The Boy Turns 1

So I have to apologize for not writing for a while. It's been busy! Between our trip to Turks and Caicos for Thanksgiving to swimming lessons to getting in a car accident to eye surgery to Cooper crawling...well, there have been ups and downs. Here's it in a nutshell:

1. Cooper's making progress...though slow. We know, everyone says they develop at their own rate. Blah blah blah. He crawled at ten and a half months and he's getting close to walking. He's a little behind but that's fine. He can be a whiny but also has a great smile. We're so proud of him.
2. Total Bad Luck (TBL). I've had a string of bad luck. First it was emergency eye surgery, then a car accident, then something job-related, then a travel nightmare over the holidays with mom. Therefore, I'm expecting 2011 to be simply amazing. Thank you very much.
3. A String of Visits. It's great having friends and family visit. In the last two months, I've seen Kathy (upside down Christmas trees) and dad/Dana (thanks for the care during the eye surgery).
4. Back to School...UNFORTUNATELY. I say unfortunately because I'm not looking forward to it. Why? Doesn't Mer love to learn? Doesn't she want her beloved master's degree? She's halfway done, how's a little more learning gonna hurt? She's a good student! I'm just not into going back. Balancing my life as a wife, mother, and worker is hard enough. To add student to it...well, I'm not sure I want my life to be that busy! Seeing that I'm already heading up to bed at a "wild" 9:30pm every night (Groundhog Day style) I bet I won't have one second to watch any General Hospital. And go ahead, laugh, poor Mer won't have her GH...well that's what keeps her sane, my friends! Without it, she may fall off the deep end. We will see.
5. Cooper Turns One. While I still can't get over the fact that as a person he's already reached one, I celebrated his birthday by thinking about the day of my C-section and how crazy it was. The experience of bringing him out of my body and into this world was surreal. But amazing! I remember lots of small things: the ice at the hospital, the shock I felt when the nurse kept bringing him into my hospital room over and over again to nurse (c'mon! you need to eat AGAIN!?!), the nervousness I felt at changing my first diaper, the smell of the hospital food (actually quite good). I love my new life with Cooper and I can't believe there was a time that he wasn't around. Happy Birthday, sweetpea!

Click HERE for a bevy of fabulous recent photos.

PS: I deleted a bunch of old photo albums to make space for new ones. If there are any photos you need that aren't posted, just let me know.

Rocktober! Rockin' it out, Mascolo style.

Hi Everyone,

It's been way too long since I've posted - I apologize! Life has been busy:

• Fun trip to NJ to visit dad and Dana, Helen and Medvedovskys
• Visit from Katrina, filled with lots of fun activities and Cooper's first time in a bar
• Swim class began! Cooper loves to splash in the water. A bunch of our friends and their kids are in the class so it's extra fun.
• Trip to VT with Katie and Manny. Amazing foliage and flatbreads! And our four-year anniversary.
• Matty and Krista's wedding on Martha's Vineyard. AMAZING. And great to be away from Cooper for two nights while Mom took care of him. (Thank you!!)
• Visit from Bryan. Yay! It had been too long. Also, quick visit with Kathy (thanks for the photos). Great to see old friends!

And this brings us to now. Halloween weekend! We're dressing Cooper up as a professor in a little suit and tie.

Click HERE to view the latest photos. A bunch that Kathy took along with VT photos and random ones along the way.

A Lovely Visit with Tanya...

I don't have a lot of time to write, but HERE are some amazing photos that my friend, Tanya, took while visiting. She's a wonderful photographer and friend! Mitchell and her friend, Diane, were visiting so we caught a couple of cute snapshots of them, too.

I've also included some photos of our newly painted house in the above photos. Cool!

We miss our friends, Beno and Tanya + kids. It was great to see Tanya and introduce her to Cooper. We're hoping to make a trip out to visit them in the spring!

What the heck is a "Black Buggie??"

Hello,

It's been a few weeks since my last post. Here's an update on what's been shakin' in our world:

• Cooper is sleeping the night (sometimes)! Ok, so it's not every night. But it's been a few in the last week. He can go from about 7:30pm to 6am. Umm, it's amazing. And seeing that I'm in bed with lights out at 10pm...well that's just a nice amount of sleep! But of course I wake up in the middle of the night expecting him to cry and since I'm still nursing him, my boobs need to "adjust."
• We got our house painted! It's been a long time coming. After much struggle with deciding on colors (we tend to choose daring bright colors - sometimes this turns out great and other times, whoa), we finally chose a blue/gray body, dark purple trim, and red/brown foundation/deck. It's very "San Fran" with lots of personality and color. The painters did an amazing job. I'll post some photos very soon!
  
• Cooper had an ear ache. He had a really bad cold so we happened to take him to the doctor (um, it's great to go to the doctor on Saturdays because they are fast, and also we had the first appointment of the day so we didn't wait). The doctor looked in his ear (after clearing out a lot of cute little wax) and was like whoa, there's a huge infection in there! He's been on amoxicilin for ten days. I think it's better.
  * On a side note, we found a "Black Buggie" in his nose. Maybe he's a smoker? That thing was incredible. Took two days to get out.
• The Mascolos are working hard this summer. Matt's busy with his job since summer is the busy season. I'm busy with various events on the weekends and stuff. Needless to say, we haven't had as much "fun" time as we would have liked...and now that August is here we are hoping to squeeze in more fun time. For two people who work in the education field, summer seems to be the busiest time for both of us. Oh well.

Click HERE to view photos!

More New Photos!

My camera didn't load them all yesterday. Click HERE to view more!

Shaved Cats, July 4th, and Poppy (unrelated)

Happy July!

To view some new photos of Cooper AND our newly shaved cat, click HERE.

We decided to get our cats shaved because they are long-haired and black, so they're always terribly hot in the summer. I took them to a grooming school around the corner from us and was pleasantly surprised that they looked adorable and more comfortable! Matt and I had a good laugh when I brought them home. As you can see from the photos, they left fur around their face, on their feet, and on their tail. Umm, it looks funny but I bet it's better in this intense summer heat! I think we'll do this again next summer (or again in the fall?).

We made a trip up to Vermont with Cooper this July 4th. It was super hot so we spent a lot of time by the swimming pool, and even took Cooper for a dip! He was confused at first. What's this big bathtub, I'm sure he thought. He didn't really laugh but he also didn't cry so I guess he liked it? Or didn't hate it. Matt even dunked him under the water! I suppose it's like amniotic fluid which he's very familiar with, so maybe he was just like oh, this liquid stuff is fun. We ventured back to Flatbreads only to find that he wasn't very agreeable yet again. We tried everything: holding him, putting him in the high chair and feeding him, giving him to the waitstaff, asking him to refill our water glasses - just short of throwing him in the Flatbreads oven (which by the way, made the place a toasty 1049320 degrees).

Matt continues to work hard at his (not so new anymore) job. He's been working a few Saturdays to meet deadlines but finds the train is empty and much more pleasurable than the weekday commute. I've been very busy at work, too. But the good news is that the commute to daycare and then to work has been fabulous because schools are out and people are on vacation. My commute has been cut in half! So I've been getting to work early and taking my time.

New things Cooper is up to:

• He's sleeping for 6-8 hours in a row now! It's a freaking miracle. I put him to bed around 7:30pm so he's getting up super early, but it's still better than before. And I've realized that maybe I need to start doing stuff in the morning, like exercising, reading, etc.
• He's rolling over onto his stomach. He usually can't get back to his back, but oh well! I even found him sleeping on his stomach one morning!
• He can hold objects in both hands. He used to only hold one object at a time.
• He's eating two meals of solid foods a day. He seems to like the savory better than the sweet.
• His hair is getting longer. Oh my god it's so blond and pretty.
  
• He's saying new syllables like "gaga, dada, baba." All of a sudden he's discovering new things to do with his mouth (although he seems to have very little interest in putting stuff in his mouth - fine with us).
• He's become fluent in French. Just kidding!

On a sad note, since my last post my grandfather, Poppy, died. He got sick and worsened quickly. I flew down to Florida for the funeral and it was a very moving ceremony. He was in the army many years ago, so there was a bugle and flag ceremony. I'd never seen this in person before and it was amazing to watch. It was also wonderful to see the rest of my family, some of which I see once a decade. If you're reading this blog, even though it was a sad occasion I am grateful that I was able to visit for short time.

I'll always remember Poppy's quick wit, his sense of humor, and visits to Florida as a child (into my adulthood). I am sad he never got to meet Cooper, but I'm glad he knew he had a great grandchild, and that he'd seen photos of him. I'm sure they would have gotten along well and that Poppy would have gotten a real kick out of him.

Poppy, wherever you are, you will be greatly missed.

He Plays with Toys.

Good Morning,

It definitely feels like summer around here! Today it's supposed to hit 90 and Matt has to put in our new air conditioner for the upstairs. Hot air rises, as you all know, so it's a sauna up there!

Matt's been putting in extra hours at work since it's his busy season. Cooper's been eating solid foods at daycare. I've been attempting to do more stomach exercises. All is good in the Mascolo household!

Mitzie (my mom) bought Cooper some great new toys, like blocks, plastic rings on a stick, a fake telephone, and a fake cell phone that lights up and makes noise. He's practically sitting up himself, occasionally wobbling to one side and appearing to be really drunk. After a while he's had enough, but it's fun to see him "play." We've also been "watching" Sesame Street, which gosh, brings back amazing memories for me. And there's new characters now, and more technology! But even with some new bells and whistles it is still the same old wonderful Sesame Street. I hope Cooper (Andy told me I can't call him Coopie for much longer) learns from it and loves it like I do (I mean, did).

Wanna see some new photos? Click HERE.

Oh, and I encourage you to post comments to this blog! Otherwise, I feel like I'm talking to myself which I do sometimes, but it's just not as fun as interacting with others. Let's get some dialogue going!

Visits, Vermont, and Other Stuff

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted. Here's what's been happening:

1. Visit from Dad, Dana, and Lucy. Two weeks ago, Dad, Dana, and Lucy (the dog) came up for a visit. We had fun hanging out at the house, going out for brunch, walking around Harvard Square, barbecuing, and going to see Avatar/out to dinner (just me and Matt). Good times!!
   
2. Trip to VT. We took Cooper on his first overnight trip, up to Vermont. We had some great highs (two nights of sleeping with only wake-ups once, fresh mountain air, fun at the farmer's market), and some stinky lows (constipation followed by a gigantic crap, acting "bad" at flatbreads, first night waking up every hour). We can't wait to bring him back again! It was our first family vacation.
3. Visit from Lou. Matt's dad, Lou, came to visit us for a weekend. We had a wonderful time! We went out to dinner and brunch, had Katie and Manny over for a BBQ, walked around town, made a fun trip to Target, Costco, and Babies 'R Us, and hung out at the house. Cooper got to meet his grandpa and spend some quality time getting to know him.
4. Vocalizing. In the last few weeks Cooper has learned to "vocalize" - he's making interesting sounds. It's very amusing to us and him. It almost sounds like he's trying to talk. Very cute.
5. Update on sleeping. He's learning how to fall asleep on his own. We begin the bedtime routine at 7:30pm and put him in bed in whatever state he's in, sleepy, sleeping, or awake. Even if he's crying we say "Good night, Coopie," and walk away. If he's still crying in 15 minutes we'll go to him and pat him and say it again. He usually falls asleep! However, he's still waking me up about twice a night to nurse which is really annoying. We need to wean him off these night feedings! There have been a few instances where he's only woken me up once and they have been miracle nights of joyous slumber from the Goddess of Sleep.
6. Eating. We're feeding him either rice or oatmeal cereal in the evening. We've also fed him some baby food like squash, carrot, and prune (hello, poop!). It's amazing how quickly he's learned to open his mouth to the spoon.

Click HERE to view recent photos!

Conjuntivitis...Mucous Monster!

So Cooper has conjunctivitis. The word definitely sounds like a disease. It also looks like a disease - I don't recommend Googling imaging it. Gross! There's yellow mucous coming out of his eyes. Very attractive! Also he has a cold. So he's pretty gross.

Here's a funny photo Matt made into an Obie Wan reference.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello Everyone,

Today's my first Mother's Day! Very exciting. Matt took Coopie and me out for a wonderful surprise brunch to the West Side Lounge. He behaved himself pretty well. And so did Matt! Just kidding.

It's so different to celebrate Mother's Day as a mother, instead of just as a daughter. I've thought today about what it means to be a mom and how different my life is now than last Mother's Day. Umm, I slept a lot more before. The only poop I "interacted" with was...my own. I had so much more time to do whatever I wanted to. I went to bed after 9:30pm and enjoyed a good buzz from a cocktail after a few (as opposed to just one). I also didn't get to watch a little human from the start of his life. I didn't get to enjoy his adorable smile. I didn't get to hold him while he fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn't get to share funny stories with Matt about the little guy and have a good laugh. So much has changed!

So for all you moms out there, Happy Mother's Day! Take a moment to think about your life without your child, and how lucky you are. Then go stop your child from crying because he has a poopy diaper!

PS: New photos HERE of our fun visit with Mimi!

Clothes, Bryan, R.Kelly, Jasper, Mimi, and Spring...whhhhaaaatt???

Hey there,

Click HERE for some recent photos of the little guy.

He's growing out of his clothes each day. Good thing I got a lot of hand me downs (thanks, Tanis!) and great clothes at the Fetal Festival (thanks, everyone!). I haven't had to buy much yet, but I can see how this could get old real quick (umm, when he's a teen he'll probably be tall and need different clothes than now - that's crazy!). Last weekend Bryan came to visit and we had fun going to James and Stina's baby shower for Jasper. Little Jasper is only a few weeks old so he looked small to us! But he was also a lot bigger than Cooper was at that age, so that's even crazier. Also, we watched this funny show on IFC with R.Kelly - it's a "musical" where he sings all the music and it's the same melody over and over. If you get a chance, check it out. It's one of those things where you can't stop watching but you can't figure out why. Just when you think it's the most ridiculous it can be, it gets ridiculouser.

Mimi's coming to visit today! I'm really excited to spend quality time with her and for her to meet Cooper. She's his great grandma! Wow. I remember my great grandparents very well, so I'm hoping he'll capture some good memories of her. Probably too soon this weekend but in the future. Her visit has made me think about my family. It's so small and we haven't had a baby in it in a long time. It's amazing to me that I was a baby and Mimi was my grandma, just like me and my mom. Whhaaaatt??? That just blows my mind. I'm 35 years old! My mom was once a mom like me, and hers before that. I feel a part of it now, in a way I didn't understand before - like I belong to a special "club" of moms in my family. Now if the next kid could be a girl...then we'd have lots of generations of women...

Enjoy the spring, everyone - everything is budding, growing, blossoming, developing, etc.

Quick, Write While He's Napping!

Hi Everyone,

Today's Patriot's Day so I have the day off. Coopie's taking a little nap so I have a few minutes to write. We've both been sick for the past few days. I somehow forget that Coopie is a HUMAN and that I can get a cold from him if he gets close. Of course he's feeding off my boob so you can't get much closer than that, so it's inevitable that we will share colds, just like we share smiles. Ok, that's cheesy. But true!

We think Coopie might be teething. Although I read in a book that parents say their kid is teething and use it as an excuse when he has diarrhea, drools too much, or tugs on his ear. So are we being paranoid or just insensitive? Nothing we can do about it anyway. We checked his gums and it looks like there's a white ridge there. He chews on his left hand a lot. Parents out there, any thoughts? I can't imagine what he'll look like with teeth. The day will arrive sometime!

Tonight we're planning to take a huge step: we're going to try feeding him rice (or oatmeal) cereal! Our hope is to fill his skinny little belly with heavy, filling cereal so he sleeps longer! I can't wait to see how he reacts. Will he allow us to shove spoonfuls into his tiny little mouth? Or will he resist, as he's resisted most new adventures (I'm not bitter)? We're planning to video tape this monumental occasion to show to him years down the road. Hey Coops, this was your first bite of food! Imagine if he became a chef. Then the video would be very important to him. You never know! If he did become a chef, I hope he goes on Top Chef. That would be so cool! Of course it would be in the future so there might not be any Top Chef on TV anymore. It would probably be Top Space Ship or Top Microchip Brain instead.

I got the Ferber book this week (thanks, Mom!) and I've begun to read it. Fascinating! If you'd asked me to read it a year ago I would have had no interest. But now, if it will get me a sleeping baby I will do anything. I would pay money to sleep more than five hours in a row, I tell you. For those of you who don't know about Ferber, Google him. So my plan is to keep working on a regular sleep schedule with him (i.e. get him ready for bed at 7:45pm, into bed by 8:30pm) in the next two weeks. Also, I'm going to try putting him into his crib at 8:30pm whether he's sleeping or awake. Now, he falls asleep on Matt after dinner and then we quietly transfer him to the crib. I've been reading in the book that this is the OPPOSITE of what you should do. Now that he's four months old, he needs to learn to fall asleep on his own and we're not helping him do that. So in two weeks, we will try the actual Ferber method. On a weekend, of course, because I am expecting it to be heinous. But like I said, I will do anything to improve this situation. It's better for him, and it's better for us. Probably better for the kitties, too. And the house. And the woooorld! I will report back on our progress.

Other than that, the usual cuteness persists, with smiles and laughs and experimenting with his mouth. So adorable, that it makes the sleepless nights worth it. He's doing great at daycare. The other day I saw him reach out and touch another kid for the first time! No restraining order necessary, just a nice little pat. I think the daycare is helping him socialize, and he smiles at the ladies that care for him which warms my heart. I'm enjoying being back at work. I've taken to a second cup of coffee in the afternoon (usually I'm a one cup a day gal) in order to plow through the day. I spend time in the car commuting, but to look on the bright side, I love my Sirius satellite radio (thanks, Brain) so if it weren't for Howard Stern or Fresh Air, well, I'd be in a worse mood. The drive is really pretty, through Belmont, MA (where Mitt Romney is from) - lots of big gorgeous houses and now it's spring so everything's blooming. I guess that's the advantage of going back to work in the spring! Puts me in a better mood.

Ok, he hear him chattering (Ezra? Google?) so I'm off like a prom dress!

New Things Cooper is Doing

Ok so my mom asked me if we're going to continue calling him "Coopie" and I realized his name is "Cooper" so I should use that name, too. He's doing lots of new things all the time!

1. He touches his hands together. It doesn't sound like much, but he didn't do that before. I think he's learning that they are his.
2. I make a motorboat sound with my lips and he's been trying to imitate it. But he can't seem to figure out that he can't have his tongue between his lips to make the sound. When I make the sound he interacts with me and tries to imitate it!
3. He's learned to use the pacifier. Sometimes he makes that face like what the heck is this thing in my mouth, but sometimes it helps him. Like if he's on my boob for too long. Take him off, put the pacifier in, and he doesn't know the diff if he's tired enough.

That's it for now. He's crying so I gotta go!

Three and a Half Months Old

Hello Everyone,

CLICK HERE to see some recent photos of Coopie - see how fast he's growing up?:

It's been a busy month with me returning to work and Coopie starting daycare. It's been a fairly smooth transition, I think. The hardest part is that I'm still not getting more than three hours in a row of sleep, and now with work it's even harder. By about 2pm I'm ready for bed! But it's great to be back at work and using a different part of my brain.

Coopie seems to be adjusting to daycare very well. He loves the ladies that care for him: Naveen, Ana, and Jessica. It's fun for me to share things with them about Coopie and to hear about his day. It sounds like he's a good feeder (on the bottle!) and he's napping a lot. Bringing him to daycare has doubled my commute each way to work so that's more difficult. Thank goodness for Howard Stern! Coopie usually sleeps on the way there and sometimes on the way home, too.

We're getting him into more of a routine at night. We bring him upstairs to get ready for bed between 8-9pm. I'm usually in bed by 9:30pm. He's doing well in the crib. The next step will be trying to get him to fall asleep on his own. We're reading up on different philosophies and will start sleep training soon. Oy!

Back to Work + Daycare = Oy

Yesterday was my first day back at work (full-time) and Coopie's first day at daycare. It was tough for Matt and I to drop him off - most difficult to walk out the door and to leave him there. But after we did, we went to work and went about our business. We thought about him and had no idea how he'd do. It was nice to focus on work and get back in touch with that part of myself.

I went to pick him up and he was sleeping in his little Pack 'n Play. Sounds like he slept most of the day but took to the bottle which we were worried about (he hasn't been too good at that at home). It was great to see him. We spent some quality time with him that evening and he seemed in such a good mood: smiling, cooing (Ezra!), and not crying like his usually evening witchiness. Maybe he was happy to see us?! We like to think so.

Another breakthrough is that he's been sleeping in his crib at night. It's great to have our bed back! It's more work to get him back to sleep after he wakes up at night, but totally worth it. Who knew he'd go from our bed right to the crib, skipping the nice co-sleeper that Adam and Tanis passed down to us (thanks!). Good thing we didn't go out and buy one. I am still looking forward to sleeping more than 2-3 hours...someday. There have been a few amazing nights of 4-6 hours so I guess I can't complain. I'm still amazed at what the body gets used to.

Anyway, here are some photos from when my dad and Dana came to visit. It's soooo tough to get a good photo with him since he doesn't sit still!

Click HERE for more photos of Coopie in this "photo shoot."

Maternity Leave...Ending.

This week I'm back to work part-time, and then full-time next week. I can't believe my maternity leave is coming to an end! Actually, I can because so much has happened. Coopie came home from the hospital a little baby and now he's a bigger little baby.


I finally figured out how to embed a photo slideshow so take a look:





And if you want to order photos go HERE.

Three Babies in Nordstrom!

Check out this silly photo of Coopie with his friends, Ione and Emmett - it was taken in the Nordstrom Ladies Lounge!








(do you know how difficult it is to get three babies to look good in a photo, nevermind sit up on a couch??)

Recent Coopie Photos!

Hello everyone - here are some recent photos of Coopie and various family members visiting. Needless to say it's really tough to get a good photo of him and me so please excuse this photo to the left! I thought it was cute because he has that annoyed face. This photo kind of embodies what I deal with on a daily basis!

He's definitely getting bigger! We were at the doctor on Friday and he weighed in at 10 pounds, 6 ounces. Right now he has a cold so he's not too happy. We're hoping it passes soon (although he does sleep a lot when he's sick which is nice!). Poor Coopie!

Click HERE to view the photos.

Latest photos of Coopie

Check out the latest photos of Coopie by clicking HERE.

Turned Upside Down

Today I've been thinking of how our lives have been "turned upside down" by our little precious child. Here are my top three:

1) LESS SLEEP. This is probably the biggest adjustment for me. As an 8-9 hour sleeper pre-Coopie, I've found it extremely difficult to not sleep for as many hours in a row. The scariest part of it is that I'm actually getting used to not sleeping!

2) HE COMES FIRST. I've had to hold in my pee, sit in one position for a really long time, be patient while he falls asleep (or doesn't), and wait to eat my dinner. Kind of like with the cats, but even more demanding.

3) CAN'T FIGURE HIM OUT. Matt and I are always trying to determine patterns in Coopie's behavior that we believe will make things better. For example, if he sleeps during dinner he might be a nightmare when we go to bed. Not true! We're learning that there is no rhyme or reason. Umm, this goes against everything Matt and I believe in: logic and predictability. Those of you who have kids, shut up. We've heard it before. We're not interested in your speech about how "kids interrupt our lives, how that's what parenthood's about, blah blah blah." This type of sage advice just isn't helpful, so quit it.

I will add more to this list later. For the time being, he is sleeping and I'm writing this post so could I really ask for more than that?!

Baby Steps

Today we gave Coopie his first bath! He hated it. Needless to say he doesn’t like 1) being naked 2) being cold 3) being wet 4) being not in our arms. That’s like, the opposite of a bath. But he was so cute in his little bathtub, all red from screaming at the top of his lungs! He was also very confused why there was liquid (water) pouring all around him, especially on his head. Whaaaat? But then when we were done we put on a clean diaper and fresh clothes, put him in the co-sleeper, and he was happy as a clam!

Speaking of co-sleepers, he slept in the co-sleeper for a while last night! For those of you who haven’t heard my complaints, frustration, and confusion on “what to do,” he doesn’t like the damn co-sleeper and prefers to sleep in between his warm, cozy, doting parents. Umm, it’s scary and annoying to have a baby sleeping in between you and your husband. And your cat. Why didn’t we get the king-sized bed, I’ve asked myself ever since he was pulled from my womb? Back then I deemed a king-sized bed “ridiculous,” “overindulgent,” and “too spacious” (I liked to cuddle with said husband and two cats). Now that Coopie is in the picture, we’re supposed to let him in as well?! That’s insane. But also cute. Because he’s a cuddly little peanut and why wouldn’t I want to be close to him? Well, because 1) I may roll over him 2) he may get smothered by the blanket 3) ever hear of SIDS? They call it a “family bed.” Sounds delightful and bonding, but in reality the neurotic Jew in me says we’re asking for an “accident” to happen. But last night he managed to fall asleep in the co-sleeper which means he’s capable of it. Baby steps.

Cooped Up

Life with Cooper changes from day to day. Sometimes he sleeps a lot, other times he’s fussy. I’m always trying to figure it out but there’s no sense to it. He loves to be held which is so cute but it’s also annoying because he loves to be held all the time and if he’s not, he gets pissed. Who could blame him?

Matt started his job this week so I’ve been on my own with him. I’ve learned that we need to leave the house at least once a day. I like to have one activity planned outside the house per day: a trip to Babies ‘R Us, a visit to Alyssa and Ione, a walk with Deanne, an errand, a drop into the free breastfeeding class, or whatever I can do. It’s super cold outside so this is sometimes a huge effort. I bundle him up and as soon as he gets outside moving or in the car, he conks out. Then he sleeps for hours. Yay! It’s like an automatic tranquilizer gun! Needless to say this is a large part why I’ve decided it’s necessary for us to leave the house. The other reason being that I feel too cooped up (so to speak!) in the house all day if I don’t. Do I wish he was born in June instead of the dead of winter? Hell yes. Do I wish I lived in a moderate climate that is approximately 70 degrees? Hell yes. But then again, he loves the cold and we’ll have warmer weather soon enough. When we do, it’ll be glorious! And he’ll be bigger.

He’s been smiling a bit. Not sure if it’s gas (common in the Mascolo household) or he’s happy. I’ve read that they can start smiling at six weeks so he’s almost at that point.