Letter to Cooper

Dear Cooper,
I am sorry that I don't keep up with the blog the way I should and want to. Everyday you do something that just makes your Daddy and I laugh and so proud of the way you are changing each day. We are taking many mental images, I just wish we were better and keeping track of it on your blog. The blog is not only for you family and friends that live far away, but serves as your "baby book" of tracking what you are doing as you grow.
I can't promise I'll do better at writing it down on your blog, but I'll sure try!

We love you so very much and the favorite part of our day is watching the world through your eyes.

It wasn't like this last time!

Cooper has been an angel the past few weeks. I've had morning sickness that's lasting all day long and am exhausted. Fortunately Cooper is like me in the afternoon and just likes the quiet time on the drive home. Once we get home he plays and then we eat, then after we play a little more I tell him "time to brusha, brusha" and he walks right up the stairs to his bathroom. He sits in my lap and just lets me read a book to him or will play right in my lap. I LOVE when he is across the room and then comes and sits in my lap. I guess I better enjoy it now because in a few months I won't have much of a lap for him to sit in!
I truly think Cooper knows I'm lacking in the energy department and is being extra good to Mommy. I'll have to keep this all in mind when the new baby comes and he's wanting extra attention. I love him!!!

We love visits!!

Mimi and Pop Pop came to visit for a week. While the weather was absolutely terrible and the grandkids all had colds so they couldn't all be together it was a good visit. They stayed for 2 weekends and we got to play a lot! I learned to say Pop Pop and called Mimi "bubbles". While it's a silly nickname, it could have been a lot worse! Cooper kept us all in stiches from his little quirks:
walking with his hands behind his back. Either he's being formal or is being sneaky!
walking to his highchair, pulling the tray down to show he's ready to eat-now he goes to the drawer where his bibs are kept and gets one!
playing with all the things he shouldn't play with when he's got a TON of toys and watching PopPop and Mimi try to distract him
sitting under the dining room table with Mimi and Pop Pop
handing all the pieces of his elephant train so that someone puts it together for him
trying to climb up on the couch and watching tv with Mimi and Pop Pop. They got 3 nights of cuddle time with Cooper.
he takes keys and tries to unlock doors with them
saying fishy, fishy
amazing PopPop at how much fun he has playing with the cans in the grocery cart
calling Mimi bubbles and looking for bubbles in the closet. Even after they left Cooper looked up at the front door because PopPop would come help us in the afternoon after school and said PopPop. Then we got in the house and he said Bubbles. It's hysterical!!
Coming downstairs wearing a tshirt that told Mimi and PopPop that Cooper was going to be a big brother

Visits are the best...I wish they never had to end

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.

First Hugs!

I got my first hug earlier this week. I went to pick up Cooper at the sitter's house and he met me at the stairs saying Mama. Then he hugged my legs which was sweet....but then I sat down on the floor to watch him play. He came over and wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me! The kicker was that he patted my back as he hugged me. It was the sweetest thing and melts my heart everytime I think about it.

Dinner

Little man is definitely becoming more and more independent.....it makes me sad, but the personality that is emerging is absolutely wonderful!!

Tonight at dinner I was making a dish for Steve and I while Cooper ate his dinner. He ate everything by himself out of a bowl (and the bowl never hit the floor). Green beans, chicken tenders and kiwi. We've taught him the sign for drink, more, and eat.....when he wants more we remind him to show us more. Usually he's really good about showing us. Tonight he saw that there was more chicken cut up for him on a separate plate. He made his piercing sound telling me he wanted more, but I kindly gave a reminder about showing me more not yelling about it. He still yelled and proceeded to stretch far enough to grab the plate of chicken and help himself. A few minutes later he finished and again wanted more (this child loves to eat!!). Again with the yelling...again with the more reminder. I walked over to the high chair and showed him more with his hands. He just looked at me with this look I can't even explain, shook his head no, and proceeded to eat all the crumbs off his tray and bib. It was as if he was telling me: I'm not going to do the more sign and I'll just show you by eating these measley crumbs!

Also today, he climbed up and down the stairs all by himself without anyone knowing where he was. We went looking for him and there he was downstairs already (heading towards his snack cabinet!!)

It's been a looooong time

Cooper is growing and changing so much and doing a ton of new things each day. He makes us laugh and we just sit and watch him. He is definitely opening up our eyes to the world around us and teaching us to appreciate the little things!!

Here are some updates. I promise to keep a better log. To write more of his stories and the experiences that bring smiles to our faces. We want to share them with you all and hope you enjoy living the joys of Cooper through our eyes.

The things he likes:
1. the trash can-he will pull trash out it. On the flip side...he did find some paper the other day and put the paper in the recycle bin (the proceeded to pick it out).
2. greeen beans-probably because he can pick them up and eat them
3. getting up the stairs a little bit and waiting for us to chase him-the sneaky laugh he gets when he sees that we see him and are about to go chasing after him gets us laughing hysterically!
4. his belly and other people's bellies-He struggles to see his own belly and works so hard to find his belly button. There have been times that Cooper tries to explore his and our bellies in public!! The mischevious little look he gets when he realizes you are in a good position for him to poke in your belly button is the best!!
5. dancing
6. closing the door. We've actually asked him to go close the door and he does.
7. hugging his animals. At the sitters, there is a baby doll that the little girl plays with. When I give him the doll he just throws it to the ground. It's like he knows not to play with dolls (not that there is anything wrong with boys and dolls at this age)

8. trying to get up on things and climbing down things. He was trying to climb up Steve's leg the other day. Mainly to get at his belly button, but still he was trying. He is very good at getting down on his belly and sliding down. Now we just wonder how long until he climbs out of the crib!
9. watching sid the science kid-it's a cute show and he'll stay entertained with it for a few minutes and then it'll catch his eye again. Sometimes he'll just come sit down on the pillows on the floor put his hands behind his head and is ready to relax with some tv.
10. blowing his nose-not that he can blow his nose, we use the suction thing. But he had a runny nose for a few days and we were constantly wiping it. Now he'll grab anything that resembles a Kleenex and blow. Very cute!
11. eat-still loves to eat! Cooper will go to his part of the pantry and pull out his snacks. Sometimes he'll just sit down on the floor and open the container. Has never spat his food out at us. He has a handful of times just opened his mouth and food comes out, but never spat it. He also does the sign for eat. When we go down the stairs in the morning he makes the eat sign.
12. mum mum is his word for food.
13. nana-at the sitters he will walk over to the fruit bowl and say nana for banana. His first real word and item association
14. all done-when he's finished eating he puts his hand out "all done" style. We think the other day he said the words, too.
15. dada-while I try not to get a complex, he does not say mama near as much. If he sees me he calls me dada. The smile I get is worth him not knowing my name
16. getting dressed-he can take off his pants and shirt and we are working on him putting his clothes on. He knows where the articles of clothing go, though. He's also been trying to put his shoes on...or anyone's shoes who are around.
17. animal sounds: monkey-when he goes in his bathroom of monkey-central he says EEEE. He also has a shirt with monkeys all over it....you can only imagine what he does when he sees the shirt. Bumble bee-Steve taught him the buzzing sound of a bee stuffed animal he has. It's cute to hear that buzzz sound. We are working on snake and elephant
18. He still loves to see the buses and trucks. I must laugh 10 times on our commute each morning just because he gets so excited! you can only imagine how he is when I am parked behind the bus/truck!!
19. mr. personality-when he's not getting his way he definitely lets you know by making this face and a whiney noise. He's mastered the art of the fake cry. HOWEVER, he is very easy to distract and get him focused on something new.

I know I have left things out and will do so much better about writing the funny episodes. More to come soon..........