Christmas 2008

This Christmas was a lot more fun with Cooper. He wasn't really into unwrapping presents, but he did like playing with his new toys!

Checking out the presents

































Hanging out with Aunt Liz













Family pic















Faster Mom!

1st Birthday

We celebrated Cooper's 1st birthday today! Unfortunately our families couldn't make it due to the bad weather, but we had a nice quiet celebration. Coop was a big fan of the cake, but maybe ate too much because it "reappeared" later in the evening. He enjoyed tearing the wrapping paper and playing with his new toys!

Last Day in Infant Room

Cooper is moving to the Toddler Room. Friday was his last day in the Infant Room, so we took some pictures to say goodbye. Daddy and Cooper seem to be ready for the change, but Mama is having a hard time. I know it will be good for his development because they will have more learning activities, but we'll miss all the infant caregivers that we have gotten to know over the last 9 months. Fortunately the Toddler and Infant rooms are adjoining, so Coop can toddle over and see Judy, Jamie and Megan anytime.

Santa Encounter

We got out the Christmas decorations this weekend and Cooper had his first encounter with Santa. He was fascinated by the bouncing Santa and so cute when he bounced along!



Can't believe Coop is already 11 months old, only 1 more month until we have a one year old! It's pretty hard to get him to stay still for photos these days, but I managed to snap some fun pics after bathtime.

Walking

Cooper surprised himself by taking steps on his own a couple weeks ago. Now he is starting to get more confident and go a little further now. He is starting to want to do things himself, like combing his hair and brushing his teeth and is so proud of himself when he does it!



Here are a few other recent pictures:

First Halloween

Tonight was trick-or-treat in Waverly, so Cooper dressed up as a little dragon. He had the costume on for quite a long time while we visited neighbors and went to the trick-or-treat event downtown. Surprisingly he did not seem to mind the costume.


Daddy's little monster











Ready to go!











Cruising in my car

KinderMusik

Here are some pictures from our KinderMusik classes with Molly and Betsy Ratchford. Cooper was a little shy at first, but now he is getting more adventurous and starting to dance to the music and play with all the fun toys they have. His favorite is the bubble machine! Molly (15 months) has not had any issues with shyness, she is always in the center of the group checking things out!
Playing with the balls and standing up on his own... for a few seconds!
They are getting pretty good at this, should we worry?
Playing after dinner at Los Cabos

Korea

I had a work trip to Japan this week and went a few days early to visit my sister Liz in Korea where she is studying abroad this semester. She is living near the southern tip of Korea, but was on holiday from school and came up to Seoul with some friends from her program for the week.

We met up with Liz's friends on Monday and toured SWS adoption agency (where 3 of them were adopted through) and got to go over to the nursery and see the babies. The babies were between 6 days old up to 3 months old and live there until they go to foster families or their adoptive families. The facility was very clean and nice and there were quite a few caregivers. I was very glad because I had been worried about seeing the babies in bad conditions and having to pull an "Angelina" and adopt all of them to rescue them. I think Jeff was a little worried that I would try to smuggle a baby out!

Then we went up to N Seoul Tower to look at the city. Liz's friends were all from Europe and they informed us that we have "American smiles" because we smile with our whole face. I had a good time seeing Liz and hanging out with her friends, it just went by too quickly.

Cooper & Emma

We had a Ward family brunch this morning and Cooper got to play with Emma, my cousin Megan's daughter, who is a riot! Emma announced that she is going to have a little brother or sister soon, which is great news. Apparently Emma also told her aunt Molly that she has a puppy in her tummy! : )

Playing Outside

We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather this weekend and tried to spend lots of time outside! Cooper loves using the walker. He hasn't figured out turning, so he'll just keep going in a straight line until he hits an obstacle! His stiff "Frankenstein" legs crack us up!

Minnesota Weekend

We all spent last weekend in Minnesota. We dropped Cooper off in St. Peter with Tia Beth and Uncle Dan and he had a great time being spoiled by the Kallaus family. Jeff and I headed up to the Twin Cities and had a reunion with his MBA group. We met up at the Mall of America for some shopping (or watching sports for the guys!), then headed to Chino Latino for dinner and finally caught a comedy act before passing out from exhaustion. It was the latest I have been up in a long time!









That's a lot of meat







Todd and Mark get a little fruity







Jeff and John try the Absinthe







The whole gang

John Deere Boy

Here's a video of me playing with the tractor Dad got for me. I really like to set my toys in front of me, then kick them, over and over again! Maybe I'll be a soccer player.

Labor Day Weekend

We packed in a lot of stuff over the weekend. Cooper and I started off by taking Aunt Liz up to OHare to catch her flight to Korea to study abroad this semester. Then we hung out in Geneseo and caught up with family and friends. Jeff and I also attended the Barquist's annual costume party, this year's theme was TV show characters. Cooper was pretty happy to come home and not travel in the car for a while!

Just my size

Our friend Mark's dad made two Adirondack chairs for Jeff and I. Then he surprised us last night with a miniature version for Cooper.



Apparently Cooper's hair needed to be washed because it had a LOT of body.

Bedtime

Coop had another ear infection over the weekend. He was finally feeling better on Tuesday, so we caught some fun pictures of him getting ready for bed.

Crawling!

Katy bar the door, Cooper is crawling! He has been working hard to figure it out the past few weeks and finally it clicked last week. He is all over the place now and into everything - electrical cords, plants, dog toys, you name it. He is doing a great job of showing us where we forgot to baby-proof the house!

He is also starting to pull himself up to standing position, which has resulted in a few tumbles and head bumps. Do they make helmets for babies?

It is so much fun to watch his new developments and how excited he is.

Peekaboo baby









Daddy made this arrangement to protect my noggin. We call it Cooper's "Green Zone".









Love to stand up at my music table

Swimming Video

Backyard Play

SOMEONE, we're not naming names, brought home a stomach bug from daycare and started getting sick on Wednesday. By Saturday morning, it had taken down the whole family. After everyone took a long nap and felt better, we played in our backyard pool. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

I want to crawl so badly!






I love to be splashed!






"Pruny" toes!






I am fascinated by grass!