6 Months Old!

This past Friday Cooper had his 6 month doctor appointment. Since Kelly had to work :( Paul took Cooper to the appointment. Cooper now weighs 15 lbs and 1 oz and is 25 1/2 inches tall. Prior to this appointment Cooper had seen Dr. Kramer because he was coughing and spitting up frequently. Dr. Kramer said Coopers symptoms were minimal it was difficult to tell whether or not he was starting to develop acid reflux, asthma, or RSV. To be on the safe side (since Paul and Kelly both have acid reflux) he gave Cooper Prevacid and he takes 1/4th of the adult tablet dissolved in water every day. Along with this he gave Cooper two inhalers to take twice each day because Cooper seemed to be breathing very fast. Have you ever tried to give a baby inhaler medication? Not fun at all. You put this plastic mask over the babies face and then the inhaler medication is puffed into a long plastic chamber and the baby has to breath it in for at least 6 breaths. When we did this with Cooper he would hold his breath because he was scared and very much disliked having the mask on his face. So eventualy he would take a breath and cry at the same time. Luckily at this appointment Dr. Kramer said he seemed to be breathing slower and did not need to take the inhaler any more. As for the acid reflux medication, he suggested we continue to give it to him once a day because it seemes to be helping. He also said that Cooper could start eat rice cereal once a day. Over all it was a good check up and Cooper is a fairly healthy growing boy.

Likes:
holding and reaching things with his left hand (yes we think he's a lefty)
lullaby music to help him go to sleep
toys that play music and light up
looking up at the lights on the ceiling
riding around outside on daddy in his infant carrier
watching the fish and lights in the aquarium
kicking and making splashes with his legs and feet in the bathtub
eating rice cereal
going to day care
looking at pretty girls (he always has a big smile for them)
tummy farts
standing up and trying to walk
flying in the air over daddy
lying under his play gym
having his diaper changed (or at least lying on the changing table)
playing the kick game
chewing on his chew blanket
talking to grandparents on skype (this is the only time he will sit for at least 10 minutes)
sucking on his hands (or any hands that come near his mouth)
watching the fish in his light-up crib toy
watching anything that lights up
having his chin tickled
watching mommy and daddy vacuum
looking at faces

Dislikes:
going to sleep (he will do anything to fight it, including talking to you in a sweet voice pleading to stay up)
being woken up in the morning
sitting
staying asleep during the day at home (although it's much better than it has been)
having to be burped during the middle of eating
Daddy wearing sunglasses

New Abilities:
happy screaming
scooting on his back to move around on the floor
almost sitting up by himself
Holding on to toys with his left hand (we call his right hand the "stump" because he is so uncoordinated with it)

Lately Cooper as been watching us eat and is really interested in getting something in his mouth just like us. Some times when he is sitting on Paul's lap while we are eating, Cooper will longingly look at Paul and open his mouth hoping something will fall in. So today was Cooper's first day eating rice cereal. Here are some pictures and two videos of Cooper eating rice cereal for the first time.

Mommy putting Cooper in his high chair.



Cooper struggled this first time in his high chair. He would make grunting and groaning noises.


Mommy feeding Cooper.


Cooper looking surprised by the spoon in his mouth. Apparently at that moment it was too much for him to handle.


Mom feeding Cooper.


Dad feeding Cooper.

Cooper's New Talents

In the past week Cooper has developed some new skills. He now loves to scream whether happy or sad. He also loves to scoot on his back. In this video notice how Cooper starts off on the blanket and ends up part way on the carpet.

Grammy Rachel's Visit

This past week I was on spring break from work so my mom came out to visit for part of the week. It was fun having her here. She had so much fun with Cooper and couldn't believe how much he'd changed since she last saw him in January. Here are some pictures from her visit.








Cooper smiling for the camera. It doesn't happen very often.








Here are Uncle Craig and Aunt Olga posing with Cooper and flowers they brought for mom's belated birthday celebration.


















Aunt Olga posing with Cooper.







Uncle Craig is trying to be as cute as Cooper sucking on his fingers. Sorry Uncle Craig, Cooper wins for cuteness.


Cooper's fingers almost went up Uncle Craig's noses. Eww! That would have been gross.









Here Cooper is tasting his new toy he got from Grammy for an early Easter celebration.



Mommy, Cooper and Grammy are going on a walk around the block. This was Cooper's first time on a walk in his infant carrier.

Grammy wanted a naked picture of Cooper so of course I had to have one too. He is so cute with all his little fat rolls.

Thanks for a fun visit Grammy! We hope you can come again soon and bring Poppy too.

Cooper Trying to Walk

Cooper has been wanting to stand lately. That's all he wants to do. When leaning up against his toy box he can stand for about 5 seconds on his own. Now that he can stand on his own for a few seconds he wants more. He wants to be on the move. Here is a video of daddy helping Cooper walk. At this rate he will be walking before he can sit up.

Cooper Playing Outside

Today was a pretty nice day, about 70 degrees with slight wind. We decided it would be fun to take Cooper outside to play. He really hasn't spent too much time outside yet.







Here is a video of Cooper playing on daddy.





Mommy walking around the yard with Cooper.

Cooper Watching Fish

Cooper loves to watch the lights and fish in our aquarium. Here is a video of him watching the fish and getting very excited.

Flopping Over

Here is a video of Cooper attempting to roll over. Somehow he got stuck on his side and just started kicking his leg.





Cooper actually flops over this time.