When Cooper was three months old a friend of mine that I made through the portrait studio I used to work at took mommy & son pictures in the park.
Then last year in October when Cooper was about 6 months old we called her up again to have family pictures taken! So this year when we thought of family pictures we naturally thought of Ila! I got a hold of her and she said she would be able to do them for us. I think this is going to be a yearly tradition, maybe even more often! She is completely amazing and I think she should start her own business! I know we would go to her! Here is a tribute to Ila!!!
There are a couple more here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=123545&id=630762193
Once again I find myself behind in updating the blog. These are late but here are Cooper's Halloween pictures! Last year we didn't really do anything for Halloween so we decided to have Cooper help carve and gut a pumpkin this year. Sadly as usual Fritz had to work so he missed out again. Cooper helping Grandpa cut the top off. Using an old ice cream scooper to get all the gunk out. I thought he would dig in and get messy but he didn't like the smell and he didn't want to touch it. You can see by the look on his face that he was disgusted. Cooper took a nap while the rest of the dirty work got done. I sorted out the seeds and my dad carved the pumpkin to look like Cookie Monster! Cooper wasn't in the mood for pictures on Halloween so there aren't very many of him really smiling. I put the very rare moments on here. Mr Pirate putting his "booty" in his piggy bank! Cooper and I with my sister and Cookie Monster. His "I'm sick of this picture crap" face. Kisses! Cooper's friend Issac celebrated his birthday (Nov 1) on Halloween. We went Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood and then back to Issac's house for yummy chili and presents! I was really horrible with the camera since my costume had no pockets and I had to carry Cooper most of the time, so there aren't many pictures and the ones I have are from my wonderful friend Sam who always has her camera.
Cooper and the birthday boy Issac. Issac turned 2 this year. Cooper is only a year and a half. He's a giant, or Issac is a miget. Issac's older brother Xavier and Cooper's other pirate buddy!This is Issac's sister Evvie. She was a fairy and had a Cadidid on her head! Cooper and mama getting ready to head out and get some candy! He was sad when I wouldn't let him eat his candy but once I showed him we were putting it in his bucket for later he really liked the idea. He even posed with his bucket but no smile. All the kiddos were very polite saying "Trick-or-Treat" and the saying "thank you" once they got their candy. Cooper even told one lady he loved her. It was really fun! I'm hoping next year Fritz is able to get off work and I wear better shoes!
A few days after we flew back from Washington was my 23rd birthday. It happened to be on a Friday night so my parents took Cooper and Fritz and I were able to have a birthday date night. We went to Applebees and then watched Inglorious Bastards. It's weird to think that I'm 23 and married with an 18 month old son, but I'm very happy with my life and everything that's going on!
My mom really wanted to make a cake for me with Cooper's help but since Fritz and I went on a date night for my birthday I had to go to Layton while Fritz was at work a few days later. Wash your hands! He loves to help out! His bib-apron. He could be a chef! Except the cake was a blunder. Not sure what happened here but it was a fiasco. I appreciate the thought though. Fritz kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday and the only thing I could think of that I really WANTED was a tattoo of Cooper's feet. His feet are my absolute favorite and I think they are the cutest ever. I didn't want his footprints, I wanted his feet crossed with his "thinking-toes". Cooper has done this for as long as I can remember. He always sits down and crosses his feet and points his big toes up. If he is concentrating on doing something the toes are pointed even more prominently. I took two pictures into Micah's and this is the result. Back when I was pregnant I also found this Celtic symbol for motherhood that I really wanted to get eventually. I figured if I was going to get Coopers feet I could get this one at the same time. So my sister got me this for my birthday.
At the beginning of September Cooper, my mom and I went on a week long trip to Washington to visit family and celebrate my Great Grandma's 90th Birthday.
It was Cooper's very first time on a plane and he did fairly well! Lucky for us the flight was only about an hour and a half. On the way to Spokane there were some kids sitting in front of us that Cooper kind of played through the seats with so the time went pretty quickly. We were the very last ones off the plane and the Pilot was more than happy to pose with Cooper. Cooper on the other hand was posing until he felt the Pilots hat on his head.We tried to make him carry his own toy bag but he wouldn't go for it. He walked for probably 5 feet and then asked me to take it off.Brushin teeth at the base Inn. Cooper felt pretty cool standing up here!
On the way to Meemaw and Peewpaw's I accidently hooked his car seat wrong and he was able to reach the window to roll it down. He enjoyed this quite a bit.
Cooper was having a little bit of trouble saying Peepaw. (Some words he says backwards.) Cooper and his cousin Hutton playing in the hammock.
Ridin Peepaws lawn mower.
Cooper's cousins Maren and Hutton that he met for the first time.
Lori and Tom playing badminton with "help".
Cooper was told repeatedly not to play by the fireplace, but he sure looks cute being bad.
The original picture of him in my glasses. Since then he's had a crazy obsession with them.
Cooper with Nana and Tucker. She was busy texting but Tucker and Cooper were all over the camera!
The last time my mom and I drove up to Washington Cooper was terrified of my Grandpa. It was either because Cooper had stranger danger at the time, or because my Grandpa had a huge beard. This trip Cooper was ALL over his "Peepaw".Dinner for Great Grandma Dean's Birthday at the Rusty Moose. Cooper was pretty scared of this bear.
Until he had a lap to sit in. What a ham.
More time with "Peepaw".
Cooper's Great Great Grandma on her 90th Birthday. I was sleeping and my mom had to take a shower but Cooper was in a bad mood. Peepaw asked if Cooper wanted to be rocked and he crawled right up into his lap. Tucker of course followed. Grandpa with his two babies.
Later that day Cooper was in a better mood and we decided to go into Spokane to a garden that my aunt goes to take pictures. Cooper liked running around.
Cooper and "Sweeney" posing in a gazebo.
Cooper and aunt Pattie's kitty going to a different part of the gardens.
Everyone was smelling the flowers and I looked down to see that Cooper wanted to make sure kitty got to smell them as well.
My cousin Lacey and my aunt Pattie.
In line at McDonalds for some lunch after a long trip through the gardens.Cooper fell asleep in Wal-Mart and we had to take turns carrying him.
The next day we went to the mall and since we didn't bring a stroller with us we had to rent a little buggy. Cooper loved it because it had a wheel!
I didn't think he would actually fall asleep while we were at the mall so I didn't bring a blanket. Good thing my aunt had her pink sweater!
Cooper and his Nana chalking up the driveway.
Playing at the park of the Elementary school where I attended K-2nd grade.
Cooper and Sweeney.
Sliding!
Every time we go to Washington we take a picture of Cooper on Lacey's bed with all of her stuffed animals. This time Cooper wasn't too cooperative. We also usually take a picture by the city sign and we forgot this time! I was so disappointed.
Packing up to leave and Tucker thought he was coming with us.
The whole trip was incredibly busy and there was just tons going on. I didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked to of family that was there and just in general. However I did take a lot of pictures,especially at the gardens, so if you'd like to see more I have these and many others posted here
It was a really fun trip and we all had a good time. It was good to meet new family and see other family that I haven't seen in many years. I hope that we are able to get to do it again and I hope that Fritz is able to take time off to come along with us.
Cooper has turned into such a little dancer. He loves music!! When he hears music in the car he bobs his little head around and when he is out of his car seat he shakes his little butt. He happens to love The Black-eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" song. Here is his music video.
We've been grateful to have no one living under us for a few months so we haven't had to think about things like making noise too late. Recently some people moved in below us and apparently a toddler dancing at 9 pm is too late to them because they knocked on their ceiling and interrupted Coopers dance. Which in turn really pissed off Fritz as you can see...
I knew I was behind in the blog but I had no idea that it was nearly two months behind. There has been A LOT going on and I just haven't managed to make it on here to update everyone else. I'd like to apologize to those living far away who look forward to reading these and seeing pictures of our growing boy. I will make an effort to do better in the coming future.
To fill everyone in, things have been pretty crazy having all those cats running around. My sister got a siamese kitten from one of her friends but she was too young to have left her momma so Kitty took her in as one of her own, which meant we had 5 cats running around our tiny apartment. We are now down to just one kitten who we call Paul and Kitty. We are thinking about keeping the two as part of our little family. Also going on right now Fritz and I are looking into buying a house. We have seen a few that we like and put an offer on one already. Its hard trying to find the perfect house for us but we are going to keep at it and take our time. It's a big step and we want to make the right one.
Even more recently Cooper has started using the potty... kind of. We purchased a potty adapter about a month ago and once or twice a day (usually before bath time) I put him on the potty just to get him used to it. Well last Tuesday was the first time he actually went pee pee on the potty!! He has done it multiple time since then. We are trying to put him it more frequently and thinking about which method we want to use to get rid of these diapers for good!
Cooper has become QUITE the chatter box and is talking like crazy. He says tons of words and has been putting them together like "Papa drive" "Mama's shoe" "Kitty eat" and MANY MANY other things. It's insane to see how fast he is learning and how much he copies everything that we do. He's a very smart little boy and we are very blessed to have him.
Other than that things have been going really well, we are just waiting to see where to go from here. I will try to update more often but in the mean-time here are some recent pictures.
Towards the end of winter a stray cat started coming around our apartment. I can't deny a poor homeless cat food so we started feeding her. Of course she took our hospitality to the next level and basically moved in. Lucky for us she is the only animal that will put up with Cooper when he forgets to "be soft".
About a month ago I noticed Kitty was looking slightly more plump around the belly. (She is a VERY little cat so it was pretty obvious she was gaining weight.) We decided not to let her outside anymore and kept her locked indoors to wait out her pregnancy.
When I first noticed. Counting back she was already 5 weeks here. A week and a half before she delivered.
Sunday night Fritz and I laid in bed talking about what kind of mommy we thought Kitty would be. Whether we would have to help her with the delivery or if she would be able to do it all by herself. Ironically when we woke up Monday morning she had delivered her kittens overnight by herself. She had five kittens. Three orange males, a calico female and a black with calico face female. Two of the orange males we very small upon birth and weren't latching onto mom. We purchased cat milk replacer and a small bottle. I tried feeding them by bottle every two hours but one fought and wouldn't drink from the bottle. Sadly he died on Wednesday afternoon.
I was determined to nurse the second small one back to health and help him gain weight. I continued to feed him every two hours and while he was doing very well at first he lost his will to live and tragically died Friday morning. The remaining three are doing well. The black one with a calico face that I have temporarily named Panda is the smallest. And while I am slightly worried she isn't gaining much weight I have hope that she'll pull through. The orange one is the biggest and possibly whiniest of the three and now he is the only boy. And the calico one is the middle and Kitty's favorite. If you try to take the kittens anywhere this is the first one she grabs to take back. The calico also is always up by Kitty's face or she has her paws wrapped around her. The kittens are now a week and 3 days old and all of their eyes are open. It's a big new world for them! "Patches" was first. She's stinkin cute! This little guy was next! And then of course my tiny little "Panda" whose actually opened today. For TONS and TONS more pictures go here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=75729&id=630762193
Cooper loves to dance when the phone rings. I just have the basic tone that came with the phone but he knows that means Papa or Nana is calling and he's used to hearing them. He also always holds the phone up to his ear backwards and babbles into it when he plays. Recently he actually started holding the phone the right way and loves to pretend to have conversations with no one in particular! Today Fritz called and Cooper and I were dancing away in the living room when Cooper suddenly stopped, put his empty hand up to his ear and said "hello". Apparently he was done with the dancing and wanted to get on with the chatting. 5/11/09
Fritz and I were standing in the living room talking when I felt something on my foot. I looked down and Cooper had put my shoe there. I took it and put it back then started talking to Fritz again. A few seconds later it was back on my foot. I picked Cooper up to ask what he was doing and he started waving bye bye. I said "where are we going?" and he simply pointed to the door. I guess that was our cue that we needed to check the mail we didn't check yesterday. 4/26/09
This morning Cooper was running around the apartment and grabbed one of my socks off the floor. I said "Did you take mommy's sock? Where do socks go?" and he held the sock over his foot! He's also starting to cooperate more when I dress him. It's so insane how fast he is learning. 4/4/09
For Cooper's birthday he got a Sing and Learn Mic and one of the songs it plays is Old McDonald. Cooper walks around holding it and pressing buttons, but when Old McDonald comes on he says "E, I, E, I, O". It's adorable! 3/31/09
Coop is turning into a dancin man! Whenever he hears a song or you sing to him he moves his head from side to side swaying to the beat! The radio, the tv, singing almost any song! Sometimes he goes forward and backward like he's head banging. And Fritz is teaching him to move his hand like rappers do. Of course as soon as I pull out the camera the dancing is over. I'll get it soon!
Cooper is becoming quite the little helper. Today I was making our bed and Cooper pushed the pillow from leaning on the wall towards the bed where I was standing. Then I started stacking Fritz’s shoes in the closet. As I reached down to get the next one Cooper was already holding it up towards me. I proceded to start loading laundry into the washer. Every time I turned around Cooper was throwing clothes out of his laundry bucket. He was really trying to help me out today! 3/9/09
Cooper learned how to sign "more" recently. He goes around signing and saying what sounds like "more" and sometimes "I want more". He does it so often that I wasn’t sure he knew what it meant. Today he was at my parents’ house and he kept pushing his bottle away. My dad picked him up and Cooper pointed at the pantry and said/signed more. My mom got out applesauce and he got all excited. I guess he does know what it means, and where the food is kept. What a smarty pants. 3/8/09
Then last year in October when Cooper was about 6 months old we called her up again to have family pictures taken!
So this year when we thought of family pictures we naturally thought of Ila! I got a hold of her and she said she would be able to do them for us. I think this is going to be a yearly tradition, maybe even more often!
She is completely amazing and I think she should start her own business! I know we would go to her! Here is a tribute to Ila!!!
