9 Months Old!

On August 24th Cora was 9 months old!

Cora is such a happy girl!  She loves to cruise around and stand up on just about everything.  I thought she might start walking but has decided to be content speed crawling.  She loves food, though has decided baby food is beyond her and will only stand for a few bites of my lovingly prepared "mush" as Wes calls it.  Finger foods are the order of the day now.  She nurses four times a day and takes two naps (when we're home).  She's still a good sleeper at night though she wakes up early to eat some mornings and sleeps in others.  She's happy to be in the stroller, in her car seat or in her little push car as long as she can see her brother and is part of the action.  She wants to touch everything Wes is playing with, much to his irritation!  Check out the pic below.  She is very verbal and makes so many sounds and I know she's taking it all in (brother's temper tantrums and all).  She has three teeth, with the top right one on it's way in.  Teething seems to bother her a just a bit and since teething NEVER bothered Wes, this will be an interesting stage for me :)  And a note about myself, I'm trying to learn more patience as this stage of a very active baby and a strong willed three year old is tough!  There is less "down" time and so many more activities to juggle.  Between the every day wife/mom/homemaker duties, trying to convince Wes that I'm not his cruise director all the time and keeping Cora from putting every little speck of dirt/food/you-name-it in her mouth keeps my day jammed packed.  They take afternoon naps at the same time most days and taking a breather for a few minutes makes all the difference!  Sometimes my to-do pile seems insurmountable, but I know these months/years go by so fast so I'm really trying to find the balance.  I love you Cora Louise and Wesley Alan, you keep me exhausted, but you make my heart full!