November in Review

The first weekend of November we went to Breckenridge for our condo HOA meeting.  We only stayed at the condo for one night because we wanted to be at home for Halloween night, but we still enjoyed time our time in the mountains by walking to a park to play and then enjoying a relaxing evening.  The only pictures I have are of my hot toddy (hot apple cider with Tuaca) and of Copeland sticking his fingers under the bathroom door in an effort to get to Daddy.

The next weekend we went to Miller Farms for their CSA day.  We have been a part of the CSA for the past two years and it is fantastic.  We love picking up our veggies at the farmer's market every week during the summer and enjoying the fresh produce, as well as enjoying throughout the year the items we've canned or frozen.  When you go out to the actual farm, they take you on a hay rack ride out to the fields so you can pick your own vegetables.  We picked sweet corn, Indian corn, cabbage, carrots, kale, potatoes, and onions. They also have all kinds of other activities for kids, such as climbing on hay bales, big tires, feeding ducks, etc.

Last weekend it snowed.  So we snuggled.

On Sunday we went to friend's house for chili and company but I didn't get any pictures.

14 months

My little man is over 14 months old now and he has changed like crazy in the past couple of months. He:

• can say several words including ball, banana, Diana, Brenda (his two favorite teachers), milk, water, thank you.  Also, signals like crazy (shaking his head no, pinching fingers for more, moving entire hand in a come hither motion when he wants food) even though we never taught him any actual sign language.
• has perfected the word "uh-oh" by making his mouth into the tiniest little O shape when he says the "oh" part.  This is unbelievably adorable.
• understands much of what we say.  He definitely responds when we ask him to come to us, give us something, or if he wants some milk or a banana.
• has started throwing temper tantrums.  I thought we had some time until the terrible twos.
• walks extremely well and kind of even runs sometimes.
• is in size 4 shoes and 18 month clothes.
• has FINALLY taken interest in books!  Mommy is celebrating!  He will pick up a book and then bring it to us and sit in our laps.   
• very, VERY fond of baths.  I once read that toddler bath time is like an episode of Wipe Out.  I've never seen the show but I think that sounds pretty accurate.
• is becoming much more independent.  He will wander off farther and farther away these days.
• likes sushi.  More Mommy rejoicing!
• is not a fan of meat.  Ryan wonders if this has anything to do with my extreme aversion to red meat while I was pregnant.
• LOVES Dairy Queen! 
• prefers to brush his own teeth even though we make him let us do the first pass.
• is becoming cuddly.  He never was as a baby but now he comes at us full tilt with arms out for some major bear hugs and snuggles.  
• rearranges the house.  We have found his cobbler mallet in one of my jewelry drawers, various toiletry items out in the main room and in my jewelry drawer, dirty shirts pulled out of the laundry and strewn about, and various toys in his pirate ship.
• thinks pivoting on his foot in circles is a really fun time.  This almost always ends in him getting dizzy and falling but he doesn't seem to mind.
• accompanies Daddy to 5 am Cross Fit often.  I hear from Ryan and the owners of the gym that he spends his time either repeating Dada loudly or sleeping peacefully to the blaring music.  
• likes to stick his fingers in my lip gloss.  See exhibit below.

Ryan and I:

• have realized that Copeland always wants several bites of our food even though it's the same as he is eating and even if he told us he was already full of his own food.  Ryan hasn't eaten an undisturbed breakfast in a couple months.
• don't even blink about eating stuff Copeland hands us.  Even if it might have been slightly chewed or squished.  We have reached a new low.
• continue to talk excessively about bodily functions:  "my he is pooping a lot lately!"; "I stepped in human poop today."; "he peed on me.";"Wow, look at that booger I dug out!"  I'm not proud but it's the real deal.
• love him more than words and couldn't imagine our lives without him.

12 months

How is my baby boy already a year old?!?!?!?!?!  This month he:

• Is eating solids on his own.  He wants to eat whatever we're eating and he wants to do it himself.
• Wants to be involved in everything we do.  And I mean everything...but who needs bathroom privacy anyway?
• Walking a few steps unassisted and all over the place when assisted.
• Says "Mama", "Dada", "Uh oh", and a couple other words we can't quite figure out yet.  Of these, his favorite is "Dada"
• Can reach counter tops.
• Loves to feed the dogs from the dinner table.
• On a related note, he still does not seem to understand (I fear he understands and just doesn't care) the word "no".
• Getting much better about gentle touches.
• Displays a bit of a temper.  He comes by that honestly so no shocker there.  Sorry son.  Yikes.
• Is drinking cow's milk.  He had breast milk exclusively for his first year but took immediately to Vitamin D cow's milk.
• Went to Niagara Falls and Toronto.
• Is 19 lbs and 30.5 inches.

We love this little guy so much!  Happy 1st birthday Copeland!!!

1st birthday!

Copeland turned a year old on September 10th.  For his birthday, Ryan and I both took off work and had a big breakfast, went by Ryan's office since Copeland and I had never been, went out for lunch, and went to the zoo.

I think his favorite parts of the day were getting to walk and riding on Daddy's shoulders.

It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely time even if Copeland didn't seem terribly interested in the animals.

That night we gave him non-pureed spaghetti for the first time.  As expected, it was a huge mess and completely adorable.

We finished dinner with a cupcake!  This was the first time Copeland had ever experienced sweets.

What is this magical thing?

Maybe I should lick it.

Goodness this is delicious.  I need to stuff as much in my mouth as possible!

What does she think is so funny?  

All gone!

The very next day we (appropriately) had Copeland's first dentist appointment.  He made it through the entire cleaning and exam and the dentist said everything looks great!

The Real Deal

One year ago today my water broke in bed in the wee hours of the morning around 3:45 am.  I just woke up giggling and told Ryan that this time I was pretty sure this was the real deal.  Because it was so early and I wasn't experiencing labor pains, I told Ryan to go ahead and teach his spin class and we could gather our stuff together and call the doctor when the offices opened.  I didn't see any need to go to the hospital immediately and all the books and moms I know said it was best to labor at home for the first few hours.  So we got around to calling the doctor and went in and she confirmed I was indeed in labor and I needed to be admitted to the hospital.  So we carted all our stuff over to the hospital building and I got hooked up and checked.  

They were concerned I wasn't progressing quickly enough but I asked them to let me roam around for awhile before they tried to stick any pitocin in me because I really, really wanted a drug-free experience.  Ryan and I walked all around the halls and the campus and I started to progress enough that my contractions started to make me have to stop and catch my breath.  I will never forget walking around outside because it was overcast and beautiful (I thought) but we were forced back inside when it started raining...and it didn't stop raining for the next several days. Unfortunately the rains caused severe flooding in Colorado but I remember absolutely loving the peaceful, calm feeling the rain gave me as we welcomed our child into the world.  Now whenever we get the rare rainy day I think back to that time.

I continued to labor until 3:26 the next morning when we finally got to meet our little love:  Copeland.  What a truly amazing, miraculous, magical moment that was.

False Alarm

A year ago today, I thought I was in the beginning stages of labor.  I woke up in the morning and told Ryan there was a possibility I was in labor and we should probably call the doctor.  I wasn't due until September 29th but I just knew I was going to have my baby early.  I believe my prediction had been that I would have Baby Copeland on September 19th or 20th.  Anyway, because it was a Sunday and my ob/gyn didn't have office hours, I had to be admitted to the hospital.  I was put into the gown and hooked up to all the monitoring devices and everything.  Turns out I wasn't in labor.  Now don't laugh about that!  It happens!  In fact, because I felt so sheepish about not knowing whether I was in labor or not I looked it up and it happens A LOT.  I won't share the gory details with you because, let's be honest, a lot about childbirth is gory, but I was justified in thinking something strange was going on with my body.  And considering I truly went into labor the very next day...I think my body was telling me something!  Here are the pictures Ryan captured from the false alarm.  

Georgetown to Idaho Springs

I didn't really bounce back into shape after having Copeland like I had hoped I would so I set a goal to run the Georgetown to Idaho Springs half marathon to force me to focus on exercising.  I was actually doing great with running and cross training until I came down with bronchitis.  "Ain't nobody got time for bronchitis!"  I still had enough training miles under my belt to feel as though I could at least finish the race.

Anyway, we decided to make it a family affair and Ryan signed up too and pushed Copeland in his running stroller the whole way!  Apparently Copeland slept for a large portion of the race and for the times he was awake he was loudly alerting other runners that he was directly behind them.  So many people came up to Ryan after the race to either congratulate him or tell him how hilarious they thought it was that Copeland was yelling at them.  He is a vocal little guy (yes - I am worried but he comes by it honestly).

The boys beat me by leaps and bounds BUT I FINISHED and I was proud of that.  It was by far the ugliest, slowest, and most painful half marathon I have ever ran BUT I FINISHED.  And it was really cool that our whole little family was able to do it together.

We spent the rest of the weekend up at the condo and enjoyed the beautiful weather and some relaxation.  Goodness, do I love being up in Breckenridge.