Big Boy Laughs

Today Cooper had his first, real, big boy laugh!  It was amazing to hear and watch.

I was holding Coop right outside Eli's bedroom door when Eli ran up and started jumping up and down.  Cooper thought that was absolutely hilarious and started laughing. Not his typical chuckle and smile, but a full on, from the bottom of his toes laugh.  After calling Jess upstairs to see, Eli started jumping again and sure enough, there it was again.

It really isn't surprising that Eli is the one who got him to laugh.  Littlest man LOVES his big brother so much and always smiles at him.

We tried the same thing later today to see if he would laugh again and he just looked at the rest of us like we were crazy.  Apparently it's a once in a lifetime humor thing.


Oh, and just so I don't forget...
Cooper still has his cold.  We took him in on Friday because we thought he sounded raspy while breathing.  After Eli and his bout of Bronchiolitis when he was three months old, a raspy sound is not something to overlook.  We didn't get to see Dr. Agan, as he wasn't in, boo!  But we did see another very nice doctor.  She said his lungs were clear and his oxygen level was very good, but his ear canal was looking a little red.  She was confident that it would heal itself and not turn into an infection.  So far so good!

Because we were there and he's so little they still did a growth check.  He is currently 25 inches long and 14 pounds 4 ounces, exactly double his birth weight.

...because I don't want to forget...

Cooper had fallen asleep in the car and Eli, ever so sweetly, said, "Mom, Cooper sure is cute when he sleeps."

What a sweet, sweet brother.  They both make my heart melt.

Swimming through the Weeks

Wow, I can't believe it's been a couple weeks already since the last time I posted on here.  I don't know what my problem is, but I have actually forgotten completely about the blog for a couple weeks.  Then I was looking at pictures I've taken recently and thought, "oh yeah!  The BLOG!"  Oops.  I am WAY behind on not only posting, but reading what's been going on out there.  Lots of catching up to do.

What's been going on here you ask?  Eli is back in swimming lessons and is doing really well.  He goes to lessons twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, and the difference from the last time he was there is amazing.  He wants to do everything.  By himself!  I think we have a swimmer.  Jess said that Noelle, his swim instructor, told him that he is really close to swimming by himself.  A little more practice and he'll be there.  Makes my little swimming/diving heart go pitter patter.

Cooper, on the other hand, has had a couple rough days.  As my return to work looms in the not so far off future, three weeks from today actually, we have been trying to get him to take a bottle and to get used to our wonderful babysitter.  He absolutely, will NOT, take a bottle.  Not from me.  Not from Jess. Not from Grandma and Papa.  No one.  This boy is stubborn.  We have tried different bottles, positions, even the liquid within.  Nothing.  Today I got him a transitional sippy cup to see if that would do the trick.  We'll see.  We have also started giving him rice cereal and baby food.  He has had sweet potatoes and peaches.  He is a fan!  :)  It takes a few minutes and quite the mess, to get the knack of spoon eating each time, but it's pretty cute and he's awfully excited about it.

He was exhausted today when we got home from Mary's this afternoon.  He did a whole lot of crying while he was there today.  

Found this shirt today.  Eli has one very similar and HAD to get this, especially since it was on clearance!  Eli has already said he wants a picture of them both in their shirts. 

And just because it's been a while since I last updated, here are a few pictures. 

Eli's buddy Jack came over to spend the day.  They decided they wanted to play with bathtub toys so we opened Winkey pool in the bathroom. They loved it.

 Just hanging out while Mommy folds laundry

Cooper meet Bumbo.  They're good friends. 

My loves.

"Hey! Caterpillar!  I'm talking to YOU!"

Sitting together on a sunny Sunday morning.

I finally hung pictures in our stairwell.  We LOVE it.  Can't believe it's taken this long to do so.

Our boys love each other so much.  Cooper always gets the biggest grins when Eli is around.

His smile could melt anything.

LOL

Our darling shark.  Such a good kid.

Time for food!!

We started a chore chart with Eli.  There are a total of six chores.  Two feeding the dog (once in the morning and once in the evening as well as brushing teeth).  He loves it.

"Seriously? You're taking my picture right after I woke up.  That is SO not fair."

I'm still not sure how we got so lucky.  We have the two sweetest little boys.  

LOVE

Thrilling Three

Wow!  Can you believe our little Cooper is already three months old?  It amazes me how quickly the days and weeks are flying by and our boys are getting so big.

This little charmer continues to brighten our world every day.

What sorts of things is he doing these days, you ask?  

Well, let me tell you, he:

~ Recognizes Mom and Dad and greets us with excited smiles and grins.

~ Recognizes his big brother and responds to him with extreme excitement.  Boy does he love his brother!

~ Is quite vocal: he enjoys "talking" to us with coos, gurgles, and grunts.  

~ Copies us when we stick out our tongue and tries to blow raspberries back at us.

~ Plays with his hands.  A lot.

~ Chews on his hands, fists, wrists, arms, and elbows.  This would be so much better if he'd just chew on a binkey...but nooooooo, that might keep his clothes dry.

~ Holds his head steady (95% of the time)

~ Tracks objects 

~ LOVES watching himself in mirrors.

~ Starting to laugh (he actually had one full on laugh today, but I couldn't get him to repeat it)  He is definitely getting there!

~ Is growing like a weed: he measures 24 inches long and is 13 pounds 2 ounces. 

~ And the most interesting, he absolutely dislikes, no HATES, having a dirty diaper.  Some of his happiest, smiling moments of the day are when he's getting a fresh, clean, dry diaper.

He is fighting off his first cold, so he hasn't been sleeping as well as he normally does and has red puffy eyes.  He is still pretty darned adorable.  

This picture makes the top of his head look ginormous, but in person it doesn't look the same.  The hair on the top of his head is starting to fill in and looks cute.  He is also a drool factory these days.

My Two Boys

Who are most amazing boys in the world?

They ate these two guys right here.  We sure love them.

And boy do they love each other.

You can't tell me this isn't the cutest thing ever.  

They were just sitting there like this.  

So sweet.

All of them.  So precious.  Cooper's little hand resting on Eli's.

Mommy moment.  :)

Odds and Ends

We've just been hanging out and doing our thing the last thirteen weeks.  Can you believe Cooper is already thirteen weeks old? Holy smokes!  The last three months (almost, tomorrow is his three month birthday) have absolutely flown by.  I have loved nearly every moment of having two kids.  There have been some very trying moments, from both boys, but they are most definitely the most wonderful things that have happened to us.  We love them more than anything in the world!

Eli sneaking in for a picture.  

He sure makes me smile and my heart sing.  

He is a goofball!

Our littlest cutie.  I don't remember Eli smiling as much as Cooper does.  

(Although as I'm typing this, he just woke up and is quite the opposite of smiling.  He does NOT enjoy waking up)

Snoozing away.  I love how he holds his little hands while he sleeps.  

A little tummy time. 

Just like his big brother, this is not his favorite time of the day. 

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day he wrote his name on all of the valentines he was going to hand out at preschool.  Here he is in the process of writing. 

Hmmmm....oddly enough he holds his pencil (pen) just like I do.  And I KNOW whenever I work with him at home I am sure to show him the "right" way to hold a pencil.  He may not look like me, but he's part me!

On a few, I think his goal was to see how big he could write and still get his name on the back.  Check out that E...and his focus writing!

 A serious cheeseball moment.  Just for me, I'm sure.

Showing the valentines he chose this year.