Merry Christmas!

My blog is suffering...  Between moving and chasing a 14 month-old around there is hardly any time.  We are somewhat settled into our new house...

Christmas has been a whirl!  We headed to L.A. late last Friday night and stayed until Christmas day, and then headed back north in some lovely weather.  Wednesday I started feeling crummy and by Thursday I couldn't get out of bed...yep, the flu hit our house.  Friday Coop starts running a fever and the flu test came back positive.  Thankfully, my MIL came and took care of us.  I couldn't have made it without her!  BTW Tamiflu is my best friend.  That stuff is wonderful!  Coop and I are on the mend and we are praying Husband doesn't get it too.

Here are a few pics of our little guy on his 2nd Christmas!

What every boy needs - sippy cup, lawn mower, and vacuum cleaner!

This caterpillar tunnel is a big hit from the g-parents.

He thinks he is mister big stuff!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Whew!  I'm so behind on blogging.  We are now home owners and have been moving for the past 3 weeks. Moving with a 13 month-old is lots of fun!

Anyway back to Halloween - our little man was the cutest horse I've ever seen!  We went to our church's fall festival for a little while and let him run around.  He even got to try cotton candy, which he did not like!

12 Months

I have a one year old!  I can't believe the first year of my sweet boy's life is over.  It has been challenging and joyful.  I can't even describe the joy motherhood has brought to my life.  I'm so in love with this boy.  It's hard to believe we've gone from this tiny infant

to this big boy

He is walking around everywhere now and his personality is starting to shine.  Cooper is such a happy boy.  For the most part he is a good sleeper and napper, we still have a few struggles with nap time every now and then (especially when there is something fun going on that he does not want to miss).  Coop is not one to miss out on any action.  The more tired he becomes the more hyper he gets!  He will start running around and laughing at everything when he gets tired, but if you can get him to sit still for 5 mins he is out!  

He is great eater, with the exception of vegtables.  I can puree veggies and he will eat them, so I feel like we have a texture issue.  He is a tad on the small size - weighs about 20 lbs and wears 12 - 18 month and size 2 - 3 shoe.  

Have I mentioned this boy loves his puppy dog?  

He loves his Wheeler so much, I decided a puppy themed birthday party was just what this boy needed.

He did not like his cake!  I didn't even have to bath him afterwards.

A friend of mine did this "1' for her son's birthday, and I thought it was such a good idea that I copied her :)  

We had sweet friends drive all the way from Nashville to come celebrate with us!

and they gave Cooper his favorite thing ever...a box of boxes and junk mail!! They also gave him some pretty cool mega blocks that he loves.

We had such a wonderful time celebrating this boy's birthday and are so thankful for the friends and family that came to celebrate with us.

Cooper looks nothing like his cousins, H & S.

but these 2 boys looks like 1st cousins

11 months!

Only 1 more month until my baby is 1!

On August 25th Cooper decided to take his first steps at his Pop and Sus's house.  Of course I squealed with excitement and scared him, and then he started crying...  He would take a few steps here and there, but then on September 8th at cousin S's 1st birthday party, he started taking off!  He is walking around everywhere now, and making lots of new discoveries!

We have recently graduated to a big boy car seat and this transition has provided Coop with lots of new toys.  I've had his old infant seat and base in the den and he loves to climb all over it and work on it - such a boy!

For his birthday we are thinking about just getting this boy lots of boxes to play in...

(The Husband cut windows in the box for him)

Cooper has been teething a lot lately and has had a double ear infection, which has not been fun.  This has thrown our routine out of whack, but we are slowly getting back on schedule.  One of the pluses of this has been that he has started letting me rock him again!  I was so sad that he didn't want to be rocked to sleep any more, but for the past 2 weeks we have been rocking and bouncing every nap time.  Today I tried to rock him, and he was not having it so my rocking days may be coming to an end again :(  He will still take a morning nap every now and then, but I can tell it won't last much longer.  However, the afternoon nap is getting longer :)

We also started going to Mother's Day Out one day a week for a whopping 3 hrs.  He could stay longer but I'm not ready for that yet.  This gives me just enough time to do my weekly grocery shopping and get caught up on some house work.  My house has never been this messy!

Cooper's new favorite thing is to ride his rocking horse.  The Husband helps him ride his horse up and down the hall just about every night.  And The Husband is  borrowing Pop's 4 wheeler, and this boy loves it!

We have almost transitioned completely to table food, but I'm still supplementing with a little baby food.  Wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers (about to move to a size 4).  Talks all the time!  Will call Wheeler, and last night I'm pretty sure he called The Husband dada.  He is getting a little more hair and it is blonde (blonde hair and blue eyes).  Maybe by his 2nd birthday he'll have hair :)

10 months

10 months...that means only 2 more months until Cooper is 1!  I'm so not ready.

At 10 months old Cooper is into everything.  He crawls at 90 mph and is never still.  He can walk behind his John Deere tractor and can stand alone for a few seconds at a time.  Not walking yet, but I know it won't be much longer.

Cooper is wearing 9 month and 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers, and he weighs close to 20 lbs.  We have started giving a lot more table food, and he does great with it.  He loves to feed himself!  So far blueberries are his favorite food, but he also really likes meat, cheese, and ritz crackers.  He takes a good morning nap and afternoon nap.  I think he is slowly starting to drop the morning nap - it keeps getting shorter and shorter.

He babbles all the time and I think I've heard a "mama" in there a few times!  We've also started introducing a little sign language...more, please, all done, thank you...etc.  He loves to watch my hands when I'm signing and will wave his hands around.  I like to think he is trying to sign too ;)

His favorite toys are magazines and junk mail.  Not sure why I buy toys for this kid!  He does love to chase balls around the house and ride on his tractor!

Does it get any sweeter than this?

Nursing...

I nursed Cooper for the last time 2 weeks ago.  It was bittersweet, and now (and I never thought I would say this) I kind of miss it!  Baby boy doesn't seem to miss it at all though!  He never skipped a beat, with the exception of not always wanting to take a bottle (thankfully the sippy cup is still working well).  Getting him to nurse was becoming quite the challenge.  He would wiggle around and want to do anything but nurse.  So I decided it was time to wean.

At first I HATED nursing and told myself that I was quitting at 3 months.  3 months rolled around and I wasn't ready to quit so I told myself we would keep it up until 6 months....Here we are at almost 10 months and I have completely weaned.

By approximately the 6th week of nursing, both he and I finally got the hang of it.  I'm so glad that I didn't throw in the towel before now.  I have loved the special bonding time nursing creates between a mother and child - it's so sweet!  It wasn't so sweet through mastitis and engorgement though!  Plus, nursing is 100x easier than messing with bottles and formula.  Not to mention how outrageous the cost of formula is.  I never had to worry with packing bottles (or washing them) or making late night formula runs to Walmart.  I used to think it would be so hard to nurse while traveling or anytime when I'm not at home, and for the first six weeks I was only comfortable nursing in the privacy of my own home.  I've come a long way!  I've nursed everywhere to sitting in my car in a mall parking lot to a park bench at the New Orleans Zoo.  Thank goodness for the hooter hider!  I used to gasp at the very idea of nursing in public and would swear that I would never do that, ha!  Never say never...

So another chapter of my sweet boy's life is over and he is growing up too fast.  I can't believe he is about to be one in a few short months.  I'm not ready for my baby to not be a baby.

9 months

I'm so behind on my blogging lately.  I blinked and Cooper turned 9 months!  My baby is going to be 1 before I realize it and I just don't know if I'm ready for that.

Cooper is one busy boy.  He is into everything, and I mean everything!  He crawls at a lightning speed and I chase him all over the house all day.  He is trying to walk and has taken a few steps behind his push toy.  He has also stood on his own for a few seconds!  We have finally moved to size 3 diapers and wear 9 month and some 12 month clothes.  At his 9 month check up (which was 2 weeks before he turned 9 months) he weighed 17.5 lbs and was 27 inches.

He is such a good baby and is so flexible.  He laughs and smiles ALL THE TIME.  He is always happy and such an entertainer.  His personality is starting to come out and it is so precious.  Cooper's latest find is toilet paper - he loves unrolling it and making a big mess!

These pictures are becoming more challenging.  This boy is never still!

8 Months

Over the last month Cooper has made some major changes!  He has started crawling and pulling up - life as I know it has changed.  This boy is into everything!

This is how I found him the other day.  So long Southern Living magazine!

That same day I walked into his room and found him like this...

He was suppose to be asleep!

Cooper has had a busy month.  He has been swimming

and swinging.  

Last night we weighed him and he weighed 17lbs.  He mainly wears 9 month clothing and still in a size 2 diaper.

Changing his diaper is very similar to wrestling an alligator.  Swamp People ain't got nothin' on me!  Changing clothes is as equally challenging.  He loves to eat and feed himself puffs and crackers.  The sippy cup is still going well, and he loves his juice.

Over the past few weeks nap time has gotten so much better.  I think I finally figured out the problem - don't rock him to sleep.  I was rocking him completely asleep and then trying to put him down, but he would wake up soon after  I would put him down, and then I would just hold him the whole nap time.  I loved snuggling with my boy but I needed to get stuff done during this time.  My mom suggested putting him down still awake and that did the trick.  Now we rock and I read him a couple of books, and then I put him down.  He takes about 5 - 10 minutes to get situated and then he falls fast asleep.  Some days I've even had to wake him up to eat!

Everyday with him is such a blessing, and I never knew I could be so mesmerized by such a tiny being.

Happy 8 Month Birthday My Sweet Boy!

7 months!

Cooper is 7 months old and there have been a lot of changes in this little man's life lately.  First, he underwent a minor procedure to have a cyst removed on his head.  Second, he has started sitting up like a champ and is trying to crawl.  Third, he has become an Alabamian!

This pictures cracks me up!  He is so full of himself and is constantly smiling and laughing.  He is such a happy baby.  He laughs and talks all the time.  We definitley have a talker on our hands!

He is still wearing a size 2 diaper and wearing 6-9 month clothes.

Nap time has its good days and bad, but sleeping at night has gotten much better.  He goes down for the night between 8:30 - 9 and wakes up around 7:00ish.  I really think the loud trucks in our neighborhood were waking him up when we lived in MS.  Now that we have moved he has only woken up once during the middle of the night.  

He also has a new best friend, Wheeler!  He loves watching her and is constantly wanting to pet her.  He thinks she is hilarious!  He is constantly laughing at her - this video is good example.  

I could listen to that laugh all day!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to The Husband who is officially a doctor!  A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this degree (the tears came from me) :)  Becoming a veterinarian has been a life long dream of his and all his hard work has finally paid off.  I'm so proud!!

And Cooper is too!