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.