A Day at the park (finally)

Since Cooper started walking when it was supercold outside and Nashville just decided to warm up a tad, yesterday was our first trip to a park. His class has been going to the playground all week and his teacher said he loved every minute of it, so we had high hopes for this excursion. Our hopes were fulfilled. Cooper had a blast swinging, sliding, running and playing ball. The playground is close to our house and has rubber surfaces everywhere (including cut-up tires that look like mulch). We officially love this park. We even saw our vet there with her family and got to talk about our other babies Fish and Chips who were home sleeping I'm sure.

I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time here.

Cooper LOVES to swing.

Hmmm... grass.

Cooper with his favorite "ba".

Ready to go home.

14 months old

On February 7th Cooper turned 14 months old. A year ago I had just gone back to work and felt like a terrible person for abandoning my child every morning. Now we both love our routine of getting up and going to work/school and then getting to play and hang out on the weekends and evenings. Ultimately I wish I could stay home, but at the same time I see all the great things Cooper learns from 7 to 5 pm and doubt I could do all of that myself. Suffice to say, life is good.

At 14 months Cooper:

-Is a big, tall boy. We will get official weigh in at 15 mo. appointment on 3/12/10.

- Walks, runs, climbs, etc.

- Eats a three BIG meals a day and two snacks.

- Naps up to 3 hours during the day. His teacher says he's the first to sleep and the last to wake up. Kids can be running all around him and he stays sound asleep.

- Usually sleeps from 7 pm to 6:30 am.

- Loves his guitar.- Has a fifteen word vocabulary including mom, dadeee, ball (ba), dog, nose, and thank you (tattoo).

- Still has a head of curly, wild hair, which his mother refuses to cut eventhough there is a rat tail/mullet thing going on in the back.

-Loves having Mommy read him a book and loves to flip pages on her before she can finish. Favorite book: My Fuzzy Valentine (Elmo).

Life is really, really good. **The previous comment was brought to you by 8 solid hours of sleep.

Fun in the Snow... or not

We are all bundled up and ready for our first time playing in the snow!

This is going to be great!!!

Looks a little cold... will he learn to like it???

Answer: NO.

Maybe next year.
Or 5 years from now when we get this much snow again in Nashville.

Cooper is 13 months old! (belated post)

Cooper's 13 mo picture (01.07.10)

Over the last 30 days since Coopers birthday I have watched my child go from baby to true toddler. He walks, he talks, he understands what I'm saying, he follows direction, he knows where things belong in our house. The whole thing blows my mind. I feel like tomorrow I will wake up and he will be applying for grad school or packing a briefcase to go off to work. It's all too much for a Mom to handle.

Happy First Birthday Cooper Andrew Wells

Dear Cooper,

A year ago you came into our world in a wild and unplanned fashion and our life has been wild and unplanned ever since. On the way home from the hospital your Dad looked at me and said "I'm so happy" and you have continued to make us "so happy" every day since.

You have gone through so many stages since being born. Some of them, like the 4 teeth at once and 6 ear infections in a row, were not fun. But countless others were a blast. And now that you are walking, talking and developing so much everyday I know there are lots of stages to come in your next year.

I always knew I would love you, but I never knew that the love would overtake me. If you weren't in the world, I would surely be unable to breathe, that's how much I love you.


At 1 year, Cooper:
- weighs around 27 pounds
- wears 2T clothes and probably needs 3T in some things for the added length
- wears size 6 double X shoes
- has been walking for 2 weeks
- sleeps from 7 PM to around 6:30 AM - some nights he's quiet and some nights he wants to play at 3 AM
- has completely given up his afternoon nap when at school
- has moved seamlessly through all 3 nurseries at school and is loved by all his teachers
- loves to sit on the couch with us, but also likes to attempt to fly off
- does this strange dance where he stomps with one foot
- still hasn't learned not to eat dog food
- is stalled at 6 teeth (2 lower and 4 upper)
- likes to carry shoes around
- is more fun and more adorable than I ever imagined possible

1.22.10

Good news - Cooper's 6 week post op ENT appointment went very well. Hearing test was normal and Dr. Wooten said everything looked good.

Bad news - Cooper has had two night terrors in the last three nights. He is totally off schedule sleep-wise and is basically exhausted all the time. He went to bed at 6 pm and then woke up at 9 pm with a terror. He was up and down for the rest of the night. I have a follow-up call into his doctor.

Other notes of interest - I'm obsessed with American Idol (again). I really love the song Say it Ain't So by Weezer. I have mastered Red Beans & Rice.

01.20.10

Cooper had a night terror last night. I woke up to his hysterical cries and when I went in to comfort him he was asleep. Eyes closed, body was rigid, wouldn't "wake up", fighting against me. Then about 5 minutes later he woke up, opened his eyes, hopped off my lap and starting playing with a toy and talking.

After talking to our pediatrician, other mothers, and consulting online baby resources I've learned that by picking him up and talking to him I may have worsened or prolonged the event. Should it happen again I will just go in his room and (painfully) watch it happen to make sure he doesn't hurt himself and be there when he wakes up. I've also learned that this is caused by sleep deprivation. Cooper has been waking up a lot at night because he has a cold so it all kind of makes sense now. Fingers crossed for peaceful sleep at our house tonight.