7 Months

Cooper is getting more and more adventurous every day. Just today for the first time, he pulled himself up to the couch, walked across the front of the couch hanging on to the edge, and then transferred to the ottoman, holding on the whole time, of course. It was fun to watch him try to figure out how to get from the couch to the ottoman without letting go or getting down to crawl.

Cooper's most recent favorite thing to do is play with the vents in our house. Whether it's the air return vent, or the heater vent, he thinks they're so fun, and especially loves it if we run our fingers quickly across it to make noise. He'll squeal in delight.

This face was just too cute to pass up sharing.

And this toothy grin...who can refuse?

We're FINALLY over our colds. Yay!

Cooper also had a great first week at "school" (new daycare). His babysitter is moving in May, so we had to find new childcare. The new daycare is about 5 minutes from my office, so I get to spend a lot more time with my little guy. I think the new school is actually really good for him (second only to being with Mom). He has 6 new friends all very near his age. He's learning not to be afraid of people of color. He used to cry or get really worried when he saw a black person. It made me feel so awful, but I guess it's just because up until now he hasn't really been around much cultural diversity. Now he is, and I'm thankful for that.

He really enjoys playing at school, and loves the activities they do.--fingerpainting this week. They took pictures. So cute. They go outside on walks or play outside twice a day, and he LOVES that. He's also getting really attached to me, and it helps that he's around more people now, and is learning to trust others. It makes me feel good to have him in a place that is so good for him socially since I can't be with him full time. The first 6 months of his life were with a fantastic one-on-one babysitter in her home, and I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Thank you Brandalyn!!! We'll miss you! But I am excited for this new learning time for Cooper.

Coop is 7 months old today. Sometimes he seems so grown up, like when he tries to communicate with us. Maybe I already shared this, sorry if I did, but when he's hungry he won't just sit and cry, he'll crawl over to me and beg to be picked up. If I pick him up, he'll grab my face and suck on my cheek. That mean's he's hungry. If I don't pick him up, he'll suck on my leg or my foot--any skin he can reach. Funny kid. I LOVE that he is starting to learn he can ask for things and tell us what he wants and when he wants it.

Other things he's recently learned or started doing:

• Holding bottle on his own. Sometimes I still hold him to feed him just because I can, and I know he loves it.
• Falling asleep on his own after eating bottle/ falling asleep more easily for naps. Yay for this.
• Using forefinger to poke at things/ move things around.
• Splashing water in the bath. This is nearly all he does in the bath every night. Forget toys, he'd rather splash. He continues to love the bath. Every night I sit on the side of the tub with him on my lap, and turn on the water. The instant I turn it on, he gets all wriggly and excited, turns and looks at me and grins, then turns and looks at us in the mirror, which he can barely see into above the counter, and grins and giggles, then looks back at the water, and tries desperately to get into it until I let him.
• Saying consonants/vowel combinations. Bah is starting to be said more often to say bottle. He continues to say Nee to say he's hungry. He is also saying Nah and Dah, but it's just jibber-jabber. I am going to predict that Dada will be his first word besides Bah.
• The beep-beep game. Cooper will giggle to no end if you touch your nose and say "beep-beep." This game can go on repeatedly for 5 minutes without him becoming bored of it, as we discovered the other night. He thought it especially funny when both Nathan and I did it. If only all things in life were so simple.

Cooper is such a joy. Nathan recently commented how nice it is that we're starting to be more in his world, not just him in ours. I liked that perspective. He clearly understands that we are his parents and our role in his life. It is fun to have him show us what he likes or dislikes, and what makes him happy, sad, or excited. He has quite the personality, and I look forward to getting to know him more and more every day. Love you Little Boo!

I Have My Mother's Feet

I was going to wait and blog about this on Mother's Day, but I'm afraid I'll forget by then, knowing the forgetful mommy brain I have as of late.

Saturday I took a half hour to myself instead of doing dishes, laundry, cleaning house, running errands, or any of the other hundreds of things there are to do on Saturday. Coop was asleep for a morning nap, and I jumped on the opportunity to have some me time. Out of the all the things I could do with my half hour, I decided my feet needed some attention and opted for a self-pedicure.

I'm too cheap/practical to spend money on getting a professional pedicure. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the spa and such, but even a $15 pedi seems to much to spend when I know I can do it myself and spend the money on something more lasting or entertaining. This do-it-herselfer hasn't had much time for such things in the last six months to do more than the occasional clipping of toenails and pushing back of unruly cuticles, and occasionally applying some lotion. Er, well more like nine months. I well remember the last time I painted my own toenails because I was UBER prego and could hardly reach my own feet through some serious yoga-like moves, and had to come up for air in between brush strokes. Glad that's over.

With warm weather finally here, and wanting to wear open-toed shoes in public, it was time to give my feet some TLC. As I sat down and examined the damage done over the last nine months, I could not believe my eyes. It was like staring down at my mother's feet.

Now let me intercept here with an explanation--this is NOT a bad thing. I am a chip off the old block. I don't know if my mom has ever had a professional pedicure. She's not that kind of woman; Mom is the kind of woman who goes around shoeless in the yard, and would prefer to not wear shoes anywhere. It's from Mom that I learned to appreciate the feeling of cool grass between my toes. I recall several times when I gave my mom a pedicure on the back porch or the couch. So I know what those feet look like. And mine are starting to look just like them.

As I sat there with my pumice stone and nail polish, I thought about my Mom. I thought about how I had always told myself that I would take better care of my feet so my heels don't get like Mom's, or that I would at least wear nail polish more often. Huh. That was before I had a child. Now I could appreciate how those calloused feet got that way, and appreciate what it meant. As a mother, who has time to spend on her own feet? Most of the time a mother's needs are the last to be met by herself, and her feet, well they're at the bottom of the list of priorities. Literally.

So to me, seeing my feet look like my Mother's...well, it was an indication that I have been being a good mom and wife, and a relization that it's all about the journey, not what our feet look like along the way.

Choose Your Own Adventure - Cooper Style

Cooper is really getting around now. He knows where to find his toys.
And has learned how to help himself, holding on with one hand, and pulling toys out with the other. (He's only fallen in the basket once. LOL)
He has figured out how to pull himself up to just about anything, but our little shortie has a hard time hanging on because most of our furniture is still too tall for him.

I love that look.
Cooper is always full of smiles, except when the camera is around. Everywhere we go people comment on his big smiles and how happy he is.

Nate took this video of Coop crawline to the camera as bait, and pulling himself up to the ottoman.

Now if only he could figure out how to get back down. Yesterday his adventures resulted in several bumps on the head, two of them resulting in pretty sizeable goose egg-protruding bumps, and a couple other bruises. Poor little fella. Unless we have our eyes on him all the time, or are right next to him, he seems to be pretty accident prone.

This week has also been hard as Cooper and I are still sick. Took him to the doctor last Tuesday. Prognosis: sinus infection turning into an ear ache (antibiotics for this), and causing the puss oozing out his eyes (eye ointment for this); teething of top 4 teeth still coming in (tylenol/motrin for this); fever of 100.4 either caused by sinus infection or teething (tylenol/motrin for this); and a viral infection that has moved to his chest along with a nasty cough (albuterol through nebulizer for this). Add daily vitamin supplement, humidifier, chest rub, saline drops and nose syringe to all this and I feel like we have a baby pharmacy. The pharmacist at the local CVS knows us by name, as do the nurses at the doctors office.

Today we stayed home from church again because we're both still sick. I have the same viral infection and cough. Thank goodness Nate still hasn't caught it (knock on wood). Let's hope this week is better.

Easter Weekend and Such

The last few weeks have been fun, but crazy busy. Amongst all the goings-on, Cooper received several packages from far away family. Here he is in an outfit from Nana. The first shorts he has ever worn. Too cute. And the saying on the overalls is SO TRUE. The kid never stops.

Last weekend we had a last-minute opportunity to go rent a cabin near Helen, GA with a bunch of friends. They called us Friday morning (I think someone who was supposed to go dropped out), and we left Friday afternoon at 3:30. It was crazy to do something spontaneous like that with a little one, but I was glad for the break.

The "cabin" was a lot like the one we stayed in before, fully equipped with a ton of bedrooms; a hot tub; pool table; grill; and a fun pond just steps from the front door, with paddle boats, a fishing dock, and a canoe. The cabin even had satellite tv, so we were able to watch General Conference on tv, which beat the internet viewing we would have had at home. We went with 3 other families: 8 adults and 9 kids, the kids ranging in age from 7 to 6 months. It was a house full of crazy fun.

Here is Cooper on the shore of the pond with his friend Gwen, deciding whether he liked sitting on the grass. Pretty soon he not only liked sitting on it, but pulling up fistfulls and stuffing them in his mouth. This was the first time he got dirt under his fingernails.

Nathan had enjoyed a morning of fly fishing in some local rivers, and that afternoon showed the dads how to help the kids catch fish. He helped most of the big kids successfully catch a fish. They were all excited.

Here is Cooper "fishing" with his Dad for the first time.

Priceless.

We went into Helen Saturday afternoon for a round of mini-golf. Here's Cooper and his Dad excited about the game. Do I note a little sarcasm in Nathan's expression?

Even Mom got to enjoy the fun.

Sunday morning before Conference, we all hiked to Ruby Anna Falls. Our mountain vacation wouldn't have been complete without visiting a waterfall! (It's become a accidental tradition that we joke about since it seems every hike we go on is to a waterfall.) Cooper was more interested in the sticker on my shirt than the waterfall.

Father and son.

Um, hello! Dropping the baby--not funny.

It was too dirty to let Cooper crawl around on the boardwalk at the waterfall, so I was holding him up by his hands, and...voila! He started full on walking. This was a very exciting discovery for him.

Now he loves to walk around all the time, holding our fingers.

He is fast learning how to get into things. Here he is helping me do the dishes. Notice how he is sitting on his heels. This is his most common position now besides crawling. Rather than sit down all the way, he just sits back on his heels to play. This morning he crawled over to the toy bin in our tv room, pulled up to it, and sat back on his knees/heels, pulling the toys out. There is just no stopping this kid.

On another note, Coop has been sick all week full with fever, cough, congestion, puss in his eyes--the works. That has been rough on us all. The culprit--his top two front teeth are coming in. So the tooth total is fast approaching six. What a kid.

Safety Hazard

Afer my multi-tasking moment, Cooper finally decided to play on the floor. I walked to the closet for a moment and came back to find....

...the bathroom cabinet door open and my child's body halfway inside, attempting to pull something out. Nathan was so proud of Cooper for figuring out how to do this. I, on the other hand, was mortified as the cabinet contents in my bathroom and kitchen started running through my head.

Guess what honey do we get to tackle this weekend? Can you say "cabinet safety locks?"

Multi-tasking Mamma

I have always envied the ability of mothers to multi-task. They seem to be able to do 10 things at once, and not just do them, but do them well. Much of my adult life I was worried that I would never master this skill. Until this morning.

Nathan was very tired so I let him sleep as I was trying to get ready for work and entertain my 6-month baby. Cooper was insistent that I pick him up and hold him. Any attempt to get him to play on the floor with toys nearby was in vain. He would just crawl to my feet and cry. Poor boo. So I finally picked him up. Thank goodness we have a nice vanity with a little stool so I can sit and to my makeup and the likes.

There I was, balancing my little chunky baby on one leg, trying to entertain him with a baby-friendly item from my makeup bag, and applying makeup to my face. Not any makeup--eyeliner. And yes, I was able to put in on straight!

Wow. Never thought I had it in me. Kids bring out some inner strengths you think you may not have--including becoming a multi-tasking momma.

[Side note: Nate didn't find this nearly as amusing or worth noteable mention when I decided to share my little feat with him when he woke up. Guess it's a girl thing. Or maybe he hadn't been awake long enough yet to really listen to my yacking. Hmmm....]

6 Months Old

Our little Cooper turned 6 months old last Thursday. He's getting to be such a "big boy."

At the latest doctor visit our little middleweight weighed in at 18 lbs. 4 oz. (back up to the 70th percentile). He remains a little shorty at 25-1/2" long (25th percentile). But his head, oh his head. 43-1/2 cm circumference. What percentile is that, you might ask. Well, it's so big that it's not chartable. That's right folks. Our kid has such a big noggin that it's literally off the chart in size. No wonder he's such a smarty--lotsa room for learning.

When asked if I could please take a picture of his cute little teeth (2 on bottom, 2 on top laterals), this is the face I got. Um, that would be a no.

But he didn't mind showing off his double. Nice one!

Nathan calls this his "ladies man" pose. He lays like this a lot. I call it baby yoga.

Usually he's more in a reclining position, but I couldn't catch it on camera without him seeing me. This was taken Sunday. Last night, he just about figured out how to go from crawling/belly to sitting up. Just as liberating learning to crawl was for Cooper, because now he can get to whatever it is he wants, learning to go from crawling to sitting will be just as liberating. Right now he has to either play on his belly, roll onto his back, or perform some kind of yoga position to play with his toys on his own. He can't wait to be able to sit without us sitting him down. We're eagerly cheering him on. [Also, notice the baby version of telephone? Coop thinks it's great, but still prefers the actual adult form of electronics.]

On the subject of "ladies man," Cooper is quite the little flirt. We always tease him that he likes older women (our babysitter's daughter is 4), and sometimes ask him in the morning whether he's excited to visit his girlfriend. But she's moving in May, and maybe we've convinced him she's too old for him at this point in his life because he's found a new girlfriend at church. Tessa is about six weeks younger than Coop. They sit in Sunday School and Relief Socitey and coo, giggle, talk, and play with/at each other. It's hilarious and cute. I'm just relieved he's not the only baby in the room.

Ok, so funny story. Sunday I'm in class trying to listen to the lesson and entertain my very mobile, very vocal six-month-old. He's getting increasingly fussy, so I grab him and stand up against the far wall to rock/sway with him, which of course makes everyone instantly look over at us. Right then, Cooper pukes. Yes, I say pukes because this was not your normal little spit up. Oh no. This was a full on projectile vomit that ended up all over my dress, the chair in front of us, and the biggest part splatted on the toe of my boot. All while everyone was watching. And for those that weren't watching--they could easily hear the upchuck and SPLAT on my boot. Nice.

In celebration of Spring/Easter, we snapped this photo Sunday afternoon on our front porch (don't pay attention to our lounge clothes--we had just both taken afternoon naps). The dogwood tree in our front yard is now in full bloom. Atlanta is known for the dogwoods, and boy are they beautiful this year!

HAPPY EASTER!