Coralie - 11 Months Old

Dear Daughter, this month I think it has really hit me how much you've grown up! You are turning a year old next month! (I prefer saying 12 months because it somehow sounds like less than one year...) You are changing from the adorable squishy little baby we loved before you were even born to the beautiful little girl you are becoming! 

Weight/Height - We'll know more at her 12 month visit, but according to our bathroom scales, she is 24 pounds! She has become quite the big girl! I've noticed when I'm holding her to nurse in particular, that she's hard to maneuver and hold into place.

Health -  The thrush Cora was fighting last month seems to have cleared up without antibiotics! Beyond that she's healthy as a horse!!

Nicknames - "Pumpkin", "Cor-Cor", "Cora Bear", "Cora Bora"

Teething - I think she is un-teething... is that even a thing??? The tiny little bit of a tooth that was poking out on her bottom gums isn't showing anymore. I'm officially worried about her lack of teeth, but not worried as in constantly thinking about it worried... more like I'll ask the Pediatrician at her 12 month well visit (... and contemplate how expensive it'll be if she has to go to the dentist since we don't have dental insurance on her).

Clothing - There are a few lingering 9 month outfits in her closet, but really for the most part she's in all 12 month clothes. Actually, her 12 month clothes are tight enough that we aren't buying anything in 12 months, all her winter stuff is in 12-18 or 18 months. I can't believe she's wearing clothes that are 18 months! :(

Diapers - size 3 disposables, but cloth at home

She was sad the soup was gone!

Eating - Nursing - She's nursing like a champ, when she turned 11 months we began the weaning process, I now (usually) only nurse in the morning and again at bed time. During the day she has whole milk or water to drink from her sippy cup. She tells me when she wants to nurse by tapping (or hitting, depending on her insistence) me on the chest. I love how well she is communicating without having words!
Beverages -See above. We finally found a sippy cup of sorts that works for us! She won't turn a traditional sippy cup up enough to drink from it. We tried some with a more straw spout since she seems to like straws but same problem then in an awesome revelation I discovered that they have actual straw sippy cups, usually for toddlers but who cares! So now she has cups she'll actually drink from = happy momma!
Solids -She eats anything and everything she can without teeth. Corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, baked potato, baked sweet potato, ahem french fries, eggs, oatmeal/malt-o-meal and bread. That's about all I can think of right now. Eating meat has been a challenge, even with tiny pieces she could just gum and swallow she'll spit out, I guess she doesn't like the texture? This has slightly improved but we won't completely wean at a year until she gets teeth and can eat more options of food simply because I figure breast milk is where she still gets a lot of her nutrients.

ZZzzzzZZZ Sleeping -Well, since we've been moving nothing about our life has been normal. I'm the only one that can get her to sleep she's usually hanging out at my Dad's house while John and I work on moving stuff I couldn't get done alone during the day so in an all out honest mom moment... for the last week or so, and probably for another few days, she hasn't gone to sleep before 11 pm each night, I let her sleep in the next morning and we've created a new version of a schedule with naps and such but I really look forward to being moved so this crazy train can stop!

Our Little Socialite -Stranger danger is still there but she doesn't flip out into tears and loud wails like she did before. She has become hit or miss about being left in nursery anywhere. She is in nursery care about 6 times a month, 4 for church and twice more for Moms Group on alternating Tuesdays. She was loudly refusing to nap at the last Moms group so I got to go pick her up from nursery early and try to keep her quiet while I had her with me through the last of Bible Study.... hopefully next class will go better.

Likes- Opening and closing drawers and cabinets, climbing... (mommy likes this one less), and she loves music! Oh and jumping, she just isn't much of a fan of her toys that jump while also restraining her.

Dislikes -Strangers, going to sleep, diaper changes, being in the car seat for too long, Mommy putting shoes on her feet.

New -This isn't new this month but I don't think I've mentioned it before; Cora knows that to get down off furniture she should go feet first. I knew this was an important lesson to reduce crashing to the ground head first but I wasn't sure how to teach it, one day I just noticed she was doing it and mentioned it to my Dad. He had been working with her on it! She'll be looking over the side of the couch, see something she wants and turn around to slide down on her feet. So proud of my smart girl!
Cora is going to walk any day now! She can waddle along side me while I hold one of her hands, and she does great when we hold both her hands and let her walk in front of us. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if one day I just looked over and she was walking, it's clearly just a matter of her wanting to - she has the ability.

Fun things we did - We took Cora to her first Texas Tech football game!! We also helped Ridge and Alexis celebrate at their wedding! (where Cora got her new fish buddy)


Goings on with Mommy & Daddy - Oh geeze, we're remodeling and doing a bunch of repairs on our fixer-uper. We move home this weekend and we are so excited! I love that Cora will have land to run wild and free on as she grows up! The house really is a fixer-uper and it's about a third of the size of the one we're renting right now, but in so many ways I can tell that we're going to be so happy there! That house and that land (that we'll eventually build our dream house on) is all about our future and building a foundation for our family!

Exciting Future- Plans are in full swing for Cora's first birthday party! I don't want her to grow up but I'm excited for the party! We're putting together Cora's room in the "new" house (well her room, and every other room...) and getting ready for the move this weekend. Oh, and Halloween! Cora is going to be a black kitty cat! Mainly because I had all the stuff for her to be a black cat in the house already, so I just whipped together a black tutu (that I already had the supplies for) and ta-da a costume!