Where do they learn this stuff?

Sunday we offered to watch Eileen for a few hours so that her mom & dad could catch a movie.  I feel like one of those parents when we do "play dates" and it's so fun to see the two of them together.  I miss all of that stuff you usually get to see at Gymboree classes.

Cooper has been going through this major clingy phase...and so is Eileen.  When Kelly dropped her off she stuck to me like white on rice.  Until she saw Coop playing with toys.  And off she went.  Poor Cooper - he was so lost and confused.  He wanted to be held by me, but to do that I have to pick him up.  Eileen wanted in my lap and she can just climb on in.  The look on his face when she plopped down in his mama's lap was hilarious.

He also gave her the side-eye a few times.  We were all on the couch trying to coax a nap from the two of them.  Eileen is like a ball of...something.  I told Jason that I don't think Cooper will ever have that much energy.  I was nursing Cooper and she was flipping and rolling and flopping from me to Jason.  Then she wanted to see what Cooper was doing, so up she climbed.  Right on top of him.  He gave her this "woman, this is my boob.  Back off" look.  I died laughing.

They did have fun together, although Jason and I laughed at this progression.  Eileen took this toy away from Cooper:

Then he decided to take it back:

The look on his face is priceless.  He was obviously pissed!  I mean, really?  How do they know to take stuff away?

Chicks dig scars

Well, it finally happened.  After weeks and weeks of telling Cooper no he decided to learn his lesson the hard way.  They all do that, though, right?

Saturday we had finished breakfast, I was pumping on the sofa and Cooper was playing on the other side of the coffee table.  Suddenly I heard a thud and then a very loud scream.  Jason scooped him up quickly, but he'd managed to make hard contact with the coffee table.  I'm not sure, but I think he reached for the baskets under the table (even though I've told him no 1,000 times) and missed.  After quite a bit of crying and lots of hugs from us (sprinkled with a few "I told you not to do that"s) he finally started to calm down.  We really worried that his eye would swell up and the whole thing would be black and blue, but we lucked out.  Good thing because he was having nothing to with the ice we tried to use to ward off the swelling.

This was taken the day after.  You can't really see much of anything, other than a slight blueish tint above his right eye.

Last night Jason took a few pics...it's a much uglier yellow color. 

The Barcalounger

To all of the moms to be out there, here is an important lesson to be learned.  Just because the infant carseat will accommodate a higher weight doesn't mean your kid will be able to stay in said carseat for that amount of time.

I chose Cooper's infant seat because it went up to 30 lbs.  Yes, I knew he'd be heavy and hard to carry around inside the 'bucket' but I wanted it to be easy to move from one car to the other as long as possible.  Then this weekend as I put him in the carseat I noticed that the straps probably needed to be moved up a notch...only there is no other notch.  Hmm...so I pulled out the manual and sure enough the height limit is also 30.  Inches.  We made a feeble attempt at measuring Coop last week and came up with 31ish.

Fortunately I bought his new convertible carseat a few weeks ago and had been holding off on installing it.  Mostly because I wasn't quite ready to admit that he was big enough for it.  It.is.huge.  I mean, it just seems like it takes up a ton of space.  But really, I didn't have to move the seat any further forward than it already was.  ((totally different story in the truck, so for now we have no carseat in there))

So, here's Cooper getting ready for his first ride in the new "big boy chair."

Leaps and bounds

I would by lying if I said right now that I love my job.  To be honest, I want to stay home.  Let me clarify, though.  I do like my job.  I love the challenge and the being busy.  I like my coworkers and being able to spend the day with people I enjoy talking to.  We tell stories about our kids, work on problems together, and support each other.  I know without a doubt that I'm not cut out to be a stay at home mom.  But right now...during this exact time...I would love to be able to stay home with Cooper.  Just so I could see everything he is doing!  Of course, that would only last until about 2pm and then I'd be growling at him to take a nap so that I could sit in silence or make a phone call to an adult.  Or call Jason for the 457th time that day just to ask when he's coming home.  And since he rides a vanpool it's not like it changes!!!  So maybe I don't want to stay home..

But I'm loving this stage we're in right now.  Every day is a new day for Coop.  I know, it's always been that way, but in the past few weeks it's like he's learned a new trick every day.  And I'm such a dork that I've taken photos of it all and I get so excited for him when he gets something right.  I'm so sure his internal monologue goes something like "Mom...you're a dork.  It's just a sippy cup..."

So, here's a glimpse into what's going on in our house and how Cooper is growing by leaps and bounds.

He got a new hat last week.  It's a little big, but he's a fan of it.  Mostly of trying to pull it off.

He loves sitting up in the tub now.  This gives him better access to the toys...and creates less of a splash zone for us.  Bath time is usually a full-contact sport.

He is a master peek-a-boo player. 

He's been slightly interested in thinking about crawling.  He'll start to get on all fours...and think really hard about what should happen...and slowly rock up...and then splat down on his belly.  But we're close.  So close.  This weekend = Cooper-proof the house.

We finally got a package from Babies R Us that had a sippy cup in it.  I went with the recommendation of a Tommee Tippee cup since they are supposed to be leak-proof.  It took a few seconds, but Cooper figured out how to get water from it pretty quickly.

((ps - I checked and it is pretty darn leak-proof))

And finally...we've found a few things Coop does not like to eat.  First, green beans.  He would let us stuff his mouth full of them, but refuse to swallow.  And he'd top it off by growling and arching his back in the high chair.  So not cute.  We did try them again mixed with carrots and all was well.

Earlier this week I made a roast with potatoes and carrots.  Last night I decided to give Cooper a carrot to try since he's usually a fan.  Not so much.  I guess we took a far leap from bland baby food to full on roast-seasoned carrots and it was just too much.  Salt, pepper, onion, garlic...next time we'll start with just salt and pepper.

And I'm so mom of year because I kept giving him bites to see if he'd change his mind.  Didn't happen.

32 Weeks Old

Last night I worked late and by the time I got home Jason was standing on his head to keep Cooper from realizing it was dinner time and dinner was...well...on the road.  Fortunately I got home just before we reached the meltdown point and Cooper took a slight break so we could snap some photos. 

He's really starting to move around and getting him to stay still is harder and harder.

Well, except for the time he focused on eating the hat...

Musical fun

Cooper's cousin, Haley, gave this to him for Christmas.  I've been holding off on taking it out of the box until he was sitting up...so last week I put the batteries in and he went to town!  He's figured out that most anything he touches makes noise and he'll lunge across the table to push, pull, or poke something on the other side just to hear it sing.

Thanks Haley!

31 Weeks Old

Cooper does get fussy.  Wednesday we both got home a little late but still decided to run to the pool for a little fun splashing around.  When we finally made it home, Cooper was both hungry and tired but we tried to take his photos.  He cried through them...and then was wide awake playing around and didn't want to go back to sleep.  Picture taking = fail.

7 months old!

We are over halfway to a year old.  Holy crap.  That also means Christmas stuff will be in Hobby Lobby next week.  :-)

This past month has been so much fun.  We came home from my trip to NOLA and suddenly Cooper could sit up for extended amounts of time.  He's had a few falling down mishaps that resulted in contact with the coffee table, the fireplace, a block at school...but that's what happens.  He will also roll from one side of the room to the other.  I can't quite get him to roll to something specific, but that will come I'm sure.  And it will probably be or the remote or laptop.  For some reason Cooper thinks he needs to email and Facebook his friends.  And we are finally sitting in the grocery cart!!  I love this because I can actually shop and put the groceries in the cart, and not on top of him.

On a sad note, we are putting away the swing this weekend.  He doesn't use it and it will free up space in the living room.  For more crap I'm sure.  I'm also going to put the Bumbo away.  Once he's in it, he's trying so hard to get out of it that I'm afraid he'll flip over.

The best part about this past month has been the laughing.  Cooper has always been a happy baby, but now he laughs at things like crazy.  Thursday night he cracked up at Jason running across the room.  Last night he laughed at his bear like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.  I am 100% in love with that giggle...that smile...the way his eyes crinkle up.  And being the dork I am, I video taped it. ((which I would totally share if I knew how))

30 Weeks Old

We were a day late taking pics (again) but this week turned out a little crazy.  I left Tuesday morning for my first overnight work trip since being back.  I don't travel that often, but I every once in a while.  And honestly, I think it will come more frequently in the future.  So off I went leaving the boys to do what boys do - play around naked:

Wednesday I booked my flight to get back from San Antonio about 5pm so that I could pick up Cooper from school.  We boarded and pulled away from the gate and then they told us we were stuck for half an hour.  Due to weather in Houston.  So I called Jason and told him to plan on getting home in time to get Coop from school.

Then it was another half hour.

Then at 5:15 they told us we could leave at 6:48 (2 hours and 48 minutes late).  No big deal, right?  Except I needed to pump before then.  And for the record the only electrical outlet on the plane is in the rear galley where they prep food.  The flight attendant did agree to close the curtain and let me pump, but they came over the loudspeaker shortly after that saying that we were taking off at 6:15 and everyone needed to be in their seats.  It was well after 8 when I got home so Wednesday was pretty well a "feed me and put me to bed" day.  And I was just glad to be home.

First 4th of July

Cooper's first 4th of July came with a few other firsts.  He tried mangos:

And rode in the grocery cart:

Mom...just buy the groceries so we can go!

((although we did have one mishap where I turned around from the spices to find him on his side))

And if you look really close you can see the first bump on the head:

Right between the eyes.  I was flipping through the Sunday ads while Jason was playing with Cooper.  Jason got up to grab something in the other room and suddenly Coop had launched himself forward across the playmat and came in head first with the fire place.  Just yesterday we talked with my mom about trying to keep him from the fire place.  I have no idea how it happened but we just had a few tears and all was well.  You can't even see anything today.

29 weeks old!

These PJs are so appropriate.  Recently Coop has started this really high-pitched squeal that sounds like a dinosaur.  He's like a mini velociraptor.  Or a Snugglesaurus.