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6 months

I can't believe my precious baby is 6 months old!  It is so much fun to look through his baby pictures and see how much he has changed.  He's developing such a cute personality and I can't wait to see him at the end of every work day.  Cooper is growing and developing so fast.  I am often amazed at how there can be an obvious difference in his weight or newly developed skills in just a weeks time.

Here are some fun facts about our growing little boy:

Weight: 15 lbs. 10 oz. (17th percentile)
Length: 26 in. (34th percentile)

Foods: We recently started Cooper on solid foods.  We have tried rice cereal multiple times and he just is not a fan.  A few days ago we gave him apples and that was a treat.  He made funny faces at us and couldn't decide if he liked them or not.  I tried mixing the apples with the cereal and he clamped his mouth shut and then started crying.  We think he ate at least a few spoonfuls of applesauce with a bit of cereal mixed in tonight...it's hard to tell how much he ate since it was all over his legs, arms, hands, the floor, mommy, and even in his eyelashes!  In addition to gradually adding solid foods to his diet, Cooper is transitioning to drinking formula all the time and has a limited amount of breast milk left.

Movement:  As I posted last week, Cooper has learned how to roll over.  He doesn't do it often yet, but we are keeping a close eye on him.  Cooper also loves squirming around and can actually move himself across the floor when he does it.  He will put weight on his legs if you hold him in a standing position.  He still hates tummy time.  Cooper is close to sitting up on his own.  If we sit him up, he will stay there for a few seconds and then tip over.

Daycare:  Cooper is doing very well at daycare.  For a couple of weeks he seemed sad when I dropped him off and it nearly broke my heart to leave him there.  Most of the time now, he seems irritated if I interrupt him to tell him goodbye!  He recently had his school pictures taken and even though he wasn't smiling as much as usual, the pictures are adorable.  It is wonderful to see how much Cooper's teacher cares for him.  She always tells us stories about Cooper's day and how he likes to sleep everytime they go outside. He also has several friends at daycare and it is fun to watch them all interact with one another.

Cooper and Oli:  Cooper is starting to notice Oli and reaches out at him when he is nearby.  Oli is protective of Cooper and will often sit near him like a guard kitty.  Oli loves Coopers toys and this has actually been a small problem since we can't let Cooper stick toys in his mouth that Oli has been chewing on.  Who knew that links would be a favorite toy for babies and cats!

Favorite toys:  Cooper loves a ball made out of a lattice of rubbery plastic that he got in his Easter basket.  He also really loves a stuffed frog that his Uncle Sean got him out of a claw machine.  Right now Cooper also loves any toy he can get in his mouth.

Sleeping:  Cooper is such a good sleeper!  We had a rough spell for a couple of weeks while he was sick, but now things are back to normal.  Cooper sleeps 10-11 hours at night.  Recently we have not even had to give him a pacifier in the middle of the night.  He takes a few short naps during the day and overall, we can't complain.

Before too long, our little baby will be sitting up and crawling.  I love him so much and enjoy watching every minute of him growing up!

We've got a roller!

Cooper finally rolled over for the first time on his own this past Saturday!  We had been helping him practice for awhile and he decided he could do it all by himself.  Before, he needed help getting from his back to his tummy, but then he flips himself back onto his back as quickly as he can.  This time, he worked hard to get onto his tummy and gave us a bright smile when he realized he had rolled all the way over on his own.  After doing it one more time, he passed out from all the hard work.

Later that evening, he decided he didn't want to play with his toys and squirmed his way out from under the hanging rings/animals.  He then showed off his new rolling skills for me.

On Sunday, Cooper decided to show me his new talent in the bath tub and ended up face down in the water.  This gave me quite the scare as I scooped him out and ended the bath early.  Hopefully he will focus on rolling on firm ground in the future!

Tummy Time

Tummy time is always amusing when it comes to Cooper.  Some days he is content for awhile and other days he cries.  Many times he just goes to sleep as his way of rebelling.  Last weekend Cooper was having some tummy time on the activity mat that was passed down to him from his cousins.  At first he was having a wonderful time playing with the animals.

However, after a few minutes, he decided he was done with tummy time and this is how he showed me...

Silly boy!

4 Months!

It is hard to believe that our sweet little baby is 4 months old.  He has reached so many small milestones over the past month.  He can now roll from his tummy to his back and loves rolling from his back onto his side.  He no longer sleeps in one position. We often find him facing a different direction and a couple of mornings he had his feet propped up on the side of his bed.  It is also fun to watch him when he wakes up in the morning.  He loves to stick his butt in the air and kick his legs around. He also gives us the biggest smile first thing in the morning.

Last week we took Cooper to the doctor for his check up and shots.  He weighed 13lbs 9oz. (26%).  While I know he is small compared to many other babies his age, he seems so big to me.  Cooper is now wearing size 3-6 month and 6 month clothes.  He takes 4-1/2 oz bottles during the day and had a huge growth spurt a few weeks ago.  He is still primarily on breast milk but gets 1-2 bottles of formula a day.  I just can't keep up with him in the food department!

Since starting daycare, Cooper has had several colds and one stomach bug.  Compared to other kids at daycare, he actually seems to have stayed quite healthy.  He has never had a fever and the only time he was kept out of daycare was for his stomach virus.

Cooper's personality is really starting to show.  He is a really good baby and I couldn't be happier.  He smiles and laughs with us on a daily basis.  He loves to tell stories while he gets his diaper changed.  He only cries when he is hungry or tired and his crying spells rarely last longer than 5 minutes.

Cooper is still sleeping in our room but we hope to move him into his bedroom over the next few weeks.  He usually sleeps 8-9 hours at night unless he is sick.  Occasionally he starts to wake up in his sleep but goes back to sleep if we give him a pacifier.  We are very thankful for the invention of the pacifier (although we would like to know how to get Cooper to stop spitting it out for fun).

One thing that is nice about daycare, is that Cooper gets to grow in even more ways.  He has really started to notice his friends at daycare and will often grin at them when they are crying (a little strange but we think he is trying to tell them that everything is ok).  He plays with a lot of toys at daycare and has gotten much better at tummy time.  Additionally, Cooper can now hold his head up really well and we plan to get him an activity center soon.

It's hard to imagine that this precious little boy was in my belly 4 months ago.  I can't imagine our lives without him.  I look forward to seeing him at the end of every work day and cherish all the special moments we share together.

Baby Mozart

Cooper's Nana and Granny got him some Baby Einstein DVD's over the holidays.  These videos show simple things like sock puppets, a violin playing bear, or even just swirls of color set to classical music.  These videos are actually a little unbearable for an adult to watch (although they might be awesome for someone on drugs).  However, Cooper loves them. These videos have turned out to be a life saver because it gives me a half hour to make dinner, do laundry, etc.

Cooper watching Baby Mozart

What really surprised me was that the cat (Oli) loves these videos as well!  He perks up at particular points (like when these seals with bouncy balls on their noses go up steps).  He even batted at the tv when a sock puppet dressed as a dog appeared on the screen.  Basically I enjoy watching Cooper and Oli become mesmerized by this silly video.

Oli watching Baby Mozart

I would also like to point out that they are making a killing on these videos.  It probably cost them a few thousand dollars to make them and they sell them at $15-20 a piece.  Clearly I am in the wrong profession.

Overall, Baby Mozart is a must!

Cooper's 12 week update

It is hard to believe that Cooper will be 12 weeks old this week.  He keeps us entertained and brings so much joy into our lives.  Here are a few updates on things his life.

We took Cooper to the dr. a couple of weeks ago for his 2 month check-up.  He weighed 10lbs 14oz...but then he peed on the scale so they ended up marking him down to 13 oz.  His weight was in the 30th percentile and his height (23.5 inches) was in the 70th percentile.  Looks like we might have a tall skinny boy on our hands!  Cooper also had to get his first big round of shots at his appointment and he did really well.  He cried of course but was consoled afterwards with a simple bottle of formula.

I started back to work after the new year which was a difficult change of pace.  Cooper is attending a wonderful daycare but it is still really hard to leave him there with strangers.  He also seems to eat a lot more at daycare and I usually have to send one bottle of formula with him because my body just can't keep up with the breast milk.  He seems to be gaining weight like crazy and probably weighs around 11.5 lbs now.

Ready for daycare

Cooper is currently wearing 3 month sized clothes but is about to grow out of them.  Before long we will be moving up to the 6 month and 3-6month sizes.  He is still a size one in diapers.

There are a few things Cooper loves to do.  He loves to play on his mat and bat at chained links hanging from it.  He also loves looking at himself in the mirror.  The only books I can read to him without him crying are the books with mirrors.  Hopefully this doesn't men he will have a big ego! He also loves his puppy dog Scout and watching his Baby Beethoven and Baby Mozart DVD's.  Finally, this baby loves watching sports and actually cried one day when the commercials came on!

Playing with his links

Unfortunately, Cooper has also had his first cold.  Luckily he has not run a fever and the cold symptoms seem to be fading.  We knew this would probably happen when he started daycare but it is still sad to see our baby sick.

Things seem to be changing so fast.  Cooper is starting to hold his head up more and is very attentive.  He fights going to sleep most days and napping has been quite the challenge, especially since daycare started.  Ryan and I are simply exhausted but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I can't wait to see the many changes that will occur over the next few weeks!