Cora - Month Five and Six

Oh my goodness. Life has been absolutely crazy! Crazier than I can ever remember. I'm swamped at work, Nick is swamped at work plus taking two summer classes for school, all of our weekends are booked for months, both kids are growing up so fast... it's just been so chaotic. I haven't even looked at my blog in forever. My sweet girl will just have a combo post for months five and six. OMG, 6 months already?!?! Slow down, time! And just as I'm about to post this combo update, another week three weeks goes by.... Sheesh. I feel like I'll never catch up...

Cora at 6 months.....

• Oh, my happy girl! She really is just like her pictures; happy, happy, happy! And there is nothing that makes me more proud than to see that my kids are happy. She has the best smile and loves to giggle. She is very ticklish under her neck so it's my favorite place to kiss :)

• She started at the Montessori school with her brother on June 22nd. And the two weeks prior to that, she went to work with me! She did so well. But she is loving her teachers and spending time with all the babies in her room. Everything there is going great and she even gets to visit with her brother during the day. She does not sleep much at school. Usually only one nap, for an hour to an hour and a half. But she tends to sleep better at night when she has less naps, so that's fine with me!

Video of her pulling to stand:

• At her 6 month appointment (July 24th), she weighed 16.8 1/2 lbs (55%), was 25 1/2 inches long (25%) and her head measured 42 1/2 cm (60%). She is wearing 6 - 12 month and 9 month clothing and has been in a size 3 diaper for a while now. Breastfeeding is still going great, but I am not getting enough from pumping at work for all her bottles at school. They have formula there to supplement as needed. At first, I was freaking out about it but then I realized that it is what it is. Because of how crazy my work schedule has been, plus getting stuck in meetings where I can't pump, I just didn't have a lot of choice. I would be sacrificing sleep and time with my kids to add in pump sessions where I could and it wasn't worth it to me. Especially when she is getting A LOT of breast milk as it is. Good news is no more colicky episodes! Her digestion system seems to be sorted out now. She has also started on purees and table foods. 

• Sleep varies. She is in her crib now in her own room. Just this week, she gave me 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep from 9:00 pm to 7:30 am! Yay! It's unpredictable right now. Sometimes she wants to nurse and other times she just needs her pacifier and she falls back to sleep. Speaking of the pacifier, we only use it for sleeping and I prefer it that way.

• She is still super strong and her teachers are very impressed with her abilities and determination!  She is crawling everywhere now. She is also sitting up on her own. Just this week, she is starting to pull herself up onto things. Already!!!! I feel like she is going to be walking so much earlier than G did. She holds and swings her toys around. Everything goes into her mouth right now. Her two bottom center teeth are all the way through and I see some swelling in her upper gums so I think those are next. She is very vocal and screeches and "talks" and babbles all the time. Her hair is growing in more. I can't wait until it gets longer and people stop saying "he", despite the purple and florals I always put her in, ha!

• She loves her brother. He always makes her smile and laugh. He has been amazing as a big brother too. He really loves her, enjoys giving her kisses and is always saying "it's okay" when she cries. It melts my heart. Of course he also takes toys from her sometimes, but overall it's good. I love watching their relationship grow. They have started playing together lately too. It's adorable!!!!

• She still loves the water. She kicks her legs non-stop when she takes a bath or when we go in the pool. I put her in a little laundry basket in the bath now that she wants to sit up all the time, and she loves it! She really likes being outside and it seems to put her at peace so quickly. She enjoys the swings, looking at herself in her play mirror, chomping on her teethers, watching the kitties and Apollo, peek-a-boo, patty cake, reading stories, playing with her brother with whatever he is doing, hanging out in the stroller or Tula, and Mom! She is sure all about me right now. 

We just love our sweet girl so much. She really balances our family (although I am still not 100% sure if we are complete) and I get so much joy watching her and her brother grow up together. My heart is so full and happy.