A few new pics

Last week TJ was "helping" me make breadsticks. He made an absolute mess, but he had fun doing it and it cleaned up fine, so hopefully he made a fun memory and is learning that cooking can be fun.

Just a few new pics of Cooper. He's growing up so fast.

Below is proof that he is not always a little angel :-)

One month pics

A thoughtful looking Cooper

Brothers

TJ loves giving "Eskimo kisses"

My cute boys

One month old

Well, yesterday Cooper turned 1 month old. The time has actually gone really fast - much faster than the first time around. And I am already guilty of not taking as many pictures or getting as many "firsts" on camera, not that he has had that many yet, but ya know.... Being the 6th of 7 kids there are a LOT less pictures of me and my younger sister than there are of the older ones, and I vowed that all of my kids would have lots of pictures of them. There are pictures of Cooper, but just not as many as I have of TJ and I have yet to get any of them printed so if my computer were to crash (knock on wood) I wouldn't have any of his first month. Shame on me. But things are going pretty well for the most part. TJ is still a wonderful big brother to Cooper, so I am extremely grateful for that. He really loves him and is always wanting to hold his hand, which is better than trying to hold him all the time. Whenever Cooper starts crying TJ will chime in "Just a minute Coop, it's okay Coop" and will occasionally call him "sweetie" and "lovebug". It's been really cute to watch. Since we are on the subject of TJ, I think we are entering a new phase, one that I have kind of been dreading, and that is the "what can fit up my nose" phase. This morning he was picking his nose and I told him not to. He asked me for help and I thought he had a bugar (how do you spell that?) way up there so I used the little suction thing but it wasn't coming out. When I had him give me a big blow, out came a cheerio. I had a little talk with him and told him that he can't put anything up his nose, but we'll see if he listens. :-)

This morning he was playing with a couple of his little friends but then they had to go to pre-school so when he came inside he asked if he could go to preschool. I told him that he had to be three years old and go pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty. So immediately he wanted to take off his pants and his diaper so he could go potty. I figured what the heck so I took them off and he kept running from the bathroom to the living room where I was telling me he was ready to go to preschool, but he would barely be in the bathroom for 5-10 seconds so not really time to get anything out. I asked him if he wanted me to go see and he said yes so I went to the bathroom and sure enough, there was a piece of poop on the side of his potty (I think he stood up too soon), but the point is he went to the bathroom "in" (or rather on) the potty. How exciting. I guess I will start putting him in pull-ups and see if we get anywhere. If anyone has any great potty-training advice I would be open to hearing about it.

Things with me and Matthew are going fine. He will be traveling a bunch over the next few weeks so that's kind of a bummer, but I will try and make the best of it. He brother is getting married next weekend so we are looking forward to that. Oh, and for me, I am still enjoying my "Idol" season. I am NOT a big TV watcher, but I do watch American Idol and I have really enjoyed it this year. I have only been really disappointed in one result, and that was when Michael Johns was sent home. I love David Archuleta and Jason Castro, and David Cook is very talented too. For the girls, I really like Brooke, but I don't think any of the girls will make it to the top 3, at least I hope not cause I really like the guys this year.

Well, I will post some new pics of the boys, so enjoy.

The first few weeks.....

Well, we have survived the first few weeks home. My mom was able to come spend a week with us and she was a lifesaver. She was able to keep TJ occupied for hours on end by reading books, doing puzzles, playing ball, cooking dinner, etc while I got some extra rest with Cooper. I think she read TJ's "animal book" at least 10 times a day per his request - gotta love grandma's. She's been gone for a week and I have adjusted pretty well to being at home on my own, but I haven't really had to cook dinner yet thanks to wonderful friends and leftovers. I think I have one more day of leftovers before I have to figure out how to cook dinner with two. I think I will be able to manage okay, but I might not get much rest when they are both napping, so that extra sleep, or at least resting will be missed.

At Cooper's 2 week appointment he weighed 9 lbs 4 oz so he has gained over a pound since coming home. At his 5 day appointment he was already an ounce past his birth weight so I guess I produce some pretty good cream. :-) It's always comforting to know that they are growing well. He sleeps okay at night but is up generally 3 times to eat - pretty much every 3 hours. I feel pretty tired when I first get up (too bad TJ's wake time is about 6:45am) but after I get going I do fine. I do look forward to sleeping through the night again sometime in the future.

TJ has been great with Cooper and really loves him. I don't think he really feels jealous at all, the main "problem" is he just loves him so much that at times he's a little smothering. He loves to give Cooper hugs and kisses and he loves to hold his hand. Sometimes Cooper doesn't mind, other times he lets us know he's not too happy about it.

Here are a few updated pictures I've taken over the last two weeks. You can't see his red hair very well in them, but when I put my hair next to his they're about the same color. What a cutie, huh?