We're running late!

Seriously, some days I feel like the White Rabbit.  Ok, I'll be honest.  Most days, like 5 out of 7, I feel like the White Rabbit.  Wait - 6 out of 7.  We're usually running late for church.

((Warning - this post discusses some of the bodily functions of babies.  Don't blame me if you keep reading and get grossed out))

I remember telling my mom when I was pregnant that Cooper's first words will probably be "running late."  I mean, if repetition is key he heard it 350 times before he was born (40 weeks pregnant, 7 days a week...plus a few extra for good measure).  I'll admit that I did ok at getting out the door on time while on maternity leave, but I gave myself extra time.  Meaning I never planned to be anywhere before 10am.  But now that I'm back at work I've still not come to the realization that there is an X-Factor in getting out the door each day.

Yes, I know - I'm an intelligent person.  I've been responsible for getting myself somewhere on time since the age of 16.  (before that, my mom was driving so really I didn't have as much control over when we left the house)  You'd think I'd have this down.  And I do.  I have a good idea of how much time I need to feed Cooper, get him dressed, get myself dressed, eat breakfast and pump before we walk out the door.  I even have contingency plans.  I'd ideally like to be able to pump while I play with him on the floor and get him dressed, but if I'm running out of time I can pump while I put on makeup and fix my hair.  And to give myself a little credit I've only been late to work twice since coming back!!  The first day back (I was emotional) and once when I had to deal with a wreck on the road.  This is Houston - people are nosey!

Yesterday, though, I thought we were going to be "running late" for other reasons.  The X-Factor.  First, I cannot send my kid out in public with boogers in his nose.  It's my pet peeve.  It grosses me out to see kids in the store with snot on their nose.  So every morning Cooper and I fight over the boogers.  He squirms and kicks and flails his arms.  I chase his nose with my hands and the aspirator (which, by the way is almost useless, but I won't go into details).  I worry that I'm going to be attacking him with trying to use the aspirator and he's going to go left while I go right and we're going to end up with it much further up his nose than it's made to go.  The whole thing is a race against the clock so that I can successfully get the boogers out before he goes into full meltdown mode. 

Yesterday I lost that race.  I was already pushing my time limit and having to pump while drying my hair.  The boogers are being stubborn and the whole process ends with Cooper in full meltdown mode and me having to take a few minutes to comfort him.  Instead of leaving him on the floor to play, I then decide to get the bouncer and put him in the bathroom with me for a little extra comfort.  As I'm finishing my hair and makeup I hear noises.  The grunting and groaning noises that accompany a red face that's working hard on something.  Crap.  Literally.  I swore I heard it!  I finish up getting dressed, unhook from the pump and grab him.  Note, at this point, he is fully dressed for school.  We go to the changing pad and remove the socks (learned that lesson) and I unsnap the romper.  There I am with baby wipe in hand, armed and ready for a poop crises...only to find nothing.  Really?  Really?  Thanks Cooper.  NOW we're running late!  I push the two of us so close to the limit that I didn't have time for the 3 minutes it took to find nothing in his diaper.

Add another 3 times to the repetition count of hearing "we're running late."  And just laugh with me when those really are his first words, ok?

15 Weeks Old

This week we hit 15 weeks.  Cooper is learning all sorts of new things.  He's also in a "hands in the mouth" phase.  Seriously - if he isn't eating or sucking on the paci, he's trying to suck the skin off of his hands.

As mentioned, he suddenly started pushing up on his arms when he's on his tummy.  I still get so excited when he does that!  He also has figured out how to scoot around on the playmat.  We'll lay him down one way and come back to find him 180 degrees the other way.  I think he's trying to scoot around to get a better view of the tv.  If we get between him and the tv...someone is not happy.  I think we may have a monster on our hands.

Also, we weighed him yesterday and we're officially over 17lbs.

See ya, sucker!

At Dana's request, I took pics of a cute little tush this morning.  I also think it may be time to pack this onesie up with the rest of his clothes that I (sadly) have stopped trying to stuff his little butt into.  It fits well around the middle but from top to bottom...it's a little snug.

So I got Cooper dressed and flipped him over to snap a few pics of the tail and caught him in action doing a new trick!!

We asked the teachers at daycare to work on tummy time.  Our previous experience consisted of short tummy intervals while Coop worked up to a full on scream.  He's always been really good about letting us know when he's over something.  And he's never really held his head up high...especially not for a long time.  But this morning as soon as I flipped him - voila!  That head was up and up high.  For a long time!  Without any screams!!  Long enough for me to scramble for the camera, snap a few shots and grab a photo on my phone to share with Jason.  I was so proud of him. 

And seriously...those thighs???  I could eat them up.

Not my first rodeo

Saturday we went to the rodeo to see Brooks & Dunn and celebrate Lin's birthday.  However, Lin & Adam had taken Cooper to the rodeo the weekend before while Jason & I hung out with friends.

Aunt Sassy...I'm not so sure about this...

So, yes - Saturday was NOT his first rodeo.  And this time, he totally dressed the part.

My mom & Lin bought him a belt and my mom brought one of my dad's buckles for him to use.  It's a little big...but I think he'll grow into it.  Plus, it's neat having a buckle that belonged to his namesake.  Mom of the year here didn't realize just HOW cold it would be Saturday and ran off without his jacket OR hat.  Nice.  It was freaking COLD.  And windy.  Jason carried him inside in his coat on the way in and we wrapped him in two blankets on the way out.

He had a great time, but we snuck out just before the concert started.  We'd been gone a little too long and I needed to leave to feed Cooper!  Jason and I headed back to Lin's apartment for Coop's meal while we waited on them, then we finished off the night by celebrating at Pappadeaux's for dinner.

The Hef

Yeah...looks like Coop thinks he's Hugh Hefner here or something.

14 Weeks Old

Well, 14 weeks + 1 day.  Wednesday my mom came into town to visit.  She was going to spend a few days in town for the rodeo and stopped by on the way to see Cooper.  We ended up going out for dinner and by the time we got home and got Cooper bathed, he was having no part of a photo session.  So, we put it off until Thursday.  That didn't go as well as planned and we ended up taking pics of a side of Cooper I've never shown before - the fussy side. 

Wake up call

To all of the pregnant readers out there: your friends are lying to you. You know, when you ask about you look as a pregnant person and they all reply that you are "so cute" and "all belly" (because that means your butt isn't the size of Texas). They say all of those things a pregnant woman wants to hear.

What they don't say is what they are really thinking. 14 weeks post baby I'm coming to realize that you people are liars! All of you who are my friends...you never told me the truth! But it is all coming out now. Comments like these below make me realize that this photo:

didn't actually happen overnight. Although, I really honestly 100% thought I was not that big. I mean, I would be willing to bet that Cooper grew, oh say 5lbs from December 8th to the 9th. And I gained, oh say 20 that night. Ok, not really - I knew what the scale said at the doctors office. But I was in complete denial. I could still fit behind the steering wheel in the car without having to move the seat back. I could get most of my non-maternity pants on up until the last month (score!). And I was convinced that 15 pounds of the total weight gained fell from the knees down.

But now that people are telling me the truth, boy was I wrong. That sh!t did not happen overnight. I guess the 40 or so times a day I heard "You haven't had that baby yet?" or "You really need to have that baby today" should have been a clue that I was HUGE. But it really took hearing these to know the truth:

When talking to a colleague about how big Cooper was she laughed and said "well, when we were together in October I thought you were going to have that baby the next week." Um...that was about 7 weeks before my due date.

I told a coworker about how big C was and he responded with "well, you were really big."

Then another coworker said that one of the other pregnant ladies here kept asking "Do I look like her?" UM WHAT? I'm that pregnant person??? The one we all point out to our husbands and say "do I look that big?" and he knows that the only right answer is "no, not at all." Yeah...I was the benchmark.

I spoke to a friend about this and he said that when he first saw me 2 months post baby his thought was that I looked "much less puffy." He wasn't referring to my feet.

So, I'm logging all of this to tell the truth and so that a year from now when I'm having a hormonal breakdown about how Cooper is so big and he's a little boy and not a baby and I tell Jason I think I'm ready to have another baby, I can read this and walk back into the bathroom to pop my pill.

Slippery little sucker

Cooper took a swim in the big tub this weekend. I think he liked it.

First date

Saturday Kelly & Eileen came over while Jason helped Kyle run an errand. We took the kiddos out for their first date...I mean...a walk. Cooper slept most of the time and Kelly tried to Eileen to learn a few tips on being a sleeping baby, but I guess she was just too excited about her man.



Poor kids - we had them facing the sun and just couldn't get a good smile from both at the same time.

When you wake up to this

it's really hard to tell yourself that you need to go to work and leave those big blue eyes when you'd rather cuddle all day. But it did make my day to wake up to such a cute stinking photo. The day we did Cooper's baptism, Lindsey's friend Anna came over to take photos of the family. I've been waiting (im)patiently for her to share them and this morning I'd gotten an email that she'd posted one of them on Facebook. I jumped up to grab the laptop (that is working again) so that I could check it out while I nursed. And I promptly squealed "It's SO cute!"

Yesterday was a bit of a rough day. Saturday we went boating with friends (makes me sound so posh, right??) and Cooper went to the rodeo with Aunt Sassy. We got home about 11 and all three crashed. For 2 hours. He woke up crying so I went ahead and fed him. But he didn't go right back to sleep as he usually does. He cried and cried. I assumed it was gas based on his normal gas-related-fussy-signs and we finally got him back down...only to all three be back up about an hour later. More crying and I caved giving him some baby Tylenol. I also caved and put him in the bed with us thinking it would be easier if he woke up again. Which he did about 5:30...or 6:30. The time change threw me off. Jason changed him, but Cooper ended up going back to sleep for a while longer before wanting to eat. We finally got out of bed about 9 and he just fussed and cried until about 10am when I caved with more Tylenol. Half an hour later, he was his happy self - all smiles. Till the drug wore off about 5pm and we were back to housing Mr. Crankypants. If he were older, we'd totally blame Lin for stuffing him full of Cotton Candy and whatever else she could (or couldn't) afford at the rodeo, but I think he just had an off day. Today was much better! He slept all night last night and according to his teacher he's his usual happy self.

13 Weeks Old

I just did the math - 39 weeks until he turns one. Why, you may ask? Because it seems like 13 flew by (they did) and I feel like I just did the 12 week post. And I wondered how many more I get to do. The answer is 39. And that's if I can get him to stay still lying down once he starts to crawl and...holy crap...walk. If we walks before one.

Either way, he was being a bit of a ham Wednesday night.

We're really starting to get to the end of the 3 month clothes. Some things still fit and others...have no hope. The closet is full and the dresser is getting stuffed so I need to box stuff up. It makes me sad! Some things are SO cute. As in, I want to buy the same thing in the size he's in now just to see him looking so cute. Instead I keep squeezing his fat butt into them just to soak in the cuteness. It works, except for things that have shirts and not onesies. Then his belly just hangs out of the bottom. So klassy. He's also rocking some high-water pants. They fit but are a little short. I've hunted for these pants from Carters - they come in a 2 pack. I want the navy & grey ones in 6 months. I've been to the Carters outlet, Macy's, Kohl's & BRU. They all 4 have the pants in every size except 6 months. I'm not giving up, though.

Happy 3 Months!

Cooper had his 3 month birthday Tuesday. Now that I'm back at work, we had to do photos after we got home and he'd had his short evening nap. He wasn't as enthused about the photo session as he has been in the past. I guess it was a combination of bad timing and a long day at daycare.

They must really be wearing him out! He's been falling asleep earlier the last few days - like 9:30ish and he's stayed asleep. We figured out that he's been breaking out of the swaddle. Honestly, we never really had much success with the swaddle. He's a big boy so the blankets people normally use just didn't wrap all the way around. One good umph from him and he was out. We finally started using this Sozo blanket that is bigger and stretchy and that seemed to work. He has to work hard to get out of it. And he does. It's hilarious to watch on the monitor. He'll grunt and growl. He flops around and pushes against the blanket until one arm comes out. Then he stops for a while to suck on his hand. After that gets boring, he grunts and growls until he can get the other one out. Sometimes the whole process wears him out enough that he'll fall back asleep, but for the most part once he's out - he's up. Not so great at 3am. We're working toward getting a Miracle Blanket (google it - it seems inhumane, but it's not). I think this may save our sanity.

In other news, we're having computer issues at home. The wireless router isn't working correctly so the laptop is plugged into the modem. And the desktop...well, that thing is about to be completely rebooted. It quit working last fall and we sort of saved it. We saved the photos and music on it, but that's it. It's still not working correctly so Jason is going to basically trash it and reinstall the main stuff. But we have to dump the photos and music on to our external hard drive. Meaning, we need to take the time to do it. Hopefully this weekend Jason can work on that because I haven't been able to do much photo editing or uploading since this happened. AND I'm really wanting a new camera. Our was dropped a few times last spring and the screen is just slowly being blacked out. Plus, I've realized that since we take about 500 photos a month of Cooper, taking the red eye out is a pain in the a$$. And even when I do it, it looks crappy.

First day of school

Monday was d-day. I went back to work and dropped Cooper off at school. ((yes, it's daycare, but I call it school)) Since we had company this weekend we made the mistake of staying up too late to visit. By the time Monday morning rolled around, Jason and I were exhausted. Not the best idea on the day I planned to start back but...we'll probably be tired for the rest of our lives. And Cooper did what he's been doing for weeks - woke up about 3am to eat.

We did, however, get up and get moving. I'd packed his bags Sunday and made the bottles. I had a hard time guessing how much I needed to send. Jason decided to go to work late that morning so he could go with me to drop Cooper off. We finally got out the door and over to the daycare, only running a little late. And...neither of us cried. Frankly, I didn't have time to cry and Cooper is a little too young to realize I'm leaving.

I also only called twice to check on him. I was mostly concerned about how much he would have eaten and if I'd sent enough milk. I mean, what happens if they run out?? Both times they mentioned that he'd been playing, he'd napped well and of course he ate well. I spent most of the day going through emails (over 700 of them!!) and telling everyone about how he's such a good baby.

I survived. I cried last week once and felt really sad over the weekend. I wanted to soak him in. I wanted to hold him until he wanted to be put down. Strange thing is, I've always wanted to soak him in but Monday night when I got him...I felt like I could just eat him up. It was as if my need to hold him and squeeze him had multiplied by about 10,000 - and I didn't think that was possible. Of course the little fart told me how he really felt by not smiling for me when I picked him up.

My mom always took photos of us on our first day of school for each new year so I decided to do the same for Cooper. I thought he looked really handsome and would make a great first impression!

Baptism

After I got married I decided not to preserve my wedding gown. My hope was to use it for a baptism gown. Mostly because girls rarely want to wear their mom's gown and really, I never thought I'd have a girl. So when we started talking about baptizing Cooper I picked up my gown from my aunts house and took it to Arlene who did my alterations when I got married. She used the train of the gown to make Coopers baptism gown. It turned out to be SO cute.

Sunday we baptized Cooper at the church where we were married...where I grew up. Aunt Sassy and Brian (Jason's best friend) were his Godparents. He did so well! Church happened to be during his usual playtime so he was awake for all of it and never fussed. They called all of the children in the congregation to the front during the baptism to watch. Our church is small and we don't have very many baptisms so I'm sure some of the kids enjoyed it. Jett, however, looked pretty bored!!

You have a baby...in a bar.

This weekend we went to my mom's by way of College Station. Since Brian and Abby were here for Cooper's baptism. Brian wanted to revisit College Station and take Abby to Northgate. Since I craved a burger from the Chicken the ENTIRE time I was pregnant, I was more than happy to go for lunch 3 months after having Cooper. CS is a no-smoking city so I wasn't worried about taking Cooper. And he wasn't the only baby. Jason's parents met us for lunch, as did Bear and Bridget. Of course, Aunt Sassy stopped by to see us since she was in CS for a wedding.

We walked down Northgate after lunch so that Brian and Abby could take some Aggie gear back to Matthew. I think Abby found some CUTE squeaky shoes for Matthew. They may look cute now, but after he jumps down every stair to hear them squeak I think she'll reconsider.

The end.

Today is the last day of my maternity leave. Everyone said it would fly by and, as usual, everyone was right. The first month was gone in a flash and I was left wondering where it went and what the heck we did. We had company quite a bit that first month, especially since it was over the holidays, and it just seemed that...voila, 1 month was gone.

After that, I wanted to just slow down and take in as much as I could. Cooper and I have gone. Everywhere. We ran errands, we lunched, we went to Nana's, we went shopping. You name, we probably did it. And half the time I complained about being the errand girl, but then the next day I'd realize by 3pm I was stir crazy and needed to leave the house.

I also know that maternity leave is meant for the mom to recover and bond with the baby, but I think they have the timing backwards. Yes, I love my kid, but I could have gone back to work the first month and then been off months 2, 3 & 4. Why? He's fun! He's starting to do things. Every day is new. The first month they just eat, sleep and...do their business. So sweet, but then they start to smile when they are not farting. Then laugh. Follow things with their eyes. Recognize mom and dad. And just in the last month Cooper has started to reach for things on his gym and play with them.

I think we're also on the verge of the next step - rolling over. I noticed that in the bathtub he's using his leg to lift his butt up. Babies are slippery in the tub so we're having to be even more careful than before. Then yesterday he did the butt lift on the changing pad. Great. I just know he's going to roll over next week at daycare!! Or I could be totally wrong.

My absolute favorite thing about spending my days with Cooper are the mornings. I usually bring him to the big bed to nurse and watch the news. We started that because it was the warmest place in the house during those bitter (for Texas) cold days. Then we'd stay there until...well, late. The first 4-6 weeks he would lay on the Bobby and sleep or look around while I had coffee and breakfast. But when he started being more alert and active we'd spend the time in there playing between catnaps. That's what I'm going to miss most. I plan to soak that up on the weekends until he's too old to want to sit in bed, so don't plan on seeing me before noon on a Saturday.

12 Weeks Old

I realized yesterday that I really look forward to Wednesdays. It's our weekly photo day. I get excited about taking photos of Cooper and seeing what sort of mood he'll be in, and how he'll surprise me. I also enjoy putting him in something cute and try to make a point not to have any photos in the same outfit. He has a LOT of clothes. And sadly, he's starting to outgrow quite a few of them so I keep putting him in stuff that he may not be able to wear tomorrow. For example, his jeans are getting a little snug. We have to unsnap them after a big meal. Poor little guy!

We waited until after bath last night to take the photo so he was in some new PJs. The cute part is that the shirt rides up a little to expose his belly.

Doing my Civic Duty

Tuesday was election day, so Cooper and walked to the neighborhood polling location to cast our vote. He fell asleep on the way back and I just pulled the stroller in the house and left him. He slept for almost an hour. Tuesday was the day from hell, so there was NO way I was going to wake him up.

FYI - I love this stroller. It's a Baby Jogger, but not really a jogging stroller. It does, however, ride really well and is super easy to push with just 1 hand. I have a feeling that may change when C gets even bigger, but for now - it's easy.

Milk & Cereal, Milk & Cereal

Cereal & Milk, Cereal & Milk! (It's a youtube thing). This week has been a little...trying. I go back to work on Monday and, because I'm a champion stresser, I've started stressing. About everything. But most of all about the fact that Cooper is going through what I call the growth spurt from hell. We've had other growth spurts. They were not easy, but they lasted a few days and then we were back to normal. For this GS, we've been doing it for about a week and a half. He's eating every 2 hours or less, waking up every 3-4 hours overnight. It's killing me - mostly because I'm worried about work.

With GS, they nurse often to tell the mom's body that they need more food. So it takes a few days for the body to catch up and then - it's over. Back to the normal grind. So last week when he started the marathon eating, I also started pumping several times a day to help my body hurry along and make pumping at work easier. My thought was that if I have to travel for work, I'll need to be able to pump more than he's eating daily. Then Tuesday we hit my breaking point. I went to run errands and met friends for lunch. He ate 5oz at lunch and an hour and 45 minutes later I had to pull off of the freeway because he was screaming to the point of not breathing. I climbed in the back seat and tried to calm him down, only to give him another 3oz. Two.Hours.Later.

Am I starving my kid? Maybe he's just a hungry boy? Maybe I'm not producing enough milk for him to be full? Am I starving my kid? ((yes, twice because I was really worried))

At the 2 month appointment, we talked about the "witching hour." We'd discussed with the pedi the fact that grandmas (and aunts) will suggest cereal because "it worked for us at two weeks old." We talked about how C is the average size of a 4 month old. And if we cave, it's ok. No suggestions either way from him. And we held out for a month. But then Tuesday I was frustrated with C for being cranky and hungry and I was tired of nursing so much and I was upset because "am I starving my baby???" and...I caved. I want him to be satisfied and full and happy!!

So we tried cereal and it was ok. He ate some of it seriously watered down with breastmilk. Drank a little more out of a bottle. It did not magically make him sleep all night, but that was ok. I just wanted him happy. And me happy. AND yesterday was a much better day. I don't know if it was the cereal or if it was just a freak thing, but he went 4 hours yesterday without eating. We were both in great moods all day. We're going to keep trying the cereal but, just a very little bit. Like a teaspoon. We both need a happy baby.

I also called a lactation consultant yesterday to discuss production and she said to stop pumping all day until I'm at work. Basically after he eats I'm taking away everything that's left. Then when he comes back to nurse, there isn't as much. He's eating what he can...but probably not what he wants. Thus, he's never really full. We're going to try that for the next few days and hopefully I'll have a baby who is full, fat and happy.