I just heard Cora laugh for the first time. Andy claims he heard it this past Tuesday but I wasn’t completely convinced. I spent most of my week trying to get her to laugh only to get big smiles. A few minutes ago Andy, Cora, Chase and I were all laying on the bed together playing with Cora. I was using a stuffed monkey to tickle her face and out of no where her smile broke into a small giggle. I instantly dropped the monkey and covered my mouth as a tear came to my eye. I heard it and it is the sweetest sound I’ve heard. Andy just smiled at me and said, “see.”

According to babycenter.com at three months Cora  is officially an infant  and no longer a newborn baby. Even though I hate to admit how fast she is changing she doesn’t resemble a newborn anymore. She now has a fuller face, rolls on her arms and legs, and is much more observant .  She has really started to show us some glimpses of her personality now that she is becoming more interactive. For some reason the word “interactive” makes me feel like I’m referring to website or a video game. Anyway, she started “talking” around two months and has been working hard on perfecting her cooing sounds. She will look right at us and make all kinds of vowel sounds (ah, eww, eee) and then wait for us to say something. It is almost as if she thinks we are  having a conversation. Just in the last few weeks she has gone from staring at her hands to trying to get them in her mouth as often as possible. She prefers having 3 fingers in her mouth at a time but will settle for one if she can’t get the others to cooperate. She is still full of smiles and loves when people talk to her. Andy and I joke that sometimes she gets so excited and so happy that it seems that when she smiles the smile is exploding on her face. Last night, at bible study Andy took Cora with him and the guys so I could enjoy some free time with the girls. While he was changing her diaper he claims she LAUGHED for the first time. He said that it was a classic little giggle and he claims he yelled for me to come see her but I couldn’t hear him. Now I am a little hesitant to believe this, mainly because I’m jealous that I missed it, but she has been making some significant attempts at laughing lately.  So, according to Andy, Cora shared her first true giggle on her three month birthday. I’ll believe it when I hear it.

First, I should say that the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love the freedom we have in our great country, fireworks, summer, picnics, family and everything 4th of July. With that said we  had a fun filled weekend with a lot of firsts for Cora; first baseball game, first touch of sand,  first time in a hotel, and first firework show . We kicked the weekend off with our traditional Sarasota Reds baseball game Thursday night. We enjoyed hanging out with good friends and watching another loss for the Reds. Cora was so into the game that she fell asleep about an hour after we got there.  We  then joined my family at Clearwater beach for the weekend. I really enjoyed spending some time out on Ryan’s boat and it was nice to get some sun. Andy has informed me that I’ve been a little “white” compared to my normal color. Hunter and I made up a great 4th of July song and proceeded to sing it off pitch and loud as we strolled down the busy sidewalk. We decided to stay on shore for the fireworks so we could be with Cora and my parents. We were far enough away from the fireworks that the noise wasn’t too bad and didn’t seem to bother Cora at all. She actually stared off into the sky and was mesmerized by the array of color. Ryan and his family watched the show from their boat and ended up getting lost after having to take a detour from the boat ramp. The detour ended up in a bad part of Clearwater at midnight and Ryan had some problems with the boat trailer. That made the evening even more eventful. Luckily, they made it back to the hotel OK and we were able to hang out on the beach for a few hours on Sunday. I was really concerned that Cora would be in the sun and went to great lengths to keep her protected. She was in a long sleeve onsie under a few layers of shade with a fan for most the day. We did take her out early Sunday morning so she could sport her new bikini and touch the gulf for the first time. She seemed to like the sand and was concentrating on how she  could get a handful of it in her mouth. Happy 4th everyone!

I had a dentist appointment today and Molly, a friend from church whose been excited to baby-sit, watched Cora at her house for a few hours. It was the first time I’d left her with someone other than Andy or my mom. We are so blessed to have such a great community of friends like Molly. It was a little strange but I wasn’t nervous at all. Thanks Molly! Next thing I know Cora will be running out the door for kindergarten!