One year ago today!

Exactly one year ago was when I had my embryo transfer and when I technically became pregnant (even though I wouldn't know it until 10 days later).  We were given a picture of the 2 embryos that were transferred on that day, and what we didn't know at the time would be that one of those was our little boy.

I can still remember the thoughts and feelings I had that day.  I remember how excited we were that both embryos survived the "thawing out" process and how we were both a little hesitant to get our hopes up too much.  It seems like just yesterday when I go back and read the post from last year (Embryo Transfer a SUCCESS!!!).

I feel like I say it all the time, but it's crazy how much things can change in one year.  :)  

These are a few of Cooper's favorite things...

Over the past couple of weeks I've caught myself saying "Cooper loves___".  There are many things that would fit in the blank, but here are most of Cooper's favorite things (in no particular order).

Pacifiers

Ceiling Fans

TV

He loves to scream and he loves his changing table.  We've always said that his changing table is his "happy place".

Fingers

Bottle

Blankets

Mirrors

Trees

Stuffy Noses

After 15 weeks, Cooper has his first cold.  Brad came home from work one day last week complaining that he was getting a cold.  He was sneezing and had a runny/stuffy nose.  Well, Sunday afternoon when Cooper woke up from his nap, he was congested and coughing.  Yesterday morning he woke up coughing and his nose was very stuffy.  I was worried that he would feel bad, but he was in a GREAT mood all day!  Of course I called the doctor to see if I needed to do anything, but the nurse said to just use saline drops and a humidifier (which I was already doing), and she said they wouldn't want to see him unless he started running a fever, not wanting to eat, not sleeping, or was extremely fussy.  None of those things have happened yet, and hopefully they won't, and hopefully I won't be the next one to get it!

Sunday afternoon Cooper rode in his "big boy" stroller for the first time.  We went for a walk around the neighborhood, and he LOVED it! 

Cooper also met Big Red for the first time this weekend...not the real one, but the stuffed one.  Notice his reaction...

Hopefully when he meets the real thing in a couple of months at his first WKU football game he won't look so worried.   :)

Oh, and Bailey is finally starting to come around and play with Cooper.  See for yourself...

Ok, so actually Bailey still pays no attention to Cooper.  She just loves socks! :)

Mother's/Father's Day

I just went back to last month's posts and realized I never posted anything about my 1st Mother's Day which happened a month and a half ago. I had a great day spending time with my little guy, and I feel so lucky to be his mommy!  Of course we had to take some Mommy and Cooper pictures...(remember this was 7 weeks ago and Cooper was only 8 weeks old).

I just love my Mother's Day gift.  Cooper's birthstone is in the middle, and Brad and I's birthstones are on the bottom.  And yes, he went to Jared! :)



Now that we've gone back several weeks ago to Mother's Day, we can catch up to this past Sunday which was Father's Day.  Daddy pulled out one of Cooper's 3-6 month UK onesies and didn't realize he had on a matching t-shirt.  Of course this called for a picture.

I think Cooper was very excited to be dressed like his daddy! :) 

Sunday afternoon we went to Brad's parents (JuJu and Pops) for lunch.  The plan was to have a pool day, but the rain and storms stopped that, so we spent the afternoon being lazy and watching the U.S. Open instead. 

Cooper wore his "I love Dad" shirt, but you can't really see it in the picture.

 

Mother's Day and Father's Day were extra special to both of us this year!  It's amazing how much things can change in one year, and we are so lucky to have our special little guy in our lives this year.



1/4 of a year!

That's right, Cooper was 3 months old this past Friday!  Of course we had to celebrate the day by taking the monthly photos.  Here are a few of my favorites...

I thought he smiled a lot in his 2 month pictures, but this month was FULL of smiles! :)

This kid LOVES being outside!

I wish I knew what this face meant.

I love when he makes this face!

Saturday, we took Cooper to get his 3 month pictures made.  We also got to take a few family pictures which I'm really excited about.  I can't wait to see how they turned out.  I was a little sad that we couldn't take Bailey to be in the family pictures with us, but Brad promised that she could go when we get his 6 month pictures made. 

Cooper is still such a good baby!  He is starting to be very predictable.  Over the past couple of weeks, we've really started to get into a routine.  For the past several days, here is what his schedule has looked like:
7:00 Wake up and eat
7:45 or 8:00 Power nap (usually last anywhere from 30 min. to an hour)
10:45 Eat
12:00-2:45 or 3:00 Nap (I am LOVING this long afternoon nap.  I've gotten a lot of house work, school work, and pool time in during this time.)
3:00 Eat
Somewhere between these 2 eating times he will sleep for about 30-45 minutes.
6:45 Eat
7:30 Nap? Sleep? Not sure what this time is, but Cooper sleeps for about 2 hours.
9:45 Wake up for bath and last bottle
10:15 Sleep

I feel like Cooper still sleeps a lot, but he seems happy doing this.  We would eventually like to get rid of the last bottle around 9:45 so he can have an earlier bed time.  For now, the schedule we're on is working great for all of us!
Eating- Eats between 5-6 ounces every 3 1/2-4 hours during the day. He still loves to eat and still hates when you take the bottle away to burp.

Sleeping- We still have a GREAT sleeper that sleeps through the night every night!  I must say, it is wonderful! We do still use the swaddle blanket at night and during his long afternoon nap.  We've taken it away for the other nap times though. My goal is by the time I go back to school to have him completely out of the swaddle blanket. I think he could do it during the day, but I am a little worried about the night time.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can ease our way out of stopping the swaddle blanket?

Playing- Over the past couple of weeks he's really started paying more attention to his surroundings.  He loves music and lights.  He used to be able to pick out a ceiling fan no matter where we were, but these days, he's more interested in the TV.  We caught him staring at the TV this morning, and it wasn't even on.  He loves his Baby Einstein DVDs!

Measurements- Based on my measurements and our scale, Cooper weighs 12.4 pounds and is about 24 1/2 inches long.  This sounds about right, but he doesn't go back to the doctor until July, so we have a few weeks to find out the real doctor measurements.

Other facts about our boy- For about 3 weeks, Cooper's starting doing his "crunches" as we like to call them.  When you take the bottle away, he will pull his upper body up almost like he's trying to sit up.  He really just wants the bottle back.  He does this constantly in his car seat too.  I'll look back at him (we have a mirror on the back seat so I can see him), and he'll be couched down.  He's been sucking on his hand A LOT, so I think he is trying to do that.  Sometimes he forgets that his hands will go up to his mouth.  Instead, he likes to take his head and mouth down to his hands.  It's so funny to watch him to do this.

At the beginning of the last week (at 12 weeks) I noticed that he laughed out loud.  I had thought he had done it before, but this time it was really noticable.  He was taking a bath, and was laughing at me....probably singing or making funny noises.  Since then, he's been doing it all the time.  Everytime I get the video camera out he stops.  My goal is to get a video of this sweet little laugh soon.

I really can't believe that Cooper is 1/4 of a year old!  Even though it's only been 3 months, it seems like this little guy has been in our lives forever!