Bugs and Bernie

This week our house was being treated for termites, so Mom, Dad, Cooper, and our pets Ralph, Dooley, and Bernie all had to stay over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was a little crazy for four adults, one baby, three dogs, and three cats to all hang out together in one house, but it was fun! Mom got to enjoy Grandma's company, as in we got to TALK without a baby around to distract us. (We enjoyed a glass of wine and a skinny cow after Cooper went to sleep.) Dad and Grandpa played pool, and Cooper got to stay up a little past his bed time and he slept better than he does at home (naturally).

While we are glad to be back in our own house again, we are a little sad...while we were at Grandma's, our kitty cat Bernie ran away! She was hanging out in Grandma's backyard with our dogs (just like she does at home) and for some reason decided to leave! We have called the lost pet hotline, talked to the neighbors, and put up signs, but she hasn't shown up yet! I hope she comes back soon...Cooper loves her!

Blogger is ANNOYING!

Please excuse how the previous two blogs look...blogger is a terrible program that has a bunk preview function. While in preview mode my postings look good, as in, the picture descriptions are next to the pictures they are describing. When I go to post, that is not the case. I have already wasted too much of Cooper's nap time to try and figure out how and why this is happening to my posts all of a sudden.

(Ok I vented, and I feel better.)

Two Weeks of Family Fun

I know I haven't blogged in a little while...but we have been busy with a capital B! In the last two weeks, in the middle of remodeling our living room, it has been a family affair! We have traveled to attend a family reunion and a wedding. Two weekends ago we went to Fredericksburg to see Grandma's side of the family, the Arhelgers. Cooper got to meet several cousins, aunts and uncles that he had never met! He also got to eat at the Auslander with Uncle Clint, shop a little around Fredericksburg, and swim at the hotel pool. (Most of the family camped...but there was NO WAY we were going to camp in the heat with a 9 month old!)

Having breakfast at "The Hanger" the morning of the reunion

This past weekend we traveled to the lake for two reasons. One, to visit Nonnie and Papa Kirk, and two, to attend my cousin (Graham side) Leah's wedding in San Antonio. Cooper had fun playing with Nonnie and Papa and the different toys (than from home) that we have at the lake. On Saturday afternoon, after a frantic search for Dad's wedding ring (we found it), we drove into San Antonio for Leah's wedding. The wedding and bride were both gorgeous and Cooper was an angel during the ceremony...until he caught sight of Grandma sitting two rows behind us! Then he thought it was funny to giggle and make faces at Grandma and my other cousin's husband sitting behind us! Luckily the ceremony didn't take very long!

Our little family ready for the wedding

Graham great-grandsons and their mamas at the wedding:

Andrea, Owen, Cooper, Leslie

Playing at the lake

Practicing "driving" at a rest stop on the way home

We had fun but we are looking forward to staying at home for a little while!

Nine Months Old on the Fourth of July!

Cooper turned nine months old on Independence Day! The last month has been busy! In the middle of all of our summer fun, Cooper continues to grow and change! During our week in Mexico, two more teeth came in (the count is at 6 now), and he really started waving "hi" and "bye-bye". It was so cute; whenever we would wheel him in his stroller into the elevator at our hotel, he would see his reflection and wave at it! Cooper will also give kisses (more like open-mouthed, drooly attacks to the face) and give high-five! Really though, the cutest trick he has learned is drinking from a cup! While he rejected the sippy cup and could drink from a regular cup while I held it for him since he was 6 months old, he just started holding his own cup. I just put the cup down on his high chair tray one day to see what he would do. He instantly picked it up, drank from it, and set it back down! Since we praised him so heavily for it, now after he takes a drink he smiles widely and exclaims "Ah-Bah!" He knows he did a good job and he's proud of himself!

What we've been up to the last month...

Making new friends

Hitting the town in Puerto Vallarta (Cooper's first vacation)

At the beach with Uncle Clint

Happy 4th of July!!!

Senor Cooper en Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

We just got back from Cooper's first real vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! Cooper is an excellent traveler and we didn't have any major problems with him throughout the week we were away from home! He enjoyed the plane ride, slept better in the hotel room than he does at home, and really seemed to have fun! He was teething of course (because he is ALWAYS teething) so we had one day where he was particularly fussy, but it wasn't bad. (I will note that his top front FOUR teeth have all cut the gums!) He had so much fun swimming in the pool, taking walks around the resort and on the beach, and keeping Mom and Dad hopping as he explored the non-babyproofed hotel room.

Mom and Dad and our friends even got to enjoy adult time...Cooper managed to fall asleep at dinner and stay asleep in the stroller through most of our dinners! Dad and the guys went fishing one morning, and the next day Mom and the girls were treated to loooooong massages. (90 minutes for $50...I LOVE Mexico!) We then met the guys and Cooper for lunch, ending that particular episode of "Three Men and a Baby". Our friends were even gracious enough to babysit, allowing Mom and Dad to have "date night". We had dinner, got ice cream cones and took a walk, then couldn't stand it anymore and went to join the group with our baby! Everyone exclaimed, "It's only been two hours!"...but we just didn't know what else to do with ourselves without little Cooper!

Overall, it was a GREAT vacation! The weather wasn't always desirable, as in, it rained EVERY DAY in the late afternoon, but we still managed to have a great time. We didn't get to do all the things we wanted because of the rain, and because we didn't stay long enough! Oh well, next vacation we will know that Cooper can handle more than 6 days!

Some pictures from our trip!

Dad and Cooper on the plane:

Cool hotel room guys! Room nothing! More like a three-room suite complete with full kitchen and HUGE tub! Made life easier as far as formula and baby food were concerned, and Cooper had fun at bath time.

Balcony view...they were "renovating" the hotel building next to ours...i.e. it had been bulldozed! Either lost in translation, or they just wouldn't admit it that it had to be torn down!! Either way, everyone that worked on the resort kept saying "closed for renovations." We were supposed to stay there, but got bumped into the one in which we stayed...UPGRADE!!! We LOVE Mexico!

Resort grounds view...awesome, HUGE pools, wave pool, and lazy river...oh yeah, and the swim-up bars were fabulous!

Dad and Cooper swimming!

Having a snack poolside...

Beach view...water not that impressive, but the mountains were awesome!

Dad took a picture of this sign during our outing into the town of Puerto Vallarta...did I mention how much we LOVE Mexico???

Mom and Cooper at dinner...the one night he didn't sleep through it!

Hey mister! I know you are having fun, but it is bedtime! Get some jammies on!

(Yes, the kid has a tan...I SWEAR I kept him slathered up with 50 sunscreen, shirt, hat...AND took him inside for a nap EVERY afternoon during the hottest part of the day for at least two hours, AND kept him in the shade as much as possible...yet the tan persisted.)

Beach Baby

This afternoon Grandma, Mom, and Cooper went to visit our cousins staying at a condo on the beach in Port Aransas. This was Cooper's first time on the beach! He learned how to jump waves, eat sand, and watch seagulls. Then we took a quick dip in the pool to rinse off. We spent maybe one hour outside, but the sun sure tuckered him out! He slept all the way home, then another two hours at home! I don't think Cooper has taken a three hour nap in his life!

Ready for the beach!

Don't Forget Sunscreen!

What is this for?

Who Needs an Exersaucer or Swing When You Can...

Gaze out the Window!

or

Play under the Furniture!

8 Months Old!

On Thursday Cooper turned 8 months old!  He has spent the last month fine-tuning his 7 month skills. Not only is he crawling, but he is FAST!  I can barely turn my head and he has zipped across the room.  Not only is he pulling himself up against furniture, but he is starting to "walk" along it while holding on.  He can even briefly let go while standing if he is in the process of switching from one piece of furniture to another.  He still loves to observe everything that comes in his sight, but now he has the ability to crawl over to it and study it closer.  I am fascinated by his wonder of the world...I feel like I could sit and watch him play for hours.  Other things that make Cooper different from a month ago include holding his arms out for you to pick him up,  trying to feed himself (though we can't give him finger foods quite yet...tummy issues), waving bye-bye, and a BUNCH of teeth coming in.  I thought the other day that his top two front teeth were coming in...they are, but so are two more!  In a few weeks, he will have at least six teeth!

The other night we marked Cooper turning 8 months by me relenting to let David cut his hair...I was philosophically opposed to cutting such a young baby's hair, but it was falling in his eyes and he was starting to look like the youngest kid from "Eight is Enough." (David's description, not mine.)  I think Cooper looks even cuter, even though he now looks a little older, which makes me sad!

Just let him be...with the letter B.

Today I thought Cooper looked just stinkin' cute playing today....so I took this video.  It is amazing to me how much and how long he can entertain himself. He is not just very mobile now, he loves to go under and behind things, and take his toys with him!

 

Shark Baby

We just got Cooper's tummy  issues figured out and he starts sleeping better, when, BAM, another bout of teething hits!  The last few weeks have been a trial...Mom and Dad are TIRED! On Friday, thankfully, I noticed that Cooper's left top front tooth has cut the gum and the right front tooth is about to!  Yea!  Poor little guy  has been teething on everything he can get his mouth on, and that especially includes non-toy items.  The edge of the couch, well, the edge of anything really, can and will fall prey to the shark baby we have circling our house.   Nothing pleases Mr. Jaws-Baby more than crawling speedily toward a new object and gumming down on it!  We thought for a while we were going to have to buy him all new toys...b/c he seems bored with a lot of them...until we realized that he loves to play with such ordinary things we already have...Paper towel rolls, pots and pans, plastic and wooden spoons, tupperware, coasters, etc.