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!

Model Time!

Philip set up a little "studio" in our living room to take some pictures of Cooper. These are just a few of the great ones that we've taken! Cooper stayed calm just long enough to get some cute pictures. But, once he realized he was naked and a blanket wasn't close by, he let us know that he'd had enough!

Two Weeks

Cooper will be two weeks old tomorrow! Time is really flying by, and I feel like he has changed already in the last two weeks. He's starting to fill out more, he's more alert every day, and I love how I feel like he is taking in my face and my voice like I take in his. Overall things are going really well. We've had our moments of fussy times, and he does fight sleep sometimes, which at 3:30 in the morning makes it a little difficult on me. But, I know in time we'll get into a schedule and more of a routine. Right now, I'm just enjoying every little bit of him!

Philip has been itching to go dove hunting since the season started. And, I'd been nervous for him to go very far while I was pregnant because we didn't know when little Cooper would join the world. But, now that little man is here, Philip and Drake went hunting for the day on Saturday. So, in honor of Philip's first hunt of the season, Cooper surprised Philip by wearing his camo onesie!

After bath time, in Cooper's cute piggie towel!


This morning, I thought Cooper was sound asleep, but I looked in the pack-n-play, and he was wide awake, just looking at the world around him. So, I grabbed this colorful little toy and placed it in front of him. Cooper just stared and stared. I just love how alert and content he is in the mornings. It's my favorite time with him! We often go outside in the morning and walk around the backyard or go sit in the rocking chair on the front porch. I just adore him!

My sweet angel!

Cooper's First Bath

I can't believe my little man is already over one week old!  The past week has gone by so quickly, and we are taking in every minute with him.  He is getting more and more alert every day--opening his eyes wider and looking around, just taking in his surroundings.  I love how when I start talking to him, his little eyes go right to my face!  Melts my heart.  Cooper has this cute little half smirk that comes out every now and then.  I call it his Elvis smile.  

I've been worried that Cooper isn't eating enough because he falls asleep pretty quickly after he starts nursing.  But, today I found out that I was wrong.  Cooper is gaining weight!  His birth weight was 7 lb. 8 oz.; he was 7 lb. 2 oz. at our first doctor visit; and today, he was 7 lb. 11 oz.!   I was told that he falls asleep because his little belly is full!

Cooper didn't know what to think about his first bath.  He was calm in the beginning, but quickly found his lungs!  Luckily, bath time has been really fun ever since.  He gets so calm and seems to really enjoy them.  I think it might have something to the cute little alligator towel he gets to put on after he's squeaky clean!

The First Few Days

If I haven't said it enough, Cooper is amazing. I am truly in awe of this little person and amazed he was the one growing inside me for nine months--this baby with long eye lashes and finger nails and knuckles and creases in his palm and wiggly toes and soft skin and the tiniest little hands. It just blows me away, and I am totally in love with him.

We've been doing pretty well at home. He'd much rather sleep on someone's chest than in his bed. In fact, last night after he ate, he fell asleep on my chest and I intended to just cuddle with him for a little bit before putting him down. But I was enjoying that time so much and kept dozing off myself, so I stayed in the rocker until 2:00 a.m. when he woke up to eat again! That's ok though, these days I couldn't want anything more than to just love on my new son!

Our first visit to the pediatrician went pretty well, but Cooper didn't like being naked and having the doctor check out all his joints, his eyes, ears, etc. So, Cooper did what any naked little boy might do, he pee-peed on the doctor! Oops!

Most of you know that our household is kind of like a zoo at times.  We have two cats (Mocha and Teva) and a 90-lb. Lab (Drake), and they all crave attention.  So the other night when Philip sat down with Cooper to watch the UT game, the animals just started to surround him. It was kind of like Noah!  The animals just came to him.  So, I had to jump in the picture to make our first complete family photo!

Philip loves being a daddy!  He just loves on little Cooper and walks around saying proudly, "This is my son."  They had lots of fun this weekend watching the UT game and the Cowboys game!

Presto! Change-O!

Before we headed to the hospital, Philip and I ran into Cooper's room to do one last pregnancy picture!  We were so excited to meet our little boy.  

Easy as that.

David Copperfield would be proud.