Smiley Guy

Cooper has a GG. He has a Beka and a Great Grandma Kowalski, but the difference is, GG has not been able to see him in person yet. Something we need to remedy ASAP. Well, he woke up today in quite the mood. Everytime I would ask him if her was a good boy he would smile at me. Well, I got the video camera, and although he played shy and was without a doubt distracted, I was able to capture some of those smiles.

Today, I think, he was smiling for his GG


Warning: You may want to mute your computer for this. Otherwise you will be exposed to a lot of baby talk and it may take away from the general cuteness of Cooper. I apologize.

Ah, I remember you...

Welcome back Coop! I feel like I finally got my sweet boy back. Not that he has been un-sweet, but he has been so sad (rightfully so) and so off his schedule (rightfully so) and I have just missed him.

The night after his doctor's appointment I spent the night in the recliner holding him while he slept on my chest. He was so pitiful. There was a hilarious part of that whole day... we gave him Tylenol before his usual last feeding / bed time (or rather, first bed time, since we get up and go back to bed more then once a night). Anyways.... he LOVED it. I put the dropper with the proper dosage in his mouth, the way the nurse had earlier in the day, and his little eyes lit up, he swallowed and smacked his lips. Then he proceeded to get a little... loopy. He couldn't keep his paci in his mouth for more then 4 or 5 sucks and he seemed to space out a bit. Then he got the jimmy-legs.

It was so adorable, until the Tylenol wore off : (

Well, his fussiness lasted until about 10:00 the next morning and now we are back in business! Last night he even slept from 9:30 until about 1:00 and went right back to sleep after eating, then did not wake up again until 4:20am. Not too shabby! (especially since after I fed him at the 4am feeding, Steve took over and I went back to sleep- the trade off for him going to sleep before the 1:00am feeding...)

Today has been about a lot of snuggles and love. He is starting to smile so much more. I was giving him kisses beside his mouth today when he was nuzzling up and he rewarded me with several smiles. I need to get it on video, but I think I need Steve's help for that...

Crybaby

Yes, I was. Today was Coop's two month well check. He has an appropriately large cranium, has gotten longer, and has a strong pair of lungs (I cannot recall the exact measurements of the first 2 things because he was exercising the third for the first part of the appointment... little boy does NOT like to be woken up).

He is weighing 11, yes ELEVEN, pounds, and his doctor and nurse have concurred that he is even cuter with the extra meat on his bones (though we all thought it was impossible to be even MORE cute).

Grandpa came in and met the nurse and doctor (I LOVE them), but being Grandpa got to exit before the hard part.

Then came the shots.

He received 3, yes THREE, separate injections.
So, he had cried at the beginning of the appointment when we had to wake him up, but by the time the nurse came back with the shots he was a happy cooing baby. The nurse commented how unfair her job was because he even smiled at her (the little flirt). First came an oral med for the roda virus (or something like that). She would squirt a little bit in, and he would spit it right out and smile. The nurse assured me this was totally normal and expected and the immunization would still be effective.

Then we stopped. There was no putting it off any more. It was time for the shots. No more sweet oral meds. These next THREE were coming in needles (have needles gotten bigger?). So we talked it out and we decided I would stand up by his head (no need to hold him yet, it would only be MORE traumatic for me) and she would just do 'em. 1, 2, 3. I thought stopping to comfort him in between each one and then re-sticking him right after was more cruel. And thank goodness for the nurse. She was good to her word and did them as quick as she could. So, she gets ready to do the first. I am watching his little face looking up at the light in happy wonder. HOLY SH*T. That is basically what his little expression said. Then started the screaming and the onslaught of tears, and sobbing. Oh, and Coop got pretty upset too. As soon as it was over, I scooped him up and snuggled him close and he calmed down very quickly, and took down the bottle I had brought him, and proceeded to ride quietly in his carseat home, and snuggle up and sleep all day.

I, at 9:12pm, am still recovering.

I know he will never remember this. But I will never forget it.

You can see the bandaids on his legs. TWO of them... 2 shots in one thigh, 1 in the other.
Sad. : (
Feel better Coop. No more of that... for 2 more months.

Who Wears Short Shorts?

Cooper wears short shorts!
So, despite the rough go of it we have had today (poor little buddy), we have made the best of it. We didn't sit in our jammies all day and sulk (ok, Cooper didn't sit in his jammies all day... I might have). No, Coop got dressed in his new summer-wear. It was in the 80s today and he put on some shorts! Too cute.


He also spent time in just his diaper. It was just one of those days!

Spoke Too Soon

Cooper's day yesterday, seemingly better, was followed by one of the roughest nights since we have brought him home. At least then he would go 3 hours between eating... last night was more like 2.5. Poor little guy. He just wanted his mommy. Steve took over for about an hour this morning before he went to work, and for all his effort he was met with an hour of fussiness. Coop woke up at 12:30, 3:00, 5:00 and 7:30... roughly. And these were just the BIG wake ups. In between was fussing and whimpering any time I attempted to lay him down. This morning has been much of the same. Fortunately I was able to swaddle him up around 11:30 and he has been asleep since then (though his waking is imminent).

I had planned on taking him to Mom's and Tots today to hang out with his girlfriends, and to get a little mental health day for me, but I am so behind on school work and so behind on sleep, not to mention Coop is definitely not up to courting the ladies... we are just hanging home.

I just want this to be all over, and Coop feel better. I miss my little happy cuddler and it breaks my heart to see him so sad.

Recovery

Cooper had a MUCH better day today then yesterday, but there is still a ways to go before I get my old baby back.

Today he... practiced sticking his tongue out (picture 1), played with his elephant (picture 2... I wish I had gotten it on video. He was reaching out to touch it and absolutely fixated on it for a while. It was really cute!), played with Grandpa (picture 3) and went for a walk (not pictured here).

He is starting to smile for reasons other then gas, which is fun and adorable.
It is late, and it took several tries to get these pictures up, so I will be brief... he is just so much fun.

It Can Only Get Better

Today Coop had to have a ... procedure. One that would have been done in the hospital, but because he was a premie and they were worried he might stop eating we elected to wait and have done once he had grown some. Well. BIG mistake. I wish we had done it then, because by now it would be OVER! Poor little guy.

We (Grandpa and I) took him to the doctor, timing it just right so he would have his... procedure, and be home before his next feeding. Problem... well, the doctor was late because she was delivering someone else's baby, so the... procedure started about 10 minutes before he was due for his next feeding, and lasted about half an hour. Thus, he came out of the... procedure STARVING. Apparently he handled the... procedure very well, but when they offered a paci instead of lunch he got angry.

Reason # 5290 why I love my doctor - when I got there (we had gone to the Dunkin Donuts a few blocks away to be out of earshot (as recommended / demanded by the doctor)) I was taken into a back room to nurse the little guy, and found him in my doctor's arms in a softly lit room being snuggled. Now, he was screaming, because no matter how great my doctor is she just could not give him what he wanted, but this woman had other patients to see and took the time to comfort the little guy, personally, until I could get there. (and then sit with me while I calmed him down and calm ME down). I LOVE her.

Well, he came home and has spent the rest of the day sleeping and fussing. I think he is starting to feel better / forget the trauma, but my heart hurts for the little guy. He is such a GOOD baby, and when he looked up at me today, with his little lower lip and chin quivering I felt like I had betrayed him and let him down. I mean, they HURT MY BABY, and I LET THEM. Oh, yeah, and by the way... 2 month check up with 3, yes THREE, separate injections for immunizations on Monday. Steve totally owes me.

We love you little guy. Feel better. And just for the record, Daddy made me do it!

Moving Day

Yesterday was a big move for Coop. He went from the Pack-&-Play in our room, to the crib in his nursery. He is 7.5 weeks old, so it is time but that does not mean it was not a BIG transition. Since Grandpa is here, and willing to get up at all hours with the little guy, making the move now made sense. Grandpa is sleeping just outside the nursery and it is easier for him to help if we LET HIM. So, we cleaned out his crib (we may have used his crib for storage in the past few weeks... just a little), put on some fresh sheets, and for the first time ever I went to bed before he went to sleep.

Then I got up to check on him and remind my dad to look out for the cats. Then I went back to bed, then I got back up to tell my dad something else. Then I went back to bed. Then... well, you get the idea. I DID go to sleep MUCH earlier then I ever have and Coop actually slept like a champ. I only got up once at 2:30 to check on him (startling Grandpa... darn wood floors, can't do anything secretly) and then he slept until 4:30 before I got up to feed him again. Then, I just handed him back to Grandpa and went back to sleep. It was really nice. I can only imagine how nice and restful it will be when my OCD stops and I just go to sleep, already.

In other news... Coop is just eating up time with his Grandpa, and I am actually, possibly, maybe still going to graduate. I have been able to make some progress on these papers I have to do, and not just in 15 minute increments. Coop was troubled by some gas today, and had Grandpa jumping to change 4 dirty diapers in a 30 minute period. It was impressive.

I included the picture of our other kitty, our oldest kitty, just because. She was passed out on the couch, covering her eyes and she just looked funny.

More, More, More!

Picture 1: BIG EYES!

Picture 2: Big yawn

Picture 3: sleeping AND posing

Picture 4: awwww

Quite the Weekend...

Coop had quite a big weekend. Our friends from Houston came all the way up here to visit him for the first time, and he had quite the snuggle fest. Steve and I had a big weekend because we left him for the first time. We had so much fun, and only called a couple of times to check in because we missed him. He was in good hands, though, so we were really able to relax and enjoy the night out.

I feel like I have to play catch up with the pictures and postings... So, here goes:

Picture 1: Grandpa Cox came to visit, and Coop basically snuggled down to sleep on him all day.

Picture 2: Coop and Grandma Kowalski ready for a night of fun

Picture 3: Coop's booty. Just too cute to NOT take a picture!

Picture 4: Clem. She has had the hardest time adjusting to the new addition. We had Coop on the boppy on the floor taking pictures and when we were done Clem decided to pull her toy over and pose for pictures too. It was a little pathetic

Picture 5: One of the other pictures I had tried to post before. This is Coop looking like such a BIG boy next to one of the outfits that he swam in when he was first born. How can it already be going by so fast?

WE'RE BACK!!!

Now I just tried posting this ONE picture and I don't have time to try to post more... but TA-DA... persistence totally paid off.

Now, aren't I right? Isn't this a REALLY cute picture?

If At First You Don't Succeed....

Fail, Fail again... darn it.

Those pictures STILL will not go up... I even opened a new post and tried JUST posting pics, no text... Too bad I am not computer savvy. I am persistent, though.

What the...?

Well, I am not sure what is going on, but there seem to be technical difficulties with the blog picture function. I would assume I was just technologically incompetent (the usual problem) but I have posted so many pictures of this kiddo that I am pretty sure I know what I am doing now...

Anyway... I had a bunch of cute pictures to post and had written something up about them, but I keep getting an error page. Have no fear... I will keep trying despite the fact it is not working, and hopefully something will change.

They were really cute pictures....

Spring Break With Daddy

Picture 1- Coop has developed more chub... see the crease! Love it... delicious!


(Picture 2) - Steve is home this week for Spring Break. He is getting a lot of Coop time, and I am getting a lot of catch up time. New developments: Coop no longer fits in the snugglie! When we tried to put him in it the other night, he literally took less then 30 seconds to bust out of it like the Hulk. It became pointless to put him in it, because he would wake himself up in the process of freeing his arms. It WAS hysterical, because the effort it took to break free came with loud grunts, and when he did succeed he had such a look of pride on his face. They have them a size up, but these snugglies don't come with the straight jacket wings... and we use it some, but in the last night or 2 Steve has tried a new strategy. We call it the MerMan. It is a complex series of steps ultimately wrapping the guy up like a burrito, but step 1 consists of wrapping his legs, creating a the baby with a fin look you see in the picture. We laughed at (I mean with) him about this one for quite a while... maybe you had to be here to get the full affect.. I dunno.

(Pictures 3 & 4) Coop has also started propping himself up on his little crossed arms sometimes when he is snuggling up against my chest. It is like he is posing for a picture. So, needless to say, we took one... or 20. Enjoy the 2 here.

Someday

Someday Coop's nostrils will be bigger then his fingers, and he can go digging for gold and remove all the boogie treasures that stuff him up...

Someday Coop will learn to blow his nose and we can stop telling him to stop picking it....

But until then, we will desperately struggle to remove his boogies with the suction thingie.

Seriously... didn't expect this to be something relevant enough to talk about, but we are looking forward to those days...

Happy Easter Part II

Here are some more pics from today!

Happy First Easter Coop

Now, not that Coop is spoiled or anything, but he is SO spoiled (in an unbelieveably great way)! Here are some pictures from his first Easter.

Picture 1: He is surrounded by his Easter baskets - from Beka, his Grand-mama and Grandpa Kowalski, and us (we went the less traditional route this year... ).

Picture 3: I tried taking some pictures with all of his presents laid out so you could see just how stinkin spoiled rotten this little boy is (as are his parents, as not pictured are several boxes of diapers and wipes - thank you!). There are bibs, a crib sheet with vehicles all over it, mittens, wash clothes, 2 things of desitin, receiving blankets, stuffed animals galonre, the soft blanket he is lying on, (picture 4) AND... resees cups (um, we may "save" those for when he is older)!

This is our first holiday together as a family, and while we are just hanging home and I will be writing a paper for much of the day, it feels pretty great. Cooper actually had a pretty great night last night, sleeping from 11:00 until 3:00am, then from 4:00am til 7:00-ish. Happy Easter to Mommy and Daddy, I suppose.

Happy Baby

So, I am not sure what it is, but these past few days Coop has just been so much more... well, I don't want to say enjoyable, because we enjoyed him before, but, well, enjoyable. He just has these great stretches of being awake, when he is not eating, and is just active and funny. These are just 5 of the, oh, about 50 pictures Steve took (no exaggeration) yesterday during a diaper change. The diaper change turned into a 20 minute ordeal because I was standing right beside him with the video camera (will post that later). Coop is a bit of a ham. You can see his belly filling out so nicely, and those gorgeously plump legs. Not to mention the creases by his ankles in the shot of his little Fred Flintstone feet.

Good Mom

My husband has told me a lot of sweet things in the time I have known him. Even before we started dating, when we were just friends, he always said the kindest things and made me feel so special. It was always nice to know that he thought those things. But by far, the greatest compliment he has given me is that he thinks I am a good mom. I think I work really hard at it, and I think I take my job as his mom seriously, but even at this stage I have had moments where I second guessed one action or another. Sure, at this point it is just small stuff mainly, like should I be feeding him on demand or every 3 hours, but sometimes it is bigger stuff, like thinking about stuff down the road and planning how to best take care of this little guy. The fact that he, the man whose opinion matters most in the world to me, thinks I am a good mom, well that is just special.

We have had Coop 6 weeks tomorrow and we have been doing it just the 2 of us. I mean, in the day to day, night to night sense - we don't have a nanny or someone living with us helping us out. Even though we are walking zombies sometimes and not getting to spend as much time together as we are trading shifts sleeping, I am glad he appreciates me for the person I am now. I am not the same person I was, and in a way, I never will be again, but I think I might find somewhere to settle that is a combination of the me then and the me now. But the point is, Steve thinks I am a good mom, so I guess I am doing something right.

Basically, sorry I didn't put a disclaimer at the beginning, but this is a sappy post about how great Steve is. As a husband and a Daddy.

Cooper says it best for both of us.
Picture 1- Cooper pointing to himself
Picture 2- Showing how much he love his Daddy ... This much
Picture 3- In case you have not read the bib yet...
Picture 4- Sweetest face
Picture 5- Sleepy guy about to knock his paci out of his mouth... those hands, always doing something...