Pool Pics - Concluded

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YOUR EYES!!! COVER YOUR EYES!!!!

Its eighty in Austin, so with all of our extra money we decided to put a pool in the backyard.

HA HA HA HA!!!!

Extra money... ain't no such thing... ya'll (All the way Texan today).

Actually, the pool was a present for Cooper's birthday - an above ground.






I insisted we blow it up and use it as a general playscape in the house, so we only had to move it outside and fill it with water, and we were good to go. (The brain numbing blowing up of the pool was done).

Despite my very busy week at work, I managed to leave on time, and we suited up (again YOUR EYES!!!) sunscreened the little guy up (covering his head with his hat, as there is still not quite enough hair to actually protect his little scalp), put him in his SPF protective clothing, and without thinking much about it, plopped him right in his swimming pool. He looked surprised at first, and I worried I should have eased him in or something and I might have just traumatized him for life of all swimming experiences, then a split second later, he was dipping his hand in the water... then dipping a little deeper... then plopping on his booty... and then SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH!!!!

Sense of Humor

I have been meaning to put this in the Blog to document it for a few days now, because my favorite developmental milestone has occurred:

Coop has developed an interactive sense of humor.

He used to laugh when provoked, which I suppose is interactive in a way, but now he has a sense of humor where he wants to share jokes with us, and is creating the funny situations to allow just that.

When Steve and I laugh (usually at Cooper - in the nice way) at something that there is no possible way Cooper would understand or conceive as funny, Coop will look up at us and do a laugh... or something resembling a laugh. HE FAKE LAUGHS... how funny is that? And, he does things that he thinks are silly and then looks at us to confirm the silliness. For example, I was giving him his nighttime bottle (though he is VERY big and independent and one, so this is really me snuggling him while he holds his own bottle and chews on it, pops it in and out of his mouth, and occasionally takes a few sips) and he took the bottle and turned it upside down. Then, he looked at it, looked at me, and pretended to drink from the bottom of the bottle. He cracked himself up! He knew he couldn't drink from the bottle this way, he wasn't confused, he was, rather, making a funny.

I know this is just the beginning of knock knock jokes that have no discernible punch line, and acting as an audience to the same joke time after time after time after time, and hours of watching him get himself into fits of giggling about something like the word "poop"... and I cannot wait.

This house, it likes the funny - and even if it is not actually funny - we like the laughter even more.

Day Off

I came back from Houston and spent the day with my boys...

We decided to go out for lunch (using a gift card from Christmas) and then for some reason I thought - why don't we go to Build-a-Bear???

Anywho... Cooper was a champ at lunch. I am seriously loving this age. Other then when he was oh so very tiny, this has been the first age that I can not stress out when we take him out to eat. (And let's be honest, who wants to go out to eat when you have an oh so very tiny baby????) We can order him things off of a kids menu and cut it up super tiny, and he is good to go.

After dropping off the leftovers at home we headed to the mall and our local Build-a-Bear. En route to the store we saw an area set up for the Easter Bunny, and we thought, "why not" and stopped to take some pictures of Coop and the Easter Bunny.

That is where he got the bunny ears.

It was just good luck he was already wearing the hat.

His new stuffy is Harold the Owl.

The glasses are supposed to be for Harold.

Spring Break

Spring Break in Austin was pretty much last week. Spring Break in Chicago seemed to fall later.. thus, I shall comment on it NOW... timely for neither city, but somewhere in the middle.

This is the first year I have EVER not had a Spring Break (how sad and indulgent is that for a TWENTY SEVEN year old person to say, but I pout nonetheless).

Anywho... Since starting at my current job I have pretty much taken no holidays (other then the generous holidays the whole office received and a day off for a migraine). Thus, I will fight against the no spring break status of an employee and take some time to get away over the next two weeks. First, I am going to visit one of my most favorite people and her new sweet baby. I told her looooong ago when she got pregnant that the only thing I request of her is that she let me come in and smell that newborn baby. They always smell amazing. And, alas, she is a true friend and has agreed, without being tooooo weirded out. Given the fact that I have a sweet smelling boy here in Austin that I still like to absorb, I opted to go for my visit for 2 days mid-week by myself- taking a few days off of work and leaving the whole family visit til a time when she has had more then 10 hours of sleep over 7 days... oh I remember those days... Thus, I get to see her and her baby, and miss only a few hours of Coop time since I would usually be at work most of those days anyways, and come back and have a weekend of Coop and Mommy time. I am SO EXCITED.

Then, we are going afar to the great city from where we came... we are going to Chicago.

I tell you of my plans as they tie loosely into the concept of Spring Break and with Spring Break comes HATS! Which, as you can see, COOPER GOT A NEW HAT!!!! As per usual, he didn't rip it off his head the moment we put it on, but rather wore it around the store, flirted with the salesperson, let us cut off the tag IN THE STORE and wore it home where he hammed it up for the camera. This kid, this kid will be ready for the paparazzi.

Don't worry, we will do our job as parents to keep him rooted to his humble beginnings.

Things Are Happening

This week has seen many big things happening.

Cooper has taken 3-4 unassisted steps between toys. They are tottering and have resulting in a few booty collapses on unsuccessful attempts, but he is doing it.

This past week 2 big things have happened for us as a family:

1) I paid off one of my student loans in its entirety. Now, this loan is a TINY loan. It amounts to 1/50th of my total student loan debt, but the check cleared, and we are slowly knocking it out.

2) I sold my car. This is a car I bought back in 2004. My first dealership purchase. A 2 door Honda Civic that I looooved (even more when I was done paying it off). The problem was... or rather the problemS were... 1) not so great to get a baby + car seat + diaper bag + all other baby paraphernalia in and out of, and 2) it was in need of some love to keep running reliably. It didn't make sense to put money into a car that no longer made sense for this family, so after several months of being a pretty much one car family we are now OFFICIALLY a one car family.

Yay! Big things are happening around here.

Who Needs a Nap?

Coop decided to chat up a storm through his nap on Friday, so by the time we got home in the early evening, I decided to avoid complete combustion we should just give in and let him have some BABY EINSTEIN time. And yes, that came with a half hour of snuggling for Mommy.

He does this now. At bedtime especially. He is POOPED, and ready to go up for bath and bottle and bed at 6:00, meaning he is in crib, lights out, blankie on, Teddy and Monkey in hand by 6:30. Then, a few moments of silence. Then... ba ba ba ... Phllllth (making spit with tongue noise) and button pushing on his mobile.... and... and ... and... so much activity we have decided to set the Flip video up in his room tonight to see what in the heck he is doing. Then, about 30-45 minutes later, OUT. He is down for the count, out like a light. We don't hear from him again for 12-13 hours. No complaints, just funny. I think he gets so much direct one on one or one on two time during the day that this pre-bedtime ritual is his "alone time."

Another Coop thing right now is his eyebrow wiggle. I was across the room from him a few days ago, and I said "Coop" and when he looked at me I did the SUPER exaggerated eyebrow wiggle. He laughed so I kept doing it. Then, he looked right at me, eyes open wide, and started fluttering his eyelashes, blinking them real fast and deliberate. It was clear he thought he was imitating me, and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Randomness. Just wanted to share...

Georgie Porgie Puddin' Pie

Seriously, I saw Coop in this outfit, and that rhyme was all I could think of.

Loves it!

Note about picture 3 - Coop has taken to just dropping down onto a soft blanket or pillow and will lay like this until I come over and say "sweet baby" and rub his back. It is really cute.

Coop's New Room

And now... the reason for all of the BABY EINSTEIN.

Cooper now has his own playroom. For anyone who has been to our house (or seen pictures), it has basically become a total a complete landfill of toys, baby proofing, and fences. It was a constant struggle to keep that kid contained. We were always trying to keep him from grabbing this, pulling up on that, and basically either demolishing the place or hurting himself.

At last, after umpteen trips over the fence, at least 30 escapes, and apologizing millions of times that "The remote is not a toy" we decided that we have all this space (this space that is costing an ungodly amount in electricity even though we have TURNED OFF OUR CENTRAL AIR AND HEAT!!!!) and maybe it was time to make a just Coop space. Thus, the baby narcotic of BABY EINSTEIN and a whole reorganization project. I am super happy with the results. We took off the doors to the built in cabinets, and he has free access to all his toys.

In the short time he was able to check out his space today he seemed to really be into the new arrangement. I think having his toys spaced out and put away in a space for just him makes it easier for him to focus on the toy he is playing with at the moment.

Yay for de-cluttering (or rather re-locating a bunch of toys!)

Dazed and Confused

We needed to occupy Cooper for a couple of minutes. Enter BABY EINSTEIN.
We are not big believers of the TV as parent methodology (though I love me some Sesame Street) but from time to time, TV as babysitter is amazing in a pinch. It would almost seem wrong not to allow Cooper the BABY EINSTEIN experience. We turned the TV on and... WOAH... (See pictures 1 & 2). We moved him a safer distance away, but it did little to faze him, and he was transfixed for the 30 minute duration of BABY EINSTEIN. (See pictures 3 & 4).

Handsome... if I do say so myself

Cat. Key-Cat.

We have reason to believe that our child has said his first word.

Now there have been a LOT of Dadas said, and even a few Mamas, but basically they are nonsense words he uses to refer to lots of things: the cats, his diaper, a shadow - for the former, and as a way to make Mommy shut up - for the latter. But recently we have been hearing a distinct "Cat" or even "Key-Cat" or "Kit-Kat" from the mouth of Cooper - WHEN HE IS CHASING THE CATS - or when he is poking the cat's nose or cheerfully announcing their arrival to the room.

Penny is thrilled and walking around with a very smug attitude.

Clem is too clueless to understand that she has one-upped both Steve and I.

Regardless of the embarrassment at a furry animal that licks itself being the object of Coop's affection we are both SO PROUD and giddy at this newly found communicative ability.

Steve took a video today, the one here posted, where he was trying to get Coop to show off his listening skills - where we ask him "Where is your _____?" and he usually takes off towards it. Of course, like all children, he was resolute in his effort to make big liars out of mom and dad... until the mention of books, at which his fortitude crumbled. However, he does accidentally reveal his new word, something I am sure was unintentional and we could never get him to recreate. So ENJOY!!!

Daylight Savings

And so we spring forward. Basically it has been a lazy weekend thus far, though Cooper has been Veeeeery busy:

Picture 1: Trying to recover a Cheerio he lost under the couch 6 weeks ago. So he can eat it.

Picture 2: Giddyup Horsey!!!

Pictures 3 & 4: Check out them guns!!! I couldn't resist buying some muscle shirts for Coop as the weather is warming. Now he can really flex and impress.

Spoiled Rotten

Thanks to some very generous people, Coop had some money burning a hole in his pocket, just waiting for him to go crazy in Toys R Us.

He got a puzzle, an abacus, and one of those maze things that has the beads following paths like doctor's offices always have. (He had enjoyed the one at our doctor's when we went, but I wouldn't really let him play with it, cause... well Pediatricians by definition see other SICK kids... and since we usually have to wait at least a few minutes (OR HOURS) when we go because they are behind, I seriously doubt they are taking the time to scrub everything down between kids. Not a slam at my doctor, we love her, but just gives me the heebie jeebies.)

He is spoiled rotten and loving every second of it.

I love this bottom picture cause he is clearly looking at Steve like "Yes, Daddy, FINE, take another picture, but I am not going to smile, or open my eyes." Poor kid, he puts up with so much.

The Hulk

More evidence of our kind-of walking baby.

And his love for the camera.

I like how you can tell the moment he realizes he is being filmed.

I'm Walkin', Can't You See

Yes, Cooper has a TON of push toys, and YES he favors the crates we bought to move.

Ah my little rebel.

Oh, and Yes I change into my jammies as soon as I get home, and Yes, Cooper loves the camera and my jammie pants' drawstrings.

It is a charmed life we lead. And I'm not being sarcastic.

Yesterday Was Hard

Coop got his shots on Monday, and we timed it perfect. Shots, home, dinner, bath, bed. We were able to manage the pain, and get him to bed to sleep it off.

Tuesday was my loooooong day. I had a lot of work to do and a very important meeting to go to at night. Despite mine and my boss' best effort I didn't have time to come home. It hurts to know he was sick (he had 3 live viruses in this round of vaccinations) and yucky feeling and that I couldn't snuggle it away. I am lucky Coop's Daddy can fill in where I can't be.

Today made yesterday a totally acceptable thing. Not only am I still flying high on a pretty big victory for a client, but I came home, and made up for some lost time.

Man that kid is cute (seriously, I am going to prove it shortly in my next post)... AND it will be a (comparatively) loooong time before the next round of shots. Hallelujah for that!

Back to Beautiful

He loves to ham it up for the camera.

Little cheeseball!

The Outtakes

I admit, we spend much of our time commenting on how adorable and handsome our sweet little bambino is, but not EVERY picture we take is of super-model quality. I thought I would provide some of the pictures I would usually not post.

Stats

Coop is 31 inches tall
Coop is about 23 pounds heavy

How To Avoid Shots at a One-Year Old Appointment

Blow giant chunks of your lunch all over yourself, the car, your carseat when you are a mere 2 blocks away.

This will also allow you and your parents to look like complete hillbillies when they strip you naked and take your aromatic self into the doctor's office waiting room filling the surrounding air with vomit and a slight overtone of baby wipe.

Coop is not sick, or at least he is masking it very well with all his smiles and laughter and playing and huge appetite, but he has mastered the art of dodging the needle.

Until next week, when we get to go BACK to the doctor.

In all seriousness it was really quite sad and awful. He just threw up out of nowhere right before he got to the doctor and since I was meeting them there Steve had to call me to come down and help. When I got to the car it was the most pitiful sight I had ever seen, he was covered in it, and still halfway strapped in. We got him out, took off the clothes (thus smearing it all over his head cause we hadn't planned for this and his shirt was not a button down) and tried to wipe it off with a baby wipe. Feeling he had been through enough I didn't want to wrangle him into the spare clothes we had brought, so I wrapped him in a blanket and took him on up ready to ignore the looks from other people that clearly conveyed that they thought we were trash for bringing our baby out in only a diaper. And socks.

the vaccinations at one year are live viruses, so the doctor didn't want to give him anything like that when he might be coming down sick. We clearly defer to her, and wouldn't want to do that either.

Fortunately, it appears to be a fluke vomiting incident (words I thought this blog would never see... unless I kept writing it up through his 21st birthday). Unfortunately, we are going to have to haul him in there next wednesday and let them shoot up those sweet plump little thighs.

One more thing about being a Mom - even when you are confronted with the chunkiest, smelliest, most undigested heap of heaps, you will willingly reach right in and cover yourself in it if it means getting your baby out of it.

I won't claim I didn't flinch, but I didn't let that flinch slow me down.