14 Months!

Another month has passed by, and Cora is growing and changing daily! Oh, what a character! I feel like she just blossoms more and more as she gets older. As a baby, she was so shy and quiet and cried when people tried to talk to her (which led me to believe we might have issues with shyness etc. when she was older). Now, she is overly friendly and yells, "Hi there" or "Hi ya'll" and "Bye Bye ya'll" waving to everyone she sees in the store. I am so proud of her and enjoy her so much! At 14 months:

1. She has a hitting issue. Early on this month, she was hitting like crazy (even kids in the nursery) and I had to put her in time out a couple of times (where she sat completely still with her lip quivering then would get up and go say, "Sorry!") Now at the end of the month, it is a LOT better. She rarely hits and most of the time she hits the ground when she's mad instead of us or other people. She does throw fits when she doesn't get her way (especially while she's cutting a tooth) and will throw her head back, kick her legs, go dead weight, hit one of her toys, or throw her cup. It is hilarious, and it is really difficult to keep from laughing at her. There have been several times where Eli just burst out laughing at the absurdity of it.

2. She loves art. She loves coloring with crayons, chalk, markers, pencils, paint etc. I let the kids use fabric markers and decorate shirts and they LOVED it. I also let Cora do fingerpainting for the first time recently and she thought it was great!

3. She got her toenails painted for the first time to match mine! Now that it has worn off, Eli keeps telling me that she needs hers painted again!

4. She is talking like crazy! New words and sayings include: "Bye bye ya'll", "Hi ya'll", "Hi there", "Mess", "Box", "Book", "Amen", "Blake", "Brittnie", "Mimi", "Lance", "Found ya", "Night night", "Poppers", "Shoes", "Jellies", "Excuse me", "Thank you", "Nasty", "Bouncy bridge", "Car", "Help please", and "Help me"

5. She pats my back when I'm rocking her, as well as the backs of her dolls and stuffed animals. She also pats your back when you give her a hug. I think it is one of my favorite things about her! It is just precious!

6. She and Eli are fighting more. Now that she is capable of stealing his toys etc. there is a lot more fighting than there used to be. If Eli takes something from her, she will take a swing at him. In the car, they will purposely try to annoy each other by reaching their arms and legs out towards the other person. On the flip side, they love one another deeply! They are best buddies and are very affectionate towards each other. Eli is a wonderful big brother and tries to help her and explain things to her when she gets upset about something. It is adorable!

7. She still loves all things girly! She loves playing with dolls and barbies (she makes them lay down and go "night night" and waves at them, as well as showers them with affection). She loves purses, hair clips, dresses, and shoes! She LOVES showing off new shoes and especially her beloved jellies. She asks to put them on all the time. She loves showing off her pretty clothes to Daddy too!

8. She loves all the parks, going for walks, swinging, and especially slides. She also loves playing "store" and "kitchen" with Eli. She has warmed up to swimming and loves playing in any type of fountain. Her favorite thing to do in the pool is to climb in and out of the water on the side and jump in with my help.

9. She is still a mover and a groover when it comes to music! She even manages to dance while eating in her high chair! Her favorite song right now is "Keep Your Head Up" by Andy Grammer and she still loves Adele and Justin Bieber.

10. Her hair is growing so much she is getting a curly mullet at the back! I am thrilled, even if she does have a mullet :-)! The back was curling so much the other day that she actually had a tangle. MY BALD BABY HAD A TANGLE! YAY! I never leave the house without a clip or bow in her hair...it is so much fun! The entire back of her hair flips out identical to the way Brandon's did as a baby. She looks JUST like him. She looks a lot like Brandon's dad's baby picture too!

11. She is now the queen of funny faces. If you ask her to make a "funny face" she will give you the cutest little glare (which I secretly refer to as her bitch glare), which she thinks is hilarious. She is always doing some funny face trying to get us to laugh. She does this thing where she clenches her fists and jaw and shakes. It always gets a laugh. She also loves to copy funny sounds, tongue clicking, etc. She loves animals too, so she is always yelling "PUPPY!" or making animal sounds. She loves attention and will find a way to get it. Reminds me of how I was as a kid!

P.S.-The black and white photo is Brandon's dad and the other two older looking photos are Brandon as a baby.