Cora - One Year Old

Our little Cora turned one this week. She is very quickly exiting the baby phase and entering the toddler phase. She's talking lots, taking a few solo steps, nursing less and less, sleeping through the night, and occasionally throwing tantrums. It's awesome to watch her grow up, uncovering who she is.

Here are a few things that I absolutely love about Cora these days.

The way she finally, consistently sleeps all the way through the night. 8pm to 7am. Though, I think there's still a 50/50 chance that she'll revert to waking up pre-6am again. We'll see.

Her love of the outdoors -- trees, birds, sky, wind.

The way she makes a beeline for me or Michael, crawling as fast as she can when she hasn't seen us for a while.

The way she'll occasionally take a couple of solo steps without even realizing she's doing it. Then, we'll try to get her to do it again and she refuses.

The way Cora holds a plum in both hands as if she is gripping a basketball and then chews it, sucks it, and shreds off the skin with gusto.

The way she goes down for naps and bedtime with lots of snuggling and no crying... finally.

How tiny she is. She still fits into her six month clothing.

How expressive her face it. When Cora begins to be upset, you can see her emotions spiral down. Trembling chin, pouty lip, furrowed brow, then two big tears. Or when she sees someone she likes, she makes a perfect flirty face, big eyes, coy smile, and all.

Her talking. She says little words all day long and many days surprises us with a new one.

Her dancing and instrument playing. She loves swaying and bouncing to music. She loves hitting drums, shaking shakers, and blowing into flutes.

Her hugs. When I'm holding her, all I have to say is, "Can I have a hug?" and she tucks her head into me and wraps her little arms as far as she can around me.

~

And so ends the first year of Cora's life. When each of my daughters was born, I wrote about them every couple of months in this space. An online baby book I suppose. Now that she's one, I'll write about her less frequently (as I do with Grace) and just enjoy and go slightly crazy having two toddlers in the house.