happy birthday coopy!

Our sweet boy is TWO!!!

Oh Coopy, you have wrecked our world in the best possible way. You are every bit a wild, little boy, but you are also, hands down, the sweetest kid I know. You love, love, love your Mommy, but dare I say, you are probably more a Daddy's boy at the moment? You light up when Dada comes home. And you adore your sister though you are definitely getting to the age where you are giving her a hard time more than you are not.

You still love to be rocked to sleep every night and I truly hope that doesn't ever change. You no longer fall asleep til we lay you down, but you love to snuggle and rock. You also love to read a book before bed. Your current favorite is the Pete the Cat bed time book. Pretty sure I have it memorized.

You love to wrestle. You love to be outside. It's hands down your favorite place to be and you run straight to the backyard every day when we get home.

You love Elmo. You are very much a paci addict. You love your blankie.

You're still such a little guy. You still have blond hair (no idea how) and blue eyes. You wear a 2t but they are pretty big on you. You can still wear some 18 & 24 month clothes. You are in a size 5 diaper and a size 5 shoe.

Your nicknames are Coopy, Coop-a-loop, Coop and Buddy. Your favorite song is still Adele's "Hello" and you belt it at the top of your lungs. You like to sing any song really. Your favorite nursery song is "If You're Happy and You Know It".

You've recently started climbing which I could do without. But you're also still pretty timid. Especially of slides and stuff. I've crawled into many a Chick-fil-A play place to get you. Good times.

You still cry whenever we drop you off at school or church. I don't think it will ever stop breaking my heart. I'm sure you stop the minute we leave but it doesn't make it any easier.

You are not a sweets eater. You love all kinds of meat. You eat more chicken in a sitting than anyone else in the family. You love milk. You love snacks and we can usually find you digging for one in the pantry if you go missing.

You like to dance and laugh. You will throw yourself on anyone sitting on the floor. You love Lacy and love to boss her around. You say so many words and so many sentences. You talk a mile a minute. You and your sister are always competing for air time.

My favorite thing you do is how you call out everyone you love while we're riding in the car. Our dialogue goes like this: Coop: "I love Mommy!" Me: "I love Coopy!" Coop: "I love Dada!" Me: "I love Dada" Coop: "I love Ella!" Me: "I love Ella!". And so on and so forth until you usually erupt into giggles.

We love you so much boy child. You are pure joy. You are sweet and kind and timid and so much good in one tiny little package. You are definitely are introvert and your favorite place is home with your people. You need your sleep far more than your sister and I find we have to slow down with you and I secretly love it. I love how you are a reminder to rest.

You were the boy I never knew I wanted. You've changed my world and my heart and I love you more than I can even say. Happy Birthday my darling boy.

update or something like that.

I shake my head at the fact that I haven't touched this blog since July.

I want to blog. I miss my blog. But I sit down to write and I get overwhelmed by how much I need to catch up on, and then I can't find the pictures I want, and then I'm tired because I've already been staring at a computer all day, and then; bam. I shut it down. And yet another day goes by that I did not blog.

I do want to catch things up. To tell you about my boy's first birthday (it was perfect) and our Christmas (so, so good) and wrap up Cooper's first year, and I will. But I figure I'll just jump right in for a minute because my heart is elsewhere today.

It's been a day. Today actually makes four years since my sweet Grandma lost her battle with cancer. I still miss her so. It makes me sad that she didn't get to meet my boy. Oh how she would have loved him. And Ella? She would be crazy about the girl Ella is becoming. Ella is actually the shopper and girly girl that I never was and my Grandma was definitely a shopper herself. While I rolled my eyes and got dragged from shop to shop, Ella would gladly spend a Saturday morning with Grandma at the mall. Oh she would adore Ellabelle.

I'm pretty sure I won't ever stop feeling the weight of her absence. Grief is funny. It comes and goes and hits when you least expect it. I just miss her. She was so much good.

Then there are the kiddos. Oh where to start.

Ella is thriving in Kindergarten. I will do an update on her because she deserves a post all her own but in short, she's doing good. She makes the best grades, reads well beyond her years, has joined an after school club, and started tae-kwon-do two days a week. She decided a couple of weeks in that she wanted to quit tae-know-do because it interferes with "her schedule". When asked what that means, she let us know that she needs more time with her friends...

We didn't let her quit.

She's my social butterfly. She's funny and smart and such a good kid. She's also the best big sister in the world. She has the patience of Job with Cooper nine times out of ten. Unless he's been crying not stop for hours (which he has been known to do). When that happens, she disappears with her hands over her ears. I sort of wish I could do the same. True story.

And then there's Cooper. Oh Cooper.

Cooper isn't an easy child. He whines a good portion of the day. We think he's trying to get his one year molars. Or he better be. He isn't walking but he's oh so close. Just in the last couple of days, he has started doing a lot more of standing on his own and taking one step or so. I do think he's frustrated with his lack of ability to walk and that adds to some of the whining.

He grunts and whines to communicate and if you don't figure out what he wants immediately, he will lose his shit. He's a little pig. The boy loves to eat. Our grocery bill is going to be astronomical.

He's funny. He loves to be chased. And he is oh so sweet. Anytime I pick him up, he nuzzles into me and lays his head on my shoulder. He is the definition of a Mama's boy and I can't get enough. He may be difficult, but good grief, I'm obsessed with him. He's done crazy things to my heart.

He was just moved up to the toddler class at school on Monday and we are both struggling a bit with the transition. I truly believe he was moved up to make room for an influx of infants in the infant class and I don't personally believe he's ready for the next step. Apparently their requirements are to be off bottles and on table food. He is both of those, but he's not walking, and he's just so little still. They are transitioning him to one nap a day and napping on a mat on the floor. Cooper is just not ready for one nap a day. I know in my heart he's not.

My boy is exhausted. He's a disaster in the evening. I dropped him off yesterday and told them he was ready for a nap (he was falling asleep on my shoulder) and they told me they don't get a morning nap and I almost turned around and walked out. I know my baby. He's still a baby. I seriously cannot deal.

I'm having one of those times where my heart is aching to walk away from my job and spend all my time with him. I hate this. I hate feeling so helpless. I feel like my boy is being forced to grow up and he's just not ready Gah.

And with that, I'm done rambling. So there's a little catch up on us. I'll be back.

8 months.

Oh my angel I figure since you will be nine months old in a couple of weeks, I should probably get your eight month update blogged. I took the pictures on time though if that counts for anything..

Child, you may be far less documented than your sister, but don't ever let that be an example of our love. Boy we are obsessed with you. I'm serious. We can't get enough. We seem to think you pretty much hung the moon. I kid you not. We just love you so.

You are our cuddlebug. Our little lover. You still have to be rocked to sleep and you still prefer to nurse to sleep. I still don't know when you will pull that plug but we are trucking along. I never saw that in our future but I don't hate it. I love that time with you.

You still nurse every morning and most nights with short sessions in between if you are home with me. You love some food. Love it. You still get about four six ounce bottles a day. Maybe. You don't love those nearly as much anymore. You are all about the food.

You are about 20 pounds now and I can't remember how long. Mom fail. You are wearing 6-9 month and 9 month clothing. You are in 12 month pajamas. I recently pulled out some 12 month jammies I bought with Miss Jamie back when I was about six months pregnant. I remember thinking it would be so long until you could wear them. Jokes on me. I swear that was yesterday.

You love your people. You light up when we are around. Except for the rare occasion you burst into tears when I come to daycare to pick you up. We will call those tears of joy.

You said your first word; "Ella". It was clear as day.

No shocker that's your first word. You are obsessed with her. She is far and away your favorite person. She makes you happier than the rest of us combined. She can make you laugh for hours on end. She is always the one we call on when you need cheering up. Or when you need to be distracted. She's got that junk under control.

You are on the move. Big time. You've got this weird little worm crawl that is freaking hilarious. We've also seen you get your knees under you, but you definitely don't prefer that way.
You're after the cat in a big way. You catch him a lot too. That's not usually a good thing.

You still have zero teeth and I don't see any on the horizon.

You're still pretty much a terrible sleeper. Naps are just not your thing. You are doing better most nights but you wake up a lot. You are getting better at getting yourself back to sleep though. You still end up in our bed more often than not. Like I said, you love your people.

You know how to wave. You know how to give kisses (good grief they are sloppy!). You like holding our hands. You like to be standing.

You aren't quite pulling up but you are close.

You will sit in the middle of your crib and stare at the open door and just holler til someone comes to get you. We always do. You have us wrapped.

You can get from your belly to sitting you and vice versa.

You do not sit still. If we are on the ground with you, you are crawling on us. You will crawl after us if we leave the room. In the tub, you are trying to climb out. Or you are sticking your face under the faucet. That's an odd one. But you love it.

You are just so dang sweet. You are high maintenance like whoa, and you have a temper like no other, but you are just such a lover and a cuddle bug and the sweetest little guy. Never change kiddo. You are our heart.

7 months.

This guy. Good grief. Look at that smile.

He's seven months old. I swear, I'm never blinking again. Because this has been the fastest seven months EVER.

You are still just the sweetest, sweetest baby. You bring so much joy to our house. We absolutely adore you kiddo. Like we can't get enough.

So you are currently 19.5 pounds. We know this because we had to take you back to the doctor last week for your THIRD ear infection. So that's fun. One more and you're earning yourself an ENT trip. Let's fix that kid. You are wearing 9 month clothing and some 12 month. You are getting BIG and I love it. I do love a chubby baby.

You are still nursing. I could write an entire post on this, but I'll summarize. My supply has really tanked (though I say that every month) but you are still showing interest, so we chug along. You get up before five every morning and come to my room where you nurse. You usually fall back asleep with me for a bit. You also nurse to sleep at night and for naps if you are home with me. I truly think it's all comfort nursing. I've slacked a lot on pumping lately, but I'm still trying. Like I said from the beginning, I'm up for it as long as you seem to need, and want, to keep at it. So we keep chugging along.

You are still taking about four or five six ounce bottles a day. You are still on all acid reflux meds. It's still controlled as well as always. You still spit up a lot but you are comfortable when taking the meds. That's the important part.

We started solids this month and you have LOVED it. Avocado is hands down your favorite, followed by toast, and eggs. Oh, and strawberries. Pretty much you love anything. We had one choking incident at a restaurant that scared your Dad and I half to death so we kind of chilled after that, but we are picking back up. You get purees at school, but at home, we do all self feeding. You're getting better though most of the food still ends up on the floor. We haven't really tried a sippy yet. Or we have, but you hated it, so we haven't pushed it. We'll try again soon.

You are really reaching for people now. Especially me. You will throw herself in my direction. I adore it.

You light up when you see your people.

You started army crawling at the beginning of the month and you've ended the month rocking on all fours and going backwards. Still no forward movement yet, but it will be soon. I'm not ready for that stage yet.

You are still sleeping a little less than 12 hours a night. You usually waking up a bit before five and come join us downstairs. You usually go back to sleep with us, but not always. You definitely get up earlier than your sister ever did. You could take a few cues from her on the sleeping thing kid.

You're still a terrible napper. There is absolutely zero schedule to your day most days so you catch naps on the go. Life is just crazy right now and consistency has been hard to come by. At least you roll with the punches well.

You are a pro at sitting up. You can also get down to your belly though it's not the most graceful thing ever.

You turn and grab for us if you see us. You prefer to be held 24/7. You are definitely my dependent baby. You love to be held and rocked. Your love language is physical touch. I'm calling it now.

We moved you to a convertible seat. No lie, it hurt my heart a little. I think I live in a current state of denial that you are as big as you are.

You say "mamamama" a lot. And a sound that sounds a lot like "Ella". We all get a kick out of that.

You are definitely a bit high maintenance little boy, but we wouldn't trade anything about you for the world. We adore you sweet boy. Here's to another wonderful month with you.

6 months.

I'm going to say it every single month, but how on earth are we already here???? I can't even fathom how your first year is halfway over. I'm going to be a disaster when you turn one. It's just going too fast.

Cooper I could go on and on about how wonderful you are. You seriously have brought so much joy to our lives. We can't get enough. But I'm pretty sure I say that every month so let's get started.

What are you up to these days? You are turning a corner and changing so much. You are sleeping through the night!! I can't say enough about how thrilled this makes me. Though.. (and I can't believe I'm saying this), I do sort of miss our middle of the night nursing sessions. Not enough to make them a nightly occurrence again, but you know.. Occasionally you will wake up once about 2 or 3 am, but that's become the exception. Finally.

You weigh 18.2 pounds and are 26 inches long. You are wearing mostly 6 month and some 9 month clothes. You still suck at napping but will occasionally take a two hour nap for me. Only me. Forty five minutes is your tops for anyone else.

You still have to be rocked/nursed/bottle fed to sleep. No putting you down awake. Sometimes I worry about breaking this habit, but not too much. We'll deal with it later. You are no longer swaddled. We just wrap your bottom half and let your arms stay out.

Still not a paci fan though I'm still trying for it. I need you to learn to self soothe! You are still nursing. Though I think it's coming to an end as my supply has taken a definite hit with all the long days away from you. But we will see. I'll quit when you do.

You've started grabbing our faces and bringing us in for big open mouth (SLOBBERY) kisses. I love them. I love this stage so much. You are just so happy and love your people so much.

You are sitting up on your own!! It's not for too long but you can handle it for a few moments. You prefer to be on your stomach more than anything when you play though. You hold yourself up so well.

Still rolling all over the place. You can get anywhere you need by rolling. You are definitely showing signs that you are fixing to be on the move. I'm so not ready for that!

You are still such a cuddlebug. I love it. It's just so different from Ella and I love that you want to be with us so much. Sometimes it would be nice to get a break but I know the day is coming where you won't sit in my lap so for now, we sit. You cuddle so much at bedtime. We just sit and rock and rock and cuddle. It's my favorite part of the day with you. You just look up at me with those big blue eyes and play with my fingers or my face. Gah. You slay me kid.

You are VERY interested in our food. We've started toying with food for you. You've had banana, avocado and one of Ella's french fries. Yea, we're a little less strict this time around. We've decided to officially go the baby led weaning route so we are getting ready to dive into that next month. I can't wait.

You are just such a happy baby Coop. You laugh the most at your sister still. You're head over heels for her. The feeling is definitely mutual. You have started reaching out and grabbing her hair and stuff which drives her bananas. I can already see how you will pick on her one day. It's going to be hilarious. Don't tell her I said that.

You love your people angel baby and we love you. Oh so much.