Visits with Santa

To say that Cooper is unsure of Santa is putting it mildly! Last year he was so tiny that he slept the whole time. This year was a different story! This is Cooper with Santa at the fire department Christmas party Saturday night...



On Monday, we took him to the Bass Pro Shops with the hopes that we would get a better picture. As you can see, that didn't happen!

He's OK sitting on Santa's lap until he looks over his shoulder and sees his white beard. There's just something about that beard that Cooper doesn't like! Is it just me or does Santa look like he's met his quota of screaming children for the day? The kid before us and the kid after us screamed louder than Cooper! Poor Santa! My Mom said that I would never sit on Santa's lap as a child and, I didn't realize this until she mentioned it, but there are NO pictures of me with Santa. It wasn't for my Mom's lack of trying! I always remember going to the mall for that purpose, I just didn't know that I succeeding in getting out of it every year! So, I guess Cooper is getting this from me. Better luck next year? We'll see!

Cooper - 13 Months Old

(I love this picture of Cooper! He is actually sitting on a horse at my aunt & uncle's house, looking at another horse. I just think he looks so cute in his sock monkey hat!)

I've decided to keep Cooper's month-by-month going on until he's 2 years old. He's still changing and learning so much, that I would like to keep a record of his first 2 years. I feel like 2 years is a good time frame for keeping this going. I promise there won't be any "Cooper - 234 months old!" posts! :)

Cooper - Here's what you are up to at 13 months old!

• You are in mostly 18 month clothing, 24 month in pajamas, and a size 5 shoe.
• You are walking so well! You rarely crawl anymore! You are almost to the point of running and you are getting really hard to keep up with! :)
• You are the happiest, most friendly baby! You wave and talk to everyone you see!
• Your love watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, WonderPets, Dance-A-Lot Robot, and pretty much anything on the Sprout channel.
• You don't watch alot of TV at home but when we get in the car, you immediately start trying to pull the DVD screen down in hopes that we will let you watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we are in the car.
• We are having SO much fun this Christmas season! You love all the decorations and want to pull all the ornaments off the tree! Ha! We can't wait to take you to see Santa!
• Whenever anyone leaves the room you say "bye bye" and wave. It doesn't matter if they are only gone for a minute, you still make sure to tell them bye!
• You will now blow kisses at people. Most of the time, you will put your little hand up to your mouth and make a kissy noise, but won't "blow" the kiss at the person. It's SO cute!
• You are Mommy's little man. You OWN me when you stretch those little arms up and say "MaMa" wanting me to pick you up!
• You LOVE books and love for us to read to you. We spend a majority of our day reading and looking at books, which I think is the reason that you vocabulary is so extensive for a 13 month old.
• We can now ask you where a puppy, turtle, tiger or tractor is in a book and you will point to it, or if it isn't on that page, you will turn to the correct page and point to it and say what it is.
• You have an "Elmo Mailbox Shape Sorter" (a toy where you fit the different shapes into the corresponding slot) that you LOVE! We have been teaching you what shape goes where and you can pretty much do this on you own now!
• We will ask you where our nose (or mouth, or eyes, or ears) are and you will point to it.
• We have weaned you off of formula and you are now drinking straight cow milk. You still take a bottle a couple of times a day but we are working on weaning you off of it.
• You are doing well with big boy food. Your current favorites are grilled cheese sandwiches, green beans, rolls, animal crackers, and Club crackers.
• You still take a pacifier at naptime and bedtime. I was worried about this but Dr. E said that it wasn't a problem and to not worry about it right now.
• You love to climb up and down stairs which SCARES ME TO DEATH! We have to watch you very carefully at Nuna and Grandaddy's house. Personally, I'll be glad when they move to their new house because it has NO STAIRS! :)
• You are changing so much! It's amazing all the new things that you learn day-to-day!
• Your first haircut is tomorrow. I've been putting it off because I love your little ringlet curls in the back! I'm sure that you will look like a big boy with your new haircut!
• You are SO much fun! You are truly a little comedian and keep us laughing! We are very lucky that God blessed us with you and we love you very much!

Cooper - One Year Old

Cooper - You are a year old today! I can't believe that it's been 12 months since you were born! This has been the best year of our lives! You are such a blessing & we love you more than you could ever imagine! Here's what you are up to these days:

• You are 23 lbs, 11 ozs (50th percentile) and 30 1/2 inches tall (75th percentile).
• You love to dance and you love music. Everytime you hear music, you start cutting a rug! Ha! It cracks us up! :)
• You are walking!!!! You can now walk across the entire living room and are getting more and more confident with your walking everyday!
• You love exploring and seeing how things work.
• You love tractors! It is your current favorite word! You have a toy tractor and a book with pictures of tractors that you love to look at!
• You have an amazing vocabulary for a one year old (at least, we think so!). Some of your new words are tractor (of course), big truck, turtle, thank you, and puppy.
• You still love music and any kind of toy that plays music! Your Dad has been singing "My Darling Clementine" top you and you also have a book that plays the song. Now you go around singing it (not the words, just the tune!). It's so cute, you go around singing "da-da-da-daaaa, da-da-da-daaaa, da-da-daaaaaa-da-da-da-da."
• You LOVE to be read to and you also love to look at books independently. We read to you all day long (and love doing it!). I hope that you keep your love for books! Your current favorite books are: a set of Sesame Street Beginnings books ("Nighty Night," "A Day at the Zoo," and "Bubbles, Bubbles"), your tractor book (of course!) and a book titled "Puppy"(about one of your favorite things...puppies!).
• We had your birthday party this past Sunday (11/7/2010) and had so much fun! (Pictures and details to come in a later post.)
• We've been introducing more "grown-up" foods to you and, so far, your favorites are grilled cheese sandwiches, baby lima beans, baked sweet potato, cut-up hot dogs, and bologna.
• You are so outgoing and friendly and you love everyone! You are still quite the little flirt! :)

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, sweet, loving little boy! I thank God everyday for blessing us with you! We love you SOOO much! Happy Birthday, little monkey! :)

Happy Halloween!

I'm a little late in posting this but...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Hayden this past Saturday (10/16/10). We all had a lot of fun! Cooper was especially happy because he got to see lots of tractors, some farm animals and lots of other kids. It was hard to get him to look at the camera because he was too busy looking at everything else, but we still managed to get a few good ones!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Treats Halloween

Get custom Halloween invitations at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Cooper - 11 Months Old

Cooper - I cannot believe that in a month you will be a year old! I've had a lot of fun getting ready for your birthday party! It's something that I have been planning for a while and I can't wait to see you dig into your first cake! Here's what you are up to:

• You are in size 18 month and 24 month clothes.
• You are a talker with a very extensive vocabulary for an 11 month old.
• You have started putting words together (mostly things like "bye daddy", "big truck", "hi mama").
• Tractors are your new favorite thing! We bought you a book with pictures of trucks, cars, tractors, etc., and you LOVE this book! You carry it around with you and will point at the pictures of the tractors and say "tractor." It's so cute!
• You are SO smart and learn things SO fast! You amaze me with all the new things you learn everyday!
• We are starting to try to wean you from your bottle so you are drinking mostly from a sippy cup during the day. You still have your morning and night bottle. You don't seem to be too attached to it so I'm hoping that the transition will be easy!
• You are very good at going to sleep by yourself at night. We usually put you to bed around 8pm and you just cuddle up with your night-night bears and go to sleep.
• We had your 1 year old pictures taken on 10/10/10 and you were SO good! I was afraid that you would be too "busy" to cooperate but you loved it and let Jeanie and April take pictures of you for an hour and a half.
• You are really liking table food now. You still eat baby food but we give you things from our plate too. Sweet potatoes, macaroni & cheese and green beans are still your favorites!
• You are such a busy, sweet little boy! You are always on the move! You definitely keep us on our toes and we love you very much!

Prayer Request

Above is a picture of my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Joe with Chris and I at our wedding. Joe has been in the hospital since late August with an infection in his heart. We found out yesterday that the infection is better (finally!) but his mitral valve is leaking badly and this is backing up and filling his lungs. Because of this, he is going to have to have open heart surgery (his 2nd) to repair or replace the valve. We are not sure of the exact date of the surgery. He will have to be moved back to UAB and consult with his cardiac surgeon. He has had a very rough time this year. He underwent another major surgery in May to remove some masses in his stomach and is very weak from fighting this infection. This surgery will be very risky and any prayers would be appreciated!

First Trip to the Zoo

A few weeks ago, we took Cooper to the Zoo for the first time and he LOVED it! Looks like we will be buying a membership so we can go more often!

ROLL TIDE!

WOW - what a nailbiter the Alabama/Arkansas game turned out to be! Cooper had his first taste of how his Mama acts during a close game like today's. Luckily, he thought it was funny to see his Mama acting crazy and yelling at the TV! Ha!

Cooper & Barrett

My best friend, Kelly, and her little cutie pie Barrett came to stay with us on the weekend of August 27th. There is only a 4 month age difference between our boys and they had SO much fun together! I can tell that these two are going to grow up best friends too, and maybe college roommates at UA! ;)

If Cooper hears the "click" of a camera, he will immediately search the room for it so he can "cheese" for the picture. Here's an example....I love my little silly monkey!

Sweet boys!

Barrett trying out Cooper's bouncer. Cooper had to stand next to him to "show" him all the toys!

Cooper - 10 Months Old

Cooper - I can't believe that you are only 2 months away from your first birthday! These 10 months have flown by! Here's what you are up to these days.

• You are still in a size 4 diaper and mostly 12 month size clothes.
• You finally started crawling (on Labor Day to be exact)! You have been pulling up and walking up and down the couch for a few months but never would crawl. Since you have discovered that this is a way of your getting around (and getting to things you want!) you are crawling everywhere!
• You are letting go and standing on your own for about 10 seconds at a time. Sometimes, you will let go and try to take a few steps by yourself. We think that you will be walking in the next week or two!
• You talk all of the time! You have started saying "PaPa." This is what you are calling your Grandaddy. We have no idea where this came from, it's just a name you decided that he should have! You imitate what we say alot, so we have to watch what we say around you! Ha! You also call your Dad "Daddoo" - again, we do not know where this came from. It's definitely something that you came up with on your own!
• You are so happy in the mornings! When you wake up, you will play in your crib for a while and just talk and babble to yourself.
• You love to play "peekaboo" and "pattycake."
• You have recently started clapping when you do something important. You have also started fake laughing at everything, which really cracks us up!
• You now give "sugar" when we ask. It's too cute!
• Everytime you hear music you start dancing. It's the cutest thing!
• You have 8 teeth (4 on top and 4 on bottom).
• You love for us to read books to you (and we love reading them to you!). You will usually want to read the same book over and over. Once we finish it, you will take if from us and then immediately hand it back to us wanting to hear the story again! Your current favorite book is called "Puppy" and it's about, you guessed it, your favorite animal.....puppies! Sometimes you will get a book out of your toy box and sit in the floor and look at the pictures. You have loved books from a VERY early age! I hope that your love for them sticks around! :)
• You recently had your first trip to the zoo and you LOVED it! I think that we are definitely going to have to invest in a zoo membership so we can go often!
• I can't believe that you are almost 1 year old! This has definitely been a wonderful year! You have gotten so big and you have the sweetest personality! Your Daddy and I get so tickled at your sense of humor! You are a funny little boy and we loves you tons!

Cooper - 9 Months Old

Cooper - At 9 months old:

• You weigh 22 lbs, 2 ozs (75th percentile) and are 28 3/4 inches long (75th percentile).
• You are in size 4 diapers.
• You are wearing mostly size 12 or 18 month clothes, 24 month old if it snaps at the bottom because you are so tall.
• You had your 9 month checkup last Thursday and you were SOOOO good! You absolutely LOVE your pediatrician and we are so happy about that! You had to get one shot and some blood drawn from your heel but you only cried for a minute and then you were fine!
• You have 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. It looks like you will have another bottom tooth here very soon! You have not been fussy when getting new teeth. There are a couple of days when your eating and sleeping habits change so we know that you are teething.
• You still sleep all night long. This isn't new because you have been doing that since you were 2 months old! :)
• You have become a very good napper. You will usually take an 1 1/2 hour nap in the morning and around a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.
• You have started waving "bye-bye." When we are out shopping and you are tired, you wave and say "bye-bye" to everyone you see. You are telling us that you are ready to go!
• You now say "hi", "bye-bye", "Da-Da", "Ma-Ma", "puppy" and "pattycake" (which comes out sounding like "pa-take" - SO cute!).
• You are putting words together. You say "Da Bye-Bye" (and use it at the appropriate times!), "Baby Bye-Bye" and "Hi Puppy."
• You are really ahead of the game on most everything. Your vocabulary really impresses us! You are so smart! :)
• You love for us to read you books and have since you were teeny tiny. You have amassed quite a library, since we seem to buy a new book everytime we go to the store!
• You love to go bye-bye and travel very well in the car. You have never fussed when riding in your carseat, especially since you started riding in your big boy carseat. I guess that you can see outside better.
• You are becoming very independent when it comes to feeding yourself. You have discovered Gerber cookies and fruit bars, which you LOVE!
• We are starting to give you food from our plate. So far, you really like bread (we pinch off tiny little pieces for you) and cauliflower (which we mash up for you).
• You still aren't a huge fan of juice but you love to drink water from your sippy cup.
• You still love veggies and are beginning to like some fruits, especially "tutti frutti" and "hawaiian delight." You love Gerber rice with apple-that's what you eat for breakfast.
• We try to go for a walk everyday and you LOVE it! We have to stop and let you look at every "puppy" (you LOVE puppy dogs!) we pass and I swear, every family in our neighborhood has a dog!
• Every morning when I walk into your room, you are always standing there with the biggest, happiest smile on your face. You are so happy in the mornings!
• You are a very happy baby! You smile and laugh all day long! We are so glad that you are so happy!
• We went swimming at Mona and Wayne's house and you absolutely LOVED it! I'm so glad that you like the water!
• We are taking you on your first beach trip Labor Day weekend. I can't wait to see what you think of the ocean!
• You absolutely love music! You have some toys that will play music and you will start them and then "dance" and turn around to make sure that we are watching you. It cracks us up! Your Nuna bought you a CD of children's music that we listen to in the car. If you are upset and we turn the CD on, you will quiet down and listen to the music while tapping your feet! I hope that this means that you will be musically inclined. I have no idea where you get this from because your Mommy and Daddy can't play any kind of instrument!
• You were going through a shy phase but those days are over! Now, you are such a social baby and you smile and wave at everyone you see!
• You are a huge flirt and quite the little ladies man! You just grin and giggle at ladies when they talk to you. I think that this is why you love to go shopping because you get so much attention!
• You are such a fun little boy and we can not imagine our lives without you in it! Our hearts overflow with love for you! I can not believe that you are nine months old! It seems like yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital!

Good Morning!

Here's the sweet little guy who was waiting for me this morning! He's started pulling himself up and standing in his crib and he always has this cute little grin when I walk into his room! Always a great start to my day! :)

Exhaustion

This is what happens when you play too hard! One moment, you are standing on the couch next to your Dad and the next moment you slump over and fall asleep.

Emily

My niece Emily has been such a huge help with Cooper to me this summer! She is so good with him and they have a lot of fun together! Cooper loves his Emily!

Bathtime!

Grandaddy's Surprise Party

In April of this year, my Dad underwent heart bypass surgery and is doing fantastic! We threw him a surprise birthday party on July 6th and it's pretty hard to sneak anything by my Dad, but he had no idea and was so surprised! We are so blessed that he came through his surgery and is doing so well! We love you, Grandaddy!

Cooper - 8 Months Old

Cooper - At 8 months old:

• You are in size 4 diapers.
• You are in 12 month size clothes (some 18 months - it depends on what it is).
• You have your two bottom and two top teeth now!
• You are suddenly into "finger foods." I've tried them a few times before but you never showed interest. Now, all you want to do is feed yourself puffs, yogurt bites, cheese puffs, etc.
• You still love veggies but really don't care much for fruits or fruit juice. You will eat them but veggies are definitely your favorite.
• You still love outside and you are so happy when we are strolling you around the block or just sitting in the swing. I think that you would live outside if you could!
• You still don't crawl. Instead, you want to pull up on the couch or a table and walk back and forth holding on. I don't think that you will ever crawl! I think that you will go from sitting to walking! Sometimes, you will roll across the room to get something that you want. It's too funny! ;)
• You have such a great personality and you are always happy and smiling!
• When you see something that you like or that you think is funny, you will look at it and then look at me with your head tilted and smile. It is SO cute and it just melts my heart when you do this!
• Besides saying "hi" and "bye bye", which you have been doing for a while, you recently started saying "da da", which makes your Daddy so happy! I'm still waiting for you to say "ma ma." Everyone tells me that "da da" is easier for little ones to say, so I'm chalking it up to that! :) You have also started linking these words together like "Da Bye Bye" and "Baby Bye Bye."
• You have recently started throwing your hand up to wave hello. We are still working on getting you to blow kisses!
• When I ask you for "sugar" you will lean in to give me a kiss. Right now, this is just something that you do for your Mama and it makes my heart melt!

Funny Pictures

Here are just a few pictures of Cooper from this weekend. He has recently became extremely interested in finger foods, especially Gerber "Puffs." We were in Wal-Mart this weekend with my Mom and niece and I gave him a "puff" and he pushed it to the front of his mouth. No, those aren't his two front teeth! :) We got really tickled when we saw this - it looks like he has some "Bubba Teeth" in his mouth! LOL!


When we got tickled and were laughing, he thought that it was funny and now he tries to do that everytime he eats a puff!


Here he is with his Nuna's shades on! LOL! He is such a little ham! Whenever we get tickled at him, he will really start putting on a show! He loves to make us laugh and is proving to be quite the little comic!

Sorry that these pictures are fuzzy! I didn't have my camera with me so these were taken with my iPhone.

Happy Anniversary!

Today, Chris and I celebrate our 3rd Anniversary! It's been a wonderful 3 years and I look forward to many more together!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Cooper - 7 Months Old

Cooper - At 7 months:

• You are sitting up by yourself and trying to crawl.
  


• You are such a little ham! You laugh and smile ALL of the time and you are so funny! You make Mama and Daddy laugh ALOT!



• You have a new Elmo toy that you love! Your Grandaddy bought it for you and you like to carry it with you everywhere.



• You will stop anything that you are doing if you hear the "Hot Dog!" song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. You like to dance along with the music!



• You had your first pool day and Aunt Kim and Uncle Keith's house and you aren't too sure how you feel about swimming yet.



• You love to go shopping with Mommy. Not because of the shopping, but because you love seeing all of the people. You always flash that cute little smile when someone comes up to us to talk to you!



• You are so much fun and bring so much joy to us! We cannot imagine our lives without you in it!

Our Little Boy Is Growing Up!

Last Thursday, we found this waiting for us when we got home...


It's Cooper's new big boy carseat!

Here is the first time we put him in it. He's been in it for a week now and he is LOVING it! He can see out the windows and it must be really comfy because he always sneaks in a nap when we are in the car!

Cooper - 6 Months Old

Cooper - At 6 months old:

• You weigh 19 1/2 lbs (50th percentile) and are 26 1/2 inches long (50th percentile).
• You are in a size 3 diaper (almost in a size 4!).
• You wear size 9 months in clothes (12 months in some things).
• Your favorite toy is a small stuffed monkey. You carry him with you everywhere!
• You are sitting up on your own. You love to sit in the floor and play with all your toys.
• Whenever anyone is holding you, all you want to do is stand up and refuse to sit. :)
• You still sleep all night long (usually 8:30pm until 6:30am) and have since you were 2 months old! You are still not a big napper but will take a few short naps during the day.
• Your current favorite baby foods are sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese (this is your Daddy's favorite food too!) and pear strawberry granola (actually, you love anything with strawberries in it!).
• You have started using a sippy cup but still want us to hold it for you. We are working on that though! :)
• Your new game is throwing your toys on the floor so we have to pick them up for you. You think that it is hilarious! :)
• You are a good little traveler! So far, we have only taken day trips but you love to be on the go!
• You are Mr. Personality! You smile and laugh ALL the time and are so much fun!
• You are a joy and we love you so much!

This Weekend

This weekend we wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors, so we went for a drive and ended up at Palisades Park in Oneonta. I had never heard of this park, but it is where Chris learned to rope repel when he became a firefighter. It is a really nice little park, with lots of rock cliffs for repelling and the views were really pretty. It would be a great place to view the fall foliage! Cooper loved it because he loves anything that has to do with being outside!

Naptime

Chris took this picture of Cooper this weekend while he was napping. I love this picture of our sweet, sleeping boy holding his favorite toy, his stuffed monkey.

Cooper's Baby Dedication - April 11, 2010

We had Cooper's baby dedication at our church on Sunday, April 11, 2010. Here we are with our pastor, who gave the sweetest dedication that we have ever heard. Thanks, Bro. Matt!

Cooper - 5 Months Old

Cooper - At 5 months:

• You are in a size 3 diaper.
• You are wearing size 9 months in clothes (you are such a long baby that you are already wearing 12 months in some things!).
• You are such a little ham. You smile and laugh all of the time and we can not get enough of your adorable little cackle laugh!
• You love your Exersaucer and your bouncer.
• You love any kind of "puppy," especially your two puppies, Murphy and Darby, and they love you just as much! We have to watch them around you because they are always trying to "sneak kisses" and lick your foot or hand!
• You are a very good eater. Your current favorites are sweet potatoes and squash. I think that you love veggies more than fruits!
• You love being outside but the pollen has been so bad that we aren't able to stay outside as much as we would like. I think that you are going to have the same bad seasonal allergies as your mommy.
• You are a joy and so much fun! We can't wait to see what new thing you will learn next!

Cooper's First Easter (2010)

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny stopped by our house and left some goodies for Cooper....

...then we went outside to take some pictures of Cooper in his easter outfit before we left for church...

...after church we headed over to Nuna and Grandaddy's for lunch and more pictures....

...all in all, we had a GREAT day! :) Hope you did too!

Under the Weather

We've been under the weather around the Richards' household. Over the past 3 weeks, Cooper and I have had colds, I had a horrible stomach virus and now Cooper has his first ear infection. We've been really blessed because this is the first time that he has been sick. Needless to say, we've been laying low and staying at home alot. He is on antibiotics now so hopefully it will clear up fast and he will start feeling better!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!