Enjoying Autumn and Cooper

Every day since I came home from the hospital with Cooper it has been a goal to go for a daily walk, if even just for 5 minutes. At first, this was quite a challenge, and I couldn't go far (about 200 feet), nor could I go up/down any sort of "hill." Well, today I set off with Cooper in the baby carrier strapped to my chest, and Lola on her leash and we went for an hour long walk around our neighborhood--down our street, 2 streets over, up and down hills, up the hill to the pool house, etc. I was a little tired when I got home, but not exhausted. The weather was beautifully sunny and warm and we enjoyed our autumn walk.

These are some pictures of Cooper one month old. (I don't have any software on my work laptop to make a slide show, so bear with me...)

Better look quick--Cooper is calm and quiet! What a cutie.

I'm not so sure about this, Mom.

This swing is fun!

Tummy time!

Cooper James--the "b" side. See the red hair? Thought I'd better capture it before it all falls out. He's got a serious receding hair line right now. Hope it comes back in red.

Trying to goo.

Just chillin'.

Side view

I like this game!

Hi, Dad! Mom is playing pat-a-cake with me!

Content baby

I'm concentrating really hard on this pat-a-cake game.

Oh Boy, Mom!

1 Month Old

Cooper turned one month old on Friday, and I have been wanting to blog about it ever since, but life has been a little hectic. Cooper has not been behaving very nicely the last few weeks, but up until now I've had visitors to help ease some of that. Now that I don't have a third set of mom or sister's hands to do house work or take care of Cooper, I have much less time to do things like blog, so I figured even though I didn't get a picture of him to post with this today, I'm going to post anyway while he happens to be sleeping, and then maybe get a picture up in a day or two as time allows.

We went to the doctor today for his 1-month visit. First things first...his head measured at 16-1/2". That's an entire 2" larger than at birth, and puts his head in the 90th percentile for his age! He's so his daddy's son. He's only grown 1 inch longer (21-1/2", or 50th percentile for his height), and it must all be in his head or torso because even though he's wearing 3-month size shirts, the pants are still way too long for his little legs, so he's still wearing newborn size pants. Again, so his daddy's son--all torso, short legs.

As for his weight, he weighed in at 11 lbs. 3 oz. I placed him on the scale, and the nurse looked at it and then asked if I was leaning on it or something, asked me to pick him up and place him down again, and it still showed 11 lbs. 3 oz. The nursed picked Cooper up himself and placed him on the scale a third time and was shocked that that's what it read. Made me feel proud as a solely breastfeeding momma to know my kid is growing well. He's in the 90th percentile for his weight. Gonna be a football player? :o)

Our trip to the doctor today was two-fold; not only was it his 1-month checkup, but I had some concerns. He has been such a fussy baby the last 2-1/2 weeks. I have tried everything and came to the conclusion about a week ago that he must have GERD (Gastro-Esophigal Reflux Disease). I had read about it, had a nephew who had it, and just knew something was not right. Last week when my sister was visiting, she affirmed that his crying was abnormal and that I should call the pediatrician. Today at the doctor my diagnosis was confirmed. Cooper is a GERD baby. He's been put on Prevacid, and I sure hope it helps the poor little guy feel better. It's heart-wrenching to know your child is in pain and that you can do nothing for him. I am so relieved to know this is not normal baby behavior, and that with a little help from medication, I may soon have my peaceful little Cooper back.

On a brighter note, on his 1-month birthday, Cooper rolled from his tummy to his back. Well, he more like pushed himself with his legs. To make sure it wasn't an accident I promptly placed him back on his tummy, and he did it again. No more leaving him alone on raised surfaces! Pretty soon he'll be rolling all over the place.

Last week he also smiled his first genuine smile. Nathan has yet to see it, and it may be awhile before I can catch it on camera, but I have been the benefactor of several genuine gummy grins since then--usually right after I've fed and burped him, before the reflux sets in. The first smile was given to me when I was playing pat-a-cake with him. It's one of his favorite games. Our little guy is growing up. *sniff, sniff, wipe a tear*and then smile :o)*

Camyllie Cabilly

Cooper and his Aunt Camyll

Another of my three sisters came for a visit to see her new nephew, and to visit me and Nathan in GA. We are so glad she was able to come and was brave enough to leave her 8-month old at home with his dad (Thanks Jason!!!). I was just driving home from dropping her off at the airport, crying, of course, and what song comes on the radio...Green Day "Time of Your Life."

Another turning point; a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist;directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test and don't ask why.
It's not a questionbut a lesson learned in time.
It's something unpredictablebut in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time.
Tattoos of memoriesand dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth,it was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictablebut in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It doesn't really fit completely, but made me reflect on the last month of having a new baby and having so much family visit and making so many memories--so many mental pictures besides the camera pictures.

While Camyll was here I was feeling pretty good and we decided to seize the day and the one day of good weather during her trip, and get outside. We visited the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, a place I've wanted to visit ever since I moved here, but have never wanted to experience it with my less-than-enthusiastic-about-it-but-willing-to-do-it husband. Finally I had someone who was interested in it too. They had lots of cute fall exhibits with scarecrows and pumpkins, but our most favorite part was the Orchid House. We spent over an hour in there admiring all the AMAZING orchids. I never knew there were so many different kinds. The pictures don't even do it justice.

The next day we had grand plans to go shopping at Atlantic Station, one of the places here in Atlanta, but baby Cooper didn't exactly cooperate (LONG story), so we ended up taking a tour of Atlanta from the car, spending the better part of the afternoon in the car. Life sure changes when you have a baby. At least the car puts him to sleep most of the time. Thank goodness for sisters--we can chat anywhere any time and still have a great time. Having Camyll here was reassuring as a mother, but it was a little weird getting motherhood advice from my little sister. LOL. No, really, I love that I have someone I can turn to for advice who just gets me. Miss you so much, Sis. Thank goodness for phones, texting, emails, and blogs!

Home Made Photo Shoot

I loved Cooper in this outfit so we had a photo shoot. Here he is scheming his night-time cry fest that would shortly ensue...

Still scheming...

High five!

Check out my cool digs!

3 Weeks Old

Cooper turned 3 weeks old last Friday. Our little guy is growing up quickly.

Here he is chillin' with his Dad.

Wearing his first pair of jeans...

A Visit from Chelsey

The same day my Mom left, my little sister, Chelsey, arrived for a visit. One of the first places we took her was the Silver Comet Trail, one of my favorite places to go for a walk. (We took Grammie here too, but forgot to take pictures.)

Just down the trail, next to Nickajack Creek, are the ruins of an old cotton mill (the steel beams have been put in to prohibit the remains of the structure from falling down). The trail to the ruins is a steep/winding paved downhill trail, uphill on the return trip. Nathan and I walked this several times in the last weeks of my pregnancy to try to augment labor. It always brought on many contractions. Postpartum. the hill portion of the walk was quite a challenge, but one that I was able to conquer. I felt so good about that. Before the c-section I never realized how much you use your ab muscles to walk up/downhill.

Nathan is always about taking short cuts, even if it means taking Coop offroading in his stroller.

Last Saturday we took Chelsey to Dahlonega, GA to visit the cute little shops there. When we arrived we were pleased to find out that it was the weekend of "The Gold Rush Festival." Apparently Dahlonega is the home of the first Gold Rush in the US. The festival entailed lots of booths of crafts/paintings/arts. Our favorite was the booth with the terribly cheesy toilet seat covers (too much lace, to say the least), with the tortured old man sitting bored nearly to death in the booth that had probably not sold one thing all day. It was obvious that his dear old wife had sewn all these things and he was the one who was supposed to man the booth to sell them, poor guy. I wanted to buy something from him just out of pity.

Only in Georgia can you find this...PORK CHOPS on a STICK. Not a hot dog on a stick--no, no--an entire PORK CHOP, and only for $3. It was picture worthy. (Can you tell we're sisters?)

After our stop in Dahlonega, we drove up the scenic highway in hopes of finding some autumn colored trees. The high that day was around 45 degrees, which is COLD for GA in October. Poor Cheech; it was cold and rainy here the entire duration of her visit. We did see some yellow and red leaves among all the green. The scenic highway took us past some really redneck areas of GA. That was fun for Cheech to see. We also saw some really beautiful scenery of the GA hills where the Blue Ridge Mountains start.

Our trip wouldn't have been complete without a stop at one of the orchards on "Apple Row." We stopped at the same place we went last year--B.J. Reece's Apple Store. As I sat in the car to nurse Cooper, Nathan and Chelsey braved the cold wind and fetched fresh apple turnovers for themselves and an apple fritter for me. YUM, YUM! After Coop was full, we braved the cold again and bought apple danish, apple bread, and boiled peanuts (which are sold all over GA). I ate half the peanuts on the way home. Double yum.

On our way back to the car we quickly plopped Cooper in the middle of the pumpkins for sale. It was too cold to adjust the blanket, but the picture is still pretty cute.

And here is Cooper with his Aunt Chelsey in the pumpkin patch.


Sunday afternoon we again braved the cold weather and set out to show Chelsey some more of GA. Our favorite Chattahoochee River site was closed due to flooding damage from the floods on Sept. 24th. So we went to another more populated place. Here we are in front of "The Hooch."


Chelsey went home Monday morning. We had to snap a few pictures of Cooper with his Aunt the night before, just before he went to bed for the night.

We miss you Cheechee!!! Thank you for visiting!

Mom...MY Mom....Cooper's Grammie

My Mom's 2-1/2 week stay in GA taking care of us passed by all too quickly. The home-made meals morning, noon and night were such a blessing and a welcome relief. Nothing compares to Mom's cooking. I knew I didn't have to worry about meals at all the whole time. And she cleaned the house, did loads and loads of laundry, and spent time talking to me while I nursed Cooper, took walks with me, and helped me get back on my feet again. When she arrived I couldn't go up/down my stairs more than once a day. By the time she left we went on a walk on the Silver Comet Trail, ran a few errands, and walked all the way to the end of my street with the baby and the dog (all on seperate days, of course). I was a mess for 3 days before she left, crying at the drop of a hat about her leaving. The day she went home I must have cried more than not. Wow--talk about pregnancy hormones! I wasn't nervous about her leaving (although her extra set of hands and baby know-how sure were a relief and a huge help at times). I guess having a baby has just made me more homesick than I've ever been before; I have never missed my family so much, and wish we could live closer to them, especially my Mom. When I was little I told my Mom when I grew up I was going to build a house in the empty lot next door and live next to her my whole life. Pretty ironic that I'm the one child who ended up moving across the country 1500 miles away. Thank you for EVERYTHING, Mom. You were missed the moment you stepped out the door.

The night before Grammie left, she gave Cooper his evening bath. He loved it.

Look at that cute little chub Grammie is holding!

And I couldn't resist getting a picture of the three of us...