Last night as I put the shirt on Coop for bed, Nathan came up the stairs and I overheard him say, "You know Coop, it's ok if you don't go to Harvard...Stanford and MIT are just as good." No pressure son, no pressure.
Our little aspiring Ivy Leaguer is the most adorable one year old I've ever seen. Ok, I'm partial. Some noteable things he's started doing in the last month:
Copy Cat - Coop is often not happy unless he's going exactly what I'm doing, or a least a Cooper-friendly version. One day I was working from home, and he was fussing at my feet. I figured he wanted my laptop, which he did, but only because he wanted to do what I was doing. I was at the kitchen table, so I put him in his high chair and gave him his own "computer," which is my wireless 10-key keyboard. He was happy to work on his computer for about 10 minutes and then decided that working from home wasn't all it is cracked up to be.
He also likes to help me with various household chores. If I'm cleaning, he wants to be by my side wiping with a cloth, vacuuming, or folding laundry. He especially loves to help me pull the lint screen out of the dryer, open/close the dryer door, and take clothes from the dryer and put them in the laundry basket for folding.
Cooper has become very affectionate/snuggly. He's always been a snuggly baby, but lately I've seen him playing with his stuffed animals more, and giving them hugs. He will latch onto a new one every few days. A few days ago it was his monkey, now it's his Snoopy dog. He's also become very attached to his "snuggle bunny," which is his security item (a stuffed animal bunny with a blanket for a body). Along the lines of affection, he also understands what I say when I tell him I want a hug or a kiss. That part I am LOVING. I can't get enough of his hugs.
Cooper is climbing. This is a handy-dandy skill he taught himself, as previously mentioned in my last post about the park. I have not encouraged him in the least, since he already gets into too many things at home. His new climbing act is to go from a sitting position on his firetruck scooter, pull his feet up under him, and stand up. He also uses his firetruck as a step stool, and last night just about figured out how to get up on top of the ottoman. Oh boy. I'm hoping to get some 1-yr old photos professionally taken before he figures out how to do that and inevitably gets more bumps and bruises on his head.
Cooper's climbing skill also comes in handy when climbing stairs. He's working on going down the stairs now. I'm trying to encourage sliding backward on his belly. He prefers facing forward, using the wall/banisters. Heart attack!! Thank goodness for safety gates so this doesn't happen unsupervised.
Coop has learned what the word "close" means. He understands when I say, "Close the door" and also understands, "No. Close the door ALL THE WAY." He likes to close it just enough so he can still get it open if he wants to. This is often the pantry door, bathroom door, and dishwasher door. The dishwasher is our never-ending battle. He can often be found turning the knob, and has started a washing cycle more than once on the dishes that were in the dry cycle. Love it.
Cooper is becoming more aware of the world around him. The other day he heard a fire truck rush by on the street. He ran to the patio door, face glued to the window, and made a siren noise. I said, "Coop! Did you hear a fire truck?" He turned around with a big grin, and then ran to his fire truck scooter and pushed the button that makes the siren noise, so proud of himself.
Cooper is also becoming VERY vocal. His gibber-jabber is so complex that it sounds like he's speaking a foreign language. His own dialect, of course. Sometimes he "speaks" to me, and thinks I know what he's saying. This always cracks me up, but I try to not laugh when he seems to be telling me something serious. Otherwise he gives me "Take me seriously, Mom!" look. His vocabulary is getting bigger, but he'll say a word once or twice, and then it may not be heard again for weeks. Some I've not heard repeated. It's like he's learning the English version, repeats it once or twice, commits it to memory, and then goes on speaking his own dialect.
Cooper's communication skills are also getting better, which is nice most of the time because he tells you what he wants. This is through some kind of signaling, whining, and "uh-uh-uh-ing." I keep telling him to use his words, and tell him the word to what he wants before I give it to him, but he insists on not repeating it. Stubborn Gus. His favorite mode of communication of late includes stomping of feet and shrill screaming/whining.
The falling asleep on his own and sleeping through the night are getting better, no thanks to anything I've done. He's just adjusting on his own, which is great. And he's getting better about letting Nathan console him/take care of him in the middle of the night, which is such a relief. Before a few weeks ago he would just scream and scream until I took over. I mean, Nathan would be doing everything right, bless his heart, and Coop would be a screaming mess. I'd walk in, pick up Coop, and he'd instantly stop crying. I didn't have to do anything but hold him. It hurt Nate's feelings so bad. We've been doing things like baths and bedtime routines more and more with the three of us, or just the two of them. It's finally getting better after a month of really trying.
One area Coop seems to lag behind a bit is feeding himself and eating solids. I think he's just lazy. He'd rather eat 3rd foods with minimal chewing than eat table foods. We've been offering more and more fruits, veggies, meats and such from the table, but he chews briefly and then spits it out, tightly purses his lips together, or sticks his tongue out in a way that allows nothing to enter his mouth. I swore I'd never have a picky eater. Time will tell, I guess, but lately it's a bit frustrating.
This last year has been amazing, and I wouldn't change any bit of it.
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