No More Baby Seat

Cooper has finally been moved to his big boy car seat. I figured it was probably time. His pediatrician assumed he was already in it at his 9 month check up so I got the feeling that maybe we should move him to the new car seat. His baby car seat goes up to 22 pounds and 29 inches so he still fit in it perfectly fine, but he is getting heavy and is practically at 29 inches. We have had this next car seat since before he was born but he has loved napping in the baby car seat and it was just easier when we were out shopping and he was tired. Today was the first time using the new car seat. I was very hesitant on how Cooper would like it, but he LOVED it! He sits up better and can see a lot more. He looked so big in his baby car seat and now so little in this new car seat. I call him my big baby little boy. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep in it as easily as the old car seat. But today he proved me wrong. I hate to admit that my baby is big enough for a big boy car seat :( This new car seat goes from 5-100 pounds and transitions into a booster seat as well. So he will be in this car seat for quite awhile. I am not too excited about the new law on having your kids facing backwards until they are 2 years-old. I was eager to turn him around in the a couple of months, but not anymore. I do have the mirror in the back so I can see him in my rear view mirror and he can see me. It makes him facing backwards tolerable for the both of us. I can't imagine not being able to see that face when I am driving in the car.

EASTER

Easter was a lot of fun this year. It all started with the night before Easter we had some friends over and we dyed Easter eggs. We dyed the eggs how you regularly do them and then we mixed it up a little bit. My friend had read about this idea in a magazine so we tried it. You take crayons and shave tiny pieces of wax off. Then you boil the eggs. Immediately after you boil the egg you put it in the carton and sprinkle the crayon wax on them. The eggs are still so hot that it melts the wax and you get an awesome tie die effect. They turned out pretty cool. It will definitely be a tradition that we will continue to do.

Our little family coloring Easter Eggs

I only did Easter baskets for Cooper and Indiana. With Brad just having had a birthday and with my birthday and Mother's Day coming up, I didn't want to hassell with trying to find other ideas for baskets. Besides the candy is the important part and we get the candy from Cooper's basket. I had found this adorable monkey Easter basket at Hobby Lobby a couple of months ago and I just had to get it. I still call Cooper monkey (he is still completely living up to his nickname) so I had to get him a monkey basket. The only problem was the basket itself didn't hold very much. But that is okay because I had decided what I wanted to get Cooper and it wasn't going to fit into a basket very well anyways. I have been wanting to get him building blocks so I decided to do that for Easter. Iwent to Lakeshore Learning (the most amazing store ever!!!) I went there for teaching. It is a teacher/parent heaven. It has everything from books, to games, puzzles, manipulatives, toys, etc. for children's development and learning. And because they are built for classrooms they are built to last. I am not kidding when I say I could spend thousands at this store. I got him these hard foam building blocks (they don't hurt when they are thrown but they are durable) and this fun musical toy (Dancing Teddy Bear Band). It has a bear that dances, piano keyboard, and plays all different instruments and songs. I also got Cooper some books. I am OBSESSED with books. I want my kids to have a ton so I always am buying them. My mom bought Cooper the softest sheep pillow/blanket. Since none of his stuff fit in the actual Easter basket we filled it will candy. Indiana got some treats and a new toy. They both loved their Easter gifts! But Cooper's favorite had to be his Dancing Teddy Bear Band. Cooper did wake up with a bit of a cold so he was a little grumpy and had a runny nose all day. So he wasn't his happy self but he still enjoyed his toys.

After we opened and played with baskets Brad had to go home teaching. While he was gone I made egg salad sandwiches. Every year when I lived at home, we dyed Easter eggs and then the Easter bunny hid the eggs and we had to find them. After we found them all we made egg salad sandwiches for lunch. I had thought about hiding the eggs but instead I just let Cooper play with them. I will keep with tradition however and hide them for my kids.


After lunch we headed to church (1 pm). It was a busy day at church. I had to say the opening prayer in sacrament. If you know me you know I HATE public speaking or when the attention is drawn to me. Therefore I get terrified even just praying. I had known for about a week that I would be saying it and I was stressing about it the whole time. I did however buy a new Easter dress just for the occasion. I bought this cute yellow dress and wore a blue sweater with it, Cooper wore this yellow and blue button down with a blue sweater vest, and Brad wore a yellow and blue button down with a blue sweater. We looked very festive. I didn't get a picture of us in our outfits (I am so mad!!!) But we are going to be doing family pictures soon and we will be wearing them. To continue with the busy Sunday Brad had to sub in Sunday School and then I had to teach in Young Women. Immediately after church we headed to my grandma's for dinner. It was delicious and it was fun to get the babies (mine, my nephew, and my cousins new baby) all together and see how big they have all gotten.

We had an amazing and busy Easter but it was good to spend time with family and also go to church and remember the true meaning of Easter.

N.I.N.E M.O.N.T.H.S

9 Month Stats:

Weight- 18 lbs 4 oz (20%)
Height-27 3/4 in (40%)
Head-17 3/4 in (50%)

I honestly can't believe that my baby is 9 months old. I can't believe he has gotten so big. He is at such a perfectly cute age. He loves to play. His favorite toys right now are his fire truck, walker, this monkey ball that he can push around and makes monkey noises, Noah's ark and animals that Grandpa Jim made, musical tool set, books, and anything he isn't supposed to have (ex. Indiana's food/water dish, laptop, phones, remotes, pens). But his all time favorite is his ball. He loves to catch, throw, roll, chase, and just hold it. He lights up and gets so excited when he sees it. He really can be entertained with anything you give him though. He LOVES to play with Indiana. He chases him around the house and Indiana reciprocates the love for playing with Cooper. I love that they are buds. He has 4 teeth (5th one is about to appear according to his pediatrician) so he eats everything. He still loves anything you feed him. He loves (just to name a few things) peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese, spaghetti, oatmeal, yogurt, oranges, bananas, strawberries, his Gerber puffs (any flavor), cooked veggies, and rice. He is crawling all over the place. Cords are still one of his favorites. He stands on everything and loves going up the stairs. He will even take a few steps with his walker with a little help. He has finally figured out the sippy cup that I introduced at 6 months. He has realized it isn't just a teething toy or something to squeak his teeth on. It doesn't matter if there is juice or water in it either. He has had 2 haircuts. It is amazing he just sits there and lets me do it. Nap times have become a struggle recently. Since he can stand up in the crib, he does and screams because he doesn't want to lay down. He will fall asleep in the car with no problem though. So getting anything accomplished is a challenge. I am hoping he gets over this little phase soon! We started limiting binky time about a month ago. He used to always have it attached to him but now his binky stays in his crib and he has another one he gets in the car seat but only when he's tired or grumpy. When it was attached he was always sticking it in his mouth when he was playing. He hasn't even cared he doesn't have it around the house anyways. Cooper is a mama's boy still but he absolutely LOVES his daddy. When Brad walks in the room he lights up and when he walks away when we are in public Cooper gets worried and makes the saddest face and fusses until Brad comes back. It's so sweet! Cooper is the most wiggly climbing babbling little monkey that I have ever seen!!!

9 Month Stats:
Weight- 18 lbs 4 oz (20%)
Height-27 3/4 in (40%)
Head-17 3/4 in (50%)

THE FAVS!!!

Standing Everywhere

Now that Cooper can pull himself up to stand, he refuses to do anything but stand up at things. He has kind of figured out how to get back down which is really just him falling. Because he is trying to figure it out still, he has many accidents where he falls and hits his head or gets scared so he cries. It breaks my heart when he hurts himself but I know he has to learn how to figure these kinds of things out. I mentioned earlier how I had a hard time moving his mattress down because I loved going in and having him standing to greet me. Well he has figured out how to stand again with the mattress lower. He's still little so he has to reach his hands and stretch but he gets up and stands there. I love it! Seeing his cute little face peeking over the top of the crib is the best! Here are some examples of where he insists on standing.

Had to watch the bath tub fill with water
(Probably my new all time favorite pic)

Always standing at the kitchen chairs

Brad was making cookies and he stood up to look at what was inside
and found himself. He kept kissing his reflection.

Bath time is more of a process but also more fun at the same time. He is constantly standing up and grabbing at the faucet or just standing and giggling. The many faces of Cooper.

Can't Turn Our Backs

Tonight we bought a new gate for the stairs. We have had one upstairs since Cooper was born because I didn't want Indiana running down in the middle of the night and think he could go outside to go potty when I got up to feed Cooper. But in the past couple of days Cooper has started to show interest in the stairs. Since he can stand up he is standing up on everything and the stairs are no exception. Yesterday was the first time he managed to get up any stairs. He only made it up one and then stood there and didn't know what to do.


Then tonight while we were reading the directions and getting ready to start putting up the gate downstairs we heard something on the stairs. Brad says "Did Cooper go up the stairs?" Sure enough he was up the first flight of stairs all the way to the landing. Great parents I know, but honestly he zoomed up them in seconds. Here is a video of how fast he is already....note this is only the 2nd time for him going up stairs.

Crib or cage???

This morning I go in to get Cooper and this is what I find.....

Visit to the Easter Bunny

Yesterday I took Cooper to see the Easter Bunny. I never got around to taking Cooper to see Santa and I have regretted it ever since. So I wasn't going to miss my chance to see the Easter bunny. I was worried how he would act because sometimes he gets shy and scared of new people. But Cooper LOVED the Easter bunny. He was so excited. I think he thought he was just a huge stuffed animal, and Coop loves stuffed animals. He was touching his hair, hugging him and trying to give him kisses. It was so adorable! We didn't catch a smile in the picture, which is too bad since he has his little bunny front teeth :) But you can see him gripping his fists and making the face when he is really excited about something.