The Groothuis Family

Buddies for life!

2010-04-05T22:38:00.009-06:00

Recently our neighbors moved away. Before they left I watched their son so that they could pack and Cooper could have a chance to play with someone close to his age. Cooper loves playing with "Kay d" (Kai'Dyn).

When Kai'Dyn first came over Cooper was taking his nap so he played with trains and watched Fritz play video games.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

messy boys

eating goldfish

tickle time

starting a band

Despite the distance we hope to be able to have play dates with Kai'dyn still. Cooper loves hanging out with him!

Not only a mans best friend,

2010-04-05T19:58:00.006-06:00

but a boys best friend as well.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

Hangin out with the ladies!

2010-04-05T17:24:00.004-06:00

Fritz met Matt through work and we've enjoyed any chance we can get to spend time with their family. Cooper loves playing with friends and he always has a blast with Ali and Emily. (While us adults have our own fun playing with fart putty.) Being outnumbered by little girls means occasionally you'll find a little boy in a dress. Just something to show his future girlfriends.

JANUARY

That's more "manly".

He was born to drive!

2010-04-05T00:52:00.004-06:00

Cooper LOVES to drive! Anything and everything. He especially loves driving his Jeep that he got for Christmas. Unfortunately this is Utah and the weather has not been in our favor for awhile, and I am not very fond of the cold, so he's usually only in his jeep for a short period of time and with help from someone who is not me.

DECEMBER

FEBRUARY

Cooper the handyman!

2010-04-04T20:14:00.009-06:00

For Christmas Fritz and I got a fan! Probably not something that most people get excited about but it's just what we needed! The living room in our apartment is wired all to one switch so when the switch goes down the lights, tv, and anything plugged in is shut off. For over a year we had to watch movies with the lights on, rock Cooper with the lights on, etc. Cooper was more than willing to do anything that he could to help!

DECEMBER

A few months ago Fritz's computer went kaput. He hasn't been worried about fixing it because he's been playing XBOX mostly, and we have my laptop when he needs to use internet. Then about two months ago my parents computer went kaput and Fritz had to dig out his old computer to get parts to fix my parents. Cooper of course, lent a hand.

FEBRUARY

Cooper's first time ice skating!

2010-04-04T18:58:00.007-06:00

Two days after Christmas we took Cooper ice skating for the very first time. Tabitha is a scorekeeper for a mens hockey league in Ogden so when they did a family skate night she was invited to come. My dad hasn't played hockey in a few years but we got him to lace up his skates and help Cooper out. Cooper loved every minute of it!!! We had to take him off the ice screaming and whining just to get him to eat a piece of pizza, and then he was right back out there. Of course he wasn't even two so that meant someone was bent over at all times hanging onto him. Killer on the back but he had a blast!

DECEMBER

"Booboo Jeep!!"

2010-01-02T17:36:00.008-07:00

After Cooper took a blue berry break he had one present left that he needed to open from Santa. It was hiding behind the tree with a blanket over it.

We had him take a picture with giraffe..
and then he tossed him into the tree.
WHOA!
Cooper and Papa lookin under the hood.
He kept scooting forward trying to make it drive.
We carried the jeep upstairs to put the battery in it while he stopped for an oatmeal break. It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to sit still and eat. He wanted to drive his jeep REALLY bad. He also put his little "Abby Dabby" (Abby Caddaby from Seaseme Street) in the compartment under the steering wheel.
We got off to a rocky start. Cooper ran into the garage and climbed in the jeep but his first drive he drove straight into a snowbank. (Fritz wasn't aware he was going to have to follow so closely and guide.) He had a minor scare and cried for a little bit but we got him back in and he LOVED IT. He was screaming across the neighborhood "booboo driving". I tried to upload the video on here, but like the Christmas video it didn't work. I think they are too long. I'll have to find a different way to get them on here.
Driving down by the neighbors house.
VERY EXCITED!!
He loved going down the driveway, I think his car went a little too fast down hill.
Jumping for joy.
We were so busy with the jeep that we forgot to have Cooper go through his stocking.
Some new forks and spoons, and a jeep!

Before going to bed Cooper was pretty worn out, but not worn out enough to forgo dancing to his favorite song.

Santa Came!!

2010-01-02T17:28:00.001-07:00

There are going to be A LOT of pictures for family who is unable to watch Cooper grow up first hand. We wish that they were here to share the holidays with and miss them!!

Santa's cookies laid out the night before.
The tree on Christmas morning!Cooper attempting to get Fritz out of bed. It's not easy, but with a face like this who could say no?

Sitting on the couch waiting for the ok to go down and see the tree.

I had Fritz "recording" us walking down the stairs, but he held the camera sideways and I can't find a way to change the video. Until I do, I'm lucky my dad got this picture of Cooper's face when he first saw the tree.

The first thing he saw when he came downstairs was the train table.

Cooper LOVES his "tream" (train) table. He kept saying "choo choo tream".

Then he wanted to look at all the pictures "Gramp Grump" was taking.

I wasn't sure how Cooper was going to do unwrapping presents, last Christmas and his birthday he needed help, but as you'll see he went straight to ripping the packages open.
(The video isn't uploading. I'll try again in a day or two.)

His new bike from Meemaw and Peepaw.
For some incredibly odd reason Cooper LOVES to wear shoes. His shoes, Papa's shoes, and even Mama's shoes. If there is a shoe laying around he'll put it on. I happened to get a pair of heels for Christmas and here is Cooper modeling one for me.
Ooooh! An Elmo ornament from Cousin Lacey.
A 3-D Viewer that explains what the picture is.
While I was unpacking the viewer Cooper had a mini meltdown. We knew that Christmas was probably going to be overwhelming for Cooper with all of the presents and attention. He just started to get kind of crazy and was laying in the pile of wrapping paper throwing it around.
Opening his take along train track rug.Telling "Aunt Vy" thanks for the help.
Finally got this crazy thing unpackaged.
Papa helped open up this...
... ooooh! More "treams"!!
Cooper took a "boey boey" (blueberry) break.

Baking cookies for "Hanta" on Christmas Eve

2010-01-01T22:24:00.004-07:00

Christmas Eve Cooper and I rode up to Layton with my parents during the day so I could get every thing set up for the coming morning, and Fritz drove up after work. Unfortunately my sister did major slacking this year and I had to go around with her and get last minute gifts. Once we were done with that Cooper and I made cookies for "Hanta".
He took a "wear a candy cane as an earring" break.
As soon as we handed him the cookie scoop he stuck it in the dough and then licked it.
Then we got down to business.
He wanted a hug from Nana.
And then we put them in the oven.
Rocking and eating cookies trying to catch Santa.

Playing in the "no"

2010-01-01T21:18:00.005-07:00

Cooper has trouble saying some words that start with "S". He calls Santa "Hanta" and snow "no". The first time we took him out in the snow to sled he absolutely hated it. He was crying and wanted to go inside. I told him he could go inside if he walked through the snow, and he did it, as quickly as possible without looking back. Since then he has come to like playing in the snow and will say "Booboo walk no" meaning Cooper walk in the snow.

Heading out to do some shopping.
Keeping warm inside the house.

Two days before Christmas I was taking pictures of my neighbors at the school by our house. Since Cooper likes the snow now we decided to bundle him up and him and Fritz came along to play on the playground while I took pictures.

Time to visit Santa

2010-01-01T20:25:00.003-07:00

The Santa hat's that we have must be itchy or something because Cooper refused to wear them. However one day I was able to capture this picture of Cooper smiling before he ripped it off his head.

These were super cute and we probably would've bought them if he had kept them on his head.

We took Cooper to visit Santa the second weekend in December. As you can see from the picture it didn't go very well. Cooper was terrified and wanted nothing to do with Santa. He kept screaming "Grandpa hold me".

As soon as Grandpa held him and he got his candy cane he was perfectly fine.

An elf hat we found at Wal-mart, and then we realized the ears were broken. :(

A couple days later at a different Wal-mart we found a hat that wasn't broken.After Cooper's little mishap with Santa we kept trying to explain to him that he needs to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. Then Cooper began walking around saying "Hanta jeep" so I told my mom we'd have to find another Santa and try again. This time my dad was holding him and we talked to Santa for a minute. Cooper said "Hanta jeep" and gave him a high-five. Then we tried to set him in Santa's lap and he clutched onto my dad's jacket and said no, so we stuck with another high-five and went to look at the reindeer.

They had two reindeer at the tree selling place where Santa was.

Decorating the tree!

2010-01-01T16:06:00.006-07:00

After Cooper finished his "sledding" expedition my parents decided to put up the tree. Fritz and I didn't have a tree this year because there was no room and we had our cats. We decided to just stay at my parents Christmas Eve and have Christmas at their house in the morning. So after sledding we put his jammies on and let him help with the tree.

He was waiting for the top lights to light up.Then he helped "fluff" out the branches.

Cooper kissing "Robby Reindeer" - a reindeer my dad has had since he was a kid.

Then he found a doll and decided to put her "night night" in the tree.

While we organized the ornaments Cooper took a book break with Papa.I wanted a picture of Cooper with the "C" but he was more concerned with putting it on the ledge.

So I got this silly smile later. (This was when he was still sick, you can see his gums are all swollen and bright.)

Could Fritz be smiling? I think it's a miracle!

Cooper hanging the ornaments on the top.He created a little pile of ornaments.

Concentrating VERY hard.

We tried to show him how to hold the ribbon apart and put it over a branch.

He started to get tired and acting silly looking at the lights up close and then giggling.

When it came time to put the angel on the top it was quite a challenge. My dad held Cooper up, Fritz guided the angel, while Cooper placed it and I took pictures.

And then it was most definitely time for Cooper to go to sleep.

Sledding in 2009

2009-12-14T02:32:00.005-07:00

Fritz and I got an awesome deal on a snow suit for Cooper at Ross. It was originally $80 but we paid $14 for the snow pants and jacket. He looks absolutely adorable wearing them. Along with his new snow boots that Nana and "Gramp Grump" bought him last year on sale.
Of course we come to find out that Cooper doesn't like snow, AT ALL. The first time he saw it this year and had to step in it he was no too thrilled. He calls it "no" but says it different than when he's saying no. (He has a hard time with "s".)

You may all remember this adorable picture taken last year the day after Christmas.
Well we thought it would be fun to recreate that this year, so on Fritz's day off we went to my parents house with the understanding we would be sledding and having loads of fun...
... this is what we got instead: Cooper asking for his grandpa so he could go inside. Being a mean mommy and trying to get him used to the snow I told him the only way he was going inside was if he walked himself.
So he did. Right up to the door. I had to force this smile out of him, after which he immediately reached for the door to go in.
He does enjoy watching "Gramp Grump" shovel from his window so maybe if he's in a good mood we can give him a shovel and see if he'll get more used to the snow.

Lets hope we don't spend Christmas sick.

2009-12-13T23:09:00.004-07:00

I haven't been able to keep up with the blog lately because I've been taking care of a sick baby. For about a week Cooper had a slight fever and wasn't acting like his usual self. On Tuesday Dec 1 (which happened to be my parents 25th wedding anniversary) he was feeling hotter than usual so we took his temperature; which was 103.5 We gave him Tylenol and let him sleep, then Wed the 2nd we took him to see his Pediatrician.

While in the waiting room we noticed a little cold sore looking lesion on the left corner of his mouth. Upon examining him the doctor found tons of little "cold sores" on the back of his tongue and throat, and determined it was Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. Unfortunately there isn't any medicine for him to take. He has to just wait it out. On Saturday night my parents were watching him and he wasn't doing very well at all so my mom took him to see a 24 hour doctor who sent him to the ER because he was afraid of Cooper getting dehydrated. The ER doctor said Cooper wasn't dehydrated but to make sure we watched the amount of fluids he was taking. He also concocted some medicine for Cooper to dip swabs into and rub in his mouth to numb it, and gave my mom some liquid Loratab to help him sleep, along with recommending he alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours.

Cooper was pretty miserable for an entire week. He couldn't drink anything because most juices have Acid which burned his sores, he couldn't eat anything because his gums were incredibly swollen and it hurt his mouth to chew. He walked around all day asking to be held and spent hours just laying in my arms zoned out. He also took naps with me on my bed and fell asleep on my chest like he did when he was a newborn. He would lay there whimpering and it broke my heart because there was nothing I could do. Fritz and I thought about taking him back to the doctor on Wednesday 9th but we noticed some improvement in his fever and overall appearance so we decided to wait it out and see if he continued to improve.

As of today he is doing a lot better! He has regained most of his appetite and is able to eat and drink most of his normal foods. He's also begun to run around and play like his usual self. Now he just needs for these sores to go away and he'll be the Cooper we all know!

Cooper's poor mouth. (No that isn't a bruise on his cheek, I dropped my camera and it has that dot in every picture now, it just shows up on Cooper's skin really obviously.)
The red in the back is all little sores. He was a big boy and stuck out his tongue to show me though.I was trying to get him to say "cheese" so I could see his swollen teeth but he started crying like he was being tortured and that resulted in this. You can see his bottom teeth are pretty small looking because the gums are so high up.
I got him to laugh so this one you can see the top part being swollen.

Family Pictures 2009!

2009-11-19T23:30:00.009-07:00

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

Spooooky Halloween!!

2009-11-15T16:43:00.008-07:00

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!

The month of September - Part 2

2009-10-23T18:38:00.006-06:00

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.

Another year has come and gone!

The month of September - Part 1

2009-10-17T21:39:00.015-06:00

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

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=630762193#/album.php?aid=118175&id=630762193

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.

Dance your butt off!

2009-10-17T15:58:00.003-06:00

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...

Wow! Where have I been?

2009-10-17T00:31:00.004-06:00

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.

Kitty and her kittens!

2009-08-27T17:52:00.000-06:00

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

Chatting with Opa!

2009-08-21T17:29:00.004-06:00

Normally Fritz calls his parents to catch up on Saturday when he's walking around at work. This morning I suggested he call today so his parents can talk to Cooper. Cooper being the little chatterbox he is took the phone and had quite a conversation with his Opa.

The 4th of July .. just a month late.

2009-08-06T14:42:00.006-06:00

I realize these pictures are coming up a month late. I'm not sure what happened. I just totally forgot to put them on here, but better late than never! On the Fourth of July Fritz had to work so I spent the weekend in Layton. In the morning Cooper and I went to the Layton Parade with Sam and John, then we walked around the park. We stopped by Grandpa's house to have some burgers for lunch and then headed over to Ashley and Brian's house to have a BBQ and watch fire works with their families! It was a good time but of course we were sad that Papa couldn't come with.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning!

Watching the parade through the little gap

Yay! My favorite ever!

One of the parade people let balloons go. Cooper loved it!
Cooper, me and Sam!
Cooper was scared of the face painting so she showed him what she was doing on his hand.
Cooper got a little face painting to be festive!

He looks like he's smiling but he was mad that I took his binki away.

So he put the binki back in and hid under his hat.

Later he got in a better mood and shared his graham cracker with Sam.

Sam and John getting their caricature done!

Mine and Cooper's turn for our caricature!
The end product!
Cooper actually let Ashley hold him!

Ashley's kiddos watching some small fireworks.

He wouldn't take a good picture with me. :(He was clapping when he saw the "flower" fireworks!

Believe it or not Cooper is 6 months younger than Issac.

Don't worry Issac, you'll catch up cutie!

Cooper and Issac wouldn't really cooperate for a together buddies picture so Ashley intervened and this is the best we got!

Ashley and Evvie looking at the big fireworks in the sky!

If you would like to see more 4th of July pictures I have tons posted here -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99335&id=630762193&saved#/album.php?aid=99335&id=630762193

Bar-b-que and Swimming with friends!

2009-07-23T22:32:00.006-06:00

On Wednesday evening we went over to our great friends Shannon and Matt's house for some swimming and bar-b-que! I love going there because Cooper gets to play with Ali and Emily, and Shannon and Matt are just awesome!

Before we went there Cooper actually watched TV! He never sits down to watch TV and while Fritz and I were making breakfast he sat in the chair and watched Blues Clues!

Ali, Matt, Emily, Cooper and Fritz in the water!

Cooper was missing something...

Oh ya! His vest!

The water was actually pretty cold. But Cooper still had fun dispite this face.

The kids!

Emily can fly!

He took a few face dives, hence the wet hair.

Yay pool time!

Playin in the baby pool!

Feeties in the hot tub!

Playing at the Viners!

Practicing for the future! ;-)

Chalk! What a grand idea.Cooper's doing yard work while the girls are in the kitchen!

We had an awesome time like we always do!
Thank you guys!

Swimming and Duck Park with Papa!

2009-07-23T15:34:00.007-06:00

Since Fritz had to work on Friday when we went swimming we decided to take Cooper again on Tuesday when he was off.

Cooper loves to say "teese" when you hold up a phone or camera, so the whole way to Layton this is what he did...

The very first picture I took and they were both smiling already!

Mr Serious all the sudden.

There is supposed to be air and water in there so the fish swim but Cooper kept letting them out.

Having a blast!

He liked his new floatie from Grandma but still liked being held in the water.

Later that day we decided to go feed the ducks again. He wasn't as interested as he was last time.At the park he found a stick and wouldn't let it go.

He was having fun. We just couldn't get a picture of it.Fritz got VERY burned. We had no idea it was going to be that sunny and hot.

Cooper took about a 30 minute nap the whole day so when we got home he was exhausted! We laid him in bed and watched a movie. Before we went to bed we tried to find the cat, who had gotten into Cooper's room, and this is what we found.

So we tried to put him in bed again...

A first time for everything!

2009-07-18T11:52:00.011-06:00

Yesterday my mom and I took Cooper swimming for the first time ever. At first he was pretty scared (see video below) but after a little bit he seemed to get more comfortable. He never actually got to a point where he wanted to be let go of, but that will take some time.

All ready to go!
He's crying, I'm a mean mommy.

Ya he wasn't interested in picture time.
He was really thirsty!
That's the farthest we got away from him.
And this is the closest to a smile we could capture on camera. He only smiled when we were all in the water and playing, but who's going to hold the camera?
Prune-y feet!
He fell asleep as we were driving out of the parking lot, poor guy.
Then he transferred to his bed without even waking up at all.
Later when he woke up from his nap my parents and I took him to the Layton duck park. It was his first time actually getting to feed the ducks. Next time we need more bread!
Cooper was learning how to throw with distance.
"Come on guys!"
This duck followed us quite a ways.
Mama and Cooper takin a break.
(Yes my glasses are broken and crooked, thank you Cooper.)
A loud trumpeter swan.
A mean hissing swan. Yes, hissing like a cat.
Cooper liked how close they came, he really wanted to feed them out of his hand.
As Shannon posted this is "the ugliest duck, turkey, bird thing". We saw it too.
It even had a mohawk. And it was definitely "even more disgusting in person".
Running to the play ground!
And copying Grandpa on the way.
Lovin the swing!
Lovin the slide too!
A race!
Chasing everyone to the car.
He caught Grandpa first!
Cool shades we found in the grass!
Hot stuff!
It was a pretty busy day with lots going on outside so Cooper was pooped when it came to bed time. We always miss Papa when he is at work, but he has promised to take Cooper swimming on his days off this week!

The Kangaroo Zoo!

2009-07-14T00:03:00.010-06:00

On July 9th we went to Ali's birthday party at the Kangaroo Zoo! It was our very first time and it was a blast! Cooper was a little scared at first as you'll see in the first few photos he wouldn't let go of our hands but after a little bit he got the hang of it and enjoyed himself thoroughly! You'll also notice in almost every picture where you can see his wristband his hand is balled into a fist. We think he was doing as some kind of security thing because we didn't bring his "mimi". (yes his binki is back... we're working on making it go away again.)

A little scared

He was starting to get the hang of it!

He was running around like crazy once he got comfortable!

Miss Emily woke up from her nap...

And Cooper thought it was break time.

WAHOO!

"Come on Papa, this way!!!"

"Hey how do you get passed these things?"

Silly boys!

Drool party!

Cooper enjoyed this little thing quite a bit once he figured out how to bounce.

Uh oh! The big slide!

It's blurry but he looks so happy!Fritz was making the MOST RIDICULOUS face and insisted I not post this, but again, Cooper looks so happy!
Again?

He thought he could handle it alone.

AGAIN??

Ok now who's having more fun here?

Cooper looks awfully happy to be being eatin by a kitty!

Nap time...

Wait wait...

Ok! There's the birthday girl!!!

Another nap time, he was tuckered!

Last slide!

Miss Emily and Cooper!

Nothing like a nice kiss, or a few, to end a good play time!

Ali's party was super fun and we were very happy to have been invited! I think we may also be taking a trip to the Kangaroo Zoo again soon!

Fun at the Zoo! (LOTS of pictures)

2009-07-02T16:17:00.005-06:00

On Tuesday my mom bought tickets for Fritz and I to take Cooper to the Zoo! It was his very first time going and he loved it! It was pretty hot but we got a nice surprise with about 20 minutes of light rain (...Utah weather...)
Here is what we saw!

The Zoo was SO MUCH FUN! We can't wait to go back!

Cooper likes his "nigh nigh" time!

2009-06-29T17:41:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I stopped by my parents for a visit. While I was there we were playing in the room they have set up for Cooper where he also has a toddler bed. He climbed into the bed, put his head on his pillow and pulled his blankie over himself. It was possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. Then he proceeded to stay in there and actually take a nap.

Today Cooper kept running around grabbing his blankie and saying "nigh nigh". I was originally trying to get a video of that when he started pointing to body parts. He's becoming quite knowledgeable when it comes to those! Here he's showing his eye, nose, ear, tummy, foot, mouth, and then saying "nigh nigh".

Shortly after this we went into the living room for a snack and Cooper asked for his book. Here he's "reading" while eating his snack. It also sounds like he starts to sing "abc"

Utah weather...

2009-06-22T15:59:00.003-06:00

...resulted in Cooper's first rain boots!

Great food and friends!

2009-06-22T15:24:00.004-06:00

So I'm about a month behind with these pictures, but they are super cute so I thought I'd put them up even if they are late! About four weeks ago we went over to Shannon and Matt's house to have a bar-b-que with their lovely family.

Fritz and Cooper playing in Ali and Emily's helicopter.
Swinging on the swing! Blurry, but he's still smiling!
Yay time to roast marshmallows! Cooper wasn't too concerned with the roasting, just the eating!
Cooper playing house with the girls and getting lots of love!

Big boy bed!

2009-06-18T23:43:00.000-06:00

So I thought all of the redecorating was complete until Cooper had a little mishap last weekend. He took a tumble out of his crib at Nana and Grampa's house so they went a bought a toddler bed. Since he will have a toddler bed when he sleeps there I thought we should probably get him used to it while he is at home also. I was a little bit concerned about the placement of the couch so close to the window (Cooper is a climber-see previous pictures for room layout) since he would be able to get out of bed and play in the morning, so yes, I rearranged his room again. Here is how it will be for awhile!

We're still getting used to the new bed being so open. Cooper does fall out occasionally at night, but it's a lot shorter of a fall then from a crib. We'll just have to keep working on it!

On Tuesday we went to Lowes to get Cooper his cool new town rug! He LOVED this shopping cart! Why doesn't every store have them?
Yesterday we went to Toys R Us to look around.
Cooper saw the Ghostbuster car! He basically acted like it was his.
Then he got a picture with the HUGE Geoffrey on the truck!
Momma's boy.
Here is my happy boy playing in the living room.
Just being a ham!

Big boy step stool!

2009-06-08T22:08:00.002-06:00

Cooper LOVES to brush his teeth. When you say "let's go brush your teeth" he rubs his finger back and forth in his mouth and runs to the bathroom. Usually I set him on the toilet so he can watch himself in the mirror and he loves it. We decided recently that we wanted to get him a stool so he can step up to the sink and get his brush wet on his own and everything. He also loves this new "big boy" thing. He's growing up so ridiculously fast it's scary, but I love to see how grown up and independent he is becoming.

I wanted to document Cooper partaking in "big boy activities" because yesterday I saw something that struck me as silly. I was watching Nanny 911 and on the show the mom was brushing her 7 year olds teeth. I realize that young kids can't quite brush their teeth very accurately (which is why I go over Cooper's with a wash rag) but I think you should let them at least get used to the routine and have some sense of independence. But this lady wouldn't even let her 7 year old hold his tooth brush. Strange.

Here is my 15 month old brushing his own teeth!

Here is his big boy stool!
He thinks he is pretty cool!
He loves to look in the mirror!
But his favorite is holding his brush under running water!

Redecorating complete!

2009-06-02T16:05:00.016-06:00

I was out of town for a week in Washington and have been trying to get back into routine. Needless to say I've neglected writing on here and never got around to posting those pictures of Cooper's room. Since I've been back I also rearranged mine and Fritz's room and I will be posting those pictures now also. Over the next few days there will be lots of updates and even more pictures!

I didn't make a video of the before :(
Here is looking in through the door.

(On the blue puzzle pieces I'm planning on putting pictures of Cooper's family that lives out of state, or country so that he can get used to seeing their faces!)

Here is his crib!
When he still had the mobile and bumper pad.

Rocking chair and night stand.

This has all my scrapbooking stuff in it.
It sucked when I had the random urge to scrapbook and Cooper was sleeping.

Since it's getting hot we've been opening Cooper's window so moving the crib away seemed like a good idea. I also wanted my scrapbooking things more accessible. And because of the way I moved the living room around I had nowhere else to put this part of the couch.

Our bedroom
I've been racking my brain trying to find a way for our bedroom to have more open space. It randomly came to me a few nights ago, it only took 9 months of living here.

Looking through the door.

Our bed is ridiculously big.

Our bedroom didn't have much space.

Our closet is ridiculously small.

Here is our bedroom after. There is a little bit more room and I'll have to do some picture moving but here I like this way much better!

I always get these random impulses to switch the furniture around. All of this was done by myself while Fritz was at work, however, I did get help from our neighbor moving Fritz's desk. I didn't want to break it. Hopefully I can live with it this way for awhile. I don't think I could do anymore heavy lifting for awhile.

A little Mother's Day change!

2009-05-11T19:43:00.005-06:00

I want to wish all mothers
a Happy Mother's Day yesterday!

Yesterday while Cooper was taking a nap I decided I wanted to rearrange our living room, (which then would cause me to rearrange Cooper's bedroom). Of course instead of taking a full nap Cooper woke up after a short time and I ended up moving furniture while Cooper ran a muck through the house. Here is a video I took awhile ago of the living room before.

Behind the curtain there is an air conditioner that was previously behind the couch. Since it's getting hot I wanted to make it accessible. I'm not sure what I think yet but here are the changes.

You'll notice part of the couch is missing.
I'll post before pictures of Cooper's room and an after video tomorrow.

My own little mule!

2009-05-04T18:45:00.005-06:00

Perhaps now it is time for Cooper to carry his own necessities!
(I'm just kidding. It has a few toys in it.)

I tried to get a picture but he wouldn't stop walking around. He also kept trying to put his jersey over his head.

A car for a car!

2009-05-03T00:11:00.007-06:00

We finally had a "weekend" (Fritz's days off) where the weather cooperated with us! On Tuesday for some reason unknown to us we both woke up at 8am feeling fresh and well rested. After Cooper laid down for his morning nap we decided it was time to work on Fritz's car. (His car has been parked behind our apartment complex for six months; collecting dusk, dirt, leaves, and even scratches and dents; because the turbo coolant hose had a hole again. Making this the third time we've replaced the same part.) The weather was finally nice, we had woken up early, Cooper was taking a nap, and everything was working in our favor. Cooper eventually woke up from his nap but he sat in his highchair eating lunch and playing with toys until it was nap time again. We got the hose replaced in amazing time. By the end of Cooper's second nap we were completely done! That's the fastest we've ever fixed his car, probably because of all the experience.

Anyways, after all of that was done we needed to go grocery shopping. Since Fritz is basically a kid in a mans body he always insists that we look at the toys. While looking we found a remote controlled race car for little kids. The buttons are very simple. Front and back. While the age on the box said 3+ Fritz was very sure that Cooper would be able to grasp the concept and that he would love it. I couldn't help but wonder if Fritz was more excited for himself to get to be able to play with it but I decided that he was probably right and Cooper would enjoy it.

Here are the results...

Thanks Papa!

So for Cooper behaving and being a good boy while Mama and Papa worked on the car he got his own little car in return!

Now being pictured (Cont. from Cooper's birthday presents)

2009-04-26T16:06:00.012-06:00

As the weather in Utah does not remain consistent and tends to linger more on the crappy side, Cooper's birthday present from his Nana and Grampa was not set up on his birthday. Instead it was set up last week and we made a trip to see it on Tuesday.

Here it is...
Papa and Cooper playing
He tried with Papa and no slippery shoes

Cooper thinks he is just hilarious!!
Here is what his toy has!
It has a wheel!
A slide!
(That he uses to go down and up!)
A ladder!
(Thanks Nana, these shoes are slick!)
Two climbing walls!
And a fort underneath!
Grampa took a turn supervising.
Cooper liked the big tree in the neighbors back yard,
he did not like the planes that kept flying over which resulted in us ending our play time.

While this all happened Tuesday and the weather was nice, here is what Cooper had to wear to go with Mama and Papa to check the mail today.
Sweatpants, a long sleeve shirt, a hat and his coat that we already took off.
He also brought along his own keys!

A few updates in the land of Cooper!

2009-04-24T23:54:00.000-06:00

Cooper has discovered a new fascination for keys. It's probably my fault for letting him carry them when we walk to check the mail and letting him play with them as a distraction when he is less than cooperative in the store. That being said, he now knows just what they do and likes to try and put them where they go.

"Thanks for my first car Uncle Clayton"

Cooper is also big enough and old enough to ride facing forward now. He prefers his much better than facing the back. Now he rides a lot quieter as he looks around.

Cooper got to try his first ice cream cone last Tuesday. Since his mommy loves ice cream so much we have to get him used to random trips for 50cent ice cream!
He caught on pretty fast and seemed to enjoy it!
After it was done he practiced sticking his tongue out.

Apparently Cooper is part monkey or maybe this is just typical boy behavior, but he climbs on EVERYTHING. I can't turn my back for a second. I stand in the bathroom brushing my teeth and he basically does pull ups on the sink. When I'm doing dishes he holds onto the counter and tries to walk his way up the cupboards. If I leave him alone in the living room for even a second he climbs up onto the couch. So needless to say I wasn't too shocked when I returned from changing the cd in the kitchen and found Cooper doing this in the living room...
Just the day before he was caught climbing up the outside of his crib at his Nana and Grampa's house while in the process of a diaper change...
I don't know what on Earth I'm going to do with him...
Luckily when he crashes, he crashes hard
(in the land of sleep of course!)

Since Cooper received his "one week" mohawk his hair hasn't been cut. It has remained in the state of a disheveled mohawk for nearly two months. This time I'm the one that opted for a trim, as it was beginning to look like a rat tail in the back. Here are a few before and afters.
This is the shirt Opa brought back from his trip to Germany! It fits me now!!
Nothing good is going to come from this look...
Here are the afters! We used his binki because he was pretty scared and he definitely took advantage of having it.

Just another day in the park

2009-04-24T22:44:00.002-06:00

Sadly the weather never seems to want to cooperate with us and no matter how nice it is every other day it seems to always rain on Tuesday and Wednesday when Fritz is off. Last Sunday it was really nice and the neighbors wanted to go to the park. Of course Fritz had to work so just Cooper and I went with them. Cooper had lots of fun playing with Kai'Dyn!

Two cool dudes at the park!
Cooper is always a little scared at first.
He was okay once Kai'Dyn joined him!
Yay Kai'Dyn!
As previously stated in a past post here is Cooper on the "blue blob". Turns out it's a dolphin!
Kai'Dyn sliding!
Cooper really liked the dolphin this time at the park. He kept returning to it.

He didn't like sharing it very much though.
He didn't want to share the slide either. We'll be working on that.
Something about him behind bars he finds hilarious.
While I found this girl horribly annoying, Cooper played peek-a-boo with her.

Turns out it's hard to get pictures while swinging, plus it was bright, but we did the best we could. Thanks Ashley!
Cooper was very curious...
And had lots of laughs...
He even paused for a picture with mommy, which he doesn't do often.
Kai'Dyn found something his dad was saying very suspicious...
The little guys ventured over to the sand for some fun.
Kai'Dyn took his hat off and Cooper automatically picked it up and tried to put it back on his head for him. Of course when I tried to get a reenactment on video Cooper didn't want to go for round two.
Ashley and I were finally able to get both swings at the same time so the boys could "swing together".

The boys were pooped and enjoyed a bottle in the shade.

Very unknowingly we must have adopted some hispanic children along the way. They followed us everywhere, asked us for food, and when I went to get a wipe they proceded to take over my seat in front of Cooper.
Cooper loves looking through his stroller window now. He thought it was pretty funny!
On our way home we got stopped by Trax.
Cooper was very confused...
Yay we made it home!!!
We missed Papa dearly but we still had fun at the park!
So naturally Cooper was covered in sand and pretty dirty so I took off his clothes and went into the bathroom to prepare a nice bath before his nap. When I came out to get him this is how I found him. He didn't seem to notice me and just kept relaxing while I grabbed the camera and took a picture.
He is a very silly boy!

Easter!

2009-04-17T01:51:00.001-06:00

This Easter we kept it pretty low key. We saw the Easter bunny Friday morning (Grandma and Grandpa tried again Saturday, but had the same results) dyed eggs Friday evening, and gave him his presents Sunday morning. We didn't really do a hunt or anything, but next year for sure!

This was Cooper's very first Easter, therefore his very first time seeing this strange creature. The walk up was alright
The sitting in the lap however was not.We tried to get Papa to see if that would help, but it did not.
The bunny was very friendly and kept trying as best she could but Cooper was having nothing to do with this part of the holiday.
Later that day we tried our hand at dying Easter eggs.
Cooper was very confused as you can see if you look very closely at his wrinkled eyebrows.
We let him hold one to show him what it was.
Of course he had to put it in his mouth.
And then checked with Grandpa to make sure that was okay.
The festivities!
I wrote Cooper's First Easter on one!
Then we tried to trick Cooper by replacing his egg with a peeled one.
He was quick to not be made a fool of.
And like the polite young man he is he decided to share with Grandma.
It was definitely different.
He examined it to see why.
Then took another bite to see why.
It was the icky yellow stuff.
One that was gone and out of the way he decided to tear it into pieces.
And then distribute them to people he saw fit, like Grandpa of course.
The end result of the festivities.
Cooper's Easter stuff from Mama and Papa (or the Easter bunny rather, but not the scary one!)
Along with his basket from Grandma and Grandpa. Of course Fritz couldn't wait to get his hands on the race cars, so you may have noticed they are absent in the picture.
So here it is set up.
Cooper didn't waste any time getting into the cupcakes.
The next morning he decided to play some golf with Papa.
Squatting to putt the ball just seemed easier.
Then again, placing in the ball was easier than everything!
And a few days later Cooper practiced his swing some more.

Absolutely preposterous!

2009-04-04T23:13:00.001-06:00

Initially I was planning on writing cute things that Cooper does daily on the side bar but as most know I've been slacking on that. Cooper also did multiple cute things today so I thought I'd just write about them all!

Fritz and his dad both love soccer, so naturally it's going to be instilled into Cooper to love soccer as well. When Fritz or I are playing with Cooper occasionally we'll grab his foot and make it kick the ball and then cheer for him. Well today all on his own Cooper decided to try his hand (or foot rather) at playing soccer without Mama or Papa's help. I was sitting on the living room floor with him when he hit the ball with his foot. I asked him if he was kicking the soccer ball and he got all excited and kept doing it. Of course as soon as I pulled out the camera he got all shy and ran up to me to hide, but with a little persuasion I got this out of him! He's also saying "my ball" and "ball". And while it looks like he's just running into the ball I beg to differ because he could very easily walk around it. He just isn't coordinated enough to actually lift his foot to kick it. This is his own special way!

After Cooper's soccer skills it was time for a nap. When he woke up he ate some yummy food and then we went to the living room to play. I guess he wanted me to read because he grabbed a book and came and stood by me. I sat him in my lap and started reading. During the book I was texting my mom, updating her on how Cooper was feeling. After a few minutes Cooper grabbed the phone and held it up to his ear (backwards of course) and said what sounded like "Hi, ya (short pause), ya (short pause), ya (short pause), bye" then placed the phone down on the floor. It was incredibly adorable how he just carried on his own little conversation. He's turning into such a little person.

Cooper's also gotten in a bad habit of taking things out of the trash can. Whenever he has trash we try to tell him it's trash and show him where it goes, and if I say "icky" he usually gives it to me so I can throw it away. Well today Cooper decided to take a paper towel that I had placed in the trash can out and start wiping the floor with it. He just squatted down making circular motions as if he was cleaning up a mess, like he's seen me do tons of times before. As precious as the thought of him wanting to help mommy clean was I had to remind him that that was already in the trash and we don't take things back out again.

A few minutes later I heard my phone beep in the living room on the couch. I was just talking to Cooper joking around and I said "hey Cooper can you go get mama's phone?". I continued doing what I was doing and a few seconds later I felt a tug at my pants. I looked down and Cooper was very eagerly handing my phone up to me. I was completely astonished. It is remarkable to me how much he understands of what I say. Here I was just making conversation with him getting ready to get my phone and show him what I meant, and he already knew.

The inconceivable rate at which Cooper learns things is just preposterous. He says so many words, responds to so many phrases, and has the characteristics of such a wonderful little gentlemen. Everyday he makes his parents proud on so many levels!

The sad truth

2009-04-04T17:50:00.003-06:00

I realized about a week ago that Cooper reaches for his binki, pacifier, schnuller; whichever you prefer to call it; out of habit, not out of necessity. I have always hooked it up by his shoulder, usually on the right side, and while watching him play I saw him reach up to his shoulder, follow the imaginary string down to wear it should end and move his hand toward his mouth. I hadn't hooked his binki on that day, yet he was going through the motions he normally took. He was in the middle of playing not needing to be soothed. I explained what I had seen to Fritz and on about Tuesday we decided to take it away during the day so Cooper would start to get the hang of not having it. I still hooked in to him at night and during nap time to aid him in relaxing himself to sleep. On Wednesday night he didn't even put it in his mouth. He reached out for his crib and when I laid him down he just put his head down and went to sleep. Friday morning I took it off as soon as he woke up and I got him out of bed. That afternoon he left to go spend the night at my parents. As soon as my mom left I realized I hadn't given them a binki for the evening. I knew they didn't have any at their house and I hoped they wouldn't go out and buy one just for that night. Cooper came back this afternoon perfectly fine. My mom told me he hadn't needed one the whole time he was there. I just laid him down for a nap and again he went without any struggle. It makes me horribly sad to realize that my little boy is no longer in need of "baby" things, but that he is growing up into a big boy now.

Only a year ago in the hospital he was my little baby, now he's a little man.

Cooper's Birthday cont.

2009-04-04T00:24:00.000-06:00

Cooper's miss-hap

During the party we had a little miss-hap and Cooper's birthday balloon came unhooked from his big boy chair and flew all the way up to the top of McDonalds.

A McDonalds worker got a ladder and saved Elmo for Cooper!

I made sure to tie it extra tight this time!

Cooper's Friends!

Isaiah, Issac, Ashley
Nola, Noah, Tory, Auntie Vy
Danielle, Izabelle, Issac, Grampa, Ashley
IzabelleAli
Emily and Cooper playing b-ball
Cooper, Mama, Ashley, Kai'Dyn(front) Shannon, Matt (back) Ashley, Kai'Dyn, Robert, Sam
Kai'Dyn and Robert
Noah and Tory
Trisha, Dan, Noah, Isaiah
Izabelle and Kai'Dyn
Nola, Izabelle, Danielle, Dan
Robert and Kai'Dyn they climbed too!
Nana, Shannon, Papa, Cooper, and Matt
Isaiah, Nana, Cooper

Isaiah, Cooper, Grampa, Nana
Shannon and Ali getting ready to leave
Cooper had loads of fun on his birthday and enjoyed all the wonderful gifts and company. Of course we missed Oma and Opa Groothuis, Cooper's great grandparents near and far, and all other extended family that lives out of town!
We miss you all and wish you were here to celebrate the first year of his life!