5 Questions

I have been tagged!

The rules of this game are that you answer the questions posed by the person who tags you, and then you leave 5 new questions for people to answer.

1. What is your least favorite household chore and why? Most favorite?
I don't like ironing. It's tedious and hot, and my neck and shoulders always ache afterward.
Most favorite...hmmm...vacuuming. Feels very methodical, and it's usually a time when I am left with my own thoughts, even with a toddler chasing me or in my arms. Plus, I'm always sweating afterward, which makes me feel like I got a workout for at least a few minutes. And I love how clean things seem after vacuuming because to vacuum you have to pick things up first.

2. What holiday traditions do you most look forward to each year? How did these traditions begin in your family?
Christmas. As a child we had so many Christmas traditions from picking out the Christmas tree to going down the stairs in reverse birth order. But my favorite was reading a Christmas story about a family that earns straw for the Baby Jesus' manger by doing service for one another, one piece of straw for each act of service. Mom would always cry when reading the story, and we would spend the month doing secret service. Of course, I knew Mom was the one who put the baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas Eve, but I always looked on Christmas morning to see if he came, to see whether we did enough acts of service for him to have a soft bed of straw. I so look forward to starting traditions with my own children.

3. Share your FAVORITE recipes for an appetizer and dessert:
Favorite appetizer is bruschetta (Nathan's 2nd cousin's recipe). But if I shared that family recipe here, he would have my head. I have already nearly lost my life for sharing it with the few that I have.

Favorite dessert is cheesecake. New York cheesecake. With fresh strawberries. But I'm not sharing a recipe for that because I haven't found one yet that I like. So my recipe is...go order a piece from Cheesecake Factory.

4. What has frustrated you this week?
Having to take a trip to ATL for work, leaving behind my husband and child. Aching knee. Incessant aching. Scheduled a day for surgery, but no day ever seems like it's going to work. Never a good time to get laid up.

5. How would you describe your personal style? (Dress, decorating or both.)
I don't have a style. My clothes are a hodge podge of remnants of what still fit me from my pre-pregnancy wardrobe, and what I've broke down and purchased since then. Was thinking recently I need to reclaim my personal style, or I fear I may end up on that TV show "What not to wear." Decorating--much the same story. Someday when we buy a house I'll put effort and money into decorating. Until then, while we rent, not much point in decorating, I mean truly decorating.

Okay, I tag:
Camyll
Chelsey
Liz
Hilary
Megan
Anyone else who is looking for an idea for a new blog post

Here's YOUR questions:

1. What do you like to do in your spare time, or what would you like to do if you had any spare time? Why?
2. What is your favorite book and why?
3. Think of something that makes you smile. What is it? Why do you smile?
4. Do you have a scar? How did you get it?
5. What is the worst thing that happened to you today? What is the best?

A Fall Day

Last Saturday started off in the wee hours. Coop was an early riser. I was taking advantage of the extra morning time, and making french toast. While I was busy in the kitchen, Coop was busy himself...figuring out how to climb up and on top of his toy shopping cart! He figured out how to climb onto the wheel, pull himself up, and into the basket, and then stand up. Oh. My.Goodness. I about had a heart attack, then thought to quickly grab the camera and hope he didn't fall off and break his neck before I could snap a shot.

Later that day we took advantage of the BEAUTIFUL southern fall weather and visited a local pumpkin patch. Coop didn't know quite what to think of the petting zoo.

But he was quite interested in the ramp leading into the General Store...another climbing mechanism.

We stopped at the General Store for some needed refreshment.

Coop had fun exploring the pumpkin patch. He toppled over about every other step due to the unevenness of the ground, but just got right back up and took off.

He has his eye on the prize...

the TRACTOR!

Coop has two books about tractors, and so he knew exactly what they were. He was ecstatic to check out the big tractor, but it was pulling hay rides, so he had to settle for the little tractor. (We didn't tell him it was really an old John Deere lawn mower.)

This puppy-faced pumpkin was his favorite. (All the little scratches in the paint are from him.) He kept going back to it over and over again. Such fun!

Little Red "Wagon"

Cooper can be quite creative. The other day he was playing with this suitcase, and was delighted when his Dad took him for a "ride."
Almost as good as real wagon.

The Coopster being the Coopster

Gotta follow up that depressing, venting blog with a fun one!

Status from today's 1-year checkup:

Weight: 24 lbs (50th %)

Height: 29.75" (30th %)

Head Circumference: 19.5" (over 100% for his age)

Our child is ever so slowly thinning out, and getting taller. But honestly, I can't tell the getting thinner part. He's still chunky as ever to me. Love it!

He's such a toddler lately. Not a baby any more, so siree! The only baby thing he seems to do any more is drink a couple bottles a day. The other morning, while I was getting ready for the day, he found our squirt bottle of water, and I found him trying to feed it to his monkey stuffed animal. Too cute! My sister snapped this shot of him a few days ago, trying to feed the same monkey his real bottle. What a kid.

Sick, but happy!

Last Sunday in between Conference sessions of church, we took a stroll in the fall weather (Finally a break from the summer heat!) to the park in our neighborhood. For the first time ever, Coop went down a big boy slide all by himself. It was one of those twisty tube slides. I was at the top, and laid on my belly to get him in and halfway down before letting go. It was a little nerve wracking wondering whether he would topple over. But nope! Here he is at the bottom, so happy! If you look closely you can see his thin, sparse hair standing straight on end. LOL. Taking Coop to the park is becoming more and more fun.

A challenging week for Mom

This has been a challenging week for me as a mother. Cooper came down with croup last Friday night, and we ended up with him in the ER in the middle of the night because we couldn't get him to breathe, even with all the home remedies you hear about croup (cool air outside, warm steamy shower). It was awful. His pulse/ox was down to 89. Scary! I was glad we went, but not so glad at the 4 hours we were there in the middle of the night. At least it was the weekend and I didn't have to stress about going to work the next day.

The beauty of the weekend was that it was General Conference for church (Every 6 months the church meets at headquarters in SLC, and for 4 hours a day for two days we get to hear church leadership speak. It's broadcast over internet, satellite, tv, you name it.) So we didn't have to miss church despite our sick child, and I really enjoyed the spiritual uplift in the comfort of my own home.

Unfortunately Cooper didn't get better and by Monday Nate took him to the doctor. They gave us some medicine, which turned the croup into a bad cold, supposedly an improvement. I beg to differ. So today the update is that our child is still coughing with a runny/stuffy nose, irritable, has the worst diarrhea (which I can't figure out if it's a milk allergy, or medicine, or teething). Oh, did I mention that on top of all this Coop is getting his first set of molars (all 4 at once), and his top two eye teeth. That's our boy, taking on more than he can chew--literally.

I was surprised when I took him in today for his 1-year checkup that they said his cold is finally mild enough that they still gave him his 12-month vaccinations. Ugh. I always hate that; a necessary evil torture for babies and mothers alike.

Add to all of this the fact that our nanny (my sister) was sick a few days this week, so Nate and I tag-teamed child care on top of trying to work from home a few days, and now Nate has been sick with the same cold for the last 2 days.

Today...I'm starting to feel the sinus drainage. Oh boy. This better shape up to be a good weekend. I had a breakdown one day this week and cried, "How can one be expected to be up all hours of the night (and I mean ALL hours), for nights on end, with a sick child, and hold down a job. I tell you, I was "this close" to quitting the next day out of pure exhaustion.

It gets better! Add to all this that it's fiscal year end at work, so on top of my usual heavy workload the first week of the month with all the crazy deadlines and such, there are more deadlines, which this year are even heavier and stressful because our company just merged with a company from England (Atkins). To have the merger go through, we had major budget cuts because our revenue projections were $1M short of what the company expected for next year, so that means layoffs. I can't say more in case anyone from work happens to read this blog, but to say the least the last week has been really hard with people getting laid off left and right, and more to come this next week. Blurg!

This is starting to sound like such a whiny post, but I guess I just needed to vent a little.

Outlook for tomorrow--beautiful fall weather, and plans to go on a hike. Bring on the Sudafed! I'm going to kick this cold right out of me, and get out of the house this weekend to have some FUN!! Sunny, bright weekend, here I come!

Now if Coop would only give me like one full night of sleep, since I haven't had more than 3 hours of consecutive sleep at night for over a week...that would top it off. I'm going to put that out into the universe and say, "Here's hoping!" ;o)

Are you there, Blog? It's me, Chrystal.

As we passed the celebration of the first year of our child's life, it caused me to reflect on the last year, how my life has changed, and who I've become versus who I used to be. One of my friends, Megan, had a recent post about how after you have a kid, your blog becomes a shirne to the child. Such is the case with my blog. Where I used to share my own thoughts and goings-on, now my blog is about my child. Megan's blog had a good point that the reason this happens is because nothing brings more joy to a mother than to see her child experiencing things for the first time, and that is why those things end up on the blog. I couldn't agree more. But to some, it seems like I have lost myself, that the old Chrystal has disappeared.

I was talking to a friend at work over lunch last week about this subject; she has a two year old. I liked the way she stated it. She said that when your first child is born (I would dare say from the time you find out you are pregnant), you are immediately immersed in an entirely new world called parenthood. This new world is full of new emotions, new experiences, new friends; it's all new and amazing. Then as your child grows, you slowly start to emerge somewhat from parenting land, and a new version of our old self appears. I liked the way she put that.

It's so true. The night before Cooper's birthday, I was thinking about what had happened exactly one year earlier: the labor, the entire experience. I remembered what it was like wondering how my life would change after I brought this new little person into my world. I remembered seeing his beautiful little hand above the edge of the surgial screen when they delivered him c-section. I remember thinking right at that moment, "I am a mother." It brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes to recall those thoughts and feelings. I loved thinking about the joy I felt that night, after such anticipation, at the birth of our son. No wonder I completely immersed myself in his world. Nothing makes me happier.

So while I'm off in Cooper Land, know that the old Chrystal is still here, just caught up in the joy of being a mother. Someday I'll emerge from behind my child on this blog, a better version of my old self. In the mean time, I'm happy being behind the camera and the words.

One Year Old

Last night was actually chilly enough to warrant putting a sweat shirt on Coop. I thought Papa would get a kick out of this sweat shirt Nathan's Uncle David gave Coop last year. I snapped this quick shot this morning has Coop was whining because he wanted the camera. He wasn't in a photo-friendly mood this morning.

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.