Like father, like son

When I was pregnant with Copeland, I often said "I think he's going to be just like his Daddy" because I could feel how BUSY he always was.  If I only knew then how right I would be that he is SO MUCH like his Daddy.  Let me just list some of the many ways:

• Face shape
• Zero body fat
• They are both that creature I once thought mythical called an "early bird"
• They both fall asleep at the dinner table (unfortunately for Ryan, these incidents aren't isolated to when he was a baby - see prior bullet point)
• SO ACTIVE
• Love music
• Sleep on their stomachs
• Love bananas (yuck)

This picture makes my heart sing :)

The very few things where Copeland is similar to me:

• Smiling.  Smiling's our favorite.
• Auburn hair and dark eyes 
• LOUD TALKING

Of course, while Copeland may share some similar characteristics with his Mommy and (more so) Daddy he is definitely his own sweet, wonderful, individual person.  We love seeing his emerging looks and personality and learning about all the things that make him uniquely Copeland.

Happy Half Birthday!

Again - I'm a little late in posting.

Copeland is 6 months old!  I can't believe that he used to be like this:

And now he's like this:

Where is the time going???  Here are some of his new accomplishments:

• Sticks his tongue on everything and licks.  So strange.  Also sucks on everything.
• Has great control over his hands.  He can pass things back and forth between his hands well and can pretty much grab whatever he wants on his first try.  He also loves to shake and pound his toys.  
• New rather loud squeals.  Not sure what those are about.
• Eating solids.  Rice cereal, bananas, and apples were a go.  Sweet potatoes...the jury is still out.
• Grabs at anything on the table in front of him.
• Is growing out of 6 month clothes.
• Has taken his first flight and out of state trip.
• Scoots just a little bit.
• He is 80th percentile in length and head circumference and 25th percentile in weight.  We have a string bean!

Copeland is such a joy in our lives and we are having so much fun!

How is Copeland 5 months old?

I realized I wrote this long ago and never posted!!!  So here you go...just a few days before Copeland turns 6 months!

Where is the time going?  Copeland turned 5 months old on February 10.  He is changing so much every single day.  Some of his new accomplishments:

• He rolls all the time!  Front to back, back to front all over the place.
• He is very active in his exersaucer and can twist, push, pull, slide, etc. all the different stations on it by himself.  He also can touch the ground now and twist in circles and stand straight up while in the saucer.  He LOVES anything that makes sound.
• He talks and giggles more and more each day.  He is very social and actively engages people.  Those smiles and laughs melt my heart.
• His hand eye coordination is improving.  He can pick things up and put them in his mouth or shake them or bang them together.
• His grasp is very strong and now I have to watch my hair and earrings more than I did before.  For some reason he likes to grasp his shirts and pull on them so sometimes he has very stretched out shirts.
• He still sleeps through the whole night (except when he was battling his ear infection poor guy).
• He wears 6 month clothing.
• He can scoot across the floor just a little bit.
• He found his feet and ears and loves to hold on to them.  He also enjoys sucking on his lips. These habits crack me up!  It's possible he thinks his feet are as awesome as I do.
• He sits at the dinner table with us each night in his high chair.

Copeland is an absolute blessing in our lives and we cherish each and every day with him.

Not So Super

1.  The Super Bowl.  Not just because the Broncos lost, but also because it was really just a disappointing game.  Even Copeland was disgusted.  See:

2.  My cookie decorating.  I try.  I really do.  What I lack in ability I make up for in enthusiasm.  At least they tasted yummy.

3.  Our furnace going out in early February on one of the coldest nights of the winter.  Brrrrrr!  BUT, like what happened when we got a new water heater, when we got a new furnace I noticed how much better the new one was!  The house seems to stay warmer even in the remote corners that never used to seem to get heat.  The installers brought us this cute tin as a thank you.

Cake Bubbles - Yum!  Yes I did eat one before I remembered to get a picture.

"BC"

There were a number of things we did in the last couple months before Copeland was born ("BC") that I never wrote about and I wanted to make sure I did before I forget!  I love being able to look back at this blog and see what all we've done.  Just the other day I was telling Ryan that I already forgot the things I cooked at cooking school in Thailand (how could I forget that in just a year?) but I documented it all on the blog so I can just go look back!

Anyway, toward the end of last July Ryan and I took a week off and spent time up at the condo.  We figured it would probably be our last vacation as just us two (and it was!)  We played lots of scrabble, enjoyed walks, tried some new restaurants, and relaxed.

At the beginning of August, Ryan's parents and Kylar and Ashlynn planned a trip to our beautiful state and we went up to Breck to see them for a day.  (Look at my belly with little Copeland inside!)  :)

I think I already wrote about chopping off and donating my hair at the beginning of August.

We redid our deck in mid August and I LOVE it.  It is made out of that non wood stuff and it's bigger, prettier, and safer than the old one and also flush with the house so you don't have to step down to walk out onto it.  The old one was rickety and unsafe.  Ryan had actually asked me to not go out on it and I said if it was that bad then we needed a new one.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the new one and I'm not going out in this cold, snowy weather to get one.

Amy had a lovely couples baby shower for us in mid August.  Much of our family came to town to attend and we had a great time.  There was even a beer chugging game!  Hehe.  Whoever finished the beer out of their baby bottle first won a prize.

Then for Ryan's birthday in late August I took him to a sushi making class.  It was so much fun and what we made was actually really tasty!  It really wasn't that difficult but it was very time intensive with all the slicing and rolling so I don't know that we'll be making it at home anytime soon.  We'll just continue to frequent Namiko's.

A list

Here's a list in no particular order of the various things running through my head:

1. Copeland has been sick the past couple of weeks and it breaks my heart.  It's mostly been cough/cold but he has run a brief low temperature as well.  I remember reading in several "new working mom" books that I would feel helpless the first time my son got sick because I'm so used to being in control and it is absolutely true.  It's such a crazy feeling to know I can't do anything about it because at this point in my life at my age I've been through enough that I pretty much never feel ineffectual like I do right now.  I wish I could just take it out of him and put it in me.  
2. I love, love, LOVE Copeland's day care.  I miss him so dearly during the day but I am so happy with where we chose to send him.  They always give us written report cards and tell us verbally every day how he was and what he was doing and who he was playing with. They call if they think there's anything we'd like to know before we pick him up and we also often get pictures of fun activities, such as finger painting.  Finger painting at 4 months old! We recently received a picture of all the little babies done up for the Broncos game:  the boys had black stripes under their eyes and the girls had orange and blue paper "skirts".  Adorable! And I love this one of him hanging out with some of the other babies.
   
3. I was driving in my car the other day and a Sublime song came on.  I thought "Oh I love this song.  I used to listen to this all the time in high school."  Then the song referenced 1992 and I thought "Geez, 1992, that was forever ago!  Why was I still listening to this old music in high school?"  And then I remembered:  I started high school in 1994...20 years ago!!! What?!?!  How is this possible?  I don't feel like I started high school 20 years ago!  I don't think I act like I started high school 20 years ago!  Well....wait.  Let me think...I dooo go to bed at approximately 9 pm every night.  I guess I do have a full time job.  And a child.  And assets like a house and car.  And I do responsible things like pay bills, grocery shop, clean house, etc.  So maybe I am a bona fide adult?  This just doesn't seem possible.  I'm pretty sure I'm still 18ish at heart.
4. I have some important questions:  When will my pregnancy induced sweet tooth go away?  Will my feet ever shrink back to my pre-baby size?  When will I learn how to paint my fingernails without also painting a large portion of my finger skin?  Why can't I have 4 day work weeks and 3 day weekends?  Why is Peanut so mean to China and Mojo?  
5. I love Amazon Prime.
6. I really, really want a KitchenAid mixer and some Pioneer Woman cookbooks.  (Both things I'm sure I could order off of Amazon Prime).  Does this make me more adultish?  I also would like a real camera that is not also a phone/music device/email/text/app multi-purpose tool (aka my iPhone).  I think all these wants are definitely very adult like.
7. I love to slide across our wood floors in my socks.  Does this refute any of the above evidence that I'm adult?
8. Until next time...stay classy dear blog readers.

Copeland is 4 Months Old!!!

Copeland turned 4 months old last Friday and I can't believe it!  My how he is growing!  His personality is emerging more and more each day and he continues to be an absolute delight.  He is pretty much all smiles.  Every day at day care his report card says he was cheerful and content. Only once did he come home with a "sensitive" report and that was when he wasn't feeling very well because of his 4 month vaccinations and a cough/cold he's fighting.  Here are some of the things going on with him at this age:

• He has found his voice and talks to us all the time and also works in some squeals and Tarzan like hollering.  Hilarious!
• Great hand control - as evidenced by swatting, pushing, and grabbing during schnoz busting (which is what I call it when I have to mine for boogers) and when grabbing for toys.
• Picking at EVERYTHING!  Especially Daddy's arm hairs and cuticles.  This isn't a new habit but he's getting even better at it with the improved hand control.
• Even more active than he used to be.  Dressing and diapering him should be an Olympic sport.  He rolls back and forth and scooches forward and squirms and kicks...
• He loves to try to stick everything he gets ahold of into his mouth, including Mommy's hands, clothes, burp cloths, etc.
• He absolutely loves his full head of hair and likes to touch it and run his fingers through it.  
• Sleeping through the night - usually he sleeps for 6.5 to 8.5 hours at a time.  We are very grateful!
• Splashing in the bath tub!  This has become a new favorite and the other day when I walked into the bathroom the mirror and Daddy were completely soaked from the splashing.
• He's outgrown all his 3 month clothes and is now wearing some six month stuff but he's kind of at a weird stage where not much of what we have fits him, likely because he is so long and skinny, so he gets to wear the same outfits over and over again. He doesn't seem to mind.
• He loves watching lights - especially the flickering from the TV.
• He has already become a teacher's pet at day care.  One of his teachers always gushes about what a doll he is and Daddy says he is wooing all the ladies there.
• SLOBBER!  I don't think teeth are that far off!