Snip, snip

We caved this weekend and gave Cooper his first hair cut.  I was in denial and I really didn't think it needed to be but.  The back was a little long, but didn't need a pony tail holder.  The front wasn't even close to his eye.  It may have been a little past his ears, but nothing crazy.  Right?

My sister had been on me to cut his hair for weeks.  She kept saying he was channeling a certain (very) young pop-singer.  The deciding factor, though, was what I call the "gross factor."  Since his tubes, his ears have drained a few times.  I picked him up from school one day last week and his ears had been draining...right into his hair.  GROSS.  That was it.  I called Aunt LaDonna and asked her come over and trim his hair.

We stripped off his shirt and went to town. 

He did ok...until Aunt LaDonna pinned down his ear to cut behind it.

Finally we finished up and he was back to his normal happy self.  I'm not knocking the hair-cutting skills, but I don't think I like the final product.  He looks like a little boy!!!!!  I want my baby back!! Stupid ear infections!  I think I honestly would have waited a few more months but seeing him with gunky hair (I know, GROSS) was more than I could take.

Toilet paper

Toilet paper is one of those things that drives me crazy.  It has to go over.  Remember the whole "over or under" debate a certain TP company did last year? I'm an over supporter.  Under just doesn't work.  I'll even admit that in some houses, if the TP roll it set to go under, I flip it over.  I usually just assume they don't care, because if they did - they would have it go over.  ((yes, I know I'm crazy, ok!  Deal with it.))

PS: this whole over thing was only made worse when I started working in hotels.  They roll it over AND they fold down the little triangle at the end.  I'm not that crazy.  Yet.

I just wanted to give you a little background on how I can obsess over the small things. 

Because now...it astounds me that I'm now the type of person who will just set the roll on top of the counter.  Why?  Because if not Cooper makes it his personal mission to unroll the entire thing in one quick, hard, swipe of his chubby little hand.  Don't worry, he giggles while he does it. 

Two peas in a pod

Jason and I are both lucky enough to be off work tomorrow, so we invited Kelly, Kyle & Eileen over for dinner.  I cooked a pasta that turned out to be very messy, so we gave the kids a bath and put on pjs so they could play.  Even though Eileen is 4 months older, they behave pretty well the same.  They were both cranky earlier that day but had a good time playing.  They are also both 100% about pushing their limits.  Trying something 5 times after being told no, then they both give us "the look" as they do it again.  Two peas in a pod.

After bath, Cooper wanted Eileen to lie down and kept pulling her down.  She'd roll away and he would grab her by the arm and pull her back.  Finally he let go and we snapped one quick photo before Eileen jumped up and ran away.

Meal time

My go-to meal around the house is spaghetti.  For Cooper, that is.  If we're having something I know will be too spicy for him or I'm sure he won't eat, I'll boil some noodles and stir in a small amount of jarred pasta sauce...and viola, instant dinner happiness.  Penne happens to be my favorite shape and I ended up with a box of mini-penne whole wheat pasta.  It's perfect for Cooper since I don't have to cut the pieces and he can pick them up easily.

It just makes a really, really big mess.

Jason is attempting to help Cooper learn how to eat with a spoon.  I'd rather wait until he's like...5.  Or 15.  Why?  Because giving a 13 month old boy a spoon makes a big mess.  Case in point:

He had a good time.  Ate mashed potatoes off of the spoon like he was eating a lollipop.  And even got some up his nose.

Evenings are definitely more interesting around here.

13 Months Old

What a month it has been!  People tell you that kids are like sponges - they soak in (and sometimes, at the most inconvenient time, spew it back out!) everything you say and do.  Due to holidays and tubes, we've had three 3-day-weekends in a row.  And because of another holiday, this coming weekend will also be a 3-day-weekend.  Score!

I've soaked it all in.  Well, tried to at least.  Nobody is perfect, ok?  But every day is something new with Cooper.  He is an expert at clapping and waving bye-bye.  He can do the touchdown pose on command and find his head.  He signs "more" and once we saw him sign "milk."

I screwed up and taught him "yummy-yummy" by rubbing on his belly...only to find out "please" is a flat handed rub on the chest.  I need to start working on "please" but "yummy-yummy" is way too cute!

When he sees animals on tv he starts screaming at them.  He also loves to dance.  Sometimes it is a knee-slapping banjo tune, and other times he gets this 80's hair band wide clap going. 

Light switches have to be turned off (add another 3 minutes to the time it takes us to get out of the door in the morning).  And he's figured out how to point at things.  Pick him up and he immediately starts pointing at stuff.  I just don't know what he's pointing at...

We're totally on milk now.  Yay!  He loves cheese, peas, bananas and oranges.  If he sees any of those in my hands he'll start grunting at me until I oblige and give him some. 

And walking...he is now walking without being prompted!  He still likes to crawl and can get places faster by doing so.  It is so strange to see that little head toddle on the other side of the kitchen table.  Sunday, my step-brother and mom came for a visit and he chased Cooper around the house.  The squeals were to die for.  I love seeing the two of them play together.

And the thing that just about made me die from cuteness this weekend?  Jason caught Cooper sitting in the living room reading That's not my tractor! and actually rubbing his hands on the smooth and rough parts.  I wanted so bad to snap a photo, but I was afraid that he would hear the camera and would realize he was all alone in the living room.  Priorities.  There were dishes to wash, ok!

Parenting

Last night Cooper finished his milk about 8pm.  He crawled off of the sofa and started playing with some toys.  Then we caught him putting his head on a pillow and figured that since he was tired, we'd put him to bed a little earlier than normal.

So at 8:15 I picked him up, carried him to his room, said his prayers and put him in the crib.  He grabbed the monkey and his blanket and I walked out after kissing him good night.  I watched him play for a few minutes on the monitor and then he flipped over and went to sleep.  Just like that.

Later Jason asked how he did going to bed and I responded that I'm not sure we're actually parenting.  I think we just got lucky.  Somewhere in the last few months we've gone from a baby who needed to fall asleep drinking his milk on our laps to a little boy who will put himself to bed in his own crib.  I guess its ok that I never actually read any of those parenting books.  Winging it actually seems to be working.*

*I fully admit that I may eat my words on something else in the future.
**I also don't suggest "winging it" as a tried and true parenting strategy.

Tubes

Cooper's been suffering from ear infections for months.  In fact, he's pretty well had the same one since October.  After 4 antibiotics, we decided to talk to an ENT.  I pretty well had my mind made up that we'd be getting tubes.  I just wasn't thrilled with pumping him full of drugs again and again and I knew it wasn't working.

I was fine with the idea of surgery.  Tubes is a minor surgery, wouldn't take long, and pretty routine.  Plus, it is a lot easier to swallow the idea of surgery when you are realistic and know it needs to be done.  He's been feeling rotten and this was going to help.

Until I started to picture my tiny little baby in that big hospital bed last night.  I'll admit - I got just a little nervous.  This morning we were out the door early (very early) and at the hospital by 6:30am.  I worried the Cooper would be mad since he wasn't able to eat after midnight, but he did really well.  The waiting room was packed and we were constantly meeting with someone.  My nosey child was too...nosey to worry about being hungry.

And suddenly, it was time.  He was starting to get cranky, tired and bored so I worried he would cry but the nurse started asking him about bananas and Cooper went right to him.  Less than 10 minutes later, the doctor was coming out to let us know that everything went great.  He had a lot of fluid in his ears and we should expect more drainage than normal for the next few days.  Poor little guy!

Jason and I went back to recovery where they had Cooper in a small crib (no big hospital bed to scare me!) and in another 10 minutes he was awake and ready for a drink.  We all three sat there for a little while and we were on our way.  He's sleeping off his hangover napping now.  And even though I had a moment of "WTF was I thinking letting someone operate on my baby?" I'm so glad I did it.  Hearing that his ears were so bad makes me know we did the right thing.

Now...we just have to spend the day waiting on the Ags to BTHO LSU at the Cotton Bowl!  Whoop!!

Happy New Year!

Like it or not, 2011 is here and here to stay.  Well, at least until December 31st.  2010 was good to me.  I turned 30.  Cooper turned 1.  I got a new job, went on a few vacations, and spent a lot of time with family and friends.

I've never really been crazy about resolutions. The pessimist in me thinks "why add something else to fail?"  But it really comes down to getting so wrapped up in life that I usually forget what I resolved to do by March.  I hadn't planned on setting any resolutions or goals for this year, but Jason and I started talking and I came up with a few things.

First, lose weight.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know that's probably on 95% of the lists out there.  But I have a number in my head that I want to hit before my sisters wedding and then I'd like to keep it off.  Or at least stay close to it.  Working out isn't as easy as it used to be.  We dropped our gym memberships to save money (plus, why pay for something you don't use) and with the time change it is dark when I get home.  We're both aiming to work out on the weekends - go for walks, runs, bike rides - and add in a night or two during the week.  I'm getting serious again about Weight Watchers.  They changed their plan a few weeks ago and it threw me for a loop...but I'm getting the hang of it.  Plus, some coworkers are participating and that helps.

Second, date nights.  We tried this last year and failed.  Mostly because things came up and we'd opt to save money and skip it, or we just wanted to stay home with Cooper.  So this year we're planning one night each month - either go out or do something different at home.  Cook something we've never cooked before - pasta, risotto (it scares me, ok!), lamb.  And try some fun wine with it.  And we'll either wait until Cooper goes to bed or he'll have an Aunt Sassy sleepover. ((hint hint))

Third, try new foods.  If you've been reading a while you know I'm a meat and potatoes kind of person.  Dinner should always include meat, starch and vegetable.  And fish isn't a meat.  Well, it is, but I'm not a fan of it.  But I'm aiming to try and cook something new once a month.  Like the lamb mentioned above.  I think lamb is sort of...gamey...but I'll give it another shot.

And finally, I want to be a better friend.  I want to plan and stick to girls night out, couples night out, family trips to the zoo.  I see my friends often, but it's usually a birthday party and when I leave I realize that with all of the "mommas!" being yelled we didn't even get to talk.  I know we can't all make everything, but I'm hoping to try and get the ball rolling.

Wish me luck!

Four Christmases

We had our fourth Christmas Sunday afternoon with my immediate family.  Cooper spent the morning driving around the house, while we got ready for lunch.

Zeth came home from spending Christmas Day with his mom and Cooper told him all about Santa coming before we opened gifts.

Santa came!

We woke up bright and early Christmas morning to see that Santa had come by for a visit. 

Despite those happy and exciting photos, it all went downhill after that.

That red blotchy face with the puffy eyes tells it all.  Cooper napped for about an hour and half that morning and we planned on having him nap again before my family came over that evening.  He was cranky, but refused to sleep.  Flat out refused.  I think part of the issue was that he had his 12 month shots Thursday and I think his ears are also bothering him.  Either way, he pretty well cried the whole afternoon.  It was like a firing range.  Someone would volunteer to take him to the bedroom and try to rock him, only to return 5 minutes later with a big fat FAIL stamped across their forehead.  I really thought he would just be tired and when it came time for bed that night, he crash hard...but we were wrong about that as well.

In the end, it was a good Christmas.  When he wasn't crying, Cooper was busy having fun with his cousin Haley and all of our other relatives.

After dinner it was gift time.  Suddenly Cooper and Haley were in the middle of the floor, surrounded by gifts and I was blinded by the camera flashes.  It was like a scene from a TV show - paper flying and kids screaming. 

Then it was the adults turn.  We usually draw names and swap gifts that way,  but this year we tried the White Elephant gift exchange.  Everyone had a great time stealing gifts.

After everyone left, we finally sat down to soak in the quiet and drink a glass of wine.  And pray that Cooper would feel better the next day!

Merry Christmas!!