The 7 month update

Cora (7 months) 

We are all in love with Cora-bell, also known as Cora-ba-dorable, Cora-Bora, and Cora-da-belle. 

My absolute favorite thing is to watch Jack and Cora interact.  With very few exceptions, these are sweet and loving. They both light up when they see each other. She's started playing in the "doll house" recently which just tickles them both. She loves all the toys and he is always wanting her to be a part of his imagination games (fire fighter responding to duty, conductor leading band, playing train, etc.)

I also love watching Jacob interact with Cora first thing in the morning.  We've had a few weeks of rough nights where she's waking 3-5x. Usually she just needs her paci back, but it involves us waking up fully since she's in her own room.  She also has had a run of nights where she was up for good between 4:30/5:30. Yet no matter how rough the night, Jacob is always so happy to see her in the morning. She can do no wrong in his eyes. I think it's the constant smile!

She continues to be such a happy baby, thought maybe a bit less "easy" because of the night wakings and a little difficulty getting her down for naps. She also seems to be teething, though she still just has two bottom teeth showing.

She eats 3 meals most days and seems to be swallowing more. Loves cucumbers, apples, pears, bread, pasta, sweet potato, butternut squash, cheese, and loves her sippy cup.

She sits up great now. This is such an awesome phase!! I remember this with Jack. The pre-crawling, but happy to sit and play and watch phase.

Her usual schedule now is: up early, early morning nap (8/8:30), long afternoon nap (1:30-4:30ish), and ready for bed by 7. She has had some nights where she doesn't nurse between 7pm and morning but then other times demands a 4:30am feeding.

Jack (3 yrs 1 month)

His memory impresses us. There was his Twas the Night Before Christmas reciting and he also has some of his other books memorized.

He's still a voracious reader. We probably read him 5-10 books a day depending on our mood and he flips through another 10-20.

He naps 50% of the time and is good about having quiet time.

The fire truck obsession continues. His latest game is to act out when the fire department came to our house on New Years Day thanks to my mom cooking pancakes and setting off the fire alarm. The fireman that came to the door was the same fireman that came to Jack's party and who we later saw at the firehouse when we dropped off thank you cookies. It was funny to be re-meeting him in our pajamas, but Jack was thrilled. We sent the firemen home with pancakes, so it seemed that everyone left happy. Now Jack plays this game complete with me giving him pancakes after he responds to the "call."

The time together over the holidays has made us all feel closer.  Jack continues to love his momma A LOT, but he's had some special time with Jacob too. We can tell he is processing no longer being a baby - sometimes he's happy to be the big boy but other times he wants us to pick him up and he uses baby talk.  

When he's not baby talking, he keeps us amused with his steady stream of talking. He has picked up an impressive vocabulary from his books. Our favorites: "actually," "probably," "I'm feeling a little confused," and "You're fooling me."

He was very excited to have his old buddy Lucius join his class at Waldorf.

He started swimming lessons and Kindermusik and loves them both.

Jacob & Me

Jacob is about to have a week long intensive session of his Executive MBA program so Jack, Cora, and I are headed to SC because I didn't like the sound of being a solo parent from 7am-10pm for 7 days. He will get to focus on school and sleep soundly all week and I will get to visit friends and family and get lots of Jack and Cora help. I'll also get to see my sister for the first time since she found out she was pregnant!

In other news, we got new bedding for Christmas/my birthday! After a month of no bed, our mattress arrived.  This upgrade to a king is awesome!