The past few days

Some new things for Cooper that just make us laugh and also make me realize I am not as neurotic as I was when he was first born:
1. For 2 days in a row all Cooper ate for dinner was cereal. I gave him meat and veggies and all he wanted was cereal. Then the next night he had chicken, rice, and kiwi. All he ate was the kiwi. Oh well, the kid is surely not lacking in the food department!
2. When Cooper wants you to sit down or he wants to sit on a chair he pats it.
3. He LOVES his belly and everyone elses. One of our friends has a 2nd grader who adores Cooper. We were all out one night and Cooper has the little girl's shirt pulled up and is grabbing her belly. Poor kid is wearing onsies under his shirt now that it's cooler out and he can't get to his belly! He does love his Mama's belly button. He finds it and pokes his finger in it hard! I laugh hysterically everytime which is probably why he does it!
4. New words: Ball-he can find a ball and also says ball when he sees it in a book
Ding when he hears the microwave beep
We think he is saying Daddy now instead of Dada
Counts ..., two, three
5. Hats. He loves hats! They don't really stay on because he is always putting them on and taking them off, but he can play with a hat for hours. Steve always has hats laying around and Cooper will find them and put them on. Many times he can't see where he is going which is funny to watch!!
6. When we are in the car if I don't have my hands on the steering wheel where he sees them, then I get yelled at to put them back up. Cooper takes his hands and pretends to drive. Sometimes I even don't have my hands where he can see them just so he'll yell at me :) I think it all started the day let him crawl into the car (because I didn't think he could) and of course he did!! He found the steering wheel and all the buttons and had the best time! Now everytime we go toward the car he squirms out of my arms to get into the front seat! Oh, and does the drive thing with his arms.
7. Morning routines. Poor guy is up early with us 5:30 or so. It goes like this: I get him out of his crib, give him a hug and kiss then put him down on the floor and tell him to go find Daddy. Steve calls out from our room and Cooper goes wandering down the hall looking for Steve. All the time Cooper is calling out for Daddy and Steve is calling for Cooper. Once Cooper gets in the room he looks all over for Steve. It's the perfect way to start the morning!
8. Our new outlook is to just let Cooper explore and so long as he can't get hurt just let him do what he wants. For those who know me know I can't stand a mess. I've spent many months running after him cleaning up as he plays OR I would move him from a situation that could be a potential mess. I'm proud to say I've eased up on that greatly. It's fun to see where he'll go and what he'll get into. We've got a cabinet that's just for him then a lazy susan cabinet that's not his to play in, but he does anyway. There is nothing that can hurt him, so it's okay. When it spins around Cooper says "weeeeee". He likes to take things out of the cabinet and play with them. The coolest part, he often puts it back!! Now onto the part that makes me happy about my not being so neurotic anymore: The other night he went to the pantry to get a box of cereal. He was having trouble getting into the bag where the cereal was, so I helped him out. Within a few seconds all I hear is the cereal pouring out onto the floor. Cooper was so tickled with himself that he could now easiely eat the cereal . He sat there grabbing handfulls of food and shoveling it into his mouth. I just laughed and laughed at the mess-this huge pile of Cheerios and how darn innocent he looked just sitting there in the pile of O's eating to his hearts content.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mimi and PopPop. Showing Cooper off is our favorite thing to do!! Watching him play with his grandparents who all live so far away is such fun for us.