Love Letter to Cooper

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.