September Monthly Update

We are back on track this month! The boys' photos were done in a matter of minutes, no more white paper backdrop and setup. I've kept my camera handy for random snaps. I'm doing better!


Cooper 

Baby brother still hasn't taken his "first step" yet. He's become more interested in walking while holding your hands, but realizes he can crawl pretty fast and prefers that method of getting from A to B. 

He had a double ear infection this month, along with fluid in his ears in the weeks before that. So we've been through a round of both Amoxicillin and Cefdinir. I know that he weighed 18lbs 11 oz and was 29" tall. He's doing pretty good considering Griffin had already been through multiple ear infections which led to tubes, hand, foot, & mouth disease, and 2 bouts of pneumonia by this point. 

Cooper has some little habits/quirks about him. I have to assume he's learning new things now that he's moved out of the nursery at daycare and into the 1 year old room. He likes to head butt Griffin, and he also has started hitting his face with his own hand. Kind of like a "face palm" thing to the forehead. 

He is as cute and smiley as ever. 

A few other random pics from the month:

Griffin


Big brother has been extra rowdy lately. He's actually been in trouble at daycare quite a bit. Key words are 'defiant' and 'not listening'. We've had to start using "soccerball" and hanging out with Briley as leverage. It's working. 

He still loves to sing and wants to know the name of songs when they come on the radio.

He also loves crafts and is really into using scissors. 

For a while, he was waking up in the night to go to the bathroom, then getting in bed with us. This was new and arguably kind of sweet because we've never had the kids sleep with us from the beginning. Maybe a few times during illness. There is something really adorable about a 4 year old curling up in your arms, until you wake up and he is sideways. Thankfully though, he is back in his bed lately!

We've purchased this year's Halloween costumes for both boys (yes, I have them as a duo again) and Griffin was SO EXCITED about his outfit when we tried it on. I had to put it away or he would try to wear it everyday. It would be threads by the time the holiday comes around. At soccer tonight, Ashley and I discovered that we have bought the exact same costumes for Griffin/Chase AND Cooper/Bayley....from Amazon.....exact same things. What are the odds? Stay tuned for some adorable photos!

I heard little footsteps in the wee hours of the morning a few weeks ago, he did his business, and then silence......so when I found him asleep like this with his little boxers around his ankles, of course I had to take an embarrassing photo. 

And some silly videos:

We've spent more time outside in the evenings in September. The weather is perfect and Cooper wants to go-go-go. Contrary to his big brother, he has always loved being in the grass as a baby. I thought the end of this post would be a good place to drop a lot of photos taken in the yard.

such a ham!

August Monthly Update

I'm way behind with this post. I accidentally left my laptop power cord in Colorado, and without it, I've been unable to upload, edit, and get the boys photos posted. The owner of the house that we stayed at was so kind to mail it back to me and it finally arrived!
 

Cooper is 1 YEAR OLD!!!

So many changes for Cooper baby. He isn't officially walking, but he is getting close. I'm not sure if I've admitted it before, but I am almost positive that we aren't as naturally encouraging to him as we were Griffin in getting through all the milestones. I was so excited for Griffin to do everything, and now I want Cooper's baby stage to last longer.

He had a good checkup with Dr. Sponenberg:

Height: 30" - 58th percentile
Weight: 18lbs 12 oz - 3.6 percentile!!!! (he has chub, no problem here)
Head Circumference:  47 cm - 68.5 percentile

Sounds/Words: Mama, dada, uh oh, ow!, raspberries, the "indian"-patting his mouth while he makes a long "oh" sound
Likes: Griffin, animals, being tickled, baths, steering wheels, being drug around by Griffin on the floor
Dislikes: skipping his late afternoon nap, being picked up by Griffin under the arms and hauled around, going all day without a bottle


Here are a few things we are doing/working on:

• crawling is at warp speed - he likes to stop and sit on his legs and look around - he also likes to sit on his bottom and use his legs to spin in circles
• cruising along furniture and climbing onto and around things constantly - according to daycare, he stood up unassisted in the middle of the room yesterday.....I've yet to see something like this
• flirting with anyone who talks to him - he does the classic 'smile and lay his head down on your shoulder or in your neck' thing that is cute as can be
• we've transitioned to whole milk - it was not difficult at all
• we have also stopped the acid reflux medicine that he's been on from the beginning in hopes that he has grown out of that issue.....TBD
• transition to sippy cup is not going as well - he's getting through most days without a bottle, but we still give him one before bed at night

 

Cooper's birthday was the day after we got back from vacation. I baked some cupcakes and Nichole invited us to come over for dinner. Griffin had missed Briley something terrible, and I was glad to not be cooking since the house had been vacant for a week.


We had a good dinner and let baby boy eat a cupcake. He enjoyed it!

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 Griffin Tanner

My monthly BabyCenter email that I still get from his pregnancy included this:

"If 3-year-olds are busy, inquisitive, and fun, 4-year-olds are all that, magnified--yet with a budding maturity, self-control, and understanding of rules that help make life a bit calmer. Sociability is a hallmark of this age. Wariness around new people wanes, and your child will likely enjoy making friends and playing with them."

This is so true for Griffin.

He says so many funny things, I MUST start writing them down. 

• While we were on vacation: "If I see any mountain bears, mountain lions, (etc.)....... I'll let you know" -- That was his catch phrase...........(insert whatever here)......I'll let you know!

• Regarding Cooper's doctor visit with shots: "You should have taken me with you to keep him from crying!"

• One evening at the house: "Don't call me babe, you call daddy that." Me: What can I call you?  "Tanner"

• Yesterday, Drew was talking out loud about how he had been on Griffin all day and it had been quite exhausting. Griffin piped up "Yes, we've had a few arguments."

He is an outdoor boy, through and through. He wants to be in the dirt, in the driveway, wandering the yard, or going somewhere outside with his Dad. The John Deere Gator that we bought him for his birthday has been charged a hundred times.

He loves to wrestle and rough house his father. You might be the target of it too, if you aren't careful. If you can handle it and play along, he'll think you are extra fun. In case I've never linked it before, there is this great blog post about boys that I love.....   https://www.scarymommy.com/plea-for-boyhood-rough-play/

More fun to come between now and next month's post!


I couldn't resist posting the first 2 photos here....it was a genuine huffy fit. Good thing Momma knows how to snap him out of it.