Our Backyard

Chris and Cathy came this past weekend to visit us, but mostly Cooper. While they were here, they wanted to help out with the yard work in the back as well as plant some flowers. Our landlord pays for the gardener to come work in our yard. They come 1x/week for no more than 5 minutes. From what I have observed they do very little work, so we wanted to do a little more work to make the yard more enjoyable for us and to have some nice grass for Cooper this summer.

Here are some pictures of our backyard and the flowers that were planted.

view from our back yard

marguerite daisy (perennial) this is on the slap with the adirondack chairs

Yellow kalanchoe (annuals)

backyard

yellow gerber daisies (annual)

looking left from our backdoor

pot with ranunculus (annual) and blue pansies

yellow voltage (annual)

geraniums (lavender and white)

lavender

Lucy's new favorite place to look out. She sits behind the kitchen sink. She watches all the birds. We have also discovered there are small lizards in the back yard (along the ivy and wall). I haven't seen any yet, but AJ has seen a few. I'm not looking forward to seeing one as we all know how much I love lizards.

Cooper enjoying his time in his jumperoo! He has learned to turn all the animals now.

Hi Handsome!

Pictures Pictures Pictures

Here are just a few pictures I have taken in the last few days of Cooper. Everytime I try to video tape him rolling or giggling or get a picture of him smiling, he stops. What a stinker!

Mommy's Major Hunk

Crabby But Cute

Napping in his crib (only lasted about 30 min)

Loves grabbing at people's mouths

Lucy is feeling a little left out of the pictures. Can you spot lucy? (don't worry this was taken a few weeks ago, the shelf is a little more organized now)

Grandma and Grandpa Jorg visit

Grandma and Grandpa Jorg came to visit Cooper over the weekend. They came in on Friday evening and left Monday afternoon. We all had a great time and it was great for Cooper to be able to see them since he hasn't seen them since Thanksgiving.

We kept very busy during their visit here. They helped us with cleaning up our backyard and planted flowers in our backyard. They spend a few hours each day out here with taking trips to the hardware store as well as working up a sweat in the backyard. We appreciate all of their hard work and the backyard looks so much better (pictures to be posted soon).

They also were a great help around the house. Cathy was very helpful in helping us get all of our laundry done as well as little chores around the house. We really appreciated the extra hands.

Sunday they babysat Cooper during the day so AJ and I could go out and get some errands done. I was very sad to leave Cooper but knew he was in good hands. Coop spent sometime outside in his beach tent while Grandma and Grandpa worked in the yard. He loved being outside. He ate 2 bottles for them and they even got him to take a 45 minute nap. They tired him out!

I didn't take that many pictures. I meant to, but we just got so busy. Here are 2 pictures of coop with Grandma and Grandpa Jorg. AJ and I will be taking pictures of the backyard tomorrow.

Cooper's Head Ultrasound

Cooper had his cranial ultrasound this afternoon to rule out hydrocephalus and check his brain. The radiology clinic was running 30 minutes late, but thankfully Cooper enjoyed sitting on AJ's lap and watching all the people in the clinic. Of course, everyone loved watching Cooper and he gave many people smiles. He is definitely becoming a flirt.

Once we were called back for the ultrasound, Cooper became very fussy cause it was time to eat again. I held and fed Cooper while the doctor did the ultrasound on Cooper's head. Cooper loved having the ultrasound massage his head and was getting close to falling asleep.

The results of the ultrasound were very good and no signs of fluid in the brain and the integrity of the brain looks great. Even with a flat head, his brain is not being affected at all. We are very happy with the results. We will follow up with our pediatrician in a few weeks for the next steps. We are unsure what that will be. The radiologist said that it may include an X-ray to look at the skull bones, but we are not sure yet. There is still the possibility of him being put in a helmet for the flat head.

Both AJ and I believe that Cooper's head shape is not getting worse, and may be slowly improving with him enjoying tummy time as well as loving being in the exersaucer. We are hoping for no helmet.

Here are a few pics I took of Cooper finishing his bottle after the ultrasound.

sleepy baby

4 month checkup

Cooper had his 4 month check up with the pediatrician today. He did very well and only cried with his shots. He was very interested in the bright colors on the walls and loved both the nurse and pediatrician. We found this new pediatrician through one of AJ's advisors who has been going to them with his kids for years. I was very pleased with the pediatrician and his interaction with Cooper. He was very friendly as was his staff.

Cooper's 4 month statistics

height: 24.5 inches (25%)

weight: 13 lbs 5 oz (25%)

head circumference: 16.25 inches (25%)

I had very little concerns going in for this appointment as Cooper has been progressing well with his milestones. He began rolling on Sunday, his head control is very good and his tummy time is great. I'm very pleased with how he is progressing and tonight he rolled over 2 times from tummy to back. I was a very happy momma.

I brought up with the pediatrician regarding Cooper's flat head in the back. I believe this resulted from Cooper hating tummy time early on. But now since Cooper spends a majority of his awake time either in the bumbo, exersaucer, tummy time or being held, he rarely is on his back unless he is sleeping or on his playmat. The pediatrician says Cooper's head is very flat. He recommended we get a cranial unltrasound as a precautionary to make sure there is no fluid in the brain. Then if that is negative (which we are hoping and believe it will be), we will have a follow up with the doctor in 3 weeks to see how Cooper's flatness of his head is, and from there, Cooper may need to get a helmet for his head to prevent any more flatness.

Flatness of a head has increased in infants as babies are required to sleep on their back. Therefore, they spend much of their day on their back where their head is pressing up against a flat surface. As babies get older, they spend a majority of their time upright (once they gain the head control) so the flatness will improve.

Cooper has changed so much these past few weeks. He is becoming such a babbler and a flirt. He smiles and makes sounds at anyone that talks to him. His new favorite thing is to look at himself in the mirror and smile and talk to himself. We have this game that we play where I stand him in front of the mirror, and i move him in and out and he punches the mirror. It's very cute.

Another game Cooper loves to play is superbaby. I put him on my shits and lift my lower legs up and down. He loves it and has the biggest smile on his face.

Tonight, he has begun laughing when playing games. I was getting him ready for bed and blowing raspberries on his stomach and he was laughing so much. It was adorable. I can't wait for him to continue to laugh more.

Cooper continues to sleep 8-11 hours per night. He goes down for bed between 7 and 8 pm. He still is being swaddled in a sleep sack. He will stop being swaddled when he can no longer fit in the sleep slack. He has white noise playing all night, which is our life saver and the only thing that will make him calm down. I think he realizes that when that goes on its either time for nap or bedtime.

We are still struggling with napping. He like to nap on me, but we are working on getting him to nap in his crib. Today, he napped in his crib for about 45 minutes until i had to wake him up to head to the doctors.

Since I just started this blog, I'm going to post all of cooper's stats from previous doctor's visits.

Birth:

weight: 5 lbs, 4 oz

height: 18.5 inches

head circumference: 12.75 inches

12 days

weight: 5 lbs 7 oz (3%)

height: 18.5 inches (3%)

head circumference: 13.25 inches

1 month

weight: 6 lbs 5 oz

2 month

weight: 8 lbs, 8.5 oz (55)

height: 22.25 inches (25%)

head circumference: 15 inches (20%)

3 month

Babbler

Cooper has become quite the babbler. He loves to lay on the boppy, changing table, rock n play or in his bouncer and just babble. It's the cutest thing. I sit there with him and have a conversation with him. I know he has no idea what we are talking about, but it's the cutest thing ever. Last night he was lying on his changing table (his favorite place) for about 30 min and just babbling away. I wish I was able to record it, but left my phone downstairs. This is his babbling I got this morning.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day and Happy 4 month birthday to Cooper. We didn't really do anything exciting as Valentine's day crept up on us. It seems that lately we have been too busy with taking care of Cooper, unpacking the house and AJ getting into the groove of his new job. AJ only worked a half day today, so he watched Cooper this afternoon while I went to get my California drivers license, went for a walk and just hung out with Cooper.

We can't believe Cooper is 4 months old today. He has changed so much even from last week. He goes into his 4 month doctor's appointment on Thursday. I'm looking forward to seeing how much he weighs. I bet he is getting close to 14 lbs.

Here are some pictures from today! Enjoy!

Looks so handsome in his pink shirt

Tummy time is getting so much better

Concentrating so hard

Handsome boy

He loves grabbing onto this ball with both hands

Videos and Pictures from this weekend

Cooper had a very busy weekend. His exersaucer/jumperoo from his Grandma and Grandpa Adams came in the mail on Friday and AJ put it together on Saturday morning. Cooper loves it! It's a great way for him to continue to work on his head control without being on his tummy.

His feet quite don't touch the ground yet. So we have put a few books underneath so he has some pressure underneath his feet.

Here is a video of Cooper in the jumperoo. He is still trying to figure everything out.

Cooper also made a huge improvement in his tummy time. Here is a video taken today.

Also, this morning. He rolled over from tummy to back. He hasn't done it again, but he had tried multiple times. Both AJ and I were very excited this morning. Unfortunately, I didn't capture it on video, but hope to soon.

Stuff I've Learned

Some things I've learned in 118 days.....

1. Baby farts are frequent and hilarious, and create huge smiles on Cooper's face
2. Nothing and nobody can prepare you for the sleep deprivation
3. You will say ridiculous things and speak 3 octives higher than usual
4. Picking a babies nose, no matter what the prize, will not gross you out
5. "Blow out" takes on a whole new meaning
6. Breastfeeding/pumping is the single most time consuming and difficult thing you will ever do
7. On the contrary...you are so proud of the frozen milk bags you have stored, and view them as trophies. And will even cry over spilt milk

8. It will take approximately an hour longer to get ready and leave the house. And are okay with going out with wet hair, hair in a pony tail, no makeup on, and in sweatpants.

9. You basically need a baby survival kit every time you go anywhere....LOTS OF STUFF
10. Turns out...you need to put a onesie on under their clothes in colorado, but in California, a onesie is all they will need because it's so warm out.
11. Hand sanitizer is your new best friend
12. Anything and everything they do is the "coolest" and "greatest" thing you've ever seen
13. My husband is absolutely amazing and I plan on making sure Cooper knows how wonderful his father is for the rest of my life
14. Even when you know it...you'll smell his diaper to take in the toxic fumes..almost like you enjoy it
15. You finally understand and certainly appreciate your parents in a much different way
16. You are okay with not showering for 2 days. Sometimes he just won't allow it.
17. You analyze his diapers and question whether or not the color and consistency is "normal"
18. When my everyone told me "constant worry" when describing parenting...they weren't lying.
19. Nothing is better than chubby (baby) legs and tummies
20. Hot meals are a distant memory
21. Keeping a clean house is only in my dreams. Not a reality anymore. I'm starting to understand why people with kids want a cleaning lady.
22. This little 14 lb baby boy will consume you...every decision...every thought
23. You are okay with not having the same body has you had before baby, and are okay with it.
24. The definition of crazy = The Duggar Family
25. Nothing prepares you for this kind of love....best 118 days of my life...I fall more in love every day
26. You will update your facebook status more than ever for 2 reasons...1) Because you're so stinkin' proud and 2) Because you spend NUMEROUS hours a day pumping/ feeding and it's about the only thing you can do.
27. It is incredible to see your friends love your baby...and makes you love their children that much more or get very excited for them to have their own!
28. There are so many different and right ways to do things...everybody and every baby is different. Nothing you do is wrong because it's not like someone else.
29. Seeing your baby do something new will bring a tear to your eye.

30. You will not remember life without him.

Tummy time

Tummy time is something we have been working on with Cooper since he was born. In the beginning, he tolerated tummy time very well and did not fuss at all. He would just lay there very contently, and often fall asleep. Around 1 month, he started to become more active and would start to turn his head from side to side. Cooper started to become more fussy and not be happy on his tummy around the time I noticed increase gassiness and possibility of reflux. Whenever we would put him down on his tummy he would just cry. We would let him cry for a little bit, but then it got unbearable and we would pick him up. Our goal was to get in about 30 minutes of tummy time per day, but that rarely happened. We were lucky to get 15 minutes in.

As Cooper approaches his 4th month, he was not progressing in his tummy time. I learned a few things in school, so I figured we should try them out. We would prop him up on a boppy pillow or over a folded receiving blanket, or we would lay on the floor in front of him and talk to him, but he didn't seem interested.

We went out and bought a tummy time mat with a smaller boppy yesterday in hopes that his tummy time would improve. We tried out the mat today and noticed a complete difference. He lasted 5-10 minutes per session with only a little bit of fussing. We are very happy with this accomplishment. He has not mastered tummy time, but has begun lifting his head up more, reaching for toys and pushing up with his arms in a push up position. All of this will help with his development down the road and reaching further milestones.

Below are 2 videos taken today of Cooper's tummy time. He hasn't mastered it yet, but its a big improvement from where he used to be.

Cooper this morning with tummy time

Cooper this afternoon with tummy time

Stroller Strides

Stroller Strides is a mommy and baby workout group that Cooper and I attend 4-5x/week. We absolutely love it and I feel that Cooper's days are better when we can go to stroller strides. During stroller strides, Cooper will usually fall asleep through the hour long work out. This is great, as he usually does not nap during the day.

There are various workouts that we do during stroller strides, but it mainly consists of cardio (walking or running) and then various stations throughout that focus on strength training of the arms, legs and abdominals. Cooper and I walk at this time as we do not have a jogging stroller and he is too young at this time to sit in the jogging stroller. I am going to discuss with the pediatrician next week regarding when Cooper can go into a jogging stroller. We are looking at purchasing a BOB stroller or a Baby Jogger stroller. We are planing on going to look at them soon since we are undecided on which one we like.

I'm glad that I joined stroller strides as the mom's in the group are very nice. There are only a few of us with brand new babies. Most of the mom's have toddlers. But I have already met some nice moms and a few of us are planning on joining a Mommy and me group at the rec starting in March. Most of the mom's are stay at home mom's, but I did meet two mom's who are physical therapists.

I can already feel a difference in my body since starting stroller strides. I have been sore multiple times. I'm looking forward to being able to jog and train for a half marathon.

I don't have a picture of Cooper at Stroller Strides, but felt I needed to post at least one picture. Here is a pic of Coop napping in his bouncer. Lucy feels that she needs to be near him to get any attention. Disregard the mess in the background, we are still in the process of unpacking. Hopefully that will be finished this weekend.

4 month pictures

Today, Cooper and I went to get his 4 month pictures done at Sears. When we got Cooper's 3 month pictures done, we joined the loyalty program so everytime we go in M-Th, we get a free 8x10 and all photo sheets are buy 1 get one free. It's a very good deal and we plan to go every month for Cooper's pictures.

We did not have a very good experience with this Sears in Thousand Oaks. Our appointment time was originally scheduled for 3 pm. AJ had a work meeting at 2, therefore he was planning on meeting us there at 3 pm. I received a phone call at 2 from Sears asking me if I could get there earlier. I asked when, and she said now. Cooper and I showed up at 2:30. The lady was very rude and not friendly and was not willing to take more than 2-3 pictures per outfit. I felt as though I had to run the session and ask for different poses or back drops. AJ finally showed up at 3 pm, and she was upset with me that I asked her to wait for me to view the pictures. She did not help AJ or I pick out pictures or anything. When AJ and I were writing down what images we wanted to order, she was shutting down the store. I was very upset with how the manager treated us and how our session went, therefore I wrote down the managers number and she will be getting a phone call from me.

AJ and I did not buy the CD this time, as we realized that we can order more prints online if needed. We ordered a few pics, but here is the link for the photos if you would like to view them.

http://www.SearsPhotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=2ca71e30-b534-4ddd-be76-833a3d3c9e44

Cooper's going to be a thumb sucker

Cooper is now 15 weeks old and discovering new things every day and making improvements in his development.

Cooper's new favorite thing are his hands. He absolutely loves putting his left hand in his mouth and sucking on it. I have not seen him put his right hand in his mouth. He does not like his pacifier very much, only when he is very tired. But he will suck on his hands at all times, even when he is not tired. We are thinking he is going to be a thumb sucker.

As you can see, he enjoys putting his hands in his mouth no matter where he is.

Cooper also has started sitting in his bumbo chair. He is able to sit independently with moderate head control for a minute or so, but I get very nervous and keep very close eye on him. We try and do his bumbo chair a few times per day for 5 minutes per session.