Learning New Tricks

Cooper's world is just opening up to new things on a daily basis. One of the more obvious events is that he is learning to smile a whole lot more. For a while there, I thought I had the most serious little one-year-old on the planet! We've even managed to catch some of those rare smiles on camara a couple of times. He giggles, and makes the sounds of the swoosh of an airplane, and he loves to fake cough to get attention! It is hilarious. Everytime he walks into a room he goes, "WOOOOOOWWWWW"! Although this is not one of Greg's favorite tricks, Cooper calls me Mama, but he seems to be confused because he calls Greg, Mama, too! I try to reassure my husband that Cooper probably just thinks it's like a joint word for both parental units, but that doesn't seem to make him feel better. Cooper also doesn't walk around anymore, he RUNS! He has the bumps and bruises to prove it. And he can't stay still for a second. If he standing, he is constantly moving his feet or going in circles. He makes me tired just watching him! If you are reading him a book he will stand and gaze at the book from afar...all the way across the living room while shuffling those feet! No wonder he crashes at 7:30 every night! Oh, and that is another thing he just started doing last week...he has started going to bed on his own. All of a sudden he didn't want to be rocked anymore for bedtime. I just laid him in his bed and he rolled and flopped around on his own until he went to sleep. That was definitely a milestone for Cooper. We were so proud of him! It just had to be on his timing.

And finally, last week while Greg was out of the country on a business trip, Cooper fell out of his crib in the middle of the night. I knew something was wrong when I heard a loud "BAM" on the monitor and then that really scary "I'm hurt" cry. Of course I run down the hallway, and he met me at his bedroom door. Talk about a weird and scary feeling. Cooper doesn't have carpet in his room either. It is that laminate floor, so I know it had to hurt. I checked him for bumps, but couldn't find any, and he slept with me for the rest of the night. It scared me pretty bad. Needless to say, I lowered the crib down to the lowest setting the next day. I still don't know how he did that. I have never seen any signs of him crawling on it, or I would have lowered it a long time ago! But he is all right, and I learned a thing or two about crib structure.

So, anyways, that is Cooper's world for now. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Here is one with his new lawn mower that his Nonny bought him. He loves it! I just wish it really worked so Greg and I wouldn't have to mow. That would be GREAT!






Here he is playing peek-a-boo from behind a tree. Sorry about the off-centeredness. I was trying to watch him and take a picture at the same time. Not a good idea...





Here is one with him carrying his ever-present green blanket all over the house. We never leave without it. He is always walking around with it covering his face, so he is constantly bumping into things. He also loves to play peek-a-boo with it.




And here is one with all his cousins at a family get-together. Of course Cooper is the only one not having a good time in this picture.