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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Weekly Update - 10 Months

Week of January 11, 2012 (44 Weeks)

Addie's Weekly Photo

Cooper's Weekly Photo

This week, mama and dada decided to make a few changes to our eating habits and daily routine to be a better example for our children.  Part of that example includes throwing out all of our "junk" food in the house.  Okay, so I didn't throw ALL of it out.... but I DID hide it in a place that would take nearly 15 minutes to dig the items back out.  Shane and I know that our eating habits have not always been a great example for our kids to follow.  Before this week, it would seem normal for us to eat out once a week (sometimes more), and eat more than one helping at dinner.  In addition, Addison was getting a piece of candy almost every time she would use the potty.... HEY, it worked!! LOL  With that said, we feel like catching our bad habits early are the best way to help our kids grow up with a better, healthier lifestyle.  We traded out Addie's prize candy/toy (rewards for going potty on the toilet and good behavior) for a sticker box.  Turns out, she LOVES these stickers and seems even more excited to get them than she would get for candy.  We traded out chips, and other snacks for salads, chicken, healthy-choice frozen dinners, fresh fruits, and veggies.  We also purchased an elliptical machine.  In addition, we have vowed to go on a family walk every day (so long as the temp is above 40 degrees).  This whole week, we kept up our promise every single day!  Here's to a healthier 2013!!

All about Addie:

Potty Training:  Addie is still going strong with potty training but we're just not sure how to approach bedtime.  Every now and then, her diaper will be dry at naptime but it's not very often.  We've tried several times to go without any bottoms on for bedtime or nap time, but within an hour of being down, she pees.  She can go all evening without anything to drink but always wants a sippy with water in her room.  I hate depriving her of that because she seems to wake up in the middle of the night and want a sip of water.  Not sure exactly what to do about bedtime potty training but will be doing some research and see what I can find.  In the meantime, I'm so happy how far she's come.  We're blessed to have such a cooperative and smart little girl.  Love her to pieces!!!

"Daddy"- She still calls him dada for the most part but has snuck "daddy" in a few times.  I think it's a sign that our little girl is growing up!   8...)

Observant -  Addie will point out just about anything "new" she sees.  She is a very observant little girl and doesn't let much get past her.  If I'm cooking and she hears a timer go off, she will alert me "mama, it's done!".  If she hears any noise for that matter, she is quick to bring it to our attention.

All about Cooper:

10 Months: Our little guy is growing up so fast!  We still have yet to schedule his 9 month checkup, so I don't have any stats yet.  But he's in 12 month clothes and size 3 shoes.  I can't remember where Addie was at this age, but I'm sure I could look back at the blog and see.

Mobility:  He's an amazing, FAST crawler.  He's not on his knees yet and still does an army crawl.  I would call it a mixture of an army crawl and a swimmers breast-troke.  He leans onto his sides when the next arm goes forward like he's swimming.  Hard to explain in words, but quite entertaining to watch!  We can't take our eyes off of him for long when he's not in a "child proof" area because he's such a fast crawler.  I can't say he's anywhere near walking yet or even standing on his own.  If we stand him up next to a short, stationary object, he will hold on and keep himself upright for several minutes before losing balance or his grip.

Bye-Bye:  He started waving to me first when I would change his diaper and I would wave my hand back and forth at him and he would mock me.  Eventually, I put "bye-bye" with my waving and now he will do it sometimes when people wave at him or when we say bye-bye.  I'm not sure what it is about him waving back at me, but it's so heartwarming to see him interacting with us.

Eating:
Solids:  Cooper has fed himself blueberries, bananas, peas, carrots, green beans, baby "puff's", and Ritz crackers.  Despite only having his two bottom baby teeth, he does relatively well with feeding himself and being able to mash up the food.
Baby Foods/Puree's:  When we first introduced baby foods to Cooper, he was only picky about apricots and peaches.  We made sure to mix them with other foods so that he could slowly get used to the taste and now he will eat anything.... LITERALLY, ANYTHING!  I love that he isn't the least bit picky and hope he continues to be open to new foods.
Liquids: NO MORE BOTTLES!!!  Within the last week, we decided to be done with bottles completely.  Coop made a quick and painless transition to sippy cups (the ones with the flexible spout).  As far as what he drinks, we still limit Coop to Formula and water.

Sings/Sways:  He has done this before but will do it now when a familiar song or cartoon/song comes on.  He will watch the tv and sway to the tunes.  Sometimes if we are singing, he will sway and chime in with little hum's.  Super cute!

More Photos from the week:












Weekly Update - Happy New Year's!!!

Week of January 4, 2012

Addie's weekly photo

Cooper's Weekly photo

On New Years Eve (during the day), we had a pretty good snow fall.  It was at least enough that Addie  was able to bundle up in her snow pants and play outside with Blake and AV.  To ring in the new year, we kept things pretty low key (as we have since becoming parents).  We invited Uncle Dillon (and family), and Nana over for appetizers and watched some New Years Celebrations on TV.  Of course the kids didn't last until midnight and our guests all left by 10 pm (worn out), but Mama and Dada stayed up long enough to see the ball drop and then went to bed.

All about Addie

Thomas Creations:  We've had a Thomas the Train set for quite a while but I exchange out toys from the toy room and bring them upstairs to her toys bins in the living room so we can keep the kids from getting tired of their toys too quick.  Lately, Addison's favorite thing is to make elaborate train track layouts.  We will use blocks, pillows.... whatever we can to make bridges and tunnels for Thomas to go over and through.  She gets the biggest kick out of it!

New buddy:  Addie got a new Woody doll (from Toy Story) for Christmas and he is her new favorite buddy.  She will invite Woody to meals, play, bedtime, potty time... whenever!

Door Handles:  We've been pretty fortunate that Addison never really caught on to opening and closing doors in the house.... until now. It's helped us keep her in/out of rooms when we needed to.  Although she still doesn't completely have the hang of it, she has opened a few doors in the last week just simply by being very persistent about trying to turn the handle.  She will still stay in her bed for nap time/bedtime and won't attempt to open her door until dada or mama open it for her.

Potty Training:  We still do diaper at bed/nap time,  but no longer need one during the day while Addie is awake.  An accident is pretty rare and is usually more of a "piddle" than an all out soak.  This week we have only had ONE accident! :)

New Phrases:
"I'll go ask dada"-  If she asks mama for something and I don't give her the answer she wants, she will tell me she's going to ask dada.
"Hey I've got an idea"- A pretty random phrase, but she will get really excited and say she has an idea for something.  Usually it phases into gibberish, but very cute to hear! :)

All about Cooper

Shy:  If Cooper feels like being shy to a stranger, he will put his forearm against his forehead and try to hide his face.  Usually it still includes a smile or some sort of grin.  Overall, I try to discourage shyness with the kids because I want to keep them outgoing but I know that some shyness can actually be healthy for a child's personality.... and cute! ha ha

Growling when eating - I'm not sure where this comes from but it's a mixture of a grunt and growl and usually between bites.  Quite funny to hear while feeding him.

Gasping for air:  Cooper does this randomly but most of all when he is playing or when he is excited about something.  The first few times he did it, I was beside myself because I had no idea what was going on.  As time has passed though, I've realized that it's just his way of releasing energy.  Gotta keep an eye on this boy!!

Hates to be alone:  I can't say he's like this 100% of the time, but he does get in moods where he does not want to be left alone.  Mainly, if we are in the room with him for a while and then all of the sudden leave, he will whine and cry for us to come back.... ESPECIALLY if he's sleepy.  There are times though that he has no problem with independent play.

Crawling More:  Every day, Cooper gets better at crawling.  Now that he's so much more mobile, he's starting to get into things.  He has messed with the tree before, but he gets to it faster and it's usually the first thing he heads for.  I've finally started testing out the words "no-no" to see if he will catch on.  It doesn't seem to phase him yet though.  Usually he will look at me and smile or laugh.  Something we definitely need to work on!!

More photos from the week:
Her first big snow of the year


Loves her pal Woody 

Uncle Dillon testing out his new plow! 

The kids making snow angels 

AV, Blake & Addie 

Cooper soaking up the warmth inside! 

Cooper LOVES bath time! 



She's gotta learn to drive sometime! HA HA 

Weekly Update - Cooper's First Christmas

Week of December 28, 2012

Addie's weekly photo



Cooper's Weekly photo



We were all still pretty sick for Christmas this year so none of us were really in the mood for pictures (including the kids).... that explains my low inventory of pics on this week's blog.

All about Addie

Christmas:  Addie seems to be catching on to unwrapping presents and gift-giving, etc.  She LOVES ripping the paper off of boxes and seeing what's inside packages.  Despite being under the weather, Addie was a trooper Christmas morning.  When she got up and walked out into the living room, the rest of us were already awake and waiting for her to see what Santa had left.  She didn't really pay much attention to all of the wrapped gifts and focused most of her attention to the new doll-house and ball-blower that Santa had left.  I think she was most amused by Cooper's ball-blower than the doll house at first, but eventually made her way to the house.

Doll House:  I think she's still getting the hang of pretending with the dolls, but she seems to love all of the little parts and pieces that came with her house.  We bought a few extra dolls because the ones that came with her house were blonde and we wanted a brunette mommy, daddy and "Addie" doll.  She refers to them as Mama, Dadda, Addie and Cooper.  I love it!

New Phrase:
"okay, I promise" - If tell Addie "don't do this/that", her response will be "okay, I promise" LOL!!


All about Cooper

Baby's first Christmas:  Of course he's still too young to have any idea what's going on, but he definitely enjoyed all of the new toys!  Still being sick, however, he didn't last very long Christmas morning and was ready for a nap after a very short time of playing.

Sitting to Crawling:  Cooper hasn't figured out how to go from sitting position to crawling position and it really frustrates him!!  Christmas morning, he sat in front of all of the gifts and kept looking around to see if someone was going to put him on his belly so he could go investigate.

More photos from the week:

Cooper was the first one to set his sights on 
all of the goods that Santa had left us!

Addie finally made her way into the room 

She's not sure what to think!!! 

She sets her sights on Cooper's Ball Blower 

WOW!!


 Cooper trying out his new snow suit and coat.

Weekly Update - Trip to Arkansas

Week of December 21, 2012

Addie's weekly photo

Cooper's weekly photo

This week we went to Arkansas for Daddy's family Christmas.  There was not one but TWO celebrations while we were there, so the kids were very entertained!  If it weren't for all of us being sick, we probably would've had even MORE fun.  Aside from being sick, it was really nice for the kids to see all of the family.

All about Addie

Sick, sick SICK:  The whole house had come down with the same cold this week and poor little Addie had taken a direct hit to her ears.  We went to the doctor to have her checked out and the doc confirmed that she had a little blockage in front of her tubes.  He prescribed drops and some meds to help kick the virus.

Growing girl:  The doctor weighed Addie when we went in to get her ears looked at and she already weighs 30lbs!!  I just couldn't believe it!!  I have a niece that didn't weigh 30lbs till she was 4 1/2 years old!!  Although this wasn't an "official" checkup, the doctor said Addie is growing beautifully and she's still at average height and weight from what he could see.

New phrases:
"That was a very good story"- She says this when we read books and when the story is done.
"Look at my mouth"- When Nana tries to teach Addie a new word, Nana will tell Addie to look at her mouth.  Now, when Addie picks up on a word we say, she will repeat it (without being asked) and say "mama, look at my mouth..." and then she will repeat the word.  Too funny!!

All about Cooper

First illness:  This week, Cooper came down with his very first cold :(  Poor pathetic little guy.  We felt so bad because while all of us could take cough drops and nighttime aids to help alleviate the cold, he was too little to take anything.

Crawling Machine:  On Thursday, Cooper crawled from the living room (upstairs) all the way into the front entryway (about 12 feet) in about 5 minutes.  That's definitely the furthest I've seen him crawl in such a short amount of time.

Growing Boy:  Last week, we posted that Cooper has outgrown most of his 9 month clothes and is filling out his 12 mo. clothes pretty well.  At the doctor, both kids were weighed and Cooper was 20lbs!  We still need to schedule his 9 month checkup to confirm the rest of his measurements, but I couldn't believe how much he weighs already!

More photos from the week


Still sporting the scrunchy face 


 LOVES her new Elf microphone that she got from Gma K


At the doctor for his first cold 

LOVES a new app I put on my ipad.
It's NickJr DrawNPlay.  She can't get enough! 

At the doctor to get her ears checked out.
Not a happy camper :( Glad Nana was there to help!

Poor kid wouldn't eat her breakfast without
putting pressure on her ear because it
was hurting so much!! 

Cooper enjoying Christmas movies 
in one of the gift boxes. 

Weekly Update - Trip to Illinois

Week Of December 14, 2012

Addie's weekly photo

Cooper's Weekly Photo


Over the weekend, 14th-16th, we made a trip to Illinois for mama's family Christmas.  The kids were in their element being around all of the cousins that were their age.  And PRESENTS... oh my goodness PRESENTS!!!!  I don't think Addie' knew what to do with herself with so many gifts to open.  Lets just say they are both very lucky have so many Aunts/Uncles, Cousins and Great Cousins that care so much about them!!

All about Addie

Interacting with Coop:  She will wake up in the morning and immediately ask me where's Cooper?  She will bring him toys and sometimes take his toys.... Overall, I would say Addie loves being in Cooper's company.  Sometimes though,  Addie can be a bit rough with him. I think it's just taking time for her to realize that he's smaller and a bit more fragile than her older cousins.

New phrases:
"Don't say that anymore" or "Don't say that all the time": She interchanges these from time to time and will do it when we say frequent phrases like when mama says she's a "silly-headed-silly-head".

Lil Jumper:  In gymnastics, we learned how to jump off objects that are low to the ground.  Well Addie' never really mastered this trick until this week.  We have a few pillow seats that sit really low to the ground and Addie has recently discovered jumping off of these and onto the carpet.  She's so very proud of herself when she does it too!!!

All about Cooper

Second Tooth:  On 12-12-12, we saw Cooper's second tooth pop through.  On his right hand side, his lower middle baby tooth finally broke through his gums.  He's been a drooling mess for the last week and just a bit more irritable than usual so we kind of figured that the tooth was going to make it's debut.

Scrunchy face:  He's been doing this for several weeks now and it just doesn't get old!!  Wether he's just goofing around or eating something "different", he will scrunch his nose and squint his eyes giving us his trademark scrunchy face.  I love it more and more every time I see it!!!

Growing boy:  Cooper is already in size 12mo clothes!  Granted, baby clothes are not all created equal and sizes are never consistent, but there aren't many outfits in size 9mo that he can fit anymore.  We've also had to change the setting on his jumper-roo-roo more than once to accommodate his growing legs so that his knees aren't resting on the floor.

Mocking Us:  If we make a noise with our mouth, Cooper tries to imitate us.  He LOVES to smack his lips when we do too.

Feeding Self:  Because he's such a good eater, I didn't think it would be too difficult for him to pick up on feeding himself but even I'm shocked at how quickly he picked up on it.  So far he's only had the baby "mum-mum's" and baby "puff's".  He still drops about half of the ones that start off on his tray and several will get stuck between his fingers requiring assistance from mama or daddy.  I'm excited to start trying new foods out on him!


More photos from the week:
Having an early Christmas with Nana




"walking" 


Feeding himself!! 


Nana playing a joke on Mama. Dressing Cooper
in Addie's clothes!!! 

Addie likes using Cooper's walker 

Visiting with Gma R.  Love this pic! 

Cooper hanging with Gma 

Uncle Dillon and Cooper