Cooper:: 13 months!

Note to new moms: Buy the monthly onesie stickers. They are worth it in that it is guaranteed you will get a monthly picture of your baby!

There. Now that's out of the way, I can tell you how this post really has been brewing for the past two weeks, but I've been waiting to get pictures. And it's never happened. We had way too many pajama days on break. But in the full interest of getting this post up closer to 13 months than 14, I wanted to go ahead, without the posed pictures.

Flirting with Aunties Christine and Bella - 12.23.12

Playing with PayPay - 12.23.12

Cooper, at 13 months, you are doing all kinds of things! You are into absolutely everything. You can have 20 toys sitting out, and you want our phones, cups, or papers that are out.

If we don't watch it, you'll grab a cup off the table and try to drink whatever is in it.

Talking on the phone

Mister, you are my little monkey man, and it scares me. You climb up the baby gate. You climb on top of the ottoman. You grab the bar on the oven and try to climb up it. While I love your curiosity and adventurous spirit, I cringe thinking of the emergency room visits I'm sure are in our future.

You think you are king of the world ...

You took the transition to cow's milk and a sippy just fine. We like the Take & Toss cups (cheap at Walmart) best, but when you toss them, the lid often pops off! We only offer you milk and water to drink.

Cooper, you also do very well at eating table foods. A typical breakfast for you is banana slices and a handful of Cheerios, and then you snack once you get to the sitter's. Lunch varies, and if you are home, your afternoon snack usually consists of string cheese and fruit or some puffs or Cheerios. For supper, you eat what we eat. You REALLY like green beans, peas and potatoes as your veggies, and bananas and applesauce for your fruits. Anything with tomato juice/sauce (chili, noodles cooked in tomato juice, lasagna, pizza) is high on your list, as well as hot dogs! You aren't too sure about breads yet.

You are a really good sleeper. You sleep overnight from about 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. (longer if we'll let you, such as on the weekends) and take two naps a day. If you sleep later, you'll just take one long nap around lunch time.

You love babies. Mrs. Robin sometimes has to pry you away from Zoey because you snuggle up to her. On your 13 month birthday, you got to meet your new cousin, Hayden, who wasn't quite one month yet, and you were very loving to him as well.)

You are all boy! When you play, you love anything with wheels on it. You often make the "RRRRR" noises too - have to have that motor. I sometimes call you "Coopy Monster" because you will roar - one day you saw my Mizzou magazine and there was a tiger on front, which prompted you to start roaring. It was adorable.

You love to dance, and watching you shake your little booty is priceless.

This month, you had a really bad cold, and ended up on a steroid cough medicine and taking breathing treatments. It broke my heart.

Speaking of my heart, it officially melted this month. I can sit on the floor, hold open my arms and say "mommy hug" and you'll run over and give me the biggest hug. So sweet. You've also figured out how to give kisses, and that makes me melt.

You had your first haircut this month.

At your PAT visit, you scored for exactly where you need to be, and then some, developmentally. You made your mama and daddy very proud.

We both love you to the moon and back. Thank you for being the sweet little boy that you are.

XOXOXO.


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Coop's rookie year! {birthday party}

It didn't take long for hubby and I to agree on a theme for Mister's first birthday party. I wanted a play on words and something easy. He vetoed Onederland, so we moved on to the Rookie Year baseball theme!

 

My super-talented friend Bel made the invites. Since she lives in DC and can't attend parties, she loves to do this and be a part of things. I took the picture, and told her to make it cute and like a baseball card. {Of course it didn't have those lovely white edit marks to blur out the personal information either :)}

For the cake, I just went with Sam's Club. None of our local stores did smash cakes, and with his birthday being the day after Thanksgiving, I was hesitant to ask someone local. We did a smash cake for him, and chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for everyone else. They were very yummy and inexpensive!

The set up :) We are extremely fortunate to have a large, mostly finished basement, so we just brought in some tables and chairs and were ready to go. I didn't get a close up of the food table (along the wall) but we did hot dogs, nachos, veggies, chips, peanuts, tea & lemonade.

Of course, I suppose there aren't any "true" baseball colors, but since we live in Cardinal country, we stuck with red & blue, as seen on the tablecloths and balloons. We also had candy dishes on the tables.

For favors, we gave out Cracker Jacks :)

The gift table, before we filled it up! The one is actually a cardboard 3D thing I found at Hobby Lobby and the hubs spray painted. Cheap but exactly what I wanted. Cooper's gift from hubby and I was the wooden Louisville slugger, which we invited all of our guests to sign.

 We used this space to string up C's monthly pictures, and hang his most recent above. Everyone loved seeing how he's changed. And if I'm being honest - I do, too, and it's still hanging :) If you want to see them, go HERE.

Our high chair is strapped in our nice kitchen chairs and I was searching high and low for a wooden one I hubby could spray paint red. I never found one, but a family friend allowed us to borrew their chair.

The cute banners were made by an Etsy seller, found HERE.

Since this is getting long, I'm going to stop here with the end of the setup/decorations, and come back again {hopefully tomorrow} with some of the party pictures. But as a sneak peak ... yes, someone really loved his cake!

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Cooper :: 12 months

AKA one year ...

My, how this year has flown by! It's been the best :)

Mister Cooper, you sure have developed your very own personality this month. You sure have figured out how to use those emotions, too.

You LOVE to laugh. And we love to hear it. I think it's my favorite sound in the whole world. You especially like us blowing shlerberts on your tubby little belly.

While you tend to go with the flow, you definitely have a mind of your own and a bit of a sassy streak as well. If you aren't happy, you won't hesitate to express that.

You are a very curious little boy. If you hear something, you whip your head around to see what it is. Sometimes, I swear I can see the gears moving inside your sweet little head.

You aren't just walking, you are running now. It's just the cutest! That helps the nosiness :)

You are my mischevious little man. I swear, just before you get into something, you turn and give me a sneaky little smile. You have definitely learned the word no. You also are a climber - most recently, trying to climb up the pegs on the entertainment center.

You are quite the sweetheart, though, and will still cuddle up to your mommy and daddy. I can sit on the floor and say "mommy hug" and then you'll pitter patter my way and hold me tight. It melts my heart.

 

In terms of food, you eat it all! You've been nursing morning & night and having milk milk in the sippy cup (12 ounces total) during the day. We've officially said goodbye to the bottle - which doesn't mean you're doing fantastic with the sippy, but things are better and you don't need the bottle.

I'm trying to decide how to wean you completely, and emotionally prepare myself.

You eat three meals a day (with pretty large servings!) and also a couple snacks. I'm also working to have you eat more table food - this mama is getting tired of the purees! For your birthday, daddy made pancakes, and you thought they were good. You also like pizza and hot dogs :) I use Cheerios to distract you in the mornings. Oh, and you absolutely loved our Thanksgiving meal.

Cooper, you cut a new tooth that showed up Thanksgiving morning, so we're now at seven. I think another is pretty close behind.

You know the word "no" {wonder why} and you yell "Mama" all the time. You will also say bye, Dada, da {dog} and sometimes Doc, our horse.

Last week, we had you hanging out in just a diaper since your clothes were soaked from sippy cup malfunctions. You have learned to take off your dipe, and were walking around the living room wearing nothing but socks. Too cute.

We go to the doctor today, so I'll have to update with your stats tomorrow :) I'd guess you weigh about 22 pounds and are about 30 inches tall.

Your body shape is hilarious - you have broad shoulders (like Daddy), a long torso (like Mommy), a skinny little waist (all Daddy!) and short legs. Seriously. You can wear 9-12 and 12-18 month shirts, but can still wear 6-9 month pants ... along with 12 month, of course. And your feet are huge! You are already outgrowing the 18 month socks.

You are all boy and then some - you like to play with/roll the ball, anything with wheels, and trains! You love to go outside, and it kills me when it's too cold to let you play outdoors.

My dear, sweet baby boy:

This has been the greatest year. I love being able to watch you grow and develop and hit all these milestones. You have taught me so much about life. You will always be my baby boy, no matter what. I thank God that he chose me to be your mama.


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The week before ...

This being the week before my baby turns 1, I'm doing a lot of reminiscing. So often, I think "this time a year ago" and it's just absolutely insane. I mean, it feels like we were just celebrating Christmas last week.

Anyhow, one of the projects I'm working on for his party is a display of all his monthly pictures. So I figured I would share them on the old blog as well. Just in case anything ever happens to my computer, iPhone, and the hard copies :)

I received the prints in the mail yesterday and had them all laid out when hubs got home. We were debating our favorites. I think mine are 5 (chubby), 8 (grown!) and 10 (silly.)

I'm so glad I got the monthly onesie stickers - It gave me the motivation and reason to make sure I got a photo each month, and for that I am incredibly grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cooper:: 11 months!

Yes, I'm a day late ... yesterday was a crazy busy day and I didn't get a break at work, plus I'm a huge ball of hormones about my baby growing up.

Denial. That pretty much sums up how I feel about my {baby boy} being less than a month away from a year old. How on earth is it possible?

So ... I'd say the biggest update is your eating habits. You love food! The other night, you seemed hungry, so I gave you FIVE cubes of spaghetti {normal is four}. Then you still acted hungry, so we did some puffs. You still seemed hungry, so you had a small container of applesauce. And you ate from my plate. Hungry, hungry hippo you are. Some days, I have to bribe you with puffs to get you to sit still long enough for me to buckle you in to the carseat.

You're still enjoying your breastmilk, and we nurse morning & night, then you have 12 ounces over two to three feedings while at the sitter. We are working on transitioning you to the sippy cup.

Cooper, you typically take two naps a day. But on the weekends when we all sleep in {you have slept as late as 9 a.m.!} you'll usually just take a long nap later in the morning and that's all you need!

You are a boy on the move! And into everything. No full-on walking yet, but you stand on your own for longer & longer, and you have taken a few steps unassisted {things like getting from the couch to the ottoman.}

Super Cooper, you get on your mama's nerves. A lot. You want to be in everything, but not everything is suitable for a little boy. But you have a sweet smile and I forget it all in no time.

You are starting to show a bit of sass and attitude. If you aren't happy, you definitely express that! You are really enjoying being held ... which is great, except when I need to do the dishes, get dressed, etc.

You enjoy our evening runs. You love your horses and Coco, the "da."

You've learned how to clap. You give the best kisses. Playing with my pots & pans and spatulas is one of your favorites.

I never imagined life with a little boy could be so sweet! You are a very loving little guy, and I am so lucky to be your mama.

XOXOXO

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Cooper:: Nine months!

In true Mother of the Year fashion, I'm posting this a day late. Just keepin' it real.

Three quarters of a year. Wow. How is that even possible?

Baby boy, you are definitely on the move now. If there is somewhere you want to be or something you want, you can most definitely get to it! This obviously causes a little frustration for mama and dada as we aren't used to it yet, but we're learning how to keep things out of your grubby little paws.

You crawl all over the place now, and we often will get down on the floor and crawl with you, or cheer you on. Walking is in your very near future, I believe, since you cruise around quite a bit, around the coffee table, or pushing things like bar stools. Ms. Robin says she's always worried you are going to end up bruised, because sometimes you try to stand on your own and end up falling. All in good time, my little man.

You continue to babble, and last weekend, you finally figured out how to say "mama." I'm not sure if you've connected the fact yet that I am your mama, but it still melts my heart.

You weigh around 20 lbs. and I'm not sure how tall you are - we don't go to the doctor for another week and a half. You wear a Size 3 diaper and a mix of 6-9 and 9-12 month clothes.

We installed your new car seats earlier this month - it was getting way too hard for mama to lug you around in the big seat!

Cooper, you LOVE to eat. If you are fussy, we can give you the sippy cup and some puffs and you become content. You are eating three meals and a couple of snacks every day - usually oatmeal or yogurt mixed with bananas for breakfast, veggies for lunch, and turkey, chicken, or spaghetti for supper. You will eat anything, but definitely have your favorites. I'm still breastfeeding you, and you nurse first thing in the morning, take a 6 ounce bottle around 11 a.m., 4 ounces with your lunch around 1 p.m., and another 4 ounces around 4:30 p.m., then nurse before bed.

You like to crawl around underneath the table {especially after meals at Ms. Robin's!} to see if you can find any crumbs. I like to call you Scrappy :) 

You continue to be an amazing sleeper, going to bed between 8 & 9 and waking around 7 every day. On the weekends, we try to keep you up late and you sleep in a little later as well :) In the mornings, I often walk into your room and you are just standing in the crib, waiting.

We've been taking you out in the jogging stroller some evenings, and you seem to really like riding around with your Max dog. Sometimes, you fall asleep because it's so exhausting to watch Mommy & Daddy work out!

You really love animals, and I can already tell what a sweet heart you are going to be. You reach out to pet Coco, Jax or Doc whenever they are nearby. You giggle at your Jax horse :) You really like going to the farm, and riding on the big machinery with your PaPa.

Teething has hit you hard again the past couple weeks. One of your eye teeth just popped through, with the other one looking like it's ready to break the gums any day now.

You are such a sweet little boy and a wonderful gift from God. You've captured my heart in a way I never thought was possible. It's so weird, but I can't fathom your Grandma and PaPa loving me the way I love you, but I know it's true now. I love you to the moon and back!


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