One-half of a birthday

There wasn't any cake, and there weren't any candles... but there were carrots!
Cora celebrated her one-half birthday in style:
A ride without her carseat in the stroller
A ride in the shopping cart infant seat at the grocery store
A taste of something beyond mommy's milk and oatmeal... CARROTS!

She is doing all of the things that she should be doing:
Babbling (a characteristic that she will continue to have, if she is like me)
Sitting without support
Standing with support
Razzing, and the occasional clucking sound (especially when mimicking Grand Poobah)
Lets out a high-pitched fuss when we take away a toy (or anything that she considers to be a toy, like her spoon, daddy's watch, mommy's necklace, a washcloth...)

And we cannot believe that it has already been half of a year.
Time has never moved more quickly.

 She has started to do this thing where she reaches up, almost habitually, and pushes her bangs over and out of her face. I guess she got it from us - we both habitually reach down and push the hair over when it hangs down on her forehead. She is at the end of the move in the picture above.

Getting ready for a run with Mommy.

 Carrots... yum? Yum!

When I laid her down, she was in the middle of the pink mat. She didn't stay there for long...
She is sitting for stretches of time now, sometimes 5 or 6 minutes straight.

Anne Brumbaugh knitted this sweater for Cora. She is so crafty!

We started giving her oatmeal 2 weeks ago. She loves it.

 The bee (in the above pic) was kind of a big deal. She had been lunging for it all week, then falling back in her seat each time that she missed.

 Landon got her ready for church. She came down wearing this gorgeous dress... paired with her lady bug shoes. Yes, they are the same colors. No, that doesn't mean that they go with this dress! I switched her into her silver MJs instead.

 And this is what was making her laugh so hard. Who wouldn't laugh at these cheesy faces?

 Beach day with Big E! I got her dressed in her cute swimsuit... Only to keep her ENTIRELY covered up the whole time. It was a little too chilly for her original beach attire.

 She came home and crashed in E's lap.

 She usually loves her mirror, but for some reason, she fussed everytime she saw it. It was as if she did not want that other baby playing with her toys!