Cooper - 48 weeks

Chase - 3 years, 4 months

What can I say about my Chase?  He's just the best!  There are times where he is a complete handful, but he's just such a great little boy!

So this list of updates is just going to be a little random -

He's talking back to us now, which we love because it's new, but also makes us nervous!  He tells us to "Stop IT right now" when we bug him.  We think his longest phrase so far is "Daddy, please stop.  Am watching Toy Story One on TV".  He take his movies very seriously.

Also, have I ever mentioned that the first thing Chase ever said he loved unprompted (besides mommy/daddy, of course) was donuts?  We were at our nearby donut place, and as we were checking out he said "I love donuts!".  Ha.  So cute.  The next day, he was pulling up Netflix and said "I love movies!".

Also, if we ask Chase what he wants for dinner, his first response is always Tacos.  His other responses include: Donuts, Ice Cream, Cookies, Cupcakes, and Pizza.

Even though he's not scared of the dark, he insists on sleeping with the light on.  We fought it for a couple of weeks, but we've just given in.  He used to sleep with the overhead light on, but I bought him a lamp for his room now, so he sleeps with that on.  I think it's just a power thing.

He loves to dance with me.  When he hears a song on, he'll come running to me and ask me to dance.  This usually involves me picking him up and bouncing and swinging him around.

He's a sleeve chewer.  It drives us crazy.  He will knaw on them until they are soaking wet.  So gross.  Can't wait til spring comes back so we can wear short sleeves again.

Speech therapy is going well.  He passed all of his current goals, so they reevaluated him to get a new batch of goals.  Currently we are working on blends (br-, pl-, th-, etc sounds).  In some of these blends, he either says other sounds, over does it, or does it, but it doesn't quite sound right.

He's mostly gotten over me needing to carry him all over the place.  There was a while after Christmas break that he wanted (more like demanded) me to carry him into school directly from the car.  This was nearly impossible for me because Cooper is now in a big carseat so I have to carry Cooper in my arms too.  Carrying both of them at the same time in hard, particularly in heels.  I nearly took a spill one morning as I was trying to type in the security code!  But luckily, Chase has gotten much better about this and he'll walk in on his own and walk all the way to his classroom and sit down without too much trouble.  There are still some mornings that are rough (usually Mondays), but it's so much better!

He is officially an Angry Bird fanatic....and he can even beat a few levels!  And a Netflix fanatic.  He always finds the WORST cartoons!

When Chase wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he always used to just stay in his bed and yell for us to come get him.  He's just now starting (although not all the time) to come out of his room on his own to come downstairs.  I can't wait until he'll do this all the time in the morning.  It would make my life so much easier!  The only problem though is that he can't open the baby gate at the top of the stairs.  I caught him one morning trying to go underneath the baby gate.  He nearly took his head off doing that move!

Cooper and Chase are thisclose from being best friends.  Cooper already thinks they are best friends and Chase is starting to see the potential in little Cooper (when Cooper isn't ruining his life by taking apart his puzzles, touching his toys, or trying to swipe his snacks).  If we ask Chase to tickle Cooper, he'll go over and give him a little "tickle, tickle" on Cooper's chest and Cooper LOVES it.  If we ask Chase to hug Cooper, he'll usually either ignore our request or go offer his cheek to Cooper.

Cooper - 11 months!

11 Months:

Unofficial Weight: 22 1/2 lbs
Diaper Size: Size 3
Clothes: 6-12 months. They are getting REALLY snug though.
Hair/Eyes: Light brown/Hazelish.  His hair always makes me laugh.  It's just a mess!  I love freshly bathed Cooper hair though.  He gets a little Mohawk on top (plus, his hair smells delicious!).
Favorite toy: Balls.  He loves the ball pit in the playroom and he loves to carry them around with him wherever he goes!  He's also got quite a mean throw!
Favorite food:  Apple Nutrigrain bars.  Inhales them!  Also, he will never quit eating food.  He never gets full.
Least favorite food: I wouldn't say he doesn't like Mum-mums anymore, but he's not quite as excited for them as he once was.  Weezie gets most of his Mum-mums that he tosses to the ground.
Typical daily schedule: Wake up around 6 for the day.  Nurse. Eat snacks throughout the morning while I get everyone ready.  Drop off at school around 8:30.  He has typically 3 4 to 6oz bottles at school.  He now eats off the school menu so he has the same breakfast and lunch as Chase now.  They also give him a cup of water to play with during the day to help train him on sippy cups.  He usually takes 2 good naps for them during the day - each about 1 to 2 hours long.  Drew still does all the afternoon/nightly duties because I'm still at work.  Most nights I try to get home by 7, so I can nurse him before bed. 

The big development this month is that he's pretty much sleeping through the night!!!  Finally!  There are still some nights where he wakes up crying and won't go back to sleep on his own, but Drew makes him a bottle and he'll go right back to sleep.  I think having him on formula a majority of the day has made the biggest impact on him sleeping.  Drew and I feel like somewhat normal people again now that we aren't being woken up every 2 hours. 

One difference we noticed between baby Cooper and baby Chase is that when you gave Chase a bottle, that bottle would be empty in less than a minute.  He gulped every last ounce out of his 6 or 8 ounce bottles.  Then when he was done, he would scream and cry for more.  Cooper is not as crazy for his bottles.  We'll fix him 4 and sometimes 6 oz bottles, and there are a few times he'll drink maybe 2 to 3 ounces and leave the rest.  He'll then go merrily on his way.  I guess that's why Chase weighed about 1 1/2 pounds more than Cooper does!

Cooper likes to live dangerously.  He likes to try to crawl off my bed every morning.  There have been a few times where he has been so quick, that I've had to grab him by the ankle to keep him from falling.  He thinks its hilarious.

Cooper - 47 weeks

Cooper - 46 weeks

Cooper - 45 weeks

December Phone Pictures

Still more pictures to share.

On the 24th we made our trip to the Enchanted Forest to see Santa!  We went bright and early at 9am so I think we were the first people to visit Santa that morning.  We had been prepping Chase that he needs to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas.  In our "pre-interview", Chase said he was going to ask Santa for "TOYS!!".  When the time actually came to ask Santa for something, Chase did not want to participate.  He would have rather explored the room around Santa or around the photographer rather than sit on Santa's lap and say anything to him!  Oh well.  Cooper did pretty well though.  Cooper has not had a great history with men with facial hair so we were expecting Cooper to be completely freaked out.  He was very calm and just looked around the entire time.

Chase checking out the trains.  He LOVED them this year.  We are convinced that we need to take him to the train museum this spring/summer.

Fast little trains.

 

Over Christmas break, we received the new carseats for both of our cars.  Here is Cooper riding in the back of the van.  I'm in the third row keeping him company.

Drew sent me this picture one day when I was at work.  He said that Cooper was making his first mess.  He had gotten into the wrapping supplies that I had left near the Christmas tree.

Ms. Pam at daycare sent me this picture in December.  She said that Cooper was in his crib looking and playing in a mirror they had on the wall.  She said the next thing she knew, she looked over and he had fallen asleep sitting up!  Ha!  I have never once seen one of my kids fall asleep sitting up (i.e. in a exersaucer, high chair, etc).  He is such a little sweetie pie!

Cooper - 44 weeks