Cow Cows and Puppies

The funny thing about kids is that when you do activities that you are sure they will love, they usually could care less.  And when you do something that they shouldn't care about, they usually love it.

This weekend, I thought it would be fun for us to go play with puppies and see some cows at a farm up the road.  Because of kids being finicky about what they enjoy, a free farm is the perfect Saturday afternoon activity!  Because the boys barely cared about the puppies and were pretty afraid of the cows.  

 I guess I can't really blame him.  When you are 2.5 feet tall, a full grown cow must seem pretty massive.  It's much more fun to see them in a field as we drive by.

Baby cows are slightly less scary.

But they both loved the swing set.  Because you know, swings are everywhere...

The Happiness Project

This year I started writing in a 5 year journal.  A 5 year journal is one that has a page for each day of the year, with 5 small sections to write a couple sentences in.  You are supposed to do this for 5 years.  

My journal is The Happiness Project journal.  Each day also gives a little happiness quote, in case you need some inspiration.  And there have been very few days that I have forgotten to write since I got it. And there are very few days that I have needed that quote for inspiration.

And it has made me realize that I'm happy and I'm blessed.  This little family of mine brings me so much joy.  Even on the difficult days, I can usually look back on the day and find something that happened that makes me happy to be me. I record what we did that day, or something that Parker said, or something new that Cooper did.  

Practicing daily gratitude isn't something that many people do.  We are too busy.  But then do we get too unhappy?  It's easy to get caught up in the difficulty of life.  An unhappy work environment, being an exhausted stay at home mom.  But when you look around you, how lucky are you actually?    

These Brothers

The boys had a joint bath for the first time the other night.  Cooper loved sitting up in the tub and watching Parker.  Parker loved helping to bath Cooper.

Watching these two together is amazing.  Cooper is so young still and yet he loves to watch his big brother.  Parker gets the most smiles and Cooper just follows him around.  Parker loves to take care of Cooper.  He's always giving him hugs and kisses.  If I lay Cooper down in bed with Parker, he snuggles up to him.  I'm thinking at this point that a double bed would be better for the two of them than a bunk bed because they just love to be with each other.  I hope that doesn't change.

This morning Parker was sitting on the couch with us and Cooper's head ran into him.  "No baby!" As if Cooper did it on purpose....and for some reason Parker fairly consistently calls him baby, rather than Cooper, or "Popper or Pooper" because he can say cow but for some reason can't say the C at the beginning of Cooper's name.  And he calls himself ChaCha instead of Parker.  Toddler language continues to baffle me.

Cooper at 5 Months

Time is flying with this guy.  We are in a fun stage right now (although really all stages are fun...) because he's extra smiley and really starting to interact with us.  Looking back at the old pictures makes me sad because all of his hair fell out this month.  He looks like a completely different baby, and although he's only been bald for a few weeks I had completely forgotten what he looked like with all of that hair!

Weight: About 17lbs 5oz

Diapers: Size 3

Clothes: I still have him in 3-6 months but I really think that the next size would fit him better.  I've just been putting it off.  My mom put him in a 6-12 month onesie the other day and it didn't look silly.

Feeding: During the day we are every 3-5 hours most of the time.  Sometimes if he doesn't eat as much he will only go 2, but if we are out we can usually spread them out.  He usually eats about 6 times a day.

Sleeping:  We had a week long stretch where he slept through every night, and then for the past week he has been up once a night.  It really doesn't bother me so I don't mind it.  Parker usually wakes in the night anyways, so at this point I barely notice!  He still goes to sleep at night pretty easily in most cases.  He's starting to nap a little bit better.  I notice a fairly consistent morning and afternoon nap, but they are short.  If we are out I can tell that he gets tired and I can put him in his car seat and he will fall asleep.  If we are at home there are a couple times a day that I can get him to sleep for about 45 minutes in his crib.

Milestones: 
Started rolling over last weekend from his back to his tummy.

Grabbing toys and trying to play with them more.

First time being left with someone other than mom or dad.  In the past week I left him with Ryan's mom while I went to appointments, then she also babysat one night while we went out and put him to bed, and this week my mom took him while I went grocery shopping.  So it's been a lot all at once!

Went in the Jolly Jumper and exersaucer.  He hasn't quite gotten either of them figured out but seems to like them.

Likes:
His brother.  Parker gets the most smiles and Cooper really follows him around with his eyes.
The bath.  He's still a big fan!
Diaper changes.  He's not a fan of a dirty diaper, but the second it comes off he's all smiles.
When he pukes all over his clean outfit.  He thinks that's hilarious...

Dislikes:
Tummy time.  And sometimes when he rolls over he gets angry because he really dislikes his tummy.  
When mommy eats supper.

It's been so much fun to watch his personality start to develop.  He's turned into such a smiley little guy.  I like that he's starting to be able to play with toys a little bit and move around a bit more as it gives hims something to do if I can't be playing with him.  I was starting to think that it was getting boring being a baby!  I know these next few months are going to be full of changes and development!  He's going to start sitting up and eating soon and I can't believe how fast the time is going!  Part of me wants it to slow down, but part of me also can't wait to have him and Parker playing together because I think they will have so much fun!

And some of our out-take photos:

Ooooh What's that?

Oops I fell down

Mid Spit Up - gross

He thought the spit up was pretty funny