Cereal For Cooper

Well since Cooper is now four months old we are able to start feeding him rice cereal. Today I tried it for the first time and it was hilarious. I was really excited because I got to open his high chair. Yeah I probably could just feed him in his bouncer but now that I had an excuse to use the high chair I was taking advantage of it. His highchair is a space saver one so straps on to one of the kitchen table chairs. I fed him on the counter this first time though. Other than his next car seat, the high chair was the last big baby thing that we have to open. It's actually kind of sad. But I got to use a big boy bib and his spoons so it was fun! Cooper didn't know what to think. He wasn't so sure about the texture. He would get it down but the faces he made were hilarious. I see it as a success because no crying was involved. We will keep trying though until hopefully he likes it!

Trying out the new high chair for the first time

He likes his high chair

Buddy was even curious about what was going on

Here goes the first bite

Ha ha he had no idea what to think

This face is classic!!!

He kinda had this face the whole time

I can't believe Cooper is a big boy and doesn't just get milk anymore. I love all the stages that he has gone through and the ones we have to look forward to. I just wish it would stop going so fast. I love my little guy and enjoy every minute!!!!

Four Whole Months!!!!

Today was Cooper's 4 month check up. I always get so excited for his check ups so I can see how big he is but I dread him getting his shots. We definitely have a little peanut on our hands.

Cooper is: 12 lbs. 12 oz- 20th percentile for weight
24 1/2 in. long- 30th percentile for height
head is 41 1/2 cm- 25th percentile

That means that Cooper has only gained 4 pounds since he was born. It's crazy because he seems so much bigger! The doctor said that Cooper looks super healthy though and might just be a little guy. He is still super strong for his age even though he's got no fat on him. She sees some bubbles on his gums so he is definitely teething. But I knew that because he is slobbering up a storm. But I will take slobber over spit up any day. He is still spitting up quite a bit. It isn't as much as it used to be but we still got through lots of outfits, burp rags, blankets, and moms clothes :) He is built just like I was. I was very petite but had the cheeks and double chin like Cooper has. I love my little monkey though. He has just enough chub on him and I wouldn't have him any other way. Brad said he hopes he isn't always little because with how much Cooper likes football he wants him to be able to play it....ha ha! It's true though, every time football is on he will turn his head so he can watch. He will just sit in front of the tv watching football and is completely content. We are definitely a football watching family so it's a good thing! Here are some recent pics.

My strong little guy....you can get a glimpse of how he likes to slobber :)

Coop in his exer-saucer which he loves!

Buddy gives Coop his giraffe to throw for him....he still doesn't get that Coop can't do that!

Mom and her boys just hanging out

He LOVES his fists and I love watching him try to fit the whole thing in his mouth

Watching football....he didn't even pause to look at me taking the picture

Very observant

He still loves his binky...even when he is sound asleep

I love that he will just lay on a blanket and play by himself

Another one enjoying the exer-saucer

Coop and the bumbo

He even sleeps with his hands in his mouth....he has found his thumb too

Indiana thinks we got this for him :)

I can't believe how fast four months has flown by. It just seems like we brought him home from the hospital. We love Cooper more than we could have ever imagined. Nothing is better than getting a huge smile or giggle from him. I love going in to get him out of his crib and see him kick his little legs and arms and give me the biggest grin. At four months Coop is now:

• rolling over from his front to back
  
• almost from back to front
  
• talking up a storm
  
• giggles
  
• smiles
  
• loves standing (this is how insists on being burped)
• loves looking around while being on his tummy
• loves to cuddle
• loves watching tv
• grabs anything in his reach (toys, bib, blanket, bink link, etc.)
• puts anything and everything in his mouth
• loves holding his blanket and having it by his face
  
• loves bath time
• LOVES being naked ha ha he still kicks likes crazy and gets so excited when his diaper comes off
• still wakes up once to feed but hopefully once he stops spitting up so much this will change
• is definitely a mama's boy
• tries putting his binky in his mouth and sometimes is successful

There is just so much that he can do it is amazing how much they grow up in just 4 months!

One Year Ago Today!!!!

One year ago today Brad and I got the best news that we had ever received!

It was exactly a year ago today that we found out we were going to be having Cooper. It was such a crazy day. I knew that I was late so I took a pregnancy test before Brad got home from work. To my surprise and hopeful wishing I got a positive pregnancy test. I had always wanted to come up with a cute way to tell Brad when I got pregnant, but it didn't work out that way. I had a 3 hour class that night and I knew I couldn't go sit in a class for that long without telling Brad the AMAZING news. I was bummed I didn't have time to put something cute together before I left for my class. So when he got home from work I came down the stairs holding the test. When I showed him he asked me "Really?" His face showed a little excitement, shock, and happiness. He really didn't know what to say. He now admits that when I told him he immediately starting thinking about insurance and money and all the not so fun details. It all had to soak in.

A year later we have the most amazing, adorable, fun little boy that we could have ever hoped for. We are so blessed with what the past year has brought us. We couldn't be happier.

We Love You Cooper!!!!!

My Little Monkey

So if you read my blog you know how I call Cooper my little MONKEY. The day we brought him home from the hospital he looked like a little monkey the way he sat in his car seat. And still to this day he clings like a little monkey, lays with his fist like a monkey, makes faces that look like a monkey, and does this thing with his mouth that makes him look like a monkey. So because of this he gets called monkey a lot more than he gets called Cooper........at least by me. I think another reason I had to come up with a nickname for him is because we call Indiana our dog by: buddy, Mr., handsome, and say good boy to him. Indiana responds to all of these along with his real name and usually only gets called Indiana if he is in trouble. So every time one of us calls Cooper one of those name Indiana runs over or looks at you like you are talking to him. So we quickly had to get out of the habit of calling Cooper by those nicknames.

Needless to say, when I saw this monkey costume at Costco I knew Cooper had to dress as a monkey for Halloween. Obviously he is still little so some fancy costume wouldn't be comfy for him and he wouldn't have stayed a happy baby if we would have tried putting him in it. So this costume worked perfect because it was super soft and fluffy so he didn't mind wearing it at all. I also loved that he got to wear it three times (family party, I took him to my Young Women's Halloween party, and then on Halloween). Thinking back I wish I would have taken him to the bike race in his costume, he would have stayed super warm.

Cutest Monkey ever!!!

Cooper and Mom on Halloween

Look at that chubby monkey belly

Daddy and Cooper on Halloween

Cooper LOVES his binky

Look at that handsome smile

Again with that fist in his mouth....if there isn't a binky there is a fist :)

Grandpa's Race

On Saturday my dad had a cycle cross race at Wheeler Farm. He normally doesn't do cycle cross he is more of a road cyclist. At first I was worried it was going to be really cold for Cooper to be outside but surprisingly it was quite nice. It was fun to get outside and do something different. Cooper was great. My dad did really good for his first cycle cross race and we were proud of him. The funniest part of the races was that because it was Halloween weekend a lot of the riders were dressed up in Halloween costumes. They weren't normal Halloween costumes, they were HILARIOUS!

I LOVE these big eyes!

Watching Grandpa Gary

Waiting for the race to start

Go DAD!

The typical Grandpa Gary tongue picture.....My dad, brother, and I all stick our tongue out when we are concentrating or working hard at something

Pumpkin Carving Night

On Friday night we had our friends Nikki, Time, Codie, and Luke come over and we carved some pumpkins. I absolutely love carving PUMPKINS. It is one tradition that we have done every year and I can't wait for when Cooper is big enough to help carve them. It was a lot of fun. I was taking care of Cooper so I didn't get a chance to carve one but I still had a good time. Brad's turned out really cool. He scraped the outside of the entire pumpkin then carved it. So when it was lit it looked awesome!

Hanging out while Brad carved his pumpkin

Luke...in my apron :) and Tim
(Luke's wife Codie was upstairs putting their baby Jack to sleep)

Tim and Nikki (these are always the faces they pull in pictures)

What Cooper did once my mom showed up

Ah I LOVE this little face!!!!

My attempt at taking a picture of the finished pumpkins

Tim's, Nikki's, Brad's, Luke's and Codie's

Family Halloween Party

Last Sunday my family had a HALLOWEEN PARTY at my Grandma and Grandpa Frantz's House. We haven't had a family Halloween party in years, but now that we have Cooper my grandma decided it was time to start having them again. It was fun we all dressed up. Some of the costumes were hilarious. Cooper was a little MONKEY, since I call him monkey I couldn't pass up this adorable costume when I saw it. I was an indian and Brad was a flavor constructor. You might ask what a flavor constructor is......well Brad had this construction worker costume from last year so this year instead of tools, he put cooking and baking utensils in his belt since he is so into cooking and baking. We had dinner and played our family tradition of BINGO. We have BINGO for every holiday and we always play it. Brad and I loaded up with candy and snacks and Cooper got some spoons and cute snack containers. Brad and I had to play a card for him so that he could "win" them :) It was a fun night!

The Whole Family

My dad (Nerdy Redneck), My mom (something creepy note real sure on what though), Aspen (Zebra Fairy), Cooper the MONKEY, Me (Indian) and Brad (Flavor Constructor)

Our Little Family