9 Months!

There are no words to even describe my love for this little girl. Having a daughter is such a special thing, and I am so blessed to get to experience it! She takes my breath away and charms me every second of the day with her beautiful spirit and joyful personality. We all are so in love with her! We all can't resist her chubby cheeks and big blue eyes. She is smothered in kisses all day long by Eli and I (which is probably why we are all sharing illnesses ha ha). Eli calls her "Baby Judson" or "Bora". He is just as enamored as the rest of us! Her whole goal in life is to copy whatever we do or say. Exploration is her daily activity of choice! At 9 months Cora is:

1. Saying: Mama, Dada, Nana, More, Poop, Peek-a-boo, Bye-Bye, and Bath

2. Walking (can go clear across the room on her own and from furniture to furniture)

3. Crawling: She crawls with one leg under her in a kind of scoot

4. Throwing fits: She will get mad if you take a toy away from her or something she's not supposed to have. She also gets upset now if Eli wrongs her in some way, whether it's stealing a toy or accidentally bumping her or hurting her. She will yell, growl, or cry. She is VERY sensitive and gets her feelings hurt very easily.

5. Responding to "no": She already knows what it means and will give me this look when I say it.

6. Eating finger foods herself: She is moving beyond baby food now and eating chunkier things as well as small table foods such as bread, chicken, puffs, cheerios, pears, peaches, etc.

7. Wearing 9 month, 12 month, and 12-18 month clothes

8. Waving: She will wave and say "bye-bye", it is the cutest thing ever! It's a hand closing kind of wave

9. Loving playing in the sandbox and outside with her brother messing around with the grass, leaves, sticks, etc.

10. Doing this snorting/sniffing thing. She scrunches up her face really tight and sniffs just like my brother did when he was a baby. It always gets a laugh out of us.

11. Signing "more" when she wants more food, snack, or song/game

12. Sharing: She loves to share whatever she is chewing on or playing with and will shove it in my mouth face for me to try too :-)

13. Turning book pages and enjoying reading all of Eli's old books

14. Pulling up on EVERYTHING and cruising. I purposely put her in the middle of the room with toys and she will crawl as fast as she can to any near stairs or whatever she can get her hands on and pull up and take off walking. It is dangerous because of our wood/tile floors. I always spot her if she's walking, but a few times she's caught me off guard!

15. Doing the whole "indian yell" with her mouth

16. Called many names such as: Cora Bell, Cora Bella, Cora Ellie, Cora Eleanor, Cora Lou, Cora Dora, Bora by Eli, Mini Brandon, Little Observer

17. Still oozing with sweetness, kisses, hugs, and snuggles for us all!