More Firsts

This week has been a busy one for little Cooper. About two weeks ago we noticed his two bottom teeth beginning to come in. Last Saturday he added a third, his upper left lateral. Needless to say this week was filled with lots of sleepless nights for the three of us, lots of baby motrin and orajel, and lots of low-grade fevers, crying, drool, and runny noses.

Then as if getting three teeth at once wasn't bad enough for the poor little guy, Cooper added a cold on top of it. Last Monday I caught it too, seeing as Cooper's favorite thing to do while he nurses is repeatedly grab my lips and try to get his fingers in my mouth. So all week we have been sharing a cold.

But there are still happy days, like St. Patrick's Day.

Yesterday despite our colds, we ventured out into the beautiful spring sunshine and visited the Chattahoochee Nature Preserve. After looking at some owls, the second birds of prey we looked at belonged to Cooper. At least that's what the sign said--Cooper's Hawk. He was hardly amused, but we took a picture anyway.

This afternoon, for the first time, Coop showed interest in what was in the bowl of food I was feeding him. He is a really good eater and has quickly learned how to open his mouth for the spoon and close his lips over it. He's fast becoming a pro at eating "solids." But today for the first time he was really grabbing at the bowl, and I gave in and let him explore it.

He had so much fun. I took a video, but can't get it to upload, so here he is at the end before I cleaned him up.

Cooper has been "crawling" for about a week--backwards, that is. Friday night was the first time we saw him crawl forward. Here it is two days later and he's getting pretty good at it, especially when the lure of electronics is involved.

Like, ya know?

My Dad sent me this link in an email. I may have forwarded the email to a few of you already, but I thought it worth linking to my blog. It follows along with my previous post about my obsession with punctuation.

Like, ya know?

One of my most favorite subjects

Besides Cooper I have at least one other favorite subject/pasttime. Ok--really (hopefully or maybe I'm a big dork/loser) I have more favorite subjects than these two, but if you know me well you'll understand how high on the list of favorites this one is.

CLEANING AND ORGANIZATION

Oh yes. Oh yes oh yes. I LOVE to have a clean home, a clean life, and have things very organized. Some may say that I take it to the next level when all the cans of food in my pantry have the labels facing forward. I blame that on working in a grocery store as a teen and having part of my job be pulling all the food/cans/boxes forward, rotating them on the shelf, and "facing" everthing. I could do several rows of food in an hour. The manager of the store loved that I loved to do it.

Getting off subject. Ok. So last week the ward I attended before we moved had guest speaker come to the Relief Society meeting (women's organization for our church). She spoke on organizing your home. Oh how I would have loved to have gone. I had it on my calendar and then as life would have it I just couldn't make it. Bummer.

But then my friend Megan blogged about the night on her blog. Thanks, Megan! And that is what spurred this one.

Even as a child I loved to clean and organize, but only to a certain level. I clearly recall being in the 1st grade and my mom forcing me to gather all the school papers/assignments I had kept since the beginning of kindergarten. Oh yes. I had kept every single paper. I remember my closet being filled with papers, grocery paper bags of papers and papers. My mom made me whittle down the pile to one paper bag and that's all I was allowed to keep at any given time. Then when we were moving (4th grade), she told me I could only keep one paper per year of school. What!? Those are the few papers that ended up in my scrapbook. The one from kindergarten is learning to write the letter "m," tracing lines and all. My memory fails as to why I picked that one.

That was my first major lesson in organization that I can remember. I do also remember the playroom rule that we were only allowed to have one toy out at a time. For instance, if I was playing dolls, then the puzzle I had played with 5 minutes before had to be put away. I don't think it always worked because I remember very well cleaning up that playroom time and time again. But I do remember the rule and trying to enforce it when my friends came over, and especially when my little brother was in the room. I loved to boss others into organization.

So skip ahead about 25 years and here we are today. I love to clean. Cleaning is very therapeutic to me. I secretly love it when Nathan goes out of town because I know I can clean and the house will stay my level of clean for a few days. One of the hardest things about adjusting to marriage was accepting or coming to a compromise on the level of cleanliness our home would have on a day-to-day basis. Over time I have become more lax about the clutter, especially now with the baby's toys strewn across the floor all the time, but it has been really hard for me. When my house is a wreck it stresses me out.

On the weekends I spend a good part of my Saturday cleaning. Part of this comes from growing up and spending every Saturday going a list of chores indoors and out. But part of it also comes from the fact that cleaning my house is my way of de-stressing from the week. There is something so satisfying to me about looking at my house around noon on Saturday and seeing things so clean, organized, and feeling fresh. Yard work is the same way for me and I can't wait for warmer weather.

I have become lax over time as well. My closet is no longer sorted by type of clothing, or by color. My shoes are in disarray on the closet floor, not arranged neatly by type and color. The tupperware/rubbermaid cabinet in my kitchen is a mess of bowls, containers and random lids. Yes, some things just aren't worth my time any more. But cleanliness will never be ok for me to skimp on. If you ever see something in my home not clean or dusted, like my disgusting carpet that has fallen victim to pets, baby spitup, and whatever my husband drags in on his shoes...know that its stressing me out in the back of my mind.

Keeping unnecessary things is another matter entirely. Nathan has rubbed off on me here. I am one for nostalgia and walking down memory lane. I used to have boxes and boxes of stuff from my teenage years and such. After moving so many times in the last 10 years, my personal memorabilia has been whittled down to a much more manageable size. Watching a lot of "Clean Sweep" on TLC rubbed off on me too. Now if I haven't used something for more than a year it's up for eligibility to be thrown out or given to charity. Sometimes I even go too far and end up throwing things out and later regret it when I have to re-buy it. Every time we move I get hounded by Nathan for the amount of kitchen gadgets/cookware we have. But everything I have I can safely say I've used in the last year. So when we move this next time, there may be another stack of stuff to throw out or give away, but it is getting smaller every time.

Things I no longer keep: dried flowers (I used to have dozens of dried boquets); greeting cards (except a very select few with special notes or such); more than 5 gift bags; more than 5 gift boxes; old Christmas cards; shampoo, makeup or personal items that haven't been used in 6 months; bills more than one month old (you can get everything online); clothes that are out of style or more than two sizes smaller than my current clothing size; more than 4 flower vases; more books than can fit on our current bookshelf; old magazines (all the old ones we have are Nathan's). If I want to keep a particular article, I'll cut out those pages and just keep those and put them in a file where I can go to them instantly when needed. There are a lot of things I've learned I just don't need to keep.

In reading Megan's blog there are two things I need to clean out--my undergarments drawer and my recipes. How do women acquire so many bras that they never seem to wear? I mean, really? I'm not talking about lingerie here. I'm talking bras (sorry guys). There are like 2 that I ever wear. Ok maybe 3 before I started nursing. But the rest sit in the drawer collecting dust. Note to self: think twice and keep your money in your wallet the next time you get the urge to buy another bra.

As for the recipes--that one is harder. I use a lot of recipes often. One I use often during the winter months is a "Autumn Stew" that I got from my Aunt Karla at my cousin's baptism. It's written on the back of the sunday program from that day. LOL. But I know exactly what it looks like, so it's easy to find. That's my excuse anyway. I have dozens upon dozens of recpies like that that need to be re-written/typed on an actual recipe card or something and organized in a better fashion than stuffed into the recipe box. Then there are the "someday I'll make this" recipes. Sometimes I do make them, but I guess if it's been sitting there longer than a year I'm probably not going to get around to making it, no matter how delicious it looked in that magazine.

So those are my two goals before we move again, which will probably be this summer (we're waiting again to hear where and when from Nathan's employer). Won't know until May. But that gives me at least 2 solid months to sort out the bras and recipes. There. It's in writing. Now maybe it will actually get done.

5 Months Old

This month has been a busy one for our little guy.

• He's been growing (weighed 16 lbs. 1 oz. 2 weeks ago - with clothes on).
• His favorite baby food so far is squash. He'll gobble up a whole serving of it in minutes.
• His least favorite baby food so far is peas. Totally rejected several times. I haven't given up yet, but I can't say I blame the kid. I don't care for peas either--never have, never will.
• He is still a non-stop stream of blurbs, gurgles, giggles and squeals. I had to leave class several times yesterday at church because he was being too loud to allow anyone around us to hear the teacher. His adorableness usually usurps the sideways glances, but yesterday he must have been over the top because we got a few of "those looks." It's funny as a mom how tolerant you become to baby background noise.
• He is cutting his first tooth. The other day Nathan was bit by Cooper, and it really hurt. Nate felt along Coop's bottom gum, and sure enough, there's a little nub making it's way out. Cooper cries only if his gums are touched (especially when his face is being wiped after eating baby food), but that is the only indication he's given that he's uncomfortable. We have such a great kid.

On March 1st--4 days past his 5-month b-day, he surprised us with this...

Yep, the kid can sit up on his own for a few minutes at a time now. He topples over when he gets overly excited about something. His being able to sit and play has made both him (and consequently his parents) a lot happier.

This other video is of his strong "left hook." He repeatedly hits his left arm against his left side. I asked the pediatrician about it, and she said he's just figuring out his coordination. Nathan has been worried that Cooper's family jewels will be the victim of the left hook one of these days. In the mean time, it's fun to watch him bat away toys with his extra strong arm. Do you think he'll be a lefty?

As the week went on, Cooper started getting up on all fours more and more. He has mastered going backward, but can't figure out the forward thing. After pushing himself backward, he'll eventually lay down and roll to wherever he's trying to go.

We recently realized our little guy had no toy trucks or balls. Wow, what lame parents are we? So our trip to Target on Saturday rendred the little guy both a truck and a ball. Nathan plays "catch" with Cooper laying across the floor and rolling the ball back and forth. The beginning of many games of catch, I'm sure.

Last night I was sorting out Cooper's clothes, boxing up the too small ones, pulling out the next size, and making a list of things we need to get. As I set the piles of clothes in front of me, laying out the next few sizes (6-9 mo., 9-12 mo., 12-18 mo.), my baby was suddenly a toddler right before my very eyes. His baby moments are quickly passing. I remember babysitting siblings and neighbors as a young girl and looking forward to having a baby of my own between the age of 5 mo. to 3 yrs. New borns are cute and all, but babies at Cooper's stage are so much more fun and interactive. Now I have a baby that age, and it seems to be flying by.

As I fed him this morning, I couldn't help but gaze at my baby boy who fits so perfectly in my arms right now, and enjoy just holding him (while he repeatedly hit/grabbed my mouth with his free hand). He loves to touch my face while he nurses. It is so sweet and just melts my heart. I will enjoy these moments while they last.

Random Stuff

1. Cooper's latest fascination is with shadows. It started about a week ago. Every Saturday morning I open all the blinds in our family room and kitchen to let in all the morning sun. I love it. Well, last Saturday Cooper was sitting on the couch with me for his morning feeding and stopped mid-suck. He was mesmerized. At first I couldn't figure out what he was so intrigued by. Then I saw it. The shadow of the blinds on the arm of the couch.

Then yesterday I noticed it again. I laid him on the floor of our room while I vacuumed. He was playing with the shadows from the blinds. He laid there and played that way for about 30 min. uninterrupted. I tell you--the kid loved shadows. And again today. At the park we were trying to get him to look at the geese in the pond. He was much more interested in the shadow of the tree we were standing next to. He gets frustrated that he can't grab them.

2. As I'm typing this, there is a puddle of drool on the desk. I just stuck my wrist in it. Momma's little helper was helping her with the last blog post and decided to leave his mark. Yum.

3. Cooper's other latest fascination is anything electronic. Like, say, the tv remote for instance. If it's in sight, he wants it. He will also accept or go for the camera, the computer mouse, calculators and cell phones. I told Nathan the next toy we should get him is a tv remote that belongs to nothing. He would be in heaven.

And while I was blogging a bit ago, uploading pictures and such, Cooper was determined to take the camera. I gave him the camera case instead, which he happily played with on the floor for about 5 minutes. And then it dawned on me where our camera case has been...airports, vacations, zoos, parks...you get the picture. Let's hope he just picks up antibodies and not a bad germ. Lovely. Way to go mom.

4. Another way to go mom happened last night. Nathan and I have always run most of our Saturday errands together. It has usually been the only way we get to spend time together outside the house without spending money we don't need to spend. So when he got home yesterday we headed off to the dreaded Wal-Mart. Oh how I dread that place. It seems to suck the energy right out of me. It did that even before I had a baby in tow. Now it's like mommy torture.

My great idea was to finally buy a shopping cart cover since Coop is nearly sitting up on his own. I figured if we got him strapped in he'd be much happier sitting there than being in his carseat, which he HATES. We usually end up lugging him around the store in our arms, trying to push the cart and pick up things at the same time. Not fun. So since we were going to Wal-Mart, why not go in and get a cart cover first (I know I should wash it at home first, but desperate times call for desperate measures.). Of course--they're out of the one I want. The only one in stock only covers the front and back, leaving the germy sides completely open to my child's wandering and curious hands and mouth. Oh no. No, no, no. That just won't do. We'll have to wait and get one somewhere else.

But what to do at that moment? Ah-ha! If we put the diaper bag on his left side, my purse on his right side, and cover my purse and the front of the cart with his blanket, there won't be any cart available for him to try to chew on. Silly momma. You forgot your child's ability to find anything germy. We ended up slathering the entire handle of the cart with antibacterial whatcha-ma-call-it (the name of it escapes my dead mommy brain at this very moment), and hoping our kid would be protected enough to get us through one trip through the necessary evils of Wal-Mart.

This morning Cooper woke up with a cough. Nice.

5. Cooper got up on all fours yesterday a few times for about 10 seconds at a time. And he sat up by himself, unsupported, for about a minute. He'll be sitting and crawling before we know it. Right now he rolls ALL OVER the place. If he wants something, he generally knows how to roll and scoot, and turn and roll to get it. He is playing on the floor next to me right now. If I put down a blanket for him, the first thing he does is roll off it, so there's little point to that any more. A few minutes ago his happy coos and blurbs turned into a cry. I turn around to see that he has pinned himself between the chair and desk leg of the desk behind me. Nice. Time to put that playpen to good use if my eyes can't be on him.

6. Cooper is starting to learn to self-soothe. Sometimes at night he'll have a tummy ache, and I'll lay him across my lap and slightly bounce him. He enjoys that. I sing to Cooper a lot. Maybe more than most, I dunno. Well, lately if I'm bouncing him like that and not singing to him, he'll start singing to himself. If I start singing with him, he'll stop, but start again as soon as I stop.

7. On the subject of singing, Cooper LOVES it. I sing lots of songs to him--primary songs from church, kids songs from when I was little, and more current music as well. He especially likes womens' voices. Yesterday he stopped what he was doing when he heard an electric guitar playing (I was playing something on my iPod.). Combine the woman's voice with a guitar and he's in love. Apparently he likes the rocker chicks.

No, but he really likes songs. One of his favorites is from Yo Gabba Gabba, a very weird kids show. It seems strange to us, but to babies, as Nathan puts it, it's "baby crack." We have several Yo Gabba Gabba videos marked in our internet favorites. His most favorite is "There's a Party in My Tummy." Oh my. He will watch the video without even blinking. When I get his cereal and baby food ready, I'll put him in his high chair and sing words from it, "There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy." He breaks out in a grin and usually lets out a shriek of joy. He LOVES that song. (Thanks, Mel, for telling us about it when Kyle used to watch it.)

He also likes the songs "I Like Bugs" and "Come and Play" from Yo Gabba Gabba too. These are additions to my previous post of him liking "Do as I'm Doing" and other songs.

. . .

Ok. I'd better go eat some dinner before the nightly bedtime routine begins. Thanks for listening to the thoughts from my head.

Saturday in the Park

Ok. So it wasn't Saturday, but we did go to the park. Friday brought some REALLY great weather to Atlanta (mid-60s Friday, Saturday and again today). I left work early Friday so we could go to the park for a bit before it was time for Coop's evening nap. It was so much fun to take our baby to the same park we used to take our dogs. Of course, Nathan HAD to show Cooper the dog park and watch the dogs for way longer than the kid was interested.

I was so excited to find out that they had these baby swings at this park. Cooper was instantly placed in this one, but he wasn't so sure about it. It took a lot of coaxing and goofy antics to get him to crack a grin. The rest of the time he looked on the verge of a wimper. Poor kid. This is supposed to be fun!

He was much happier to swing with his Momma.
Of course we had to try the slide.

Thrilled, I'm sure.

It was a fun night at the park.

(Daddy took all the pictures and videos and didn't want to be in them.)

Here you can see some of our goofy antics to get the kid to smile. As soon as he does, his hands fly straight to his mouth as usual. You'd think we never feed him or something, the way he always chews on his hands. I promise we do. He has the thunder thighs to prove it.

On the subject of going to the park, we went for a walk this afternoon and Cooper saw his first ducks and geese up close. They were very tame. He was also interested in touching the leaves of the magnolia tree, and was not happy when I wouldn't let him eat them too. He also loved going to the playground area and watching all the kids run and play.

Yesterday I went for an hour-long walk/ exercise jaunt on the Silver Comet Trail with Cooper. He was in his stroller most of the time, and was very quiet. Every time I peeked at him, he seemed to just be taking in everything around him. So much to see! Today's walk in the park was much the same thing. Our normally VERY vocal baby was SILENT. He just kept looking and looking at everything. Funny kid.

Friday Night Entertainment

This was our Friday night entertainment. Need I say more?