Missing my Baby

A week ago I was in Atlanta on business for a few days. It was the first time I'd ever been away from my baby overnight. I tried to tell myself to enjoy the time away. The lure of a full night's sleep should have been enough. But I missed my Cooper terribly. I was only gone two nights, but it seemed like forever. The first night I hardly slept a wink; tossed and turned all night. Stupid hotel mattress. That's my excuse any way.

I called Nate the next morning to see how the night went. Just before bed time (I'd been gone 5 hrs.), Cooper seemed to realize I was gone, and crawled from room to room in the house calling out, "Mama! Mama!" He crawled to the kitchen, to the master bathroom, all my usual hang outs in the house (note that he didn't look for me on the couch). ;) When I wasn't there, he sat down and cried.

Nate told me that, and I started bawling and said, "That's it! I'm coming home." He assured me Cooper was happy the next morning as usual and they were enjoying their father and son bonding time.

I barely made it through to Tuesday and drove home so fast that I made the 4-1/2 hr drive only 3-1/2 hours. I figured if I got pulled over for speeding, I'd tell the officer that I'd been away from my baby for 72 hours, and was desperate to get home before his bed time.

When I walked in the door and said, "Hey Booboo!" the grin on his face was priceless. He was eating dinner, but I picked him up from the high chair, messy hands and face and all, and gave him a big hug and kiss. He hugged me so tight and kept pulling his head back to look at my face, and then hugged me again.

Do you ever get to the point when leaving your kids is easy?

A Visit to Historic Latta Plantation

I am making a list of all the things I want to do/visit while living in Charlotte. Historic Latta Plantation was on the top of my list since it is close to home, and I love historical sites and such.

We started out the day with a picnic, which really turned into a fight to keep the giant-sized ants from over-taking us. They were all over the place, even on the stroller! Yuck! We ate fast, and got out of there. Looking back, I should have taken a picture. I've never seen black ants that big in my life!

Latta Plantation is a living plantation where they have tours, barnyard animals, gardens, and such. It sounded so cool, and I had in my mind Boone Hall, the plantation we visited in SC when I was 12, which has the long driveway with the mossy oak trees; a stereotype of the Antebellum period plantations. Latta Plantation was quite different from that, so it was a bit of a letdown at the time we went, but looking back, it's pretty amazing for what it is. The house was built in 1800, so it was quite exquisite for it's time. This is a view of the front of the house where the front door is.

The day we went they happened to have gold panning with sand/dirt from Reed's gold mine. For $2 we got to try our hand at one pan of dirt. I was hoping to strike it rich, but got nothing. After sifting through the bowl of dirt for what seemed like forever, searching for the ever tiniest spec of gold, I decided that I was not patient enough to be a gold prospector. Won't be quitting my desk job just yet.
Liz and Ellie tried to get rich too. No luck.

Chelsey got a little lucky. She found a small red garnet in her gold pan and got to bring it home. Not bad for a $2 investment. Well, maybe she broke even. ;o)

The house had a couple of slaves quarters to tour. The original plantation had 34 slaves. More on that later. Here's Chelsey and Cooper in front of one of the slave cabins.
We stopped to take a picture of Ellie at the water well, and just as she was smiling for the camera, this sheep started bleating. It scared her to death, which made us adults laugh. Cooper wasn't sure what to think, but it was the first time he'd seen live barnyard animals. He also saw chickens and a mule.

Coop was so hot and sweaty, but still smilin'!

After our hot plantation visit, we went and got slushies at the gas station and ate them at a park near home. Coop was being so cute with Ellie and Chelsey. Had to snap a picture. Chelsey babysits Ellie and Cooper.

More on my feelings about the plantation. There was a museum on site that listed each slave by name and their estimated value. There were also letters from the plantation owner to other plantation owners regarding the buying/selling of slaves. It was a very sobering tour. As I looked at the slave cabins, I wondered how on earth they survived in such conditions. Having my baby with me, I wondered how the women bore children, and how they raised babies on dirt floors. The most sobering was seeing a price of $400 or $100 next to a person's name. I nearly cried reading through some of the information. What a debasing practice slavery was. It sickens me to think of the suffering and humiliation borne by slaves on these plantations, and I almost felt silly touring it. But at the same time, it is one of those things that must be remembered so it is not repeated by future generations. I am so thankful to live in this time when human rights are for ALL humans.

The Saturday we went, it must have been in the upper 90s, nothing like sweltering, muggy, Southern summer weather to drive home the point that I live in the South, and to remind me how thankful I am for air conditioning, flooring in homes, kitchen appliances, the list goes on and on. As sweat dripped down my forehead and back, I couldn't imagine working in the kitchen house with a hot stove or fire all day! Guess I won't complain so much next time I pop something in the microwave for dinner.

4th of July

4th of July this year was loads of fun. HOT, but fun.

Saturday the 3rd we went to South Park to watch the Charlotte Pops Symphony give a special 4th of July concert, and then a fireworks show afterward. Coop was very excited about the occasion, and very patriotic in his red, white and blue, eating his flag.

We hung out on our blankets on the hillside for a few hours, sliding down the steep hill on our blankets, trying to prevent Coop from log-rolling down every time he crawled.

I love this picture of me and Nate.

We went to the celebration with my brother, Bryt, sister-in law Liz, neice Ellie and sister Chelsey. Bryt and Liz were enjoying the steep hillside and heat as well.

Bryt got Cooper giggling really hard bouncing him up and down.
It made Bryt giggle just as hard.

Here I am trying to entertain Ellie while Nate took Cooper for a walk to see the pond and ducks. Ellie was very interested in Cooper's book about a cricket. Funny thing, later that night an actual cricket jumped across our blanket, and scared Ellie until she realized it was the same as in the book. Then she decided it might be ok. Maybe. But it was still icky.

Ok--so we were getting a little bored with the "prelude" music until the actual symphony started playing. Ellie and Chelsey tried hard to keep themselves entertained.

Coop is not so sure he's having a fun time. But he did.
Just before dusk, the Pops Symphony started the official concert. It was fun, and Coop got ready for bed in his 4th of July-worthy pjs. He was such a good trooper for the night, and finally fell asleep just before the concert was over. It was very humid and he was sweating and having trouble sleeping, so when the fireworks started, he woke up right away and was fascinated by also slightly annoyed at all the noise. His face was full of amazement at watching the fireworks. It was priceless. The poor little guy was completely tuckered out as soon as we got to the car.

We had so much fun!

Where's Waldo, I mean, Cooper?

Can you find Cooper in his favorite play spot in Momma and Dad's closet?

9 Months

Cooper - 9 months old

Doesn't he look so grown up? I took this picture last Sunday, and couldn't believe how big he looked. Coop turned 9 months old a week ago today. My how time flies. Cooper has grown up so much in the last month. Here are some of the things he's done in the last month. [Sorry this is such a long post, but there are so many things I don't want to forget about him at this age, so good for you if you make it all the way to the end.]

• First words - I was delighted when Cooper started saying "Mama" consistently. Ok, he doesn't quite say it like that. His version of "Mama" is "Mmmmmmmmmmmmah" or sometimes just "Mmmmmmm, Mmmmmmm." It melts my heart to hear him call for me. The other morning I had just finished feeding him. He always give me a big smile when he's done nursing. This particular time, he pulled himself up, said "Ohhhh. Mmmmmmmuh," then took my face in his hands and gave me a big slobbery "kiss." Then he pulled back, smiled, and clapped "yay." It was the sweetest thing ever. What a kid.
• Coop has also learned Dada, and baba (bottle). He seems to comprehend much more when we speak to him too, at least simple things like bath, snuggle (blanket), and splash (which he loves to do in the bath).
• Cooper has develolped a love for all things he can bang together. When he finds two objects he can bang together, he bangs 'til his heart's content, and smiles his snaggle tooth grin.
• Speaking of teeth, tooth #8 finally made its debut. The bugger took SO long to break through, and was so hard on Coop. I think it was his worst so far. Now it seems he's getting ready to get a few more as the drool, chewing, stuffy nose, watery eyes, etc. have all returned with a vengance. It seems hard to tell where one teething episode ends and another begins. Cooper is a great baby in many aspects, but teething is not one of them.
• Cooper has discovered he can feed himself. His favorite food are these little "Cheetos" type things made by Gerber. They're pretty much rice puffs that dissolve easily. Coop LOVES the Garden Tomato flavor. He eats them by the handfuls, albeit not many make it to his mouth yet.
• Along those same lines, Cooper has finally learned how to use a sippy cup. Up until now to drink anything but formula, Coop refused to use anything but a real cup. He was pretty good at it, but it had to be held for him. Now he gets excited to use his sippy cup and has started "asking" for drinks when I'm feeding him.
• Cooper continues to be fearless and adventureous, which are not necessarily a good combination. Last night he got his first "swell out of his head" goose egg. It scared me to death because he hit the back of his head, and the side as well. The goose egg was on the side. Nate reminded me that is probably the beginning of injuries with this little fearless guy. I dread the future trips to the ER, broken arms, etc.
• Cooper is getting closer to walking. Part of his fearlessness is just letting go of things when he's hanging on to walk around. He's getting brave and letting go to play with something, or to get from one thing to another that he can't quite reach. He's also starting to try to stand up in the middle of the floor without holding on to anything. The most fun thing is walking him back and forth between two people and letting go. His record is four quick unaided steps. There have been a couple times where he's been standing looking at something and I'll let go of him, and he'll stay standing until he realizes I've let go, at which time he'll promptly plop down on his bottom. The record standing alone like that is about 10 seconds, which seemed a lot longer than it actually was.
• Cooper has also learned to clap with his hands open instead of with fists. When he does something he likes or that he thinks was a good thing, he'll stop and clap "yay" and then look to see if I'm looking, and give me a toothy grin, and then he'll clap some more. He loves to play pat-a-cake, and really gets giggling if you do it super speedy.
• Cooper has developed quite a sense of humor. He will giggle uncontrollably at the weirdest things. Recently he giggles every time I make funny faces. We play a game where I close my eyes and go expressionless. Then I'll pop my eyes open suddenly and pull a silly face. This gets him giggling every time.
• Cooper LOVES to read books. He'll even go get a book and then crawl to sit on my lap. Sometimes he'll listen to the story, most times not. What he's really interested in is turning the page. He loves to turn the page, and even seems to know what, "Ok, turn the page," means. His favorite books are Beddy Bye Goodnight and I Love You Through and Through. He also likes the Slient Cricket book by Eric Carle because when you open the last page, it makes a cricket chirping sound. He'll do it over and over.
• Cooper continues to love to sing. In the last month or so he's started singing to himself when he's really tired and having a hard time falling asleep. His singing is more like single-tone humming or moaning, but it's cute. Sometimes when he does that, I'll try to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, which he loves, and he'll get mad and then start singing to himself again. That cracks me up. The other bedtime song he loves the most is Stay Awake from Mary Poppins. He still loves singing Do as I'm Doing and Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree.

Cooper continues to be a great baby. Everywhere we go, people always comment on how happy and friendly he is. He smiles a lot, and hardly fusses unless something is wrong or he needs something. The one area that could be improved is his nighttime sleeping. He wakes up sometimes several times a night and wants to eat, or wants to be held. I swear letting him cry it out just makes him more clingy for the next few days. That is my downfall with him. He used to sleep through the night until teething really got bad, and then that threw a wrench in it. But with such a great kid, I can't really complain too much.

Cooper loves having his cousin, Ellie, around every day (they play together or get babysat together), and I am so happy that he's taken so well to my sister, Chelsey, who moved out here to nanny for us. He loves her, and the other day when I said, "Cooper! Want to go find Chelsey?" He said, "Cee?" I swear he was saying her name.

Which reminds me, the other day Nathan said OK to something, and Cooper said it back. He really is getting to be rather vocal. The other night he was being so loud, playing with his toys and walking/crawling around stuff. He was squealing and squawking, and saying all sorts of gibber-jabber, as usual, but REALLY loudly. Nathan and I could hardly talk over him. Nate stopped and said, "Yeah, Coop. That's your problem; you're not verbal enough." So funny.

Ok. That's enough about my adorable little boy who is the highlight of my life. I love you, Coopsta!