Good heavens….SEVEN! You, our precious blue-eyed beauty, are getting sweeter by the day.

The past few weeks have been filled with springtime fun, including your very first Easter. Mommy got you and Claire matching monogram shirts — and the Easter bunny was quite generous too. We had a great morning at church, followed by a special meal at Nana Kay’s.

But the highlight, Cora Katherine, was April 1 — your Dedication Day at Journey Church. We were absolutely overjoyed to have so much family in town to celebrate our commitment to raising you in a Christ-led family. We wrote out our hopes for you, and pledged to do our best to bring you up in a happy home. It seems like just yesterday that we made the same promise during Claire’s dedication — time sure is passing quickly!

Weight: 17 pounds, 6 ounces (on our home scale)
Length: We don’t go back to the doctor til you’re 9 months, but as always, you’re long and lovely!

Eating
No surprise here — you loooove food. Your favorites include pear, raspberries, broccoli, tomatoes, and bell pepper. You’ve started “chasing” frozen peas (awesome for your pincer grasp!), and we plan to add rotini and kiwi this weekend. As we learned with Claire, baby-led weaning is super messy, but it’s a hoot to watch you smile and squeal as you smash and smear your meal. Mommy and Daddy have started giving you baths in the kitchen sink (adorable!) to help keep the chaos at bay.

Nursing is still going really well, averaging about 5-10 minutes every 3-4 hours during the day. (Short, sweet, and productive — just like Claire!) My favorite part about nursing you is that you like to hold hands while you eat. Sometimes you’ll grip one whole hand around my finger, while sometimes you’ll take both hands and explore mine the whole time. It’s a sweet, comforting action, and reminds me to stay present in this fleeting time together.

Playing
The biggest change this month is that you’re now sitting unassisted. Yay, big girl! Once you learned to sit, you decided that was your preferred position…so we’re packing away the activity mat and letting you enjoy your new skill. We still surround you with pillows to help keep that sweet head from accidental boo-boos, but otherwise you’re free to play play play.

Your walker is still a big hit, too, and you’re slowly but surely starting to make it move. I don’t think you realize what you’re doing yet, so it’ll be funny when you start rolling around intentionally. You LOVE Pinot and shriek whenever you “catch” him (poor kitty!)…so Daddy and Mommy are trying to teach you to pet sweetly and softly.

Funny thing — you have zero interest in rolling, and have only flipped from tummy to back once or twice. I’ll be curious to see if you’ll try again when it’s time to crawl. Or perhaps you’ll just skip to pulling up and standing. Every baby is different, and Mommy and Daddy dig the fact that you do things your own way.

Sleeping
Speaking of doing things your way, we never know what nighttime will hold! Some nights you’ll sleep straight through til 5 a.m. (whoo hoo!), while some you’ll wake at 10 p.m. or even 2 a.m. Daddy and I have been a little slower at jumping each time you call. We’re not officially “sleep training” yet…but will head that direction in the next few months if we can’t get a full night in.

That said, you’re a rock star napper. You have a great schedule: 9:30 til 11 and again from 2 til 3:30 or 4. You’re still in your half-swaddle, and alternate between tummy and back sleeping. However you’re lying, you’ll always be sucking your middle two fingers. Too cute.

Your big sister…
…loves to snuggle you in her bed! When we wake Claire up in the morning, she always asks if you can cuddle with her. We put you side-by-side on her pillow while she oohs and aahs over you. If she’s feeling generous, she’ll even let you play with her stuffed animals.

If I could have a dollar for every time we’ve called you “best baby ever,” we’d have a fully funded college account already 😉 Cora Katherine, you’re a snuggly, smiley dream.

Hugs & kisses,
Mommy & Daddy