Weekend Fun

Cooper had a busy and fun weekend!  It started with our college friends coming into Houston for a visit.  I can't believe it's been 10 years since we've graduated from college.  I'm so thankful for their friendship over the years!  All 4 families were able to get together Friday for dinner and the kids were able to play together.  The Dubecks added another baby to the mix so that totals 8 kiddos!

Kids taking turns pushing and pulling each other in the wagon

Big kids getting a cool thumbs up

They were all very cute playing together.  Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the other kiddos…or the adults!  Cooper had fun even if he was a bit cranky and tired that evening.

Then Saturday Justin had the day off and we had a fun family day.  We first went to brunch at our favorite play close to our house.

We then went to the park to play.  Cooper is getting so much more independent and can go down all the slides by himself.  We are still working on him going up and down stairs by himself.  He seems to have no fear so I have to watch him.  He also just loves walking around everywhere and exploring.

Playing with a new toy

Justin had to work on Sunday so after church and Cooper's nap we went to my parents house to hang out.  He knows exactly where he is when he goes to my parents and goes to his usual "spots" to play and explore.  My dad plays with him a lot and they have become best buds.  My dad had to leave to go to a meeting and when he left Cooper followed him to the door and cried.  It was so sweet.  I'm thankful for my parents who are such good grandparents!  It's also nice to have a break at times when you're a SAHM :)

Then Sunday evening something crazy happen.  I'm talking epic.  For those who read my blog or know me, you know how big this actually is.  Here is a picture

That's right folks, Cooper finally drank out of a sippy cup.  I'm talking really drank out of it, not just a sip here and there.  And wouldn't you know, it's the cheapest cup out there!  I've tried at least 12 different types of cups and he wouldn't take any of them.  He's been off bottles for a month now and still wouldn't drink from a sippy cup or straw cup until now.  Then it happened again the next morning…

Hallelujah!  He still doesn't take it ALL the time, but this is progress for sure. For example, this morning when I put it on his tray, he got very upset and didn't even want it on his tray.  Then after he finished eating I offered it to him again and he took it.  He is an interesting boy, I tell ya.  He also drank out of a straw today for the first time!  What is going on here?!?!  You know,  some people told me that their child didn't drink from a sippy cup until they were 18 months old and not to worry about it and I wish I would have listened.  I really did stress over this a lot and I should have just chilled out a little.  I'm glad I did get him off bottles though.  So here's to hoping he will keep this up and not refuse to drink out of it again, but we are on day 3 now and things are still looking good.

Overall, I would say this was a pretty good weekend!

Coop is 17 Months Old!

I have been a very bad blogger so far in 2014.  I need to get back to blogging again especially about Cooper since this is my main journal to remember everything Cooper was doing.  But alas, life gets in the way and during nap time I'm trying to get a 100 things I can't do when Cooper is awake and in the evening I just want to relax and hang out with the hubby.  I feel like Cooper has changed so much in 2 months!  So here is what is going on with my 17 month old…

Eating:  Cooper is eating much better than before.  He is still the typical toddler who one day will love a certain food and the next day refuses it, but for the most part, he is a good eater.  I'm having to be pretty creative with cooking dinner and figuring out healthy things to cook that I know he would like.  Some things are home runs and some he won't even try.  It can be frustrating but I know it will get better especially when we can communicate more.  He loves every type of fish right now and eats tuna for lunch on most days.  He also loves bananas, grapes (though he is getting tired of them now), cheese, chicken, zucchini, applesauce, yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes, and he LOVES smoothies.

Drinking:  Okay y'all, this is getting crazy…I have mentioned before that Cooper refuses to drink out out of a sippy cup or straw cup and it's not getting any better.  The doctor told me at 15 months to stop giving him bottles.  I tried it off and on but never stuck to it because I was worried he wasn't getting enough liquids.  After speaking to the doctor again I got reassurance that he will not get dehydrated and that he will get thirsty enough that he will drink out of it.  Well, we have been almost 2 weeks now of no bottles.  The good news is, we did it and he is off of bottles!  Yay!  The bad news is he still refuses to drink out of a sippy cup.  As in, he gets very upset if I even get it close to him.  I will even just leave it on the floor where he is playing and he won't touch it.  He will drink out of a cup when we hold it for him but it is a huge mess and takes a lot of time. If I put a straw in the cup he was just drinking out of, he gets upset and won't drink it anymore.   He will drink milk, smoothies, and sometimes water out of the cup but won't touch them in the sippy cup.   I have tried every piece of advice given to me for him to try and every type of cup possible.  We asked the doctor if he has seen this before and he said "all the time." I'm glad to know that, because I have never heard of any kid doing this before.   He also said "with my more stubborn kids…"  Lol I guess you can say the little boy is surely stubborn.  Anyway, my normal saying to help me get through difficult phases is, "it's just phase, this will pass".  But for this one, I'm not so sure this will pass.  I really don't think he will ever drink from a straw cup.  I'm sure I'm wrong and I will look back at this post and laugh by how stressed I was about a darn straw cup!

Sleeping:  Cooper officially dropped his morning nap around 15 or 16 months and it has been going well.  I thought I would miss the extra time I had in the morning but it's actually been really nice to be able to do more things in the morning and not worry about him needing to nap.  He still goes to bed around 7:30am and he wakes up around 8-8:30am.  It's so great that he sleep about 13 hours at night!  He take his afternoon nap after lunch anywhere between 12-1pm.   I thought when he dropped the morning nap, he would take a long afternoon nap, but over the past month his afternoon nap has only been about 1-2 hours.  But I can't complain since he sleeps so well at night and I can either sleep in, or get up and get stuff done in the morning without being exhausted.

Likes:  Cooper loves to be outside.  We go to the park often, go on walks, play in the backyard and I just let him walk around the cul-de-sac with all the other neighborhood kids.  There are a ton of kids playing in our cul-de-sac daily and they all love Cooper (since he is "the baby") and they follow him around and play with him.  It's so fun to live in a cul-de-sac, I must say!  He has a mind of his own and just wants to walk around and explore everything.  He also loves his dog (of course) and says dog all the time.  He loves to give hugs, especially to Mommy, Daddy and the dog.  He also loves balls and to play catch, and he can shoot the basketball  in his little basketball goal.  He also loves bath time and playing with all his bath toys.

Temperament:  Cooper has a shy temperament and takes awhile to get warmed up to new people and places.  He still has some separation anxiety. He is getting better about not crying as much when we drop him off places, but he is still not completely comfortable and himself.  He is very comfortable with my parents and doesn't even notice that we are gone when they babysit for us.  I am planning to put him in a Mother's Day Out program in the Fall to help him get used to being around other kids and being in a different environment since he can be shy.  He can also be very stubborn but he is also incredibly sweet.  He comes up to me throughout to day just to give me hugs.  He likes to cuddle and gives me big hugs before he goes to bed every night.  It's the sweetest thing.  It's amazing how God has created every person so unique and different and I love his sweet, shy personality (even though it can be hard at times).

Next month he will already be a year and a half!  Where has the time gone?!?!