How big is he?

I have had a couple of people ask me how big Cooper is now and that the pictures can be deceiving. Well if you are thinking he looks like a big boy, they aren't deceiving. We go for our 6 month check up at the end of May so I will have more accurate measurements then, but we know for sure Cooper is over 18 pounds. The length we aren't sure of, but a month ago he was 26.75". I have a feeling he has grown alot because now he can barely sleep sideways in his crib...I will update you for sure when we know.

Aunt Susan - Nicholas is adorable!!! Please keep sending pictures!

School days

Cooper loves daycare. He loves his teachers and apparently he has "friends". Who knew a 5 month old could have friends? I dropped Cooper off at school on Monday because Eddie wasn't feeling that good. So I take Cooper in, drop his bag off, put his bottles away and in comes Ms. Ne Ne to come and get Cooper. She says to him, Cooper let's go see your friend, she's been waiting for you to cheer her up. She takes him over to the little girl that is sitting in a play seat and puts him in a play seat right in front of her. Wouldn't you know it that I look over at him to say bye and they are holding hands! HAH! The little girl was upset when we walked in, but as soon as Cooper sat next to her to play she was fine. I must say Cooper does have a way of making people (me mostly) feel happy just by looking at him. Let's be honest the boy is cute, who doesn't smile when they look at pictures of the little man smiling?

On Tuesday when Eddie dropped him off, they told him, oh we are going to spend some time outside today. I am thinking thank goodness its them doing that. I mean really can you imagine taking 10 babies outside even with 3 adults? God bless those ladies. Well, when I went in to pick him up the classroom was empty and there I see them outside enjoying the weather. All the other babies are going wild not Cooper. He's laid back in a bouncy seat soaking it all in. I have to tell you I was pretty darn jealous that it wasn't me laid out in a comfy seat enjoying the sunshine.

That's all for our major stories so far. Oh wanted to tell you all (because I am sure you were wondering) that Cooper does in fact like carrots. He will eat them up now! We are starting on the green vegetables next. I have a feeling that is going to be trouble. As many of you know Eddie didn't eat many green vegetables before I came along (can I take credit for that?). I look at Cooper and his reactions to things sometimes and think this is Eddie in miniature form. I think I am in for trouble....

Here are a few pictures that they have taken of Cooper at school a little while ago. Are you smiling yet?

Cooper's First Baseball game

We had a very busy weekend. Cooper went to his Uncle Reid's baseball game on Saturday, visited family, had his first ride in cart at the grocery, and tried carrots. I tell you what, if that isn't busy, I don't know what is! :-)

So you know with all this activity we have some stories. Just to warn you this may be long.

We had to wake Cooper up early on Saturday morning. We made our way down the road to Ware Shoals. We have been very lucky traveling with Cooper so far. He normally sleeps the whole time. With him getting bigger we were wondering how it would go. He was great. He woke up for about the last 45 minutes, but really was good. Once we got to Ware Shoals we were off to Cooper's first baseball game. Reid gave him the ball to prove it! Cooper loved looking at all the people. (All the attention from all the people saying how cute he was, wasn't hurting his feelings either!) We didn't see the greatest coaching (just kidding Poppa Bruce!). Reid's team lost, but they all looked like they were having a blast. All the men were commenting on their skill and all I could see was little 8 year old boys running around having so much fun. Cooper - hope you grow up to be tough, cause your mom is probably going to be a big wimp when it comes to that kind of thing. After the game we went and played and had lunch.

Cooper then visited two of his great grandmothers. The whole day Cooper was a little angel. I am always so worried that he will have a little melt down while we are out and about. I know no one would care, it would totally just be me. But he was great and we were very proud. We headed back to Charlotte and he slept until the last hour. Then the melt down happened. I mean all out screaming on and off for that last hour. Hey I feel like doing that too when I am stuck in the car! Here are a few pictures of our big day out. I realized that I forgot to take one of Cooper at the game with his adorable little hat on. I can blame that on Eddie right...he had the camera.

So the last few "new" things he tried this weekend might not be too exciting to you but to Cooper oh my! Cooper can finally control himself enough to be able to sit in the little seat in the cart at the grocery store. Someone gave me one of those seat covers that has little toys on it for him to play in as we stroll around the store. He LOVED it. I mean you would think it was a whole new world to him. And really it was! He just stared at everything and everyone. It was one of those moments that I just looked at him and was just amazed at him. Again, didn't have the camera with me, but I will never forget seeing the little man sitting up so proud in that cart.

So the last new adventure was trying carrots. Now if you read my earlier post about sweet potatoes, they weren't his favorite. We tried squash and he really liked that. So I thought carrots would be another favorite...I mean they are Eddie's favorite so I just thought....boy was I wrong. Take a look.

This is before....

This is after....

I mean seriously how pitiful....

Well, don't say I didn't warn you. It was a long post, but now you know the play by play of our weekend. Hope you all had a great one as well!

Picnic with Cooper

Cooper's school had a picnic today for all the parents and kids to attend. Eddie and I went to pick Cooper up and take him upstairs to the gym where the picnic was being held. Thank goodness it was inside. It was pretty windy and chilly today! So we walk into the gym and they have a DJ playing music and kids running around everywhere. We had a great time. Cooper just laughed and played while staring at all the other children running around. And we discovered that EVERYONE knows Cooper. All the parents from his class know him, the assistant director from the school came up and told me how happy of a baby Cooper is. Look at our little man! All in all we had a great time playing with Cooper for an hour. Now it is official...I haven't gotten this mom thing down. I left our camera at home. I felt like a terrible mommy today. All the other parents are taking pictures and they we were no camera. Good thing Cooper is too little to be disappointed in me just yet! So I have no pictures to show from our fun afternoon. Next time I will not forget the camera!

Feeling Better...

Well Cooper did fine at school yesterday. Not a whole lot to report. But you know we have at least one story for the day. I called to check in on Cooper yesterday morning around 11am. I wanted to make sure he wasn't still being fussy all morning. His teacher said, he is doing a little better, still a little fussy. Then she says, "He interjected a bit during circle time." HAH! I can only imagine what he did. Maybe he cried, maybe he tried to steal a toy back from someone in the circle (we have evidence that he has done this before), maybe he just started talking and wouldn't stop. Who knows! But that is our Cooper.

I am sure I will have some good stories from today, because today Cooper's school is having a picnic where all the parents come and have lunch with the kids. Please just imagine a ton of people in business casual sitting on the ground on a playground watching their kids and trying to get everyone to eat...surely there will be some good stories, right? Until then...

Eddie and Cooper adventures

As many of you may know, Eddie gets Cooper ready for school in the morning and takes him to school. So I am sure there are many little stories that I don't hear about, but Eddie told me this one about this morning that was so funny I had to share....

Cooper wouldn't stop rolling over while we were trying to get dressed. He rolled over and grabbed the remote, then put it in front of his face, then he tried to put it in his mouth, but it was a little heavy, so it kind of bumped him in the face (nothing hard, just funny). He looked at it so funny. So I took it from him and laid it on the bed above his head, he immediately rolled over and tried to grab it again.

He thinks he wanted to change the channel. hahah!

Already playing hookie...

Well, we got our first phone call from daycare yesterday. They called me to let me know that Cooper was crying on and off all day and they were concerned. They just kept saying it is so unlike him to cry and it is a different cry, sounds like he is hurting. Of course my reaction was I will come get him right away. They told me that maybe I should try and see if his doctor would see him that afternoon. If not, Cooper could stay at school, but they really thought something was bothering him. So I get on the phone to basically beg for them to see Cooper. Of course every child in Charlotte is apparently sick on Mondays...who knew?!?! They said they could fit us in at 4:40pm but expect to be waiting a while. Not a problem, so off I went to get Cooper.

Wouldn't you know as soon as I walk in the room Cooper is just smiling at me. I go to pick him up and he grabs my face one hand on each side and pulls me in. I swear he just wanted to give me a kiss. Of course my heart melts at first. I get all of his stuff together and he is being a happy little baby. His teachers are amazed at the change and they just keep saying he was so fussy before. So I take him home to get ready for the doctor. All the while I do not hear any crying out of this child. We go to the doctor and nothing is wrong with his ears, but they are worried about how stuffy he is. The doctor said that probably he couldn't breathe and I quote, got him pretty ticked off. haha! He's 5 months old and is already getting ticked off. They told us to take more of the medicine we were already taking and let them know if it doesn't clear up in a week.

Now I probably should have told you for this 5 minute check up we were at the doctor's office for 1.5 hours....for a stuffy nose?

Honestly, I think Cooper had so much fun being at home this weekend that he wanted to extend it, so he decided to play hookie. Eddie said what a smart kid, he is learning already how to get out of school early. This can't be a good sign, can it?

What a wonderful weekend!

Well, just as the title says, we had a great weekend. We were able to get off work a little early on Friday so we started our weekend off right! We had time to go by Lowe's to get some mulch for the flowerbeds out front. While Eddie put that down, Cooper and I went to play with the little girls across the street. Cooper just laughs when they dance around for him. Then we took a walk and headed in for the night.

Saturday was such a beautiful day we had to get outside. So we decided to take Cooper to a park to see if he liked to swing. Oh boy did he ever. He loved to swing. Or did he love looking at all the other children playing? We aren't sure, but let's just say he loved to swing. Take a look for yourself...make the call

Isn't he sweet?!!! He really did like the swings. We need to get him one to put up in the yard. After the swings we tried the slide. To be honest, not his favorite. This one I can definitely say he liked looking at the other children instead. Take a look at these pics...

All in all a great day at the park.

Saturday night was Eddie and I's first night to go out to dinner just the two of us. Cooper's school has a program for one night a month called "Parent's Night Out". He gets to stay in his room that he knows with his own crib and all the toys he plays with all week. He had a good time, but wouldn't go to sleep for them. That's our Cooper. As soon as we got him in the car and I rubbed his hair, he was out like a light for the night. Sweet baby...

On Sunday we took it easy. We did buy a new jogging stroller and Cooper loved it so much on our jog he fell right asleep. It was a wonderful weekend and we hope it's going to be a wonderful week. I think we are going to have Cooper try a new vegetable tomorrow, so stay tuned! Pure excitement in the Holland household!

Have a great week! I will leave you with a sweet little man...

Cooper is 5 months old!

Today at 8:35pm Cooper turned 5 months old. Can you believe how fast time has flown by? We have been taking pictures of Cooper each month to make sure we had documented how much he has grown. He normally is very good about taking these pictures. He smiles, laughs, sits still and we take the picture. Apparently, that is now gone. He is so active and wants to grab everything, taking a picture of him is quite fun. Take a look at these pics. Either we get to see his face or we get to see the paper that says he is 5 months old.

Please notice that instead of showing the number 5 on the paper he just was showing us his 5 fingers...genius baby I tell you! hahah

Here are photos of him at 2 months, 3 months and 4 months. Look how he's grown!

Sweet Potatoes...

The joy of letting Cooper try new foods....First of all, this whole process of watching him try new foods is quite hilarious. The pictures will say it all for me, but let me set the stage. Cooper has been eating oatmeal and applesauce for a good 3 weeks now. He LOVES it. The thicker the better. We tried giving him some prunes this weekend and he loved those as well. No bad faces, no spitting it out just downs it. What can I say this boy likes to eat! So we knew we needed to start him on some vegetables. So we pick sweet potatoes to start. Please look at this face...

Priceless isn't it? However, he doesn't turn away a meal and this is what it looked like after it was all over....

So we will continue to try new vegetables and update you on if he has any favorites.

Easter!

We had a great Easter holiday! We started the weekend before with Mom Mom and Pop Pop coming to visit. Cooper loved playing with them. We went shopping, played, went to Chili's and had chips and salsa..yum! Cooper was excellent all weekend. He slept pretty much the whole time at Chili's. We got to sit outside and he just settled into his little seat and took him a LONG nap. Now you know why I said in earlier posts we have a such a good boy!

Before they left, I told them I needed them to take a picture of the three of us. Of course there is a background story on this....

So we get a note from Cooper's teachers at daycare to bring in family pictures so they can hang up around the room for Cooper to see everyday. So I go through my photo album to try and find at least 1 picture with the three of us together. Luckily I had ONE! Can you believe this? I have TONS of pictures with just Eddie and Cooper, and I have some with me and Cooper (not as many as Cooper with Eddie - is this fair?) However, with it just being us three here, taking a picture of the whole family is pretty much impossible. So I had to send in the one picture I had of all three of us from Christmas. Cooper was 5 weeks old, I still look pregnant, all around not happy about the picture selection, so I was determined to get a family picture taken hence the dressing everyone up a week before Easter. Call me crazy I know...

So on Sunday before they left they took some pictures of our little family all dressed up for Easter.

Now onto Easter weekend. We (really meaning Eddie, but Cooper and I watched some) worked out in the yard on some flowerbeds in the back on Saturday. Then on Sunday we got up and got dressed again in our Easter outfits and headed to Church. Now we have taken Cooper to church before and he has been good. Sometimes he is better than others, but aren't we all? The first time Eddie had to keep taking him out because he was starting to whimper, but then after that we have been pretty lucky. But you never know, so I am always nervous. He was fantastic. So good in fact people sitting next to me leaned over and told me how good he was being and that her kids never would have sat there like he did when they were his age. Then about 10 minutes later, the lady sitting next to Eddie said the same thing to him about Cooper. Do we have an angel child or what? (Again very proud parents!) Eddie and I walked out of church feeling like great parents, knowing deep down inside it was pure luck that he was so quiet for those 50 minutes.

As we were walking out of church we wanted to stop and take some more pics. A very kind woman offered to take it of the whole family and we graciously accepted. After we said our thank yous and happy Easter she made the comment, what a big baby. If you read my prior post, this is a common thing when people see Cooper and we tell him that he isn't quite 5 months old. So off we went to enjoy the rest of our first Easter together as a family. Like I said earlier, we had a great Easter holiday!

So here are some of our pictures...Our family and Cooper LOVING his Easter card that his Aunt MS, Uncle Bob, Mary Kate and Jackson got him...it sings Peter Cottontail. As you can see in the picture he loved "reading" it.

Cooper

Let's start with a little background....

As you all may know, Eddie and I welcomed our little boy, Cooper, into this world on November 16, 2008. It is crazy to think that tomorrow he will be 5 months old. These past 5 months have flown by, but they have been by far the best and most exhilarating 5 months of our lives.

Cooper has a smile that brightens each and every day. He is a happy baby. We are extremely lucky. Eddie and I are constantly saying how lucky we are that he is such a good boy. As we were saying this the other day, I said to Eddie, "You realize what this means don't you?" And he quickly responds, "Yes, he will probably be a terrible toddler!" ha ha...We can hope he maintains the "good boy" status forever.

Along with being a happy baby, he is a big baby. Now I say this with a huge smile (proud mommy I know), but at the last doctor visit as Cooper is smiling at the doctor and we are discussing his progress (or lack there of in the rolling over department), the doctor says oh so nonchalantly, "Well, you know these big babies have a harder time rolling over than other babies." "Big baby" - that's Cooper! Cooper must have heard this and got offended, because wouldn't you know we wake up a week later with Cooper sleeping on his tummy. Well done my big baby!

The latest and greatest of Cooper milestones is as follows:
1. Laughing - Check ...ALL the time
2. Smiling - Check...He knows how to make our heart melt
3. Rolling over from back to front - Check...Showed you Dr. Dorsey!
4. Rolling over from front to back - I am checking this one off. He's done it once, that counts right?
5. Sleeping through the night - Check...Thank goodness he crossed this one off a long time ago. Good boy!

If I think of anymore I will update you all. Hope you are enjoying the blog.

A new blog...

I will be completely honest. I still don't know if I fully understand what a blog is, but now I have one! I follow a couple of other people that have these so called blogs and get to see fun pictures and keep up with their fun stories and adventures. So I thought why don't we do that! Both of our families live in different cities from us, so this is a great (easy) way to keep them up to date along with our friends with the little exciting adventures we have from day to day with Cooper. So here's to blogging...

Hope you all enjoy!