12 months!

I love this picture!  It captures him to a tee!  Whenever someone says hi to him, he sheepishly grins and puts his hands in his mouth.  It just  melts my heart!

Wow!!  12 months old!!  We have made it!  I'm really not sure why I have put off writing this post, but there are always the normal excuses and then there is a part of me that really just does not believe it.  Looking at Cooper you clearly see that he is not a baby!  Everything about him screams little boy and sometimes I just refuse to see it.  However I am excited for him to grow up and experience him in his new stages!  We had his 12 month check up last week and his percentages have changed a little bit:

weight: 22 lbs. 15 ounces  (50th percentile)

height:  30.5 inches  (70th percentile)

head circumference:  48 cm  (98th percentile)

We always refer to Cooper as such a big boy, but he has dropped down in weight and is really average.  It is just so much different than Caroline and it is hard not to compare.  His adorable {little} head is still up there in size and shows just how smart he is going to be!  :)

My sweet sweet boy!  I know I continue to say it, but this boy just has a kind and gentle spirit.  He can throw a tantrum with the best of them, but there is just something about how calm and all together sweet he is.  He has developed a bit of stranger anxiety and prefers his mom quite often.  There have been many times that we have been paged during church to come and pick him up because he just will not calm down.  He knows what he wants and will not give up!  I have to say that, although sometimes frustrating, I do love this about him and wouldn't have it any other way!  If he's tired, I can say to him "Just lay your head down" and he will and just cuddle.  I absolutely love it!  He does not give kisses out freely, so I will take what I can get!

Cooper is a great sleeper at night and goes down around 7:15pm and wakes up around 7:30am.  Every night it is the same thing.  He gets tired and gets upset right before we put him down.  We pretty much do the same routine every night and he knows what's coming.  We take baths, get pajamas on and brush teeth, then read a book and lastly pray.  We usually do all of this in his room and then Caroline gets to stay up until 8.  The second Josh says, "Okay, let's pray", like clockwork, Cooper begins to cry.  It actually has become pretty funny!  And because he doesn't use anything to pacify himself, he almost needs it to go to sleep.  But he will usually only cry for a couple seconds and then go right to sleep.  His favorite sleeping position is with his stuffed animals directly across his face!  He has gone down to only one nap per day and sleeps around an hour and a half.  This is something I am going to have to get used to because I have always had, and still do, 2 or 3 hours of down time with Caroline.  The one good thing is that their naps have started to overlap some and I have started to have a little time to myself.

We have continued therapy with Cooper and he has been doing great!  He is full out army crawling and can get across the room pretty quickly!  We play on our knees quite a bit and he is getting stronger every day.  His desire to move has increased and he has started to want to be right where the action is... usually right by Caroline!  Boy is her world about to change!!  Just in the last couple of days I have heard a lot of "No Cooper!  That's mine!"  We will have to start working on sharing a whole lot more!  His favorite thing seems to be opening and shutting doors and crawling to any open ones.

Cooper's eating habits have stayed about the same and he continues to eat quite a bit for each meal.  He definitely prefers meat over anything else and it takes several tries for him to eat vegetables.  He is not a big fruit fan and normally just leaves these on his plate, however oranges are definitely his favorite thing!  Just in the past 2 days we have stopped nursing all together and he has done well with drinking milk.  He is a pro at a sippy cup and has drank out of all kinds.  He surprised me about a month ago and just started drinking out of a straw the first time I ever gave him one.  He will drink out of straws at restaurants and loves feeling so big.

Cooper still isn't saying a whole lot and normally we just get a whole lot of Dada.  He can say Mama too and this usually comes out when he's mad or really wants something.  There really are no other recognizable words that he says, but occasionally he will sign more or all done.

The top of Cooper's 1 year old molars popped through last week and have come through quite a bit!  He sure has one mouth full of teeth, currently totally 10!!

Again, life just would not be the same with out this little boy!  I can't wait to experience him and Caroline running through the house together and playing by themselves.  It truly is special to watch a bond between siblings as they learn to lean on one another.  Happy 12 months Coopster!  We love you!

And finally, no more onesie pictures!!  :)  I did this all twelve months with Caroline and made a point to do it with Cooper.  However he outgrew the onesie early on and really just looked silly.  But it is still so much fun to look back and compare!

C is for COOPER

We celebrated Cooper's birthday on March 10th with a small party. We used the theme "C is for Cooper" and centered the party around milk and cookies! Grami, Aunt Mimi, Emma and Ellie all came to celebrate and were a huge help with the party, making sure everything was so special! Unfortunately Cooper got sick and just did not feel well. He was a good sport, but ended up sleeping through about half of the party. I think everyone else had a good time enjoying some cookies and sweet treats! We are truly honored to be this little boy's parents and just can not believe that an entire year has passed!!

{Caroline decided way before the party that instead of cookie monster, she wanted to dress up like Elmo. I made her her own special Elmo hat to wear instead. Hence the reason why this is the only trace of Elmo at the party. Oh Caroline!}

Of course the day of the party, it was rainy and cold! We had a lot of outdoor activities planned, but nothing for inside. Being the great dad that he is, Josh ran out right before and picked up some games. He got a hot potato game that was pretty funny watching the kids play.

You can't expect much from kids 3 and under, but it was good for a laugh! While Emma ran away because she isn't supposed to touch "hot" things, Tristan pretty much dominated the game.

Cooper didn't quite dig in his cake like I had expected, but he tried to pose for some pictures. He made it long enough for us to sing happy birthday and then made his way to bed.

Believe it or not, Cooper woke up, after everyone had left, HAPPY! I'm not sure what was wrong with him, but he was ready to go after his nap. I was so relieved to see this smiling face! He was really excited and loved opening his presents! He was really into it and had quite a bit of help from his sister and cousins. Thank you to everyone who was able to celebrate this little guy with us and shower him with gifts.

One proud 1 year old birthday boy!!

We love you Coop!

My Little Boy turns 1!

Happy Birthday to my Super Coop!!  You truly light up our world!!

Da Da!!

Josh came home from work on Wednesday, March 7th and like always, Cooper got excited! He squealed with delight and as Josh walked in the door he said "Da Da"!! He has been babbling dadada for a while, but it was never really directed toward anything. This was not only a clear word, but was Cooper's FIRST word! What a fun moment and definitely a sweet one. What better word to say first? He sure has one amazing Da Da!!

Park Days

The weather has been so nice lately and it has been great to be able to get out and go to the park!!  Caroline has been sick and we were stuck inside for several days in a row.  So the other morning around 9am, before Cooper went down for a nap, we took a walk to the park.  Cooper can sit in the wagon so well now and the two of them love riding together.  

Cooper is my little model!  Although it was hard to get him to look into the sun, he is perfect because he enjoys just sitting there!  It's a little difficult to keep him from eating wood chips at the park, but other than that he loves to watch the older kids play.

 Beca loved being along for the ride.