Thanksgiving

Cooper's first Thanksgiving was great! We headed to Austin to spend several days with family, then went to our friend's ranch for a little hunting and relaxation. (Just in case you are wondering, Philip did the hunting, I did the relaxing.)

Cooper was a huge hit in Austin. In fact, I only saw him when it was time for him to eat. Other than that, he was entertained (and entertaining) cousins, aunts, and uncles. He did pretty well for the long car ride. You should have seen our car! I think I packed everything in my house, plus the dog! No really, we had the dog with us! It's amazing the gear you have to take for a baby--car seat, stroller, clothes, pack-n-play, bouncy seat, extra clothes (you never know how many changes we might have to make in a day), blankets, diapers, travel bath...wow! Then Philip had all of his hunting gear and we had to make room for Drake! I should have taken a picture!

We have so much to be thankful for this year--an amazing little boy, wonderful family, good health, steady jobs. We are truly blessed!

I love this picture! Cooper had been laying against Philip's chest and when he sat up, his hair stood straight out! Love the look on Cooper's face--apparently he knew his hair made us laugh.


Cooper was a big hit with all of his cousins, but little Cameron and Whitney seemed to be by his side at all times!



Cousins admiring the youngest of the bunch. Look how Cameron has her arm around the boys--too cute!




Cameron and Whit playing with Cooper again!

This is the only picture of Cooper from the ranch. He was exhausted from all the traveling!

Entertainment

As a new parent, I'm amazed at what we do to calm a baby. I can honestly say, I've never sang or swayed so much in my life...this coming from the girl who wishes her life was a musical. Who knew you could walk, sway, rock, bounce, and swing so many different ways? Sometimes I feel like I'm getting an ab and leg workout from all the different ways I move. Philip and I have our own unique ways of calming Cooper. I tend to end up in hysterics when it's Philip's turn. I always knew Philip was entertaining, but I didn't know he had so many hidden voice talents! Recently, Philip has taken to talking to Cooper like Darth Vader, "Cooper, I am your father..." Ha! It always works, too. Cooper is crying one minute, hears Darth Vader, and quiets down. It's amazing! Philip also has this funny walk/lunge/bounce thing he does around the house. If Cooper only knew how funny Philip looked, he would not only stop crying, he would join me in laughter!

Cooper had his two-month check up at the doctor this week. He had to get three shots--ouch! I wish I could say he did fine, but that would be a complete lie. He hated those shots and let out a scream like I hadn't heard before. It broke my heart. Luckily my mom was with me, so she not only helped to clam him down, but also helped calm me down! One a happy note, though, Cooper is "thriving" according to the doctor! He weighs...drum roll...12.5 pounds and has grown two inches! We don't see the doctor again until he is four months, just in time for another round of shots. Mom, I hope you are available!

Here is Cooper at two weeks old!

And here he is at two months old! What a growing boy!

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!!