Coop-A-Loop Adventures

Love Letter to Cooper

2009-12-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Cooper,

First off, let me say, you are so flippin' cute. I can't even stand it. I want to bite you (and sometimes I do, but not hard). Okay, now that that is out of the way...

I can't believe you are a one-year-old! Where did the last year go? When I see newborn babies out and about I always say to your dad, "Look at that baby! He/She is so itty bitty! I don't think Cooper was ever that small." But you were. You were tiny and helpless and needed to be held and swaddled and fed all the time. And I loved you. But now you are big toddler and HATE being confined and can feed yourself. And even though I don't know how it's possible, I love you even more..

You went from a blob (a cute, yummy smelling blob, but just a little blob) to a little mobile monster in the blink of an eye. You can walk (for the most part). I mean, you have shoes for crying out loud -- only big kids have shoes! You talk...speaking of which, remember when you used to say "moooooooooom, mooooom, moooooooom," over and over? Why now is it "dada, dada, dada" all day long? You even call me "dada." I think you and your dad have a secret pact or something. Whatever.

You are funny and make car noises, monkey noises, duck quacking noises and have a great vampire laugh. You like to feed me mushy bananas and crackers and I happily eat them.

You bang your forehead against my mouth when you want kisses (LOVE THIS).

You love to read...or love to listen to us read to you. You bring me a book and climb in my lap and lay your head back against my chest, like you are getting comfy for a nice, long book reading session and I love it.

You wait a really long time to do stuff that the stupid screening ladies say you should be doing and then when you start to do it, it's like your saying, "What? Clap? Oh, yeah. I've been able to do that forever. Did I forget to mention that? I can wave, too, watch. Oh, I can even clap to that song you always sing to me, the 'If your happy and you know it' song. Yeah, I've had that down forever. Sorry ma--- I mean dada! Did I forget to let you in on my secret. Whatev."

And, when you know you aren't supposed to do something, you look at me with those big eyes and you make your mouth into this little 'O' shape and stretch your hand out...just waiting for me to say, "No." And when I do you stop...for a second and then try again...and again...and again...and again until you finally win and touch/throw/pull whatever you weren't supposed to touch/throw/pull and get a smug little look on your face that says, "haha, I win." And you do. You win. You always win.

But, that's okay. That's you. You are crazy and perfect. And I love you.

But my favorite thing is when I put you to sleep at night, every night. Just you and me. No 'dada.' You cuddle in and look at me with those HUGE brown eyes and I kiss your head and you smile and I know you love me, too.

With all my love,

Mommy

{itty bitty coop & big, crazy, one-year-old coop}

Cooper Catch Up

2009-09-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

You know you are a bad blogger when your overachieving blogger friend has to send you a Facebook message asking you to blog. :( LP, this is for you...

So, here's a little Coop catch up:

1. Cooper started daycare. He's doing really well. He is so flippin excited to see you when you pick him up. It kills me. What kills me even more is that I have drop off duty and when the hubs returns from his forever long business trip, he gets pick up duty.

2. Coop's has figured out how to open the pantry and tries to crawl in and/or pull everything out every chance he gets. This is apparently more fun than the hundreds of dollars of toys he has.

3. Cooper ate dog food. It was an accident. He shoved one lonely piece in his chubby cheeks and clamped down so hard I couldn't get that mouth open if my life depended on it. I had to watch him chew it up and swallow it. GROSS.

4. Apparently at daycare he crawls over to the kitchen area and then sits there looking up at the pantry until some one gives him a snack.

5. His first word was dog. This is all he has said thus far.

6. Between numbers 3, 4 & 5, do we see a pattern/problem? Does Cooper think he's a dog? Maybe.

7. Coop LOVES dance party with his Mommy. His favorite song is "You're the Best" by Drake (clean version of course) with the lyrics changed to "Coopie you the best, Coopie you the best." I now sing this to him in the car and he just smiles and laughs. :)

8. He doesn't it "baby food" any more. Even Miss Kiesha at daycare told me to only bring foods he can feed himself because other than yogurt and cereal, he doesn't like to eat mushy stuff. So, he's all about mac & cheese, chicken, cooked veggies and the kid LOVES watermelon.

9. His BFF at daycare is Sam. Sam is about Coop's age but BIGGER! Today when I picked him up they were bouncing around together. Too cute.

10. He is so freakin cute! Check it...

No More Fat Baby?

2009-08-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Friday was Cooper's nine month check up. He was just getting over a cold and has the remnants of an ear infection. Other than that, everything was fine...except apparently Cooper's too skinny! At 30.25 inches, he's in the 95th percentile for height [Dr. Mackey called him freakishly tall] but only in the 50th percentile for weight! He was 20 lbs. 11 oz. He should be closer to 25/26 lbs. I'm pretty sure that his weight is low because he didn't eat much while he was sick. However, I'm not sure he would have been at 26 lbs even if he hadn't been sick [he was closer to 22/23 lbs].

We had all noticed that Cooper had thinned out and chalked it up to him being active and mobile. Don't get me wrong, Cooper still got some extra meat on those thighs, but he's definitely not as chunky as he could be. Anyone who knows me knows I love me a fat baby. So, imagine how excited I was when Dr. Mackey told me to "fatten him up." YES! We go back in four weeks to recheck his weight. I'll keep you posted on my progress as I attempt to get Coop to full roly poly status.

{fat cooper}

{less fat cooper}

Cooper & Olivia

2009-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

So far, Cooper only has one cousin, Olivia June daughter of John & Kate Biolsi in NYC. Olivia's 4th birthday was the reason for our trip back to NY earlier this month. Although Olivia's only met Cooper once before this most recent trip, she loves him. She refers to him as her brother and when we arrived she didn't care about us, it was all about Cooper.

She loves to touch his head. I don't know why, but she was always touching his head. And, she loves to take care of him. While we were in NY, she got his bed ready with a blanket and stuffed animal and she was always fixing snacks and drinks for him. One nite, he was asleep in the pack & play and she was in her room while the adults where out on the deck chatting and apparently Cooper woke up. Olivia came to get to tell us Cooper was crying and when I went to get him I found that she had already tried to comfort him by giving him a few stuffed animals and another blanket. Too cute!

Here are some of my favorite Cooper and Olivia pics. She's coming to California in November for Cooper's birthday and I can't wait to see her!

Worst Mommy Blogger Ever

2009-07-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am truly the worst mommy blogger EVER. If I fancied myself a real mommy blogger (which I don't..I'm not clever enough nor do I post enough) and there was a governing board of mommy bloggers, I definitely be kicked out by now. At least it hasn't been a full month since my last post. So, what has happened with Chupie lately...

1. He has another new nick name -- Beep Beep. I actually really like this one and use it often. Except, now that he really responds to his name, I feel like I might be confusing him. He'll figure it out. He also has figured out what I mean when I say no...and listens!

2. He LOVES teething biscuits and bananas. He's not super fond of green veggies -- although he did just woof down a whole jar of peas and brown rice, so maybe he's turned a corner.

3. We are taking swim lessons and he seems to like it. And I love having an activity that just he and I do.
4. He is a crawling, standing machine! He's exploring all over and pulls himself into a standing position whenever he can get his hands on the couch, baby gate, window ledge, etc.
5. He loves to climb the stairs. It's super cute -- and he's really good at it -- but it is killing Mommy's back.

6. We recently saw our buddy Landon. It's been awhile since we last saw him, so he look a lot bigger and he can hold his own bottle. I love it!

7. Cooper took his second trip to the Arrowhead Resort and while we were there we finally got to meet Graham! He's about a year and a half and just too cute. And, I love that name!

8. He moved into a real carseat...he's just on the edge of being too big for the infant carrier seat and he seems to like this better anyway.

9. He things smashing his face against the mesh of the playpen is hilarious and laughs at himself, which makes me laugh and then he laughs at me.
10. Coop has gone to the worlds BEST sleeper to an average sleeper. He has been pushing his bed time later and later each night...tonight he went to bed at 9 p.m. And, he's been putting up a fight for his second and third naps. Hummm, I'm sure this is Daddy fault somehow!

Okay. You are up to speed on a day in the life of Beep Beep. I promise (to try) and post more often. I uploaded a ton of pics to shutterfly, so check it out... http://cooperjohnbiolsi.shutterfly.com/

Coopapotamus

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the hubs and I headed to Santa Monica for an adult only "staycation" [this is not my word, this is something I stole from one-eyed wonder). After a great night of sushi followed by a nice little wine bar, the hubs and I had a fabulous breakfast and headed to the farmer's market. There we found Jackapotamus, these oh-so-cute baby tees and onsies. We decided to throw down $16 for this organic cotton teaddy bear skull & crossbones tee for little man. It's so cute, I love it! Granted, Cooper is 7 months old and this tee is sized at 18 months old. But, Coop's big, the shirt is still a little big on him. They have some really fun designs. I personally like the one that says "Punk." It maybe my next purchase! If I had a girl, I'd be all over this Breakfast at Tiffany's tee, too.

That's my binky

2009-06-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we were at a friend's house as was Coop's best bud Landon. They are kinda getting to an age where they are interacting, but mostly on accident. Landon usually tries to grab Cooper's face [so cute] and Cooper seems confused by the whole thing. That's because Lando's 6 weeks older and has more stuff figured out. Even though they don't actually "play" we sit them in front of each other, which we find entertaining.

Note the binky in the video. It's not Cooper's, but he seems to be intrigued by it. I love how it ends up in Landon's mouth by the end. The community binky!

Crawling is so last week

2009-06-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

So, last Saturday Coopie started to crawl. My mom asked me if I was sad, because up until now every milestone he hits or pound he gains makes me realize I'm never going to get those tiny baby moments back. I've been know to shead a tear or two [or sob, but whatever]. But, the crawling didn't make me sad because it was so exciting. This is definitely the best age. He's cute, cuddly and super fun. He laughs when I tickle him like it's the best thing he's ever experience in the whole wide world and it melts my heart every time. But I digress...

Anyway, the day before yesterday, while sitting on my lap, baby Coop decide to to pull himself into a standing position using the toy music center, that's bigger than he is and sitting in front of us, to hold on to. This was exciting and scary. He was so proud of himself, looking back at me like, "Look what I just did, Mom!" But, this meant we were going to have to move the crib mattress down another notch [didn't we just do that a few weeks ago when he started sitting] and a realization that the crawling phase was going to go quickly. So, I was back to being sad when my baby boy starts to move ahead faster than I want him to or am ready for. I haven't had enough time to soak in the crawling, slow down, kid!

So, last night, I'm telling the hubs that we need to move the mattress down, he tells me I'm crazy, no way he's going to pull himself up, and if he does, no way he can fall out of the crib. Literally, right then, we look at the monitor and he's standing in the crib, holding onto the sides [yay for video monitors]. I RUN up the stairs to find this:

The hubs conceeds and at 8:30 p.m. we are moving his mattress down a notch. Now for the best part, as we are doing this, the hubs tells me that a guy from work just told him how their kid fell out of the crib because they didn't move the mattress down!

Me: Wait, you just had this conversation with Mike at work and he told you that his kid FELL OUT OF THE CRIB and you still didn't think Coop could do it?

Hubs: Well, he said his kid was fine and I still don't think Cooper could get himself over the rail.

Me: He has a big, heavy head! I don't think he's going to throw a leg over or anything, but he's going to lean over and that noggin is going to take him down and then, thud.

Hubs: Okay, okay.

I still theink we need to go down one more notch on the mattress, however, because this morning, when he decided not sleep for his morning nap, I went in to find this:

Please note that his mellon is higher then the top rail and he's only on his knees. What am I going to do with you, Chupie! :)

Babyfood Making Day

2009-06-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday was baby food making day for the Coopster. I busted out the BabyCook and the organic peaches and apples I bought the day before [BTW, four organic peaches and four organic apples cost me about $10. Good thing it'll take him two weeks to eat it all]. I went to work steaming the peaches and apples, separately of course, and peeling the skin from the warm fruit, just like the baby cook book said to do. Yes, I have a baby cookbook, two in fact. Of course, I had to taste these tasty treats to make sure they were good enough for my little monster. It turned out so good! I told the hubs that we should steam the fruit and then put it over ice cream, YUM! The apples reminded me of apple pie and the peaches tasted like some kind of dessert tart. No wonder you are supposed to feed kids veggies before fruit. If I ate peaches first, I'd probably never eat peas either!

And he's mobile

2009-06-17T22:14:00.001-07:00

So, This weekend was the official beginning to the end...Cooper has started to crawl. He is mobile. It is now 100 times more difficult to get dressed AND watch him in the morning. Check it out for yourself. This is from Saturday, when he finally figured out how to move his arms to go forward.

Now, just a few days later, he's a machine and getting around like nobody's business. Of course, he only crawls to objects that he wants that are out of his reach. He's not exploring yet or crawling to me, but I know that's coming soon enough. Right now, his favorite thing to check out is the dog bed in our room. I just know one day I'm going to find him curled up in there. Gross.

Trip to Costco

2009-06-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

A month's worth of Similac Advance Early Shield formula = $112.00
206 Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers = $41.00
1,000 Huggies Wipes = $24.00
Having Happy Kick, Kick Cooper as your shopping companion = Priceless

Sorry for the poor quality video and no sound, it was shot on my phone...but look how happy he is!

Better Late then Never -- NYC

2009-06-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know this is late, but at least it's here now!

A few weeks ago we were in New York for a biz/visit with family trip. We took the red eye from LAX to NYC. Coop woke up as soon as we got to the airport and I got worried. Then we got on the plane and he started to cry and the guy sitting in the next row asked the flight attendant for ear plugs and I really started to worry that this wasn't going to go well. But, come on, this is Cooper we are talking about! He fell asleep within 10 minutes and slept curled up on my lap the whole way. Best baby EVER! :)

In New York we spent lots of Time with Grandma and Grandpa B, Uncle John, Uncle Steve and Aunt Kristy. We played, went to the park and visited Great Grandpa John in Long Island. Cooper was a trooper through the long car rides and time changes. Gotta love this kid!

We also got to see Coop's Colorado peeps -- Brody and his mom Pam and dad Jed as well as the rest of the NY crew -- Billy, Dave and TJ for a BBQ at the lake house. Next time we go back Coop will actually be able to eat something that Dave, TJ and Billy cook up! Much love to our NYC family and friends! Can't wait to see everyone again in August.

I'm a big boy now!

2009-06-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, my updates lately have been too few. May was busy! We've had many visits by family members, a trip to NYC, a mini-trip for mommy and daddy to Santa Monica and lots and lots of work. And, somehow the plane trip back from NYC put Cooper's development on fastforward. Anyone who knows me knows that with every milestone he meets I'm both excited and sad, so when he decided to do a bunch of stuff at one time, I was overwhelmed. Here's a recap.

1. Coop started eating. The boy loves to eat. They say it takes a few times for them to get the hang of swallowing food and having the new taste and textures in their mouth. Not Coopie...the first time he totally got it.

2. He is a sitting machine. He can go from belly to sitting like nobody's business. So much so that it is now unsafe for him to be in his bouncy chair because he can use his massive baby ab muscles to sit up.

3. He's so close to crawling. He's up on all fours, he's rocking back and forth, he's so close and gets so mad when he can't go forward.

4. He can hold his own bottle. He also drinks water out of a sippy cup. It's all too much!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2009-05-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been slacking on the blog front, but it's been a busy few weeks. Patrick's dad was in town then we were in NY then this past weekend was HUGE for Coop [more on that later]. This was my first Mother's Day as an actual mommy. I had made Patrick buy me Mother's Day cards when we just had dogs and last year when I was preggers, but this one was different. It was an actual holiday that I had always celebrated as some one's kid, but this time I was some one's mom. It might quite possibly be the best holiday ever now.

My darling husband, that I love dearly, isn't really known as a planner. He often goes shopping for me on Christmas Eve and is pretty happy when I shop for my self and tell him, "Honey, you got me this purse for my birthday." For Mother's Day he did good! He got me a ring with Cooper's birthstone [noting that they are stackable so I can get another one when we have another baby] and a pendant with a "C" for Cooper and his birthstone. I love it and have been wearing it everyday.

On the morning of Mother's Day, we were in NYC [I was there for biz and he and Coop tagged along to see Grandma and Grandpa Biolsi. However, I would have taken Coop with me anyway, no way I'm leaving that kid for more than 12 hours -- that's the longest I've been away from little man so far...and it sucked]. Anyway, as I laid in bed Patrick brought me Coop and we cuddled [I love that] and gave me my gifts. I was so impressed. I have the best little family ever. :)

More on our Weekend in the Mountains

2009-05-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

So, the night that Coop decided that a cold bottle of Fat Tire was his favorite teething toy, we were at a friend's cabin in Arrowhead with a bunch of other friends and their kids. We had a great time catching up, telling stories and throwing back a drink or two. One of my favorite parts of that night was Mike & Melanie's son, Jonathan, feeding Cooper. Jonathan is almost ten and just a really sweet kid. He also loves babies and jumped at the chance to feed Coop his final bottle of the night. The kid's a natural!

The girls...Back: Melanie & Tonia. Front: Jennifer, Me & Nicole.

The boys...Travis (belongs to Nicole), Steve (Tonia), Patrick (Mine) & Mike (Melanie)

Top 10

2009-05-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

As I listened to the hubs talk to Cooper earlier today, I realize that we say a lot of things since Coop arrived that we never really said before. He's my top 10 list of things heard around the Biolsi house since Coop joined the family...

10. "Rudy, NO!" Okay, that one we did say a lot before. Now it's more like, "Rudy, not his eyes; you can only lick his hands."

9. "I think I smell poop."

8. "Give me those feets!"

7. Multiple renditions of "The ABCs" each and every day.

6. "I'm gonna get you!" Followed by lots of tickling of the little man (which he loves, BTW)

5. "Jump it out little man, jump it out!"

4. "I'm sorry you're hungry; it's Daddy's fault. I know, he doesn't make bottles fast enough."

3. "Ouch. Stop pulling mommy's hair."

2. "When did you _____ last?" Fill in the blank with feed him, change him, put him down for a nap.

1. "Binky Down! Binky Down!" We say this a whole lot as Coop has figured out how to pull the binky out and toss it across the room. The kid's got an arm!

Coop Loves Fat Tire

2009-04-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Cooper is teething. He's getting tooth number two and the little guy has been so miserable! Last weekend we were up in the mountains staying at Lake Arrowhead Resort (Patrick was working, Coop and I were relaxing). Friday night, friends of ours that have a cabin in the area invited us over, along with a group of friends, for dinner and drinks. Mind you, Cooper has already seen beer bottles, and surprisingly, he seems to get excited every time he sees them. On this occasion, Patrick was holding Cooper in one arm and the beer in the other hand. When Coop got sight of that bottle, the kid grabbed for it and pulled it to his mouth. Once he realized it was cold and felt good on his poor gums, it was all over. He wasn't sharing that beer with his daddy!

Interestingly, the next night Patrick tried to help the kid out by sharing his beer bottle again, but Coop really wasn't into it. Apparently he doesn't like Sierra Nevada, only Fat Tire and Pacifico. The kid already has good taste!

BTW, the video was shot with my new Flip video camera, which I LOVE. It's about the size of my cell phone, I figured out how to use it in about three seconds and it can plug directly into my computer to charge and download the videos. The other camera that Patrick spent a bunch of time researching and shopping around for is still sitting in the box at home. He has yet to figure it out. Yay for the Flip!

My Newest Favorite Thing

2009-04-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

We recently bought a jogging stroller in the hops that jogging could be my new "I don't have time to go to the gym and need an exercise I can do at home" exercise (this new stroller has yet to be used for jogging). We shopped around online and visited Babies R' Us to check some out on more than one occasion.

The weekend before we committed to making the purchase, Patrick had stopped into REI with his brother, Uncle Billy, who was visiting from Japan. There he found the BOB Revolution. Mind you, I was all too familiar with the BOB, it is the best-of-the-best. Super smooth ride, easy to fold up, light weight, great sun protection for Coop, somewhat off-road capable and lots of possible add ons and attachments and can accommodate kids from Coop size up to 70 lbs. ...and a hefty price tag to match.

I figured Pat would never go for it, so I never even showed it to him or brought it up. But, after testing driving it in the store, he was sold. :) Luckily we got a 20% discount and now have a stroller that will last us until Coop is old enought to not need a stroller. So now, the BOB Revolution stroller is my -- and Cooper's -- new favorite thing!

Strange? I think Maybe Yes

2009-04-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

I love when Cooper plays with his feet. This is a relatively new activity for him. When laying on his back, he puts his legs in the air and grabs his feet. It's very cute. The other night we were having dinner at a friends house and, although it was well past Cooper's bed time, he refused to go to sleep. Luckily he wasn't in a bad mood and kept us entertained by doing this...

The boy was committed. He got a good grip and sucked on his big toe like it was a binky for a long time. Crazy Coop!

Gals & Guppies

2009-04-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Tonia and I both had less than stellar experiences with a couple of mom's groups. So, we decided to create our own group, Gals & Guppies, and gather some of our favorite mom's and their kiddos.

Our first "event" was a picnic last Sunday. We had six moms and six kids attend and we had a great time, even though it was blazing hot. It was great to sit and catch up with friends, meet new moms and hang with our favorite little people!

Coop & Landon hanging out

Sarah & Isabella

Tonia and Landon

April and the youngest guppy, Mila

Anna and Kyle

Cooper's Big Happenings

2009-04-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Cooper had quite a weekend. Not only did he spend a ton of time outside at multiple parks and hang with his best bud Landon, but he also figured out how to hold himself up, so he can pretty much sit up unassisted now AND he got a tooth! Or, at least the start of a tooth.

************************************************************************

At our mom's picnic Sunday Coop was sucking on Tonia's finger and this is how the whole discovery went down:

Tonia: Ouch! I think he has a tooth!
Me: No way, I just check two days ago and there wasn't anything there.
Tonia: I swear I felt something sharp [Tonia proceeds to pull down Coop's bottom lip and there it is]. Oh my gosh, he totally has a tooth, look!
Me: No way. OMG! Let me see! [kisses Coop]. Let me see again. No way. Coop, You're growing up! OMG! I'm such a bad mom, I didn't even notice his first tooth. I guess this explains why he's been crabby.

It's hard to see, but if you look really close, there's the start of a tooth there.

Saturday in the Park

2009-04-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was all about being outside. Coopie LOVES to be outside. Sometimes if he's cranky before his bottle is ready, I tell Pat to take him outside and stand in the patio. It always calms him down. I guess the new things to look at and the cool breeze relax him.

Anyway, Saturday after I went to the physical therapist and Pat took his three mile run we were lazy. No chores were going to get done in the Biolsi house and, the next day I had a mom's picnic (more on that later) and Pat was playing golf, so we wouldn't spend much time together Sunday. We decided to head to the park and spend some quality family time.

Of course, Coop loved it. He loved playing with his toys, practicing sitting up and pulling on the grass. Here are a few pics from our afternoon at the park.

1, 2, 3...UP!

2009-04-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Coop's newest milestone is that he can hold his own weight (and that's a lot of weight) when you pull him into a standing position just holding his hands. He's such a strong little stinker! And, he'll stand for a long time! When he's done standing, he just bends his knees and down he goes! But he loves it.

He can also pretty much sit up on his own. He "tripods," holding himself up with his hands on the ground, but he can sit without support from mommy or daddy for the most part...sometimes he falls over, but he thinks this is funny. My kiddo is growing up!

Grandma Segal

2009-04-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

Grandma came to visit last weekend. She seems to be smitten with her favorite grandchild (well, her only grandchild) and he seems to find her amusing, so it's a win/win situation. Here we are in Easter...Rudy just had to be in the pic, too. She jumped right up and got into position as Pat got ready to snap this.

Things I Love About Chuppie

2009-04-16T20:21:00.001-07:00

I am so in love with my little man, but tonight when I was getting him ready for bed -- this is my favorite time with him. He's so much fun while I get him lotioned up and in his jammies then feed him his final bottle of the night and then we cuddle before he goes to sleep for the next 11 hours -- I was focused on all the little things that make Cooper, Cooper and how much I love all those things. Here's a few of my favorite Coopie things...

1. His fat legs. I love those fatty legs!

2. I love how he giggles and laughs when I nibble on those fatty legs.

3. Old man hair -- the hair on the back of his head gets all fuzzy, like a little old man.

4. He loves to get undressed. As you pull the shirt over his head, he smiles.

5. I love how he smiles at me from under his binky and when I pull the binky out to see that cute smile, it gets even bigger (this kills me)

6. I love that I can can calm him down, if he's upset, by singing to him. As soon as he hears me singing, he gets really quiet and listens and smiles at me.

7. He loves to play with his feet, it so cute!

8. He smiles every time I pull his socks off. That's always funny to me.

9. I love that he knows his bottle and as soon as he sees it in my hands and leans his whole body forward, with his mouth wide open, to get to it.

10. I love his new ability to make motor boat noises with his mouth and how slobber goes EVERYWHERE when he does it. If we're lucky, he'll do it while he's eating and milk goes flying.
11. I love to watch him jump in his Jumparoo.

12. I love how he smiles every time he sees his favorite toy, Quackers the duck.

13. When he talks to me and makes funny noises and I do it back, it makes him so happy.

14. I love how he nuzzles his head into my chest when he's tired.

15. I love that he's a good sleeper and a good cuddler.

16. I love that when he's done jumping and wants out of the jumparoo, he complains and fusses but can't quite stop bouncing, which only makes him more angry.

17. When he's mad, he doesn't cry, he makes a mad face and yells at you.

18. I love that he watches the entire episode of Baby Einstein and laughs at the TV.

19. I love that he loves the dogs. He could watch them all day.

20. I love to watch him roll over.

21. I love that he's figured out how to creep -- but only backwards. He's like an inchworm that can only go in reverse!

22. I love that you never know what position he's going to be in in the morning. He's such a wiggle worm that he's never in the same position as he was at bedtime.

23. Love how he squirms when I lotion him up.
24. And I love the smile he gives me when I go to get him in the morning. He's so happy to see you after a long night of sleep, it's a great start to every day.

Happy Landon

2009-04-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie because I love this pic of Landon. He's one of the most smiley babies I know. Love it!

My Buddy

2009-04-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Cooper's best bud is Landon, who is about 6 weeks older than the Coopster. Over the last few months, they've spent some quality time together. The last two times, they decided to hold hands (this melts my heart every time I look at the pictures). I decided to go back through the pics of them together...my how they have changed in just a few short months!

January 2 -- Not the first meeting, but their first pic together

January 11 -- Coop doesn't have much head control, looks like he has no neck

Holding Hands :)

February 24 and March 28 -- Coop finally has a neck

Hi Easter Bunny

2009-03-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday Coop and I headed to the mall (naturally) to meet up with his buddy Landon and his mom Tonia and get pictures with the Easter Bunny. When Coop first sat on the Easter Bunny's lap, he started to cry. Luckily he's easily entertained and when the photographer started to wave a stuffed animal around, he snapped out of it. However, he chose not to smile, only to make funny faces with his tounge out in every shot. I just rolled with it and picked the pic that made me laugh the most...

Mommy is a slacker

2009-03-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, apparently mom-ing and work-ing doesn't leave a lot of time for blog-ing. Going back to work has been fun; I enjoy being busy, love being back with my peeps and there's a lot of fun stuff going on. However, it's made me a slacker in every other aspect of my life...haven't worked out in 3 weeks, been eating poorly since going back to work and no blog posts or Shutterfly updates. I'm so tired when I get home from work, but I know if I fit in just a little exercise and eat even a little better, I'll have more energy for everything. Today's a new day and I'm turning over a new leaf!

Uncle Bill (a.k.a. Finchy, Pinchy, the Chimp) came to visit Coop, Pat and I last weekend. We were an extended stop on his way to Denver for a teacher conference (btw, when he got to Denver, there was a huge snow storm. Poor Pinchy). He was very impressed at how relaxed and "chill" the Coop is. Yes, I have the best baby ever. Pinchy can do a great Donald Duck impression and Cooper loved it. Uncle Bill had Coop laughing up a storm. The sound of Coop laughing is the craziest sound ever. If you're not looking at him, you're not sure if he's mad or if he's laughing, but he's usually laughing and it's so awesome. It melts my heart. Below is a really bad video of Uncle Bill and Coop. We (read: Patrick) have yet to figure out how to use the regular video camera, so this was shot with the still camera, which has some low quality video ability.

I promise to get back on it with updates, photos and videos. Today Coop and I are going to visit the Easter Bunny, so there will be some new photos to share soon!

Catching up

2009-03-16T19:38:00.001-07:00

What a week (and weekend)! I went back to work last Monday, March 9. As I said in my previous post, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Pat and I worked out our schedule (although he might need to move a touch faster in the mornings) and I got to work on time and made it through the day all week. It was on my way home Thursday, however, that it hit me. I only had about 15 - 20 minutes with Coop in the morning and as I drove home I realized I'd miss his 4 p.m. feeding and since I had an appointment with my trainer at the gym that night, I would alo miss his 7 p.m. feeding and only have about an hour with him in the evening. Sad. When I got home I found out from Nanny Kansas that his next feeding would be at 5 p.m. (sometimes he goes a little long based on his naps). YAY, I was going to get to feed him. As I went to get him out of his crib from his nap, the water works started. I couldn't control it. No way I was leaving him to go to the gym. So I skipped the gym and spent the rest of the night cuddling with little man. Ahhh, heaven! And, my friend April had her little girl Thursday, too, so that helped put a smile on my face.

Friday the 13th was a big day for me and Coop. Not only was it his 4 month birthday, we also had his infant screening and pediatrician appointment. We found out at the screening that he's spot on regarding his basic development. check. At the pediatrician he had to get his shots, which he did not like at all. The needle going in was fine, but once the meds started to make their way in, he was not a happy camper.

We also got to find out where Coop was on the size scale. His head is shaped perfectly -- no flat spots. Doc said I was doing a good job of not letting him lay on one side too much. I said he's a flippin' wiggle worm, it has nothing to do with me. He weighs 17 lbs. 1 oz. and is 26.5 inches long. He's in the 90th percentile for weight and length. I was worried I might get in trouble, that maybe Coop had one too many rolls on those chubby little legs.

My conversation with the doc went like this:

me: He's fat, huh?

doc: Ummmmm, yeah, he's a chunker.

me: Is he too fat?

doc: No, he's in proportion, so he's fine.

me: Sweet! I like him fat!

Saturday we went for family photos. We had a great time cuddling as a family and Coop was a champ giving us an hour and a half of his best smiles, squeals and happy faces. We get to look at our pics in about two weeks, I can't wait.

This Friday Uncle Bill comes to visit. Something tells me I'll have stories to share. :)

The photo below is a few weeks old, but I think it's hilarious and demonstrates just how fat my fat baby is! :)

Back at it

2009-03-10T18:34:00.001-07:00

So, yesterday was my first day back at work. Albeit a short 4 hour day, but still, I had to leave little man and get back to it. So, Patrick and I were awaken at about 4:45 a.m. when we heard little man talking to himself. This is relatively normal -- he usually wakes up at about 5:30 a.m. and talkes to himself for a while and then goes back to sleep until 7 or 7:30 a.m. -- except Coop didn't know about daylight savings time, so for him it was 3:30 a.m., this is definitely not normal.

We let him keep talking to himself for a while until he started to get serious about his fussing. I got up at 5:30 a.m. to check on him and wouldn't you know it, he had turned himself around 180 degrees. When I put him to sleep the night before, his head was to the right and feet to the left. In the morning, head to left and feet were to the right. Anyway, I reinserted the binky and headed to the shower. Apparently he didn't go back to sleep because Patrick was feeding him when I got out of the shower a little before 6 a.m. Does anyone see the problem here? For little man it was only 5 a.m. and he's not supposed to eat until 7 or 7:30 a.m. That kid was all outta whack the entire day eating at weird times and taking crazy naps. However, he still went to sleep on schedule. He was out by 8:30 a.m. Huh.

This morning he was up and at it again at 5:15 a.m. Seriously? This is not working with my back to work plan. Luckily I was able to shower and get dressed before he wanted to eat at 6:15 a.m. And, yes, once again he had twisted himself around in the crib. Crazy kid.

So, my first day back at work wasn't as bad as most people thought it would be for me (have you no faith, people). Did I miss Coop? YES! Was it nice to talk to adults for a majority of the day and be able to use my actual voice vs. the high pitched voice I use with Coop that hurts my throat? Yes. Did GolinHarris feed us cereal and let us wear jammies to work to "celebrate" daylight savings time? Oh yeah...

That's me and the team (from left to right -- Lyndsey, JoLee, Catie and Candice). Yes, I know I'm hunched over weird. I don't know why I'm standing like that; Lyndsey looks extra tall in this pic; please note that JoLee is wearing footie jammies. For a full length pic, please visit Lyndsey's blog, One-Eyed Wonder - link on the right :)

Thumb Sucker

2009-03-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Even in the womb, Cooper liked to suck on his hands. We have a sonogram pic of him with his fist shoved in his mouth. He continues to see if he can get his entire fist, sometimes two fists, into his mouth. But, now that he has better control over his hands, he also has turned into a full-fledged thumb sucker. As a kid, I also sucked my thumb, so it appears he's taking after Mommy. You'll also note from the photo that he's sucking his left thumb, also like Mommy. :) Although my mom tells me I won't think this is all that cute when I have to pay the orthodontist bills down the road, right now I love it. Not only is it the cutest thing ever, he's also able to sooth himself when his binky falls out by just jamming his thumb in there. I absolutely love it!

Nanny on board

2009-03-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have heard a little about our new nanny, but here's the full scoop...Nanny Megan is a super sweet girl who just moved to the OC from Kansas. We (Pat and I) call her Kansas. If you've read the blog posting about the nicknames you know that it's impossible for anyone to just be called by their given name in this house. We have yet to have the kind of funny or strange situation that usually results in a nickname with Megan and she doesn't do anything strange like only wear green socks or eat only blue food or something equally strange that would help us come up with a clever nickname, so we just call her Kansas (Megan, if you are reading this, really, we mean nothing by it, Pat just has a disorder that requires him to give EVERYONE a nickname. I'm sure you've noticed that Cooper is called by many names, none of which are actually Cooper :).

I met Megan on nannies4hire.com. We started talking via email and on the phone before she officially moved to California. Over the phone I felt like I had a good rapport with her and Patrick and I liked her as soon as we met her. I talked to a ton of people and we met a handful of candidates. Some were very strange others where fine, but not a good fit for us and others were just flaky.

Megan's been watching Coop a few times a week for the last month or so and officially begins her daily nanny duties Monday.

She's great with Coop and has taught me a trick or two already. She worked with a set of twins and a heard of boys previously, so one easy baby is a piece of cake for her! Please welcome the nanny to the family!

My other new favorite thing

2009-03-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Since Coop joined the Biolsi clan I've found that I no longer have a desire to by anything for myself -- except for Starbucks, I still LOVE me some Star-Bs...ummmm, ummmm). Anyway, if you know me, you know I love handbags and I've been known to spend a good amount of money on just one in addition to shoes, clothing, stuff for the house, etc. Most, if not all, is stuff I don't actually need. Anyway, since Coop-a-loop has come along I've had no real desire to go shopping for myself. I much prefer to wander the aisles of Babies R' Us, Baby Gap or the baby section of Target. I just want him to have everything he could ever need and/or want. So, my other new favorite thing [in addition to the baby food maker] is the Bumbo seat. How cute does my fat baby look in this thing? Patrick says it looks like he's in his own little baby recliner. I love that I can pop him in there and sit him on the counter and he's totally entertained watching me do the dishes! He totally loves this thing. I also just got the clip on tray that I fill up with toys that are just within reach for him. He's totally entertain and self-contained in this foam seat.

My BFF

2009-02-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know, a good friend of mine had a baby boy, Landon, six weeks before I had Cooper. We didn't exactly plan to get pregnant at the same time, but it's worked out well. We joke that the boys are best friends even though they don't know that the other exists yet. Cooper's girlfriend will be born to my friend April on March 18 (or at least that's when she's due to arrive).

Anyway, yesterday I babysat Landon for the day. It's kind of like watching twins since they are so close in age. They even have the same feeding schedule, which can make things difficult. Luckily yesterday was pretty easy. They timed out their eating so that I fed them one after the other. They took naps at the same time and were easily entertained with my singing and shaking rattles and toys in their faces. That's when the cutest thing EVER happened...they held hands as they laid next to each other on the bed. How cute is this! And yes, I know Landon is wearing a Thanksgiving bib and that Thanksgiving was three months ago, but, he had just eaten and that happened to be the bib I had handy when I fed him. :)

O.M.G. my baby is F.A.T.

2009-02-20T08:24:00.001-08:00

As of 2:25 a.m. yesterday morning, Cooper was exactly 14 weeks old. As of 11 a.m. yesterday morning Cooper weighed more than 16 lbs. I know I always said I wanted a chubby baby, but he's got chub on top of chub! Pretty sure that he's abnormally chubby, I looked up the average size of a 14 week old baby...12.75 lbs and 23.75 inches (he's also 25 inches long, BTW). My next step was to get out the growth chart and see how he stacks up...he's in the 90th percentile for weight. For a kid that lost too much weight in his first few days, he's definitely made up the difference. I wonder if the pediatrician is going to yell at me at our next visit (which is 4/16 in case you were wondering). Whatever, this chubby baby is great for cuddling and seems to never be cold! :) I LOVE this chubber!

Coach Erickson, I'm ready to sign my letter of intent

2009-02-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting for this day! Finally my chubby baby is big enough to wear his Arizona State gear. Yes, this shirt says it's for a 6 month old, but Coop's advanced when it comes to weight...actually, this shirt is a little snug on him.

I'm sure he'll follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite Sun Devils football alums like Adam Archuleta and Pat Tillman and become an NFL safety or maybe Jake Plummer and become a pro QB. Whatever he decides, I know he'll be great!

Roadtrip

2009-02-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, we headed to the valley of the sun this weekend to see Grandma and Grandpa Segal. Of course everyone enjoyed our visit. Mom and Dad did a lot of sleeping and eating while Grandma and Grandpa did a lot of Coop cuddling. We even had lunch with Great Grandma Bea. And, even though it took 9.5 hours to get home, Coop was a champ in the car. What a trooper!

My new favorite thing and ramblings about the mall

2009-02-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know that Coop can't eat food for another three months, but I wanted to be prepared. Before Christmas I saw this baby food maker thing in a catalog and fell in love with it! I researched it, watched the "how to" video online and decided I had to have it. Coop deserves the best, which includes homemade baby food. So, last weekend we were at the mall (for six hours! see below for more on this outing) and there it was! The Beaba Babycook Babyfood maker thing!

So, both Tonia and I scooped one up (along with the cookbook). I can't wait to try this thing out. Seriously, who would have ever thought that this is the kind of thing that would have made my day...my week!

So, yes, we were at the mall for six hours while the dads played golf. Tonia and I strolled the mall looking at baby clothes and home goods pushing empty strollers while our babies were strapped to us via the Baby Bjorn. I'm sure people were looking at us, but whatever. Anyway, after making our purchases of the Babycook both kids got a little fussy so we stood by a bench in the middle off the mall rocking the little guys. This is when some one asked if they were twins. Do these two kids look like twins? Umm, no. Granted the woman only saw the back of their heads, but even their heads don't look like they are related. Crazy lady. The lady at Williams-Sonoma also seemed perplexed by the fact that we had kids about the same age. Why is this so strange to people? Yes, they are close in age. Yes, we were pregnant at the same time. Yes, they do have some of the same outfits but have yet to wear them at the same time. :)

Proud Papa

2009-02-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

Coop visited Yamaha yesterday so everyone could oooh and aaah over his cuteness. Of course, his daddy took the opportunity to get him on his first ATV...

Future Centerfold?

2009-02-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

Seriously, who does this kid think he is?

Tiny Feet

2009-01-28T21:28:00.000-08:00

Lyndsey, a gal that work's on my team, recently posted on her blog (one-eyed wonder link on the right there) that she hates feet. I agree with her 100%, feet are usually gross...except for these tiny feet. Why are baby feet so dang cute and at what age exactly do feet go from being cute to yucky?

The Big Roll Over Part 2

2009-01-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

So, last week Cooper rolled over for the first time. I though that it was an accident, but then he did it again. YAY! But, since that second time, nothing...until tonight! Now he's like a roll over machine. I laid him on his belly and over he went. I realized this would be a great time for me to use the video function on the camera, so I put him on his belly again and before I could get into position to film the big event, over he went again. I literally had to hold him in position so that I could get the camera set up because as soon as I let go of him, he's kicking himself over. Enjoy! And no, he's not at the edge of the bed, just a bad angle on the part of the camera woman (Sorry, I'm new at this).

Single Mom for a Week

2009-01-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

Patrick is traveling this week, he's been gone since about 5:50 a.m. on Monday. So, technically, he's only been gone for less than three days but it seems like forever. When you aren't working you get very little adult interaction! With Patrick gone I've had zip so far this week...unless you count the sales clerks at the mall that Cooper and I visited yesterday (he's such a good shopper). Oh, and the UPS guy dropped off a package today...but now that I think about it he didn't say anything to me, he just gave my dogs a dirt look. Anyway, thank goodness for Thursday! I have a meeting with my boss AND JoLee is coming over for dinner. YAY! And, on Friday, I'm heading to Nicole's in the afternoon...and don't forget boot camp at the gym on Saturday. Things are looking up in the adult interaction department.

And, although I've been a single mom for less than 36 hours, I really don't know how women do it AND work. I can't wait for Patrick to come home. I love my husband. :)

Cooper By Any Other Name

2009-01-22T17:56:00.000-08:00

If you know Cooper's dad Patrick or Patrick's brothers and friends from New York and Colorado you know that it's impossible for any of them to actually call some one by there given name. EVERYONE has a nickname. Patrick is Cheese or Pappy depending on which coast you are on, Uncle John is Sweet Lou, Uncle Billy is the Finch and Uncle Steve is H or Cheeks. Cooper's cousin Olvia is often called the Bean. Patrick's friends go by Slug (Dave), Beef (Jed), Green (Pam), Mon (Josh) and Billy. Billy may not seem like a strange nickname until you find out that Billy's real name is Mike...don't ask, I have no idea.

So, it should come as no surprise that at only 10 weeks of age Cooper has the following list of nicknames...
Coop-a-loop (okay, I gave him this one)
Chupa Chup (this is a Spanish sucker brand and sponsor of a Moto GP rider)
Big Man
Little Man
Little Big Man
LBM (which stands for Little Big Man)
Joby (I think it's some hockey player, I try not to ask too many questions)
Bud Bud
Quato (this is some ugly creature from the movie Total Recall. Why would you call your son that?)

Poor Cooper.

The Big Roll Over

2009-01-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today was a big day for Cooper. Not only was it his 10 week birth day, but he also rolled over for the first time! He was doing tummy time and just kind of tipped himself over from his belly to his back. He even surprised himself! It happened at his infant screening (I'll tell you more about that later) and the doctor was so impressed! Apparently babies don't usually roll over until about FIVE months. That Coop, he's so advanced! And his mommy is so proud. :)

Tummy Time!

2009-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

So, babies are supposed to do tummy time every day. We haven't been so good about giving Cooper everyday tummy time, exactly. Daddy or I lay with him or I on our chests and he pushes himself up and looks around, but not actual tummy time every day. So, yesterday when Daddy came home for lunch, we did some tummy time on the Boppy pillow (thanks JoLee). Cooper LOVED it so much that when I went to take him off after about 8 minutes, he screamed his head off! I had to put him back for more tummy time. Crazy kid. His Aunt Tonia said I shouldn't be surprised since he's like an acrobat doing crazy back bends all the time. She has a point.

Getting Up to Date

2009-01-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

So, What's happened in the last week or so you ask? A lot! Last Friday Daddy's cousin Danny, his wife Karen and their son, Georgie, came to California from Connecticut. They were in town for something work related for Danny but made time to visit the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! Well, Disneyland is super close to where we live, so we met the Connecticut Biolsis for breakfast. Georgie is too cute and Karen looks amazing (she's due with their second child, a little girl, in April). It was great to see them and we look forward to meeting their newest addition when we go back to New York this summer.

Earlier in the week we went to see Cooper's doctor for his two month check up. He weighs 13 lbs. 3 oz. and is 23.5 inches long! Yes, he's a big boy...in the 75th percentile for both weight and height (actually, he's close to the 90th percentile for weight, but who's counting). He also got his first round of vaccinations. He definitely didn't like those shots! I literally didn't put him down for five hours! Every time I tried to put him down, he cried that red faced, oh-so-sad cry that breaks your heart. And at 13 lbs. 3 oz., he's not easy to hold for that long!

We also bought a new toy last week. A $3.00 set of plastic rings, which is the best thing ever! Cooper LOVES these things! Money well spent.

If you put the ring in his hand, he'll bring it to his mouth and gum it and today, I think he realized that he's actually holding it. He brought it into his line of sight and stared at it and his hand forever.

He's so entertaining and, apparently, mom's easily amused. :)