Cooper is Five Months!!!!!

Cooper at Five Months

(June 14, 2013)

I can't believe ANOTHER month has just flown by!  Our little Cooper just keep growing and growing.  He is a "solid" little thing needless to say.  This past month he has started eating baby foods more frequently and is lovin' him some fruits and veggies.  So far he has shown no allergies, so here's hoping to an allergy free child : )

He is still pretty lazy though.  He has yet to roll himself over (other than on the couch where I'm pretty sure the slant of the cushions help that along) and during tummy time he doesn't really seem to care to try pushing up on his elbows or anything.  It's kind of funny to watch him lay there on his tummy with his face buried in the carpet because he has no desire to exert any energy to lift his head, haha.  Don't get me wrong, he will lift his head and even rocks from side to side a little bit...just not that often.  He'll get there though, we have faith!

He has started reaching more for toys and his bottle.  He loves to spend time on his playmat where he can grab the dangling toys and watch Lucy as she plays nearby.  I plan to spend a little more time this next month working on his upper body strength and balance.  Hopefully we can get his to be sitting up on his own in the next few months.  He's still pretty wobbly though.

Other than that, not too much to report this month.  He is sleeping through the night more consistently, but he still isn't reliable with that....which aggravates Mommy & Daddy since he seems to enjoy midnight feedings more on Friday & Saturday nights >:(  But all in all, Cooper is an extremely happy baby and will smile and laugh at you if you just glance in his direction.  I fear he will be quite the little charmer.  But I'll let you be the judge...here are some pictures and videos from Coopers last month.

I'll first put up some pictures from Mother's Day, since for whatever reason I forgot to post pictures from Mother's Day in my last blog...here are a few of me and my babies : )

Now for pictures from this past month....

Happiest. Baby. Ever.

sucking on a green apple

those eyelashes!

very serious....

...but Daddy always makes me laugh

with the Goose

Lifeguarding

teaching Daddy and thing or two about computers

my lazy bums

Morning Facetime with Yaya

what was he so engrossed in watching?  Hockey.





Cooper is Four Months!!!!

Cooper at Four Months

(May 14, 2013)

Month four seems to have passed us by so quickly!  Cooper didn't see the doctor until this past Wednesday, but he is weighing in at 16.8 lbs. and is 26 1/2" long!  Our little guy is measuring the size of a 9 month old!  Holy percentiles!  Funny thing is, he is 1/2" shorter than Ryleigh was and .8 lbs heavier than she was, so it's no surprise that he feels much heavier than she ever did.  Baby boy's got quite the noggin too measuring in at 16 1/2".  I guess we just make 'em big : ) 

It has been interesting adjusting to our new schedule with Mommy back at work and Cooper going to daycare, but we seem to be getting the hang of it.  Cooper is sleeping through the night much more frequently now that he is on a schedule.  The last few weeks have been a little hectic though since Mommy is training for her new position, the schedule and routine we were following has gotten a little jumbled.  But Daddy is doing a great job picking up where Mommy can't right now!!  Sadly it is making Mommy feel like she never gets to see her babies...but I'm hopeful that will change when my training is over and I fall back into my routine again.

We started this month off with a visit from Yaya.  She came to mostly see the babies, but also to help out Mommy while Daddy was in New Orleans for work for the week.  Even though I was still having to go to work, this week felt so much like a vacation with Yaya around!  I was able to go to work, then come home and actually eat dinner without interuptions then have a glass a wine and relax while Yaya fed, bathed and put the little ones to bed.  I think I need a full-time Yaya ; )  On my days off, we all ventured out and Ryleigh got to bounce around at Monkey Joes and she really enjoyed going to the Greensboro Childrens Museum.  Cooper had lots of fun watching his sister run around like a crazy person and believe it or not, all the activity wore him out just as much! 

Not too much has happened with Cooper this month though.  I was hoping he would have started rolling over by now, but he seems to be perfectly content laying on his back.  His teachers at daycare say he isn't a fan of tummy time, but they continue to work with him to try to get him rolling!  They also say what a joy he is to have in their class!  He is such a happy baby and is SOOOO easy to make laugh and smile.  He is starting to grab for things when he sees them and has even been adventurous enough to try and grab his sisters spoon right out of her hand!  He has started eating baby food, but not much, just apples and pears so far.  He does really well eating from a spoon and is getting used to the new textures.  I'd say our big boy doesn't have any issues with missing meals : )

We're looking forward to the upcoming summer with Cooper and getting him into the swimming pool and out doing lots of things!  Until then, here are some pictures from the past month.

Coopers favorite plug

enjoying some beautiful weather

so much fun at the Greensboro Childrens Museum...

Mommy and Babies..oh, and a giant frog.

grumpy face

Cooper is only 10" shorter than his his sister

*sidenote: take more pictures of Cooper and Daddy.

Cooper is Three Months!!!

Cooper at 3 Months

(April 14, 2013)

Three months.  Sigh.  My little guy is getting so big....really.  He is such a chunker.  Although, what would I expect from my 9lbs. 6oz. newborn?  We didn't go see the doctor this month, but he has got to be every bit of 14 lbs.  Momma's arms sure do burn after only a few minutes of snuggling!

Month three started a little intense.  Cooper caught a little stomach bug from his big sister which caused him to projectile vomit for 24 hours.  Ryleigh had a 24 hour bug back in February and that was the first time I had ever dealt with a vomiting child so two kids in two months was not exciting for me.  Let me tell you, sick infants are not fun.  The minute he'd throw up, he would be crying because he was now hungry.  I was feeding him 1/2 oz. of pedialyte every 20 minutes until I upped it to 1oz., then 2oz.  When I finally decided to try formula again...ralph.  So I was back at 1/2oz of pedialyte.  It was exhausting just keeping up with where I left off in the pedialyte schedule.  When he finally did keep down his formula, the weight off my shoulders was crazy.  I didn't even realize how tense I was, just constantly waiting for that next bout of puke to come.  But he survived...and so did Mommy.

The rest of the month was much nicer.  Cooper is laughing and smiling so much.  I forgot how amazing it feels when you realize your baby is actually seeing you and recognizing you.  I love watching him watch his big sister run around and I LOVE it when she talks to him and makes him laugh.  Hearing Ryleigh say "Baby Cooper, look at me!" and then watching her do something ridiculous to make him laugh brings the biggest smile to my face.  I know I need to cherish these moments because soon enough they will be tattling on each other more than loving on each other.

This month we also traveled to Michigan to visit family.  11 hours in a car with a 2 1/2 year old, 3 month old and 3 year old dog is NOT something I wish upon someone else.  It wasn't awful...but it sure wasn't something I'm signing up to do again anytime soon.  Cooper was able to meet a lot of new family members.  He had lots of fun snuggling with his Aunt Cristin, as well as his Aunt Lori.  He also met his Papaw, Mamaw, GGpa and GGma.  That leaves only one more set of Greats to go!  Gammy & Grandad made sure to get in lots of lovin' and his cousins, Tyler and Kylie did too.  We always love when we get to spend time with our family : )

Sadly this month Mommy had to go back to work which means Cooper started daycare.  I worked part-time with Ryleigh up until she was 13 months, so going back full-time with Cooper at 3 months has been a little more difficult, but I know that I am a much better Mommy when I have something outside of the home to take pride in.  When I am home with the kiddos I am much more relaxed and have much more fun with them rather than being all stressed.  (I know there is at least someone out there that understands that).  He has been in daycare for one week and has been doing wonderfully.  There are only 4 other babies in his class and he has 2 teachers.  He also has his own little crib and plenty of playmat and bouncy seats to keep him occupied.  He doesn't really sleep much while he's there, which isn't a problem since it doesn't really cause him to get fussy...but it does result in full nights of sleep!  HALLELUJAH!  

Cooper is making his way through the infant checklist month by month.  In the next month I'm hoping he starts rolling over a little more and hopefully starts pushing up on his elbows.  He is cooing a lot, so I'm guessing he'll start babbling a little bit here soon as well.  We'll be sure to keep ya posted : ) 

playtime at the park

quality bonding time with Daddy

meeting Aunt Cristin

with Aunt Cristin and Kylie

Ryleigh and Cooper watching morning cartoons with Grandad

Easter Sunday

Our little family : )

Daddy tickles!

first attempt at Bumbo sitting

Ryleigh loves making her little brother laugh and smile

Cooper on his first day of daycare

getting well acquainted with his lovey

taking advantage of the breeze coming through since our AC is broken

Ryleigh making sounds to get Cooper to laugh 

being creepy

just chillin'

And since we missed our post from our trip to Michigan...here are some pictures for that visit

searching for all the eggs Aunt Lori hid at her house

digging in to her Easter basket