Happy Day Outside

Cooper and I went to the Dallas Arboretum earlier this week and had the absolute best time. The weather was gorgeous--perfect day to be outside! I found this great open grassy area and laid a blanket down for Cooper. The minute I put him down, he started smiling and didn't stop! He kicked his legs, wiggled his toes, and smiled from ear to ear! I went a little camera happy, but couldn't help it--he was being such a great model. I love watching him look around and really taking in his surroundings.

In deep thought.




I love how he kicked up his little legs in this one.


My favorite pic!


Just enjoying the sunshine!

The Boy King

We went to see the King Tut exhibit at the DMA last Friday. King Tut sure looks familiar.

Bedtime

Cooper is almost eight weeks old! Wow!! He is really doing great at night, and we are finally getting into a regular routine. He eats, then takes a bath (washing that hair takes the longest!), then we put him in his jammies, swaddle him, turn down the lights and rock him to a lullaby CD, and he drifts off to sleep. The CD I've been playing recently is so precious. It's personalized so it has his name throughout the songs. The songs say things like, "Cooper you are an angel" or "Cooper you bring joy to so many hearts." It is so fabulous and melts my heart every time I hear the songs! I try to get Cooper in bed by 9:00 p.m. or 9:30 p.m., and he usually sleeps until 3:30 a.m. or so, wakes up to eat, then down again until 6:30 a.m. A few times just recently he has slept through the night! He slept for seven hours one night last week and almost eight hours another night! The first night he didn't wake me up at 3:30 a.m. Philip and I both just randomly woke up around 4:45 a.m. and realized Cooper hadn't made a peep, so Philip got out of bed to go check on him, and Cooper was just snoring away!

Here are a few pics from the other night. Our amazing little man--we are truly blessed!!





While I was cleaning up the bath room, Cooper fell asleep on Philip's chest! My favorite boys--too precious.

Now...this is how Cooper looked when I put him to bed that night. He won't fall asleep in his bed unless his is swaddled. We call it making a "baby taco."

And this is how I found him that morning! He completely came out of his taco!! Normally, I'll find him with just his little arms out and the blanket across his chest, but this night, he totally wiggled out of the taco! The night after this one, I again found him completely out of the taco, and he was perpendicular in his bed--how in the world did he do that?!

Halloween Southwest Style

Halloween at Southwest Airlines is a huge deal. Departments work for months organizing skits, haunted houses, mazes, and themed walk-throughs. Everyone dresses up--even Herb, Colleen, and Gary--and spends the day having fun and getting scared! The Southwest blog has a great video of the day. Lots of video of Gary (our President and CEO) dressed as a member of ZZ Top!

Erin (who also works at SWA) and Caden (who is one day older than Cooper) joined Cooper and I for the festivities this year. Below are a few pics from our day. (It might not look like I have on a costume, but I do. I went as a mom!)

Erin and I and the boys in the lobby of Headquarters.


John the Pirate, Joe the Bee, Tim and Ken the Cows, Gwen the Kiss, and Shannon the 70s SWA Flight Attendant. (Shannon was in a skit called "SWAMammia," and they won first place!)


That's my boss, Todd. Our department had a "Bee" theme, so Todd went as "Bee-Vo." He's a Longhorn, too!


Scary Pam!! Yikes!

Caden and Cooper!

The boys did great all day!

Kickin Cooper

Cooper is really starting to love spending time on his play mat! He kicks his little legs like he is trying to run a marathon--a boy after my own heart. This was too cute not to video!! Who knew such a little person could get so revved up!!

Cooper Outings

Cooper has been a busy little bee recently! The last couple of weeks I've decided to venture out of the house and actually take Cooper out in to the world. The more we get out, the easier it gets. And, so far, he's been great on all of our outings. Here are some pics from Cooper's adventures.

Cooper goes to Anthropologie (aka: My Happy Place)!! You know, I've never really paid much attention...well, any attention...to how people get up and down an escalator with a stroller. So, when I was at the mall and needed to go to the next level, I had no idea how to get Cooper up there! So I did what any new mom with a stroller might do--I casually walked in circles around the escalator area until I saw another mom with a stroller go up the escalator, then copied her! But it looked a little scary having the stroller at that incline, so I made sure that Cooper was all buckled in so he wouldn't fall out! I never did master the going down part though. So...I had to find an elevator.

Cooper is a great helper in the dressing room. Where else would you put clothes when you run out of space on the hooks?? (By the way, I didn't buy all these clothes! My sister got a new job, and she needed to add some goodies to her wardrobe.)

Cooper goes to the Arboretum! He loved being outside and seeing all the pumpkins.


Cooper goes to Central Market. He said he would hold our tomatoes for us.

Cooper goes to Northhaven Gardens. He helped me pick out some great fall flowers for the front porch!

Happy Boy

Cooper will be six weeks old tomorrow. Wow!! Where is the time going? He is really getting strong and shows more signs of alertness every day. We've gotten into a pretty good routine--he eats, then is awake for a while (close to two hours these days), takes a little nap, then we start all over again. Cooper is still eating about every three hours, but during the night, he will go closer to four hours, which I love! Just a little extra sleep for me! He's had one five-hour sleep stretch, but I'm hoping with each week, he will sleep longer and longer at one time. He has started grabbing onto things and really holding on tight! T-shirts, fingers, even my necklaces and my hair! Ouch!

We ventured to the Dallas Arboretum this weekend and had so much fun that we ended up joining so that we can go back as often as we want. It's just down the street from our house, and they have so many great activities for kids and families. We are really looking forward to spending some fun afternoons there with little Cooper!

The last couple of mornings Cooper has been waking up so happy! He just lays in his crib, making little noises and coos--it is so cute! When I go in his room, he continues to "talk" to me and is just so content. Cooper has also started smiling at us!! It's not consistent, but there are times when Philip makes a funny face at him or I talk and smile at him and there it is--a huge, open-mouth happy smile! Melts my heart. Here are a some pictures from our morning play time. You can see his adorable smile in several of the pics!!

Pumpkin Time!!

My sister and I took Cooper to visit his first pumpkin patch on Friday, and we had so much fun!!!  Cooper was quite a trooper and slept for most of the time.  He got a little fussy at one point, but I ran to the car, fed him a little, then we were back in the pumpkins taking more pictures.  Ann got so many great images.  I could have posted so many more, but here are just a few of my favorites.  Thanks Uncle Len and Aunt Mary for Cooper's Halloween onesie!

My cute little pumpkin!!!

This one makes me laugh!!!!  Cooper kind of slid down the pumpkin and his little hat fell off. Ann and I were laughing so hard when this happened, but I didn't realize how funny the picture would turn out!!

My Little Man

Throughout my entire pregnancy, people would always tell me that the love you have for a child is a love you can't explain and a love like you've never felt. I am finding more and more every day how true that is. I am so in love with Cooper, and it really is a type of love that I've never experienced before. He is just amazing.

We have our four-week doctor visit on Tuesday, and I'm so anxious to see how much Cooper weighs now. He is growing and changing already, and he is so strong! In fact, we started doing tummy time two weeks ago, and Cooper is doing really well with lifting and turning his head from side to side. In the beginning, he would only last a few minutes on his tummy. He would get frustrated so quickly, but now he is so content for a good amount of time on his tummy and makes the cutest little "coo" sounds! I have this little lion toy that we use during tummy time, and I move the lion from one side of Cooper to the other, and usually Cooper will lift his head and follow the lion! It's so cute!!

Drake decided to do tummy time with Cooper!

Look at the size difference!  Drake is being so great with Cooper.  He is so gentle and knows not to give Cooper too many kisses.  Drake loves to be close to  Cooper at all times, too.  When we are in Cooper's room, Drake is right there laying in the doorway, just watching his new little friend!

Two Week Birthday Celebration

Cooper turned two weeks old on Tuesday, and I can't believe how quickly the time is going by.  He is changing and growing each day!  We are getting a little more into a "routine" every day, and the last several nights have actually been really good.  I think he has pretty much learned that we are awake during the day and we sleep at night.  Even though he wakes up just about every three hours at night to eat, he is good about eating and going right back down to sleep.  During the day, though, he eats and then is awake for about 45 minutes to one hour, then goes down to sleep.  However, during the day, he likes to nap on my chest instead of in his bed.  I love that cuddle time with him, but I know he needs to learn to be comfortable in his bed and pack-n-play.

On Tuesday, several of my favorite people from Southwest came by to meet little Cooper.  I thought it was just going to be a little visit, but they walked in and surprised us with all kinds of birthday goodies for Cooper!  It was his first surprise birthday party!  We had cupcakes--in honor of Cooper's nickname before he was born--and Transformer-themed party decorations!  It was such a fun afternoon.  Thanks Fishy, Caro, Scooter, and Shannanay for celebrating Cooper!

 

Even the birthday boy had to have a Transformers hat!

Time to open presents.  Cooper was so exhausted from all the excitement, he decided to take a little nap while I opened his gifts. 

Happy Birthday, my little man!