Thank you Jennifer, Bick, Mary, and Ryan!

12-13 weeks and Christmas!

Wow, it's crazy how fast time is flying. Cooper is holding his head up so well these days, and of course we are getting LOTS of smiles and giggles. He's very serious though until you start talking to him, and then he just beams at you. I love the way he has started playing with his hands, and how he hooks a finger onto my top while he is nursing. He's just so sweet, I'm cherishing every moment.

We had a bit of a duel with a wolf spider last week. Oh my gosh I cannot tell you how freaked out I was. It was early morning and I had just laid Cooper down on his change, opened his curtain to grab the spray bottle (we use reusable wipes) and there was this gigantic spider just chillin, waiting to KILL me. So of course the first thing I do is take a picture



And then I find something to kill it (I'm nearly hyperventilating by this point) but it springs back to life and I have to kill it again.




Now, I wouldn't call myself fearless exactly, but before I had Cooper I was a little reckless at times. I would be grossed out but not really panicking. I think becoming a mother has changed that, like a protective survival instinct. It's weird.

Anyway I googled it of course and found out it was a wolf spider which happens to be one of the poisonous ones (of the MANY in Australia). So I called the pest people and they sent someone out today, and he confirmed that yep it was a wolf spider and he probably came from the roof.....great...

Anyway enough about that :)

Here are some photos of Cooper from last week. He is growing so fast! And getting very heavy!




















This past sunday we went to Bathurst for a Christmas lunch with Deb's family, here are a few pictures from that day























This week has been a busy rush to get things done before Christmas. All the presents had been bought but needed to be wrapped. We are having Christmas lunch at our house this year so I wanted to cook some things from home like my Granny's recipe for dressing since we are having turkey. On top of that we have had to take Cooper to the pediatrician because I've noticed some pink fluid in his diapers and it's been consistent since the Saturday before last. The doc said it could be a milk protein allergy or lactose intolerance, so I am to cut out dairy from my diet. I love milk so this is hard for me, but I'm adjusting :) I had to get a sample to get tested in the lab so we are waiting on results from that, and we go back to the doctor when he is 4 months on Jan 21.

Here are a few pics of 13 weeks so far









Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody!!! Hope you have a good one :)

At the Cricket

Cooper asleep at the cricket....I know buddy I'd be asleep too if I were you.

11 weeks

Well I haven't had a chance to post much this week, with Christmas coming up it's been hectic. I am so thankful for online shopping :)

Cooper is talking more and he is growing fast. I've given up on trying to fit him in to newborn sizes and he is now in 3-6 months sized clothes. He is giggling so much, and I think his favorite time of the day is when Daddy comes home from work. I have been lucky enough to borrow Deb's (that's my mother in law) good camera and so it's been fun taking pictures with it. I need to take more videos, I'll try and start that this week.

His eyesight is getting better, and him and Red are starting to take more notice of each other now. They're gonna be best friends I'm sure. She has gone from just sniffing him to giving him lots of kisses, but I try and keep her away from his face... don't want him to get worms huh dad? ;)

We went to our first ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association) meeting yesterday. It was good, we will go back in January.

The weather here is hot and muggy, which isn't the best for drying cloth diapers in the moisture filled air. But we have had a few days of sun. I took Cooper for a walk in his stroller for 20 min and got sunburned on my shoulders. That Aussie sun gets you every time. I remember when Elizabeth and I came out here the first time, the sun bruised us!

Anyway, I'm having to do this from my phone so I better go. Here are a few more pictures from this week.

Dec 1st

If you click on this picture it will take you to the web album with more pics from today.

Cute

These are a couple of photos that I took today, two of my favorites :)

Cooper 10 weeks

more happy snaps...

My two favorites :)



I wanted to make sure I got his green diaper in the picture!



This is Dan's attempt at taking a picture of the three of us...and Cooper's just LOVIN his Daddy :)







This is a shirt that Elizabeth sent that says Mum + Dad = Me, its pretty cute. This is what they do when I'm in the shower in the mornings on weekends, and those are Dan's hairy legs in the background :)



Cooper in the Moby...





Hi everybody!

Conversations with Cooper

I was finally able to get a video of him "talking". Usually he stops as soon as I get my phone out!

9 weeks...

Wow, he is 9 weeks old today. In case you're wondering why he looks like he is under arrest in that photo, it's a type of swaddle sold here that I've been trying out. I like it so far. It's tight enough to stop the startle reflex, but still allows him access to suck on his hands. And yes he sucks his hands through the cloth and yes the cloth gets pretty gross. I have three, we wash often :) I was looking at the pictures of him when he was born earlier today and it's incredible how much he has grown and how alert he is now. He's starting to make more sounds every day. It's funny when Dan and I were talking last night he made a noise that was like "Hey! Look at me please!". He's so precious. I love when he coo's at me. My favorite is when he's breastfeeding and he's looking at me, then I look down at him and he smiles :) It just melts my heart. I guess I must still be a little hormonal cause when we are having a conversation I can feel my eyes tearing up. I just love him so much. Or maybe it's not hormones, just a mother's love. This weekend he spent a lot of time with Dan and I missed him. You just don't realize how much he is a part of you until you're not with him for a little while.

He loves to smile and he's so inquisitive of the world around him. His eye's get so big like he is trying to take everything in at once. Sometimes I wonder what he is thinking, because he looks at me with such a serious expression. But then I talk to him and he breaks into this big gummy grin and coo's back at me. He's even giggling now. The giggles are my favorite.

He doesn't like sudden loud noises, or bright light. Even when we go out in the backyard underneath the pergola it's too bright for him. He gets restless waiting for me to hang the laundry out or bring it in. He will only take a pacifier every few days, I've pretty much given up on it.

The sound of running water helps him sleep. It's sunny outside but it's always raining in our house :)

We've hit 2 months....

I can't believe my little boy is 2 months old already. Before you know it he'll be 13 and he won't need me at all! Oh I wish I didn't panic when I thought about him growing up but I do. I know it's going to happen but when I think about it my chest tightens... I haven't taken enough pictures this week. I need to be better about that. This week has been a little bit busy. We had some friends over for dinner Friday night, and then some other friends over for lunch on Sunday. Tuesday we went to mother's group, and then Wednesday we went to mother's group again. You can only go on Tuesday's until your baby reaches 12 weeks, so they've created a spin off on Wednesday's for those who can't go on Tuesdays anymore. On Wednesday we also went to see our friends Sarah and Hamoodie at their house so that was fun. Hamoodie is 2 weeks older than Cooper I think. Sarah was already due before me, and she delivered on her due date and I delivered 11 days late.



Cooper still doesn't enjoy car rides. I don't know if it's actually the car that he doesn't like or if it's being alone. I think it's probably being alone. He gets himself so worked up though and by the time I get him out he's all hot and sweaty. If I put the windows down there's a tag on his car seat that flaps in the wind and that will distract him a little bit. But not for long..

Oh I've started selling on eBay! I have decided to sell his size Medium diapers and replace them with ones that will last through toilet training. When I was buying them before he was born a lot of the information I read told me that most babies will not need to move up into a large before they start toilet training. My boy is not "most babies", and considering he's the size of a 3 month old at 2 months....I think he'll grow out of the mediums and still need diapers. So I am selling them on eBay and replacing them. So far I have a bid for $137 plus shipping for 10 diapers. I only paid $12.50 each for them anyway so I'm happy. There's 4 hours left on the auction, hopefully they start bidding against each other at the last minute :)

Tonight we are going to dinner for Steve's birthday which was yesterday. It will be our first restaurant visit since he's been born.

That's about it for now. :)