts actual items (not just saying the numbers) up to about 3. She can recognize her own name and tell you how to spell it, and she can write a C and an O.

She loves to read, so we get lots of books from the library. I limit each visit to 10 books, and she insists on reading them all before naps and at bedtime. "Read my new books!"

a month ago at Easter

first baseball game

watching Dora

my little reader

Coraisms

Coat = Oak
Moth = Mof
Possessive = Daddy's, Mommy'f, Doh-wa's (Cora's)
Book = Boobaw
Brigita = Beebaw
Walk = come play with me (as she takes your hand to lead you somewhere)
No-maw = Gramma, Dada = Grandad
Nany is said correctly, Da = Granda
No-nuh = Fiona
Out = heart
Bee = any insect that is not a mof
She likes to point out that it is dark in the evenings. Dowk! Or she says it when she covers her eyes with her hands.
Hello = Arrrouw (like Scooby Doo)
Elmo = Ah-mow
All animals are still referred to as the sounds they make, except for duck.
Blocks = Doh-wa's bok
Milk = nips
Sun = nah-nah
Slide = whee
Water = wah-wah
Minkabow = pink ball
She is now putting two words together, like "Daddy home," "pink ball," "yuk poop"
M&M's = num-num (yes they are, Little Girl)
Noodle = noo-noo

I can't believe you are 23 months old today. Where did the time go? I love you more every day.

Oh, iPhone Video, How I Love You - Part 2

I shot this video a few days after Cora had switched from saying "Dada" to saying "Daddy." I just love the way she rolls her tongue a little around that last "d" syllable. It almost sounds like a little yodel to me sometimes. She does it really well at the end of the video right before she says "Mama."

Oh, iPhone Video, How I Love You - Part 1

I'm excited to have a child in this digital age. When she is doing something cute, I can just grab my phone and catch it on video. Hopefully one day I will get organized and put some of them on DVD, so she can have them when she is older.

Silly fun with Daddy

Pigtails

I just love pigtails on little girls. They make me think of youth and innocence and how precious this time is, because I feel like there is only a limited amount of time that one can wear her hair like this. Who wears pigtails when she is older, especially the high ones?

Oh adorable pigtails, how I feel the need to capture your cuteness!

18 Months

What a wonderfully entertaining little person my Cora is. I always think I will be sad when one stage of development is over, but the next one is always so much richer and more interesting.


At 18 Months, Cora says 27 words, including "yup" or "yeah" after any sort of question that you ask her. 


For example... 
"Did you get to go outside today?"
"Yup"


"Is Brigita a naughty puppy?"
"Yup"


"Are you a big, poopy mess?"
"Yeah" [while proceeding to run away because she knows a diaper change is imminent]


The other day Sean was playing with her in the living room while I was getting ready, and she kept saying, "Momma, Momma." Sean replied to her, "What about Daddy? Is Daddy chopped liver?" And she said, "Yup!" 


She can put large puzzle pieces and all of her shape-sorter blocks in their correct places.


She especially loves to read books and point at all of the pictures while asking, "Dat?"


Whenever she wants something, she points and yells, "Mommee!!!" That has recently changed from, "Ah!" Not sure what that is about, since she calls me Momma when she is talking about me.


She took her first unassisted steps at the very end of 16 months and started really walking at 17 months. Now she runs everywhere and prefers to climb over things if she can at all help it. She really loves this monkey push toy that she got at my baby shower.


Here are some pictures, including an impromptu photo shoot we did in our pajamas.

Yes my dog is wearing a diaper... She was in heat.

15 Months

At 15 months Cora...

• says Mama, Dada, Geets, Dog, Duck, This, That, Baby.
• puts her ring stacker back together in the correct order.
• knows a few colors (will point to them when asked... when she feels like it).
• LOVES to read. She lets us read to her now and has favorite books that she gives us to read over and over. She also loves to empty out her book bin and "read" by herself
• likes to write with pens.
• puts the phone up to her ear (or her hand as if she had a phone in it) whenever you say, "hello."
• points at her nose, ears, eyes, mouth, feet, tummy and hair when asked.
• crawls REALLY fast, so walking is a little ways away still. She pulls herself up and walks along things and will walk holding our hands so far.

fun with bubbles

Brigita's obsessive craziness trying to catch them made it all the more interesting

"what?!!"

first time in pigtails

she cried while I was trying to put them in and they didn't last too long

One

At one year Cora...

...waves to everyone, especially Brigita.

...claps when we say, "Yay!"

...likes noisy toys with buttons to push. She will just continue to push the buttons over and over even if the song or whatever is not over.

...mimics us. As in if I put one of her toys on my head and then on her head, she will try to put it on her head as well.

...says Mama, Dada, Gee (for Brigita), Du (for duck), Hot, and a number of other sporadic things that she doesn't quite yet repeat. If we point out a fire in a story we are reading to her, she looks at the fireplace. If we point out a bird in a book, she will look outside. 

...puts her hand out (as in what you do when you are warming your hands) to the fire when you stand by the fireplace with her, even if there is no fire burning in it.

...laughs when others laugh during adult conversation.

..."reads" books by herself by sitting and turning pages and then gets upset if you actually take the book to read it to her for real.

...crawls around after Brigita giggling and screeching.

...plays peek-a-boo, especially when at the table with her washcloth at the end of a meal. She holds it over her eyes and waits for us to say, "Where's Cora?" Then she gives us a big smile after she puts the washcloth down and we say, "There she is!"

...has 6 teeth. The two on the bottom that she has had for months and four on top that all came in at once right around 12 months. She has a new cheesy smile that accompanied those new teeth. And she also frowns at us regularly for no reason. She is just practicing it. 

caught in a good stare (Brigita is waiting for her to throw the frisbee - even though Cora always just gives it to me to throw, Brigita brings it to her all the time anyway)

clapping