Walk Like A Man

On August 9th, Cooper took his first independent steps. We were at Pappy and Niecee's house to celebrate Niecee's birthday. She was on the phone, Karl was in the kitchen with Cooper but focused on something else, and Pappy and I were in the living room. I was playing with our camera too. And that was the moment Little Man decided to walk--the moment no one was paying attention. Thankfully, Karl happened to look at him at just the right second to see one of the steps. We all went crazy, and I nearly broke our camera trying to get it ready to document him do it again. The below pictures are not his first set of steps, but they are the second set, and he walked from the same spot to the same spot again for us.

(Who knows what setting I had the camera on! The pictures came out blurry, so obviously I had it on the wrong one, but at least we have something!)

After that night, he would take a few steps here and there. Last Thursday evening we went over to our friends' home, and Cooper walked a ton while we were there. Karl and I couldn't wait to get him out of his crib Friday morning. As soon as we put him down, he hit his knees and took off crawling! No walking! However, he did start taking more and more steps and walking longer distances when he tried, and as the week has gone on, he is walking so much more and so much better. Last night I was standing at the stove and Karl was at the far end of our dining room table, and Cooper walked back and forth probably a dozen times. Today he has walked all over the house, sometimes holding my finger and sometimes on his own and sometimes a little of both. I'm really surprised at how balanced he is. We bought two new pairs of shoes today, so now he's ready to run!

He Gets That From Me

Cooper is undeniably Karl's child in the looks department. I feel like every day he looks even more like Karl, and I often tell him, "I feel like I'm looking at your daddy as a baby." He is also built like Karl. He's long and lean and his legs bend towards the outside just like Karl's do. They both have the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Complete strangers would know they are father and son.

However...

I've started to notice my little man do something lately that is all me. I am a very organized person. Everything has a place, and it is very important to me that everything is always in its place. Great thought goes in to where things fit best, and I prefer that everything be in a basket or tub or container of some kind. This is why I was a good teacher. ;) Karl, on the other hand, is not like that. He doesn't understand putting stuff away or in its designated spot. (If you're thinking that I might be a type-A personality, you're right!) In fact, I truly believe that Karl doesn't put stuff up just to drive me crazy!

Lately, Cooper has started showing signs that he is my son too. He is constantly putting stuff away (or hiding it...not sure which). The other day I had clothes on the floor in the laundry room. Cooper started putting them in the basket (dumped out some of the clothes that were already in there though). If I put his spoon on the tray of his highchair, he puts it on his plate (or in his mouth). Those are the only times so far that he has put stuff in the right spot, but that's okay; he shows potential. :) This morning he put 6 of my shoes and some of my hair clips in the dirty clothes basket. He is constantly putting his sippy cup in the seat of his fire engine or in his highchair.

Tonight as I cleaned up his toys I couldn't find the farm animals that go in his tractor. He had stuffed them in his tool set, along with a bath toy, a block, and a book.

The remote control and sippy cup were discovered a few minutes later in his high chair.

He tried to throw a dishtowel in the trashcan this afternoon. Although his placement is a little off, at least he's "cleaning up" some.

Hot

I do so love hot summer days. So many sweet memories of ice cream trucks, pool games, birthdays (Karl's, mine, and Coop's), July 4th lake trips with great friends, falling in love with my hubby at 12 years old :), catching fireflies, sunburns, and so on all come to mind.

Now it's watching a certain little boy splash in an inflatable pool that makes these summer days all the more fun.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Yes, our Little Man is now one!

To kick off his special day, I made homemade pancakes and shaped them like Mickey Mouse for breakfast. My picky eater was not impressed with the Mickey ears, nor was he interested in sampling his mama's culinary skills. After a little play time and little nap, he came out of his room to find some pretty exciting birthday presents in the hallway. We got him a little pool, some toys for the pool, a Mickey Mouse fire engine, and a little toolset. He crawled into his pool, opened his musical card, and lost all interest in the other presents. I think that card was his favorite thing of the day. He opened and closed it and opened and closed it ALL day!

We then loaded up and headed to the zoo. This was our first trip to the zoo as a family. We ate lunch, and then began our tour. It was so much fun too. Cooper loved the animals and took an interest in every single one we saw. I think both Cooper and Karl's favorite part was visiting the lorikeets. As soon as we walked in to their little enclosure, two landed on Karl's shoulders. I am not a wimpy girl. I honestly am sometimes a little impressed at my non-wimpiness. However, this freaked me out!! At one point Karl had 7 birds on him at one time. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I got scared. Yes, they are beautiful and little and harmless, but they made me nervous! Cooper laughed and smiled the whole time though, even as one nibbled/licked his precious little finger. After that, we visited the Butterfly Garden. It was just as beautiful as I remembered it, and out of everything, it was my favorite. After 2 1/2 hours on a hot August day, we made our way back to the car. The sweet birthday boy was asleep before we made it to the main road.

walking in

"Hey Dad, don't I have those animals in my nursery? Eli would be so impressed right now!"

One of the monkeys and Coop have the same birthday

We had to ride the train!

Ugh.

That bird just put my son's finger in its mouth. Eek!!!

And that bird is nibbling my husband's ear. It later gave him a kiss... ON HIS MOUTH. Yuck!!!

Yes, they are so pretty, but terrifying nonetheless.

The Butterfly Garden was much more peaceful and beautiful. :)

The day he was born will always be one of my most treasured memories, but I have to admit, birthdays are much more fun and easier than the birth day itself!

Our 12 Month Photo Shoot

"Eli! Today is a BIG day!"

"You know, this year has gone by pretty fast. I'm feeling a little reflective on all I've done these 12 months...Remember how I used to wrestle with Eli during photo shoots?"

"It's my birthday buddy! Give me a high five with your trunk!"

"Haha, Sucker! I'll bite that trunk!"

"Face plant!"

"Just kidding, Eli. You know I love you! Now get outta here!"

"Mom, sing that song to me again. You know the one you started singing over a month ago."

"Yep, that's the one...'Happy Birthday to me!'"

"Life is good!"

Captured

A friend of ours took pictures of Cooper a couple weeks ago to mark this sweet little age. She captured his personality and gave us a true treasure in her photographs. As I've said so many times before, we have an adventurous, curious, busy, and sweet little boy. Those exact words come to mind again as I look at her pictures. She did a great job of capturing our Cooper at one year old!

Here are some of my favorites...

One

My little baby is going to be one soon. Unbelievable.

It's been a sentimental day in this house. So many times today I've caught myself gazing at my little boy and thinking, "This time last year you were in my belly." Now he zips and zooms through our house from one room to the next, always ready to move some furniture (he loves to push the chairs and stools through the house), slam some doors, or tear up (or eat) whatever strikes his fancy. This time last year he rolled from one side to the next in my womb, pushing his foot and knee and elbows firmly against his tight surroundings. Tonight he ran across his crib as we played our peek-a-boo game. This time last year I had never even held him. Now I'm about to sneak him out of his crib (once I'm sure he's good and asleep...made the mistake lately of going in there too soon...) and rock him for a little while.

I've played his birth day through my mind so many times in the past week. So many bits and pieces of that day stand out so vividly in my mind. Karl and I woke up at 1:30 in the morning, and neither one of us could fall back asleep. Once we got to the hospital, Karl dropped me off at Labor and Delivery and went to park our car. I signed in, was shown my room, and given my gown. As I changed clothes, I remember thinking, "This is it. We did it!" Cooper was a full term baby as we had prayed he would be. By the time Karl found me, I was already in the bed hooked up to the monitor. We spent the next two hours chatting with our nurse, getting the epidural, having my cerclage taken out, and signing all the paperwork. Then it was time. As they wheeled me to the operating room, I was overcome with emotion. All of the sudden I was so scared of the surgery, and the magnitude of what was about to happen produced a waterfall of tears. I cried the whole time I was in the OR. The tears were a mixture of fear of the surgery, relief that the pregnancy was over, sadness that the pregnancy was over, and pure joy of meeting our baby. When I saw Cooper for the first time, I couldn't believe he was ours. He was so beautiful and perfect. His cry was so loud, and he cried for quite awhile to show us that his 37 1/2 week lungs were fully developed! I held him briefly before Karl took him to show our families. When I held him again in the recovery room, I just couldn't believe he was here and he was ours. We had our baby, finally.

Now here we are a year later. It's been quite a year. A wonderful, crazy, amazing year. We've had ups and downs, successes and disasters, and lots of laughter and tears. I wouldn't trade a second of this year for anything, and I would happily live it all over again if given the chance. I spent the 27 years of my life before Cooper wanting to be a mommy and the 18 months before he was conceived praying and begging God for the opportunity to be a mommy. I spent many days daydreaming about what it would be like to be a mom, to have a child. In all my dreams, I never could have imagined it would be so wonderful. I love being a mom. I love being Cooper's mom.

Thankful

Sometimes my heart fills to the brim with a joy that cannot be put into words. It happens when I open the car door to get Cooper out of his car seat and he goes crazy with excitement. It happens when I wake up to hear a sweet little voice over the monitor. It happens as I watch his huge smile rise above furniture as he plays Peek A Boo. It happens when he crawls to my legs and reaches his arms up for me to hold him. It happens when I push him in his stroller and he turns his head around so he can see me.

Miscellaneous moments. Little moments. The moments I so desperately longed for not so long ago.

Lately there have been a lot of those little moments though. My baby boy will be one soon, and a great wave of reflection and thankfulness has come over me. The other day as I wrapped a Mickey Mouse fire engine and little tool set in Happy Birthday wrapping paper, my eyes grew misty. Karl and I went through so much to have a baby, and now our little baby is turning one. How did that happen?

Not a day goes by that at some point I am not overwhelmed with gratitude for what God has done for us. He was faithful to his word despite how unfaithful I was. He said he would fulfill the desires of my heart.

And how very, very grateful I am that he did.