17 months old

We start out today's entry with a photo for Duncan. He remarked that we don't put photos up of Cora looking anything other than sweet and nice, so here she is reacting to having her teeth brushed. (Never mind the hat, it hasn't been cold by any means but she found it and thought it was funny to wear it.)
Speaking of teeth, at 17 months old Wednesday, Cora still has six teeth in the front (three on top, three on bottom), and two molars on one side and two more coming in on the other side. I've been giving Cora homeopathic teething tablets at night to help her sleep, as she's had a few restless nights lately.
The second photo shows the result of Cora feeding herself applesauce. It was a little too runny for her to control on the spoon, and I didn't notice until she had multiple spoonfuls piling up on her chest. She continues to demand to feed herself, sometimes to her own detriment. Twice lately, she's turned down ice cream/frozen yogurt, because it was offered to her already on the spoon.
The next two photos are from a recent trip to the park. Cora loves the park. She loves playing on the slides and swings, climbing up onto play structures, and just wandering around.
She also likes trying to put on her shoes, or my shoes, or Stace's shoes. It's pretty cute watching her walk around with a big shoe on her foot. She still loves playing with Somer, and Somer really loves playing with Cora. It gets a bit rough sometimes, with Cora stepping on the cat, falling onto the cat, and hugging the cat tightly while giving her lots of kisses. I sometimes try to encourage Somer to escape to the couch, but she jumps back down to join Cora on the floor.
Cora also loves roughhousing with her daddy. They often play together on the floor while I finish making dinner, or wash the dishes. Cora will climb onto Stace's back while he's on all fours.
At night, Stace brushes Cora's teeth and reads her a story before bed. Hopefully this new nighttime routine will help when I wean Cora from nursing; for now she nurses upon waking in the morning and before bed, before Daddy does the final stories. Lately, he tells me that when he finishes reading to her, she points to her crib to show she is ready to go to bed. She had a few weeks recently where she cried after I put her to bed, but lately she is back to going to bed well.
Cora is saying more words now. I can make out "walk," "water," "dirty," "all done," and "milk," along with "more," "uh oh," "mama," "dada," "doggy," and "No." That last word has become a favorite, as every parent of a toddler comes to discover. She uses it often, and often when she doesn't mean it. Stace got Cora out of her crib this afternoon after a nap, and asked if she wanted to get out. She had her arms upraised, while answering "no." We're trying to teach her "yes" but so far, she doesn't have that one down.
The final photo is from Stroller Strides today. After class we take the toddlers out of the strollers, so they can wander around and play while we finish stretching. Today, Cora ended up wandering pretty far down the sidewalk. I called to her, and she laughed and kept going. Our instructor laughed too, and yelled out, "Bye, Cora!" Cora turned again and waved "bye bye" to us, then kept going. It was very funny, especially since Cora still isn't consistent with waving hello and good-bye at the appropriate times.