We are F-A-M-I-L-Y!

It's true. We're a family--Dave, Cooper and I. So, I've decided that since so much of this blog is now about family happenings, and not just about little old me--I've changed the name to reflect that.

Six Months Old???

How is my baby six months old already??? We had so many people tell us time would fly faster after we had him, but we didn't quite believe it. Now we do...

Apparently, I forgot to post a monthly Cooper update for May! Reading April's entry makes me realize just how much he has grown and changed in the last few weeks.

For growth stats, Cooper is weighing in at 18.5 pounds now and very long! He is long and lean, but has an adorable double chin and some spare tire thighs. He's wearing 9-12 month clothes now for the most part. He doesn't need the width around in that size, but smaller sizes just aren't long enough for his torso. Cooper still doesn't have any teeth, though he is constantly teething on everything in sight. Gunga Drew even bought him a couple little outfits that have pirhanas on them, and one says "caution: teething," which is so true! He bites anything he can.

Cooper is now eating a variety of foods. Hands down, his favorite is bananas! He will open wide for more 'nanas and holler when you don't shovel it in fast enough. It's pretty funny. He also loves pears, sweet potatoes, applesauce, green beans, squash, and even prunes! So far, he is not a fan of carrots and he really doesn't like peaches. He always spits up the peaches when we've tried them.

Cooper is really becoming what we call a "GO baby." If he is awake (and not tired) he wants to go, go, and go some more. If he's getting sleepy, he gets the wiggles--to stay awake, just like daddy does! He still loves to be held and snuggled close when it's bedtime though. Cooper can sit up now! He lasts for about 30 seconds at a time before he lunges forward, trying to go after a toy. He is also rolling in all directions now and he does lots of baby push-ups, especially when he wants to crane his neck around to see something he's hearing. He is just *this close* to truly crawling, but he scoots and combat crawls all over the place. He also loves to walk while holding our hands. Just in the last two weeks, he's really figured out how to walk in succession for any length of time. He loves to be in the swimming pool too. He kicks his legs behind him and loves batting at the water.

Cooper had his second ear infection week before last and it made for a very long weekend. Why do babies get sick on Friday afternoons?? We ended up going to a Mediquick clinic on Sunday in Columbia just to get some relief so we could all sleep. It breaks our hearts to see him hurting so much.

It seems that we're always having some sort of adventure with his poop. How lovely is that? This weekend, we were getting ready to go to Cooper's Aunt Heather's house for Father's Day dinner. He was all dressed and ready to go, so I put him in his jumpy play seat so he could bounce around while we finished getting ready. About 5 minutes later, he started crying loudly, so I went in and picked him up and noticed his shirt was a little wet. I thought he'd peed through, but NOPE! It was POO!!! He had it up the front, up the back, and running down to his toes. I was SO, SO grossed out. Luckily daddy was finishing up his shower, so into the shower Cooper went with him to wash all that ick off. It was a very LARGE poo!

Ahh the glamorous stories of a new mom, huh?

Dave's First Father's Day

I got Dave a card from Cooper for Father's Day and I thought it would be cute if Cooper "signed" it himself. So I got one of my washable ink pads out of the scrapbooking cabinet and put his handprint on the card. Dave was very touched, but the washable ink took almost two days to wash off. Ooops!!

Dave's Mad Rescue Skills

In all his spare time (haha), Dave is a volunteer firefighter. It's hard to get pictures of him in action since it seems that most things requiring their services happen in the wee hours. But today, Orscheln's in Moberly had Emergency Services Day where lots of different departments got together to showcase their equipment and talents for kids to come see.

Just a week or two ago, Dave and several of his Westran FD buddies took an extrication class to learn how to use the "Jaws of Life" tools. So they practiced what they learned on th

is poor, unsuspecting Buick donated by the junkyard. Dave is in suit 520. Cooper watched the show pretty intently! He got a big grin on his face when they were done and Dave took his helmet off and called out to him.

And then, being the super nice firefighters that they are, Dave and a few others headed to the local park for the annual Summer Park Day and put on a hillbilly waterslide. They used a ditch drainage tube, a big plastic tarp and a firehose and BAM! Instant waterslide. The kids think it's pretty cool, and actually it is!

Camping!!!

Dave and I love to go camping, and while we do enjoy the occasional tent camping experience, we're pretty much spoiled rotten because we normally use my inlaws' camper. It's so nice and big and clean and we don't have to sleep on the hard ground! Anyway, this weekend we decided to take Cooper and head up to the lake lot to spend the night at the camper. We had such a great time! Dave grilled while I fed Cooper and put him to bed. Then Dave and I sat and chatted the night away over coffee and smores. Sunday morning, Pawpaw Drew came up and joined us for camp breakfast of eggs and sausage cooked over the fire. Dave loves, loves, loves to cook over the fire! In fact, he loves it so much, Dave and his dad spent over an hour trying to get a good fire going in the rain! Camp breakfast is VERY important around here! :) Cooper took a very long morning nap under the shade of the pergola in his playpen. It was such a fun weekend!

Five months!!!