Who Needs Sleep???

Coop has decided he does not, in fact, need 2 naps.

Since a few days ago, he goes down like usual at 9:30 in the morning, gets up, and then goes to his crib around 2.... and chats up a storm and practices balancing on his hands and tippytoes...

I thought it was a faze... overexcitement from the holidays, but nope. He is going strong.

I would worry about the little guy not getting enough sleep, but he has made up for it with EXTRA long nighttimes... like 6:15pm - 7:30am.

Bummer that it means I miss seeing him in the morning, and get an hour chopped off at nighttime, but at least we can make up for it on weekends by playing straight through the afternoon!

Shake Shake Shake

For some reason, "shake shake shake" was the most hysterical thing in the world today.

Turkey Day

I am thankful for many things... undefeated seasons, offices closing early, googled recipes, sleeping past 7... the list goes on. Clearly, it goes without saying that my turkey day most thankful thing is this little family I am a part of.

If I had to imagine what Coop's top 10 things were that he was most thankful for today I would guess (in no particular order).

1. Monkey
2. Teddy
3. Clementine
4. Teeth
5. Bubbles
6. Bath time
7. Crescent Rolls
8. The sense of touch
9. Watches
10. His family - near or far, he is a lucky little boy to have so many admirers!

Today was a wonderful day. My first Thanksgiving to be head chef (thank goodness for sous chefs!) and our first Thanksgiving with Cooper outside the belly. He has been playing like crazy since Grandpa and Ma-Maw came. Steve and I are chopped liver to boot. He was able to sit at the table with us (in his high chair) for the whole Thanksgiving meal - snacking on the aforementioned crescent rolls and tiny pieces of turkey, smiling, and just being a delightful dinner guest. He never fussed and chatted and smiled.

He was so wound up his afternoon nap was a little short, but he managed to tough it out to see the kickoff in the TX v. TX A&M game.

*We rushed him out of the room before the Aggie's touchdown.. thank goodness... could have scared him for life*

I am so proud of this little guy. He can now point to Grandpa's nose when asked "Where is Grandpa's nose?" and it is just pretty darn adorable.

Pictures were few and far between today - we were kind of caught up in gluttony and sloth. BUT...
1. Coop playin in his jammies... he has had a lot of jammie time lately, it just seems the right thing to do around the holidays!
2. Coop and his "uncle" Seb. We have several K9 visitors here- Seb (my parents - Ma-Maw and Grandpa's- 7 year old mix dog) and Sally (Aunt Krishia's corgi pup). Sally is a feisty little thing and on leash almost all the time, while Seb is generally just laying down. At one point, Coop started to crawl towards Sally and Seb, in his herding and protective way, moved to stand between Coop and his crazy pup target. Seb had been playing (yes, we will just call it playing) with Sally all day, and knew Coop didn't quite know what he was getting in to, so he was protecting him. It is quite cute. Coop loves Seb already... he crawls all over him and Seb just lays there.
3. Cooper eating turkey in his high chair
4. GO HORNS GO!
5. Coop and his football buddy

Birthday, Featuring Coop

Yesterday I turned 27 (not 26 as some unnamed (mom) people mistakenly believed). It was, as usual, a great day featuring Coop... well, great day for me and Coop!

Poor Steve had his wisdom teeth out. Which was not so much fun, though he is doing well, and seems to be having a pretty nice recovery. I worked from home, and shuttled him around in the morning, and worked from the office in the afternoon, before getting a birthday pedicure with Hannah and meeting the guys (Grandpa, Steve and Coop) out for dinner. I topped the day off with cake on the couch, and then passing out on the couch until I could haul my tired self up to bed (Steve and I had actually gone out Sunday night to celebrate, so I was exhausted).

So, for those of you who called and wished me a happy birthday and got nothing but an answering machine, because I was in a sleep deprived, cake induced coma... THANK YOU!!!

For GAD

Cooper met his Great Aunt Debbie today (who was here with his Great Aunt Deonna, so it was a GAD-fest). Aunt Debbie has been sending love from Amarillo for a long time so it was really great to get to see her, and show our little Royal Highness off. Within a short time and a few Cheerios, Coop was in hog heaven, soaking up the Great Aunt attention. It was great, BUT I was reminded that I had not, in fact, posted anything since mid-week. Thus... today's post!

The pictures of Coop.... from Coop's perspective
1- "why yes, I was going to try to pull the plastic thingie out of the electrical outlet... is that a problem????
2- "I swear, I didn't do it. It was that OTHER thing that crawls around... yeah, it was Clementine!!!"
3- "I should get closer to the camera"
4- "That's better"
5- "More Cheerios, please"

*Blushing*

Someone commented on the blog... someone unknown. I almost didn't know what to do. I mean, shucks, someone is reading this who is not obligated to by blood relation (or as good as)??? I feel so... special!!!!

Ok, so they commented on one of Steve's posts.. but they were commenting on the BLOG in general, thus, mainly they were commenting to ME!!! (I love you Steve, but let's be honest... this blog is an 80/20 split, and that is if I am being generous) : )

I started this little musing, rambling, chatty, spastic one-way dialogue as a way to (1) document Coop's life (since, because I am totally lame and chained to my computer all the time I am not playing with him, there was little chance many recordings would make it in any official baby book), and (2) keep the extended family inundated with photos and stories of the wee one.

I never saw much of a reason to keep it private cause (1) it was too much trouble, and (2) I like to randomly hound people who I barely know but feel the undeniable urge to brag to into looking at the blog to see how cute my offspring is. BUT, I never expected anyone who was not family or really good friends to read it.

Don't get me wrong, I know I am not a real writer, nor do I have delusions that I have some kind of "following"... I day dream of being as witty and clever as other blogger mommies (finslippy.com, borrowedlight.blogspot.com) but could never pull it off. BUT... someone out there who is not required to ooh and aah and make the routine check ins to this little site actually did, and even felt the need to tell me I am doing a good job!

Seriously, HOW NICE IS THAT?!?!?!

I LOVE it when people tell me I am doing a good job. I thrive on positive feedback. (Steve might say I require it).

So, thank you! I really appreciate the comment.
: )

Seriously, I am totally smiling to myself right now.

Anywho.. back to the star. I thought I would post some new pics of King Cooper.
1- He is still REALLY into his pillows
2- He still things we are pathetic and need to find a hobby other then snapping thousands of pictures a day (at least that is what I think this expression says)
3- He likes his new jammies
4- He likes to blow spit bubbles when showing off his abs
5- He likes to check out his abs

Snackin'

Steve shot this video today when Coop was having his morning snack.

It is pretty darn cute!

There is a lot of him feeding himself, but if you wait til the end you will be rewarded with many many precious smiles.

Coop and Daddy's Weekend

With Momma out of town on business Coop and I had a real "guys" weekend full of football and plenty of toys. When Whitney is out of town it is much harder at home because we (especially Coop) miss her and all that she contributes to the house and this family. I try my best with Coop, and yes I think I do a good job with him. But no one can replace his mommy and he loves her VERY much.

We didn't do a whole lot, mainly just hung out. We spent the past few days watching football, playing with his toys, and a lot of rolling around on the ground and wrestling. He almost always pins his daddy.

Coop's weekend was filled with good naps, good meals, and ate almost all of his bottles. He has been SUPER chatty and loves to carry on conversations with me. He is a little talker! All and all we had a lot of fun. And more importantly Coop seems to be back to 100%, which is really good news.

Sometime Sunday evening, 6:30-ish, Mommy will be home and we both will be very happy to see her. I know from talking to her a few times she is really excited to get home and see him. And I know from talking to him all weekend he is really excited to see her too! :)

-s

Why Howdy

It is the end of the week and I am TIRED, but before I jet off to Chicago for the weekend to work work work (and miss my sweet little baby) I thought I would put up some new pictures for you (and me when I am in total Coop withdrawal and need to see his sweet sweet sweet face, or back of his head).

He is a little scooter across the floor now, and loves to reach for everything (usually stuff he is not supposed to reach for) and I noticed when he sat in my lap the other day that from behind he looks way more like a little boy then a bitty baby. Except for the fact that his hair is still not totally grown in...

Tonight we went out to eat with Ma-Maw. It was super fun and Coop loves to go out and see new places, and all went well. UNTIL (dum dum dum) I scooped him up to head back into his carseat for the 30 second ride home, and... well... I wouldn't even mention this because it is the most disgusting story ever, but to be brief... I was covered in poo. There had been a diaper mishap, and while Coop was merrily enjoying the situation (probably because he had escaped the majority of the poo since it had apparently shot right out the diaper, and out the side of his pants onto my arm and the high chair) I was mortified.

We rushed outside, leaving Steve to clean up (I figured not only was it a way to escape, but most other diners would prefer we leave at that point) and had to lay a blanket on the grass and strip down to nothing by the parking lot (Coop, not myself) and clean up the best we could, slap on a new diaper and get home to wash it off thoroughly in a good warm bath.

It was memorable. Thank goodness, at moments like this, we live in a warm weather environment.

All Better

I wish we had gotten what Coop had...
I unwittingly posted about the Plague mere hours before I fell victim to it.
Compared to us, Cooper was the picture of health and vitality.
I literally spent the better portion of 24 hours shuddering under a blanket with a 101-102 fever. Not so glamorous (and my life is usually chock full of glamor).

Fortunately it was a fast-acting... plague.

All is well in the house of King Cooper.

The Plague

We are neither swine-y or flu-y which leaves only... the plague.

Ok, maybe not, but Steve came home from work MISERABLE tonight. Coop is still a little under the weather, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him.

See:

















Tell me that is not the most beautiful face. Oh, you can't, CAUSE IT IS!!!!


















He realized we were trying to get a shot of his teeth, so being the sneaky little stinker that he is, he shut his mouth. Yes TEETH (not tooth). His bottom 2 are really in, and the top two are visible, but just barely.


















Whoops! Clearly I am going for teeth, BUT I kind of wanted a face shot WITH teeth, not a teeth shot, minus face.

















THERE THEY ARE!!!!
















You can't really see the top ones, but they are there... oh yes they are! Creeping on out.

The better to bite Daddy with!!! (Once he is better).

Home Sick

Coop stayed home sick today.
Well, he is always at home, but today he was sick.
I went to work for 4 hours and then met Steve and Coop at the doctor.
I was planning on working from home for the rest of the day, but I am not sure how well that will go as I think I may be "home sick" now too.

Sad!!!

All we can tell now is that it is probably viral, and flu cultures are forthcoming.

Coop has slept pretty much 90% of the day since he first got up at 6:15... just waking enough to throw up 3 times and be checked out by the doctor.

Poor little guy! 8+ months healthy means we have been pretty lucky, but man this is not fun!

Pooped

Given the nature of babies, the title to this post could be used on many occasions, but in this case, it is merely the best word to describe Coop after his whirlwind weekend in Houston. Not only did he sleep til 7, but he took 2 veeeery long naps today and went to bed without the slightest protest. His exhaustion is no surprise since he spent the whole weekend being showered with attention and surrounded by kiddos. The fact that he handled it all with cuteness and giggles rather and recovered with more cuteness and giggles and super naps is what amazes me.

The shower was attended by many friends and family of the expectant couple, and they were all wonderful and nice. What was hysterical was that, of the women in my age group, it seemed most of them were expecting. The joke was going round that this pregnancy thing must be contagious, and while that is just a saying, I think it is true that this baby craze really does just spread. And why wouldn't it, I mean, have you seen our baby?!?!

Having been through a pregnancy that was about a million times harder then I ever anticipated, I used to just know that this one kid we were going to have was going to be the ONLY kid we were going to have. I declared, on more then one occasion, to more then one person, that I would NEVER be pregnant again. My wiser friends pretty much rolled their eyes. I knew what they thought. They thought that I was just saying that and as soon as I had a baby I would change my mind. Well, I was pretty sure I knew better. I was pretty sure they were wrong, cause they had no idea just how bad my pregnancy had been. Well, maybe they didn't know about the trials of my pregnant, but they certainly knew about babies and how, once you have one, suddenly all that stuff, all that misery, nausea, sickness, swelling, sleeplessness, and discomfort kind of goes away (except the sleeplessness). I have not forgotten so much, it is more that once Coop was born it all seemed so insignificant because he is just so worth it. I would go through it all again in a heartbeat. I would go through so much more... ends of the earth, hell and back... you name it - totally worth it.

I am so happy and excited for my friend, and so confident that they will be such amazing parents and their little one will be happy and loved. I cannot wait to watch their family expand. I feel so blessed to know what she is going through. She has had a pretty awesome pregnancy so far, and I am so glad for her (and incredibly jealous). After watching Coop with the other kiddos this weekend I cannot wait to take him to visit her and his new little friend.

Coop's Big Weekend

This past weekend Cooper and us drove down to Houston on Friday night to visit our friends Nikki and Kirk and celebrate with them on Saturday at Nikki's baby shower. After our trip from Chicago to Austin we were pretty confident that Coop could make the drive without problem, but we were still a little nervous about how he would respond to the near 3 hours in the car.

Although he handled the move to Austin like a champ, he did have some issues on and after that trip. For instance, he probably had the worst night sleep of his life the night before we left for Austin as we were staying in a hotel in downtown Chicago. He also fused a great deal about going in his car seat for a few weeks after we arrived in Austin. And although a lot has changed with him since coming down here, the fear was still in my head that he might have a really rough weekend. But instead he made both 3 hour car rides VERY smoothly and slept through the night in his pack-and-play.

Cooper was being very cute this past weekend and he loves hanging out with people. He seemed to really love hanging out with Kirk, the soon to be first time dad, and was giving Kirk some pointers on fatherhood. Later Saturday night we went to the shower and we all had a really great time...especially Cooper. He was sequestered in the "kiddie room" with about six other little ones five and under and were entertained by a couple of hired babysitters, Cherri-o's, and a few movies. Cooper was in heaven. It was so cute just walking past the room every now and then and checking up on him. He was so happy playing (or what he though was playing) with the other kids and eating his Cherri-o's. He was laughing literally every time I walked by. He was super cute and I am very proud of him.

At seven that night we started to load everything up and soon after we hit the road back home. He was super good that drive home and went right to bed. He even slept in an hour later than usual this morning. He's such a great boy! We both love him SO much.

One last shout out to Nikki and Kirk, congrats again. You will both be great parents and we are so happy for you. Hope to see you guys soon.

-s

Guess What!?!?!? Someone's got a ....

TOOTH! (pictures below, kind of, after the cute ones from yesterday that we still had not posted).






















Anyway... I came home from work ON TIME today and got right down on the floor next to my little buddy who was hanging in his walker digesting his bottle. I was chatting with Steve and I just, for some reason, thought I would see if I could feel anything starting to come out of his gums. AND... I totally felt his tooth. FIRST!!! (I know this sounds childish and totally inappropriate, but I cannot help it. I have totally come to terms with missing a lot of stuff the first time it happens, but being "mature" enough to accept that means being immature enough to totally gloat when I don't). Then we proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes (and all of Coop's patience) trying to get a picture.





Apparently 8 month olds don't like having their mouth opened with a camera in their face....

In case you are wondering where in that blurry slobbery mess the tooth is... It is bottom left (so your / our right). It is the most amazing little tooth in the world. I feel like such a dork cause I am so PROUD of the little guy for growing that thing. I mean, I got a little misty eyed knowing it was the end of big gummy smiles, and it is just one more milestone out of the land of baby and into the land of toddler (and that is as far as I will think ahead), but I am just so. darn. proud.

Super Cuteness!

Steve claims Coop is saying "Da Da" now... and while I hate to burst his bubble... not quite there yet!

He definitely says "da da da da da" repeatedly, kind of like how he says "ba ba ba ba" or "ma ma ma ma"... not really affiliated with anything.

But, its ok, cause it is pretty cute, and Coop definitely loves his Da Da.

Snack Time

These days I have started putting snack foods (Cheerios, Puffs, Wagon Wheels, Yogurt Puffs) in the little tray parts of Coop's standy toys. He LOVES it. It is so amazing to watch his excitement as he spots is snack and then uses great concentration to pick some up, put it in his mouth and ENJOY! Sometimes he misses, but his little pincher grasp and eye hand coordination are getting pretty spot on, so not too much hits the floor.

Doesn't he look satisfied?!?!

Ma-Maw to the Rescue

Steve had a half day training for substitute teaching in AISD. I had a Halloween work day. What were we to do with Cooper???? Ma-Maw to the rescue. She drove in and spent a couple nights with us, and kept Coop while we were at our respective engagements... Not to mention she was the one who brought Coop up to my office.

Here are some pictures from her lovely visit.