What we have been up to...

I know I haven't posted since the momentous occasion of Cooper's first birthday...we have been busy! We are still officially in what I call our "birthday season." We have been in one long continuous birthday celebration since September 30 (my dad's birthday). After Cooper's birthday (and Clint's) we had David's mom, and my mom...and countless other relatives and friends. All we have left of the season is for me to hit the big 3-0 on the 24th and then we can start getting ready for the holidays! I just love fall! Birthdays, holidays, cool weather, and college football! I am getting off track! (Though I am enjoying the cool, crisp air as I type.)

In the last two weeks, we have been celebrating birthdays and we enjoyed a visit from Nonnie and Papa. David is hitting work hard as usual, fixing things in and around our house (as usual) and working on selling our jeep. He is enjoying his new (to us) Hummer H3 truck, and has even had a chance to hunt AND fish some this fall. (I know what you are thinking about the truck...it actually gets pretty good gas mileage!)

I am busy working part-time and loving getting to be with Cooper during a lot of my week. I am in training for the San Antonio half marathon, and am taking a cake decorating class.

My cake, after one week of class.

Cooper gets to hang out with Grandma twice a week, go to Mother's Day Out once a week, and he and I are taking a music for toddler's class. We have a lot of fun dancing, singing, and playing instruments with the other moms and toddlers. Otherwise he is just one busy, happy, and spirited toddler!

Driving his friends around the house.

First attempt at mac and cheese...with a spoon!

I guess that sums us up pretty well...Happy Fall everyone!!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Exactly one year ago today, at 12:42 in the afternoon, Cooper hit the planet and forever changed our lives. Our little 7 lb, 6 oz baby has turned into a to toddler! Major accomplishments Cooper has achieved are his WALKING skills...he practically just runs now...and his desire to really vocalize and communicate. He is trying new words all the time and loves to point to what he wants. A few new words that have entered his vocabulary include "Ralph" (our dog), "more", and "done".

We celebrated Cooper turning one year old (and Mom and Dad surviving the first year) by having a birthday party yesterday afternoon. Cooper had a lot of fun playing with his friends and he received some great gifts. He received lots of toys, trucks, a radio flyer wagon, and a "cozy coupe" car! Cooper loves anything with wheels so his little tykes car was a huge hit. (Thank you Aunt Libby and Uncle Bill!!!) Thank you everyone that came to our party and for Cooper's new things!  A few party pics:

Cooper and friends playing.

Is all this for me?

Brandt and Cooper

Uncle Clint, Lori, and Cooper

This is going to be fun to put together!

Group effort putting together the Cozy Coupe.

Finished product: Sheer joy!

Eating a cupcake.

Cupcakes for Cooper!

Cooper's giant cupcake!

New Ride

Cooper really loves the new front-facing car seat! He can see outside, us, and where we are going. I was worried it wouldn't be as comfortable as the rear-facing, but I guess I was wrong!

Cooper on the Go!

A few pics from the last couple of weeks:

Running out of chances to sleep in the old car seat...we switch to a front-facing in a few weeks!

I had fun at the Frio River over Labor Day weekend!

Sometimes I wake up too early!

Eleven Months Old!

Cooper is eleven months old! On one hand I can't BELIEVE we will be celebrating the end of his first year in just a month. On the other hand, in a way it seems he has always been the way he is now. Cooper is a smiley, always-on-the-go little chap that delights us to our cores everyday! He has lots to do, and lots to say! While we can't really understand much of what he is saying, we know he is telling us something. All day long he strings different sounds, pitches, and tones together into what sounds like sentences, but we can't decipher it!! He has just recently started expressing "no" by pushing the food or object away with his hand and shaking his head emphatically. He loves to mimic us, especially when we clap, blow raspberries, make the indian sound (repeatedly hitting our hand over our mouth while saying ah) and dance! Intelligible words he can say include hi, bye, ma-ma, da-da, dog, and ba...which I think he uses for several things, like bottle, and just "look at that!"

We are having lots of fun watching his personality and preferences emerge! He is really starting to get good at trying new foods...I have to turn my head so he doesn't see me laugh when he spits something out he doesn't like! I'm just thrilled he eats well...I guess we can work on table manners later.

Cooper seems to want to do things HIS way! (I have no idea where he gets that from.) He is trying to give up one of his naps (NOOOOO!) and seems to be trying to wean himself off the bottle. He is less and less interested in the bottle and is taking less and less formula. I hope the doctor okays milk at his 12 month appointment because he doesn't want formula! He drinks well from a regular cup, but seems to think sippy cups are toys. I am ok with that...but his teacher at Mother's Day Out (which he started yesterday) might not think so!

First Haircut!

Cooper's first real haircut:

Before:

After:

Disclaimer: I forgot to turn on the flash at the barber shop, so all the pictures came out kind of blurry...and I had to take the "after" picture a day later.

Cruise Control

Life around our house has changed dramatically in just the last two weeks! Cooper has been cruising around holding onto furniture for some time now, but on Monday he actually walked! When he started taking a step and lunging for us, we knew we were getting close. When he figured out that he can use his fire truck as a walker, and in turn, move all over the house with it, we could see the writing on the wall. Then on Monday morning, Cooper let go of the couch and took 5 steps to David...not holding on to anything, no lunging, and no falling! I haven't gotten a video of him walking yet, because he still prefers crawling and only walks a little bit, but I did get one of him pushing his fire truck around. We think it's funny how he likes to push it sideways instead of making it roll.

Quick Vacation

Last week we had our hardwood floors refinished, so we couldn't stay at home. We thought this would be a perfect oppurtunity to take a mini-vacation. We stayed at the lakehouse and explored the area around us a little. On Thursday, we went to La Cantera, where Mom got to shop some and Dad finally got to go to Bass Pro Shops. (David has been dying to go there for a long time.) There Cooper got to ride in the elevator that goes into a big fish tank and then we tried out kid-carrying backpacks for when we take Cooper camping and hiking this fall.

On Friday our friends brought their boat to the lake and Cooper enjoyed his first boat ride. Mom was excited because she got to water-ski. (She had missed out on water activities last year because she was carrying precious cargo.) Cooper did awesome on the boat...he didn't resist the life jacket and seemed to like the loud motor and water splashing in his face. Dad said Cooper thought it was funny when he saw Mom get up on skis. After a few hours on the lake, we

took our dog-tired selves back to the house for fajitas. Cooper and his few friend, three-year-old Emily, had a lot of fun playing chase and "where's Cooper?" (Bad Mom and Dad, we didn't get a single picture on this day...we really need a waterproof camera!)

On Saturday we attempted to have a picnic in Landa Park in New Braunfels, but a Saturday in the summer is no day to try that...there was absolutely no parking there at lunchtime, so we had to settle for lunch at Los Cucos. Mom and Dad enjoyed a margarita while Cooper enjoyed making faces at the kid making faces at him at the next table. (He is such a social little guy!) After lunch we decided to give the park another try, and low and behold, found a parking spot at the spring-fed pool. We were on the verge of heat stroke at this point, so swimming at the pool was a must. Cooper is quite the water baby, so of course he enjoyed swimming amongst the minnows and other kids, even though the water was COLD!

New Cat in Town

We have missed our kitty cat the last couple of weeks, but Uncle Clint let us visit with his kitty, Phil. Phil was a good sport.

10 Months Old!

Today Cooper has reached 10 months of age! It is hard to grasp that we have made it to this point already! When I look at pictures of Cooper when he was brand new, I don't really remember him being that small. It went so fast, it seems like he has always been the size he is now (30 inches long, 20 lbs), and the way he is now...a happy, sweet, adventurous little pill that is trying to walk and climb on and out of everything! Yesterday he got really mad because he was trying to climb out of his high chair but I had strapped him in too well. He tries to climb out of the pack-n-play, and can almost do it, so I am going to have to find another way to take a shower!

Cooper now has eight teeth, and at least one more coming...I don't know for sure, he doesn't exactly let us look in his mouth. He has also widely expanded his repertoire of foods! I am loving the ease of just putting him in his high chair and giving him a handful of something to eat. He loves Cheerios, bananas, peaches, pineapple, wagon-wheel pasta, turkey, goldfish crackers, whole-wheat waffles, toast, and yogurt. He isn't a huge vegetable eater, unfortunately, but I do manage to get some broccoli or peas down him...if I sneak it into his pasta. I was worried we would have a hard time getting him off pureed foods, but if I do try and feed him something, he won't have it! He would rather feed himself, which is fine with me!

In the past month, Cooper has learned to clap his hands and say "Yea!", and he sort of whispers now! So cute! He is sooo close to walking! He can stand on his own for several minutes and sometimes will take a cautious step towards one of us...so I know it won't be long!