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!