It was 2 years ago today...

This time two years ago, I had the start of a miracle in the making getting ready to grow inside my once barren womb. In every way, it seems just as amazing remembering it than it did then. I just can't believe it was two years ago though. Now that miracle in the making is a busy little boy. He will grow and change in ways I can't imagine throughout the years, but he will always be my little miracle.

Coop's Scoop

Cooper is almost 16 months old... how is that possible?! Tomorrow will be 2 years since our little miracle baby was conceived, and it seems like yesterday. I am so immensely thankful for this little boy. The awe I felt when I saw his heartbeat the first time is still there. I look at him with amazement all the time. He is my greatest love. I don't take for granted how wonderfully God has blessed us.

It's been quite awhile since my last "Coop's Scoop", and that's largely because since Little Man started walking, his mama has been chasing him nonstop! When he sleeps (which is the only time he isn't running wildly), our house needs some serious TLC to repair the toddler damage.

So here we go with a real overload of Cooper info (which I know is mostly just for my own documentation purposes):

~He is W-I-L-D! I have seriously never seen a child with so much energy. I'm hoping he's just going to be active and not hyperactive! My grandmother commented that as soon as I set him down, he already has one foot going. He is constantly on the move and into absolutely everything! To simply say he is curious is an understatement. He is determined to explore everything! This excessive energy is also to blame for my lack of picture-taking in the past few months. I have a ton of pictures of his back or the side of his head or blurry pictures because he is never still! I have been using the camcorder a lot more though!

My WILD Child in his "fort"

~We went to the doctor for Coop's 15 month appointment last week. I have to say that I am so thankful we have a healthy child. I do not take that for granted at all! He is long (in the 50th percentile) and lean (at 21 pounds, I don't know if he's on the curve any more!). I talked to the pediatrician about Cooper's weight again, and he pretty much put me in my place this time. He said there is nothing wrong with having a thin child. Cooper is healthy, happy, and proportional. He said he sees an office full of obese children every day, and what we don't want to happen is for my thin, healthy baby to turn into an obese adolescent because I keep pushing food on him and stressing about his eating, so "let it go". I know he's right, and I have been doing much better on not pushing "one more bite" and letting him eat what/when he wants.

This is at the doctor's office...He's trying to escape before the shots!

~One of the reasons why Cooper is so lean is because the child is one of the healthiest eaters I have ever seen, which is awesome! He loves vegetables, fruit, and chicken. He's not crazy about dairy or carbs. The only vegetable that he won't eat is carrots, which is funny because when I was pregnant with him, carrots were the only thing I could not eat or smell. Broccoli, lima beans, green beans, bananas (organic ones preferably...I can't tell a difference, but apparently he can), grapes, and applesauce are his favorites. He loves cinnamon toast and freshly grated cheese and sometimes peanut butter and occasionally ice cream, so that's where I try to get some fat in him. He loves rice, and will shovel it in his mouth. I've been making chicken and rice in the crock pot for him, and it's always a hit. He also like elbow noodles with butter, salt, and parmesan cheese. He carries around a cup of Goldfish all the time to snack on when he wants. One day we were getting ready to leave the house, and Karl and I were trying to get him out the door. We kept saying, "Come on, Cooper, let's go bye-bye." Finally, we went ahead and set the alarm, and he ran out of his playroom, looked at us, turned around, and ran back in the playroom. Karl was about to go in and pick him up, but right then, Cooper rushed out with his Goldfish cup in hand. He just couldn't leave without it! He still drinks warm milk from a bottle in the morning (I know, I know...shame on me! However, in my defense, it's the only way I can get him to drink milk, which has good calories and vitamins for him, and he only does it once a day-it's like his morning cup of coffee), but then he drinks apple juice and water from a sippy cup the rest of the day. My picky little boy prefers the cups with straws too. His other favorite beverages are lemonade, orange juice, Dr. Pepper (or any soft drink really), and sweet tea. We tried grape juice for awhile, but he never took to it.

This is his favorite sippy cup :)

~Teething: How many more teeth do we have to go?! Cooper has a hard time with cutting teeth. He gets a runny nose, has bad diapers, doesn't sleep well, and is grumpy! He now has 4 teeth across the front, 4 across the bottom, and 2 or 3 molars. The molars have been the worst!

~Cooper's Favorite Things: Sadie, Mickey Mouse, bath time, water, dancing and music, playing outside, anything related to Karl, puzzles, pull and push toys (wagons, corn popper, fire truck, vacuum cleaner, wheel barrow, etc.), climbing on things, belly buttons, being chased, playing in and cleaning out his cabinet in the kitchen, and shaving (I know some of these deserve an explanation, so continue reading...:))

Busted! This is a favorite play spot.

Climbing in the diaper box--This box is his FAVORITE "toy" currently.

He was so proud of himself when he climbed in this chair in his playroom the first time!

Cooper has been obsessed with Karl's shoes lately and constantly tries to put them on..

...which is harder than it looks...

...but given enough time and maybe a little assistance, he can do it!

I guess Karl liked that his little buddy wants to be just like his daddy, so he got them pretty-much-matching shoes :)

~He loves music! Every time he walks into the kitchen he immediately starts pointing at the I-Pod speakers so we'll turn them on. He then dances for us with a nice Jersey-style fist pump and a little bouncing as well (sometimes he even starts shaking his head). I just can't help but laugh because it is absolutely hilarious!!! He has certain commercials and theme songs to television shows that bring out the same reaction. He can be anywhere in the house, and as soon as he hears one of his songs, he immediately stops whatever he's doing, goes to where the song is coming from and starts dancing and laughing. Oh, how it brings joy to my heart! Lately his favorites are the Chugga Chugga Soul songs (from the Disney Channel). His sweet friend Will had a train birthday party last year, and his very creative mama made a CD of these songs as favors for the party. Cooper was only 5 months old at the time, but Brooke told me that he would love these songs when he got older. Boy, was she right! Now every time he walks into his room or when I go to get him out of his crib in the morning or after naps, he starts pointing at his CD player and saying "chugga". He goes crazy when I turn it on!

~Jibber Jabber-Cooper can say mama, dada, Sadie, truck, duck, hi, bye, his own version of fire truck, and a couple other random words/sounds (like "chugga" and imitating sounds you make-coughs, sneezes, animal sounds, etc.), but mostly, he prefers to not use words. He babbles A LOT though, and lately he's started doing it in his sleep! It cracks me up when I wake up during the night to hear his sweet voice, only to see that he's sound asleep! He points to what he wants, waves bye-bye (waves every morning and afternoon to the school bus, even if he can only hear it), and gets you to hold him and take him to what he wants if he can't get it himself. He pulls you up by your shoulders if you're sitting down and then babbles and points and whines until he gets you where he wants. This kind of drives me crazy a lot of the time because it's a serious guessing game with him, and I've never been good with whining.

Although he can't say, "Roll Tide!" yet (we have been practicing though), he does his arm in the arm and mocks the tone and volume of your voice. We're raising him up right!

~Cooper loves to watch Karl get ready in the mornings, and he gets enthralled when Karl shaves. Karl will often "shave" Cooper's face when he's done, and nothing makes our little boy happier! Now, every time we go in our bathroom, he starts pointing and smiling at Karl's razor!

~We've been teaching Cooper body parts (ears, nose, eyes, teeth, toes, mouth, head), and he has a favorite for sure: belly buttons. He loves them! He pulls up everyone's shirt and giggles at the sight of their belly button. Then he tries to poke them, and he giggles some more! If he has on a shirt he can pull up, he will walk all around (and into everything) with his shirt up just staring at his belly button. Poor little boy had some bumps and bruises on his head from this!

~Cooper's Least Favorite Things: riding in the car and getting his diaper changed (same as when he was a newborn...still hoping he outgrows these though!)

~We've been working on obedience and what "no" means. I have a feeling we're going to be working on these things for quite some time! However, when we don't want him to do something because it's dangerous, we say, "No, Cooper. Danger!" This gets a much better response than a simple "no". He's very good about stopping whatever it is that dangerous, but as soon as we say it, he'll jerk his hand back and start rubbing it on his tummy like he actually got hurt! Let me back up and say that any time Cooper gets hurt, he rubs whatever is hurting, as if he can just rub the pain away. It's pretty cute. One time, when we were starting the "danger" thing, Karl acted like he touched whatever it was we were trying to keep Cooper from touching. Karl pulled his hand away and said, "Ouch!" and rubbed his hand. Now that's exactly what Cooper does! Also, if you come over, he will point out everything in the house that's been deemed dangerous, say his own version of "Danger", and rub his hands on his tummy. It cracks us up!

He knows better than to play in Sadie's water bowl, but he does it anyway! Errr!!!

~A couple months ago, Cooper was having a horrible time while cutting a tooth. He probably had a little cold on top of it too. His poor nose was like a running faucet. I don't know how, but he learned how to blow his nose, and he would go to his bathroom, take out a washcloth, and blow his nose in it. We had to watch him because sometimes he would then try to throw the washcloth away like a Kleenex. I learned quickly to be careful while telling this story when he could hear me because any time you say something about nose-blowing, he will blow his-with or without the washcloth or Kleenex. Hilarious and so gross!

~Terrible Twos Strike at One-Me-oh-my, can my child throw a tantrum! His scream could wake the dead I'm sure. Karl asked me if I thought Cooper was just really advanced and getting the terrible twos out of the way early. Ha, ha! I told him I'm afraid we're just warming up! I'll do a separate post about his public temper tantrums. They deserve a post to themselves, but let me just say they leave me MORTIFIED! At home, I just walk away from him while he's sprawled out on the floor acting like a baby (hehe!). Sometimes he follows me from room to room though so he can make sure I'm aware of his unhappiness. One day, I couldn't take it anymore, so I put him in his crib and left him. Well, almost immediately, the crying stopped. When I went in, he was sitting in the corner of his crib with an arm propped on each side of the bumper, his legs stretched out in front of him with his feet crossed, a paci in his mouth, and a smile peeking out from behind it. He's never looked so calm and relaxed! I was ready to pull my hair out!

~Favorite Games-Peek-a-Boo is now a thing of the past for the most part. His new favorite game is either teasing or chasing. He loves to hold a bite of his food out for you like he's sharing, only to yank it away and eat it himself when you try to get it. Little Stinker! This does make meal times very entertaining though! His other favorite game is to be chased. He LOVES to tease you with a toy or something of yours and then take off when you come to get it. He has the funniest walk/run when he's playing chase. It's really more of a wobble because he's laughing so hard and trying to move so fast!

Well, my super energized child is stirring from his nap, and our house is a mess because I typed through the entire nap time...at least everyone now knows everything there is to possibly know about Cooper at 16 months! Maybe I can at least get the dirty dishes in the dishwasher before he's totally awake! Gotta go!

Fishing for Some Treats

There is so much unexpected stress that goes along with parenting: What to do when your child is sick, how to handle temper tantrums in public, vaccinations, etc. And picking out Halloween costumes! There are too many options out there, and picking out only one for your child each year is quite overwhelming!

This year Cooper was a fisherman. There is no special reason as to why I picked this costume. It was a "stressful" decision, and originally I wanted him to be a dog. I really don't remember how I changed from dog to fisherman, as I bought the costume at the beginning of September (I choose random things to be on top of. :))

He got a lot of wear out of this costume, which is great, but there were several pieces to it, which became a bit of a problem. It came with pants, a shirt, a vest, wader boots, a hat, and a pole. He absolutely refused to wear the hat. He ripped the fish off the fishing pole shortly after we got it. And then...on Halloween night...we couldn't find one of the boots! You can't just wear one, and the boots are what made the costume so cute (considering the pole and hat were not included anymore). Karl and I tore this house up trying to find the lost wader. We looked in all of Cooper's favorite spots to "store" things: the garbage can, the dirty clothes basket, the pantry, his firetruck, his drawers, etc. Then we looked in spots where we might have accidentally put it. Then we looked in, under, and above everywhere we hadn't already looked.

As hope was beginning to dwindle, Karl found the precious accessory. Of all places, it was standing up right beside his basket of books in his room. How we missed it there, I don't know. Thankfully, his costume was saved, and our Little Man went on his first trick-or-treating!

Boo at the Zoo

He immediately did not like his hat.

We tried again when we got to the zoo, but once again, he was not going to wear it.

Like Father, Like Son

Karl had an easy costume this year. He threw on his fishing gear, and he and his little buddy were fishermen together. Mommy got left out, so I put on my pajamas and a lot of make up, and I went as a well-rested mommy. It was like being a unicorn or vampire-there's no such thing!

Practicing for the big night!

Trick or Treat

Daddy and Coop posing with the pumpkin Karl carved

He really does a great job carving.

Ready to go!

Coop's first trick or treating

Well, hello again!

It might seem like we have disappeared based on the two month blog break we've been on, but we are in fact here and well! I wish I had some great excuse to make up for my lack of blogging, but the truth is, life happened. Messes needed to be cleaned, groceries needed to be bought, laundry needed to be washed, a certain little boy needed lots of his mama's attention, and a husband needed some attention too. As summer came to a close, our days really did feel shorter.

And my interest in the blog was dwindling.

Our days seemed so repetitive and unexciting. While busy and crazy, I felt like I really didn't have anything to say or anything special to record.

And then after a rather rough October, I learned how special the hum-drum, monotonous, typical day is. I learned what a blessing it is to just live each day in a casual routine. I learned that unexciting also means peaceful.

Although the boring details of today might not feel like they are worth recording, they might actually be the little details I might crave one day.

Sometimes to-do lists just have to be left undone. Sometimes dishes just need to be left dirty in the sink and laundry unfolded in the basket. Sometimes taking the time to record and reflect on the little "insignificant" events of each day needs to be made a priority.

Having your child clean out all the kitchen cabinets while you wash dishes so he can climb inside for no apparent reason, going to the zoo on a beautiful fall day and having a rooster almost peck your son's bare foot since he refuses to keep his socks and shoes on, opening your child's bedroom door after nap to find that he learned how to take off his *dirty* diaper in his crib and treat the *dirtiness* as both fingerpaint and food, teething troubles, fearing that your child swallowed a screw on a Saturday morning, throwing professional temper tantrums in public places, etc. All the "little" events that currently comprise our days.

Our precious typical days.

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.