Cooper at 13 Months

Weighs: 25 lbs.
Length: 31 1/2 in.
Status: Mr. Sound Effects

Firsts:

Cooper's new thing is to make the sound cars make as he pushes his cars around. He also makes sound effects for the lawn mower and the blow dryer. He makes noises to tell us what he wants but he still doesn't say many words. It seems he is always making some kind of cute baby noise.

Swimming lessons- Research has shown swimming lessons doesn't do much for kids this age but we did them with his cousin Porter so the two could bond a little more. It was also a fun activity for us to do together for two weeks. Cooper now knows how to blow bubbles in water, jump into the water from the side, and kick his legs and arms.

Cooper's opinions and desires are much more apparent. Cooper wants to do what he wants when he wants and he has had some small temper tantrums because of this. His growing independence gets him frustrated when he doesn't get his way.

Feeds himself with a fork or spoon- Still a work in progress and messy at best but he understands a fork and spoon are used to get food in your mouth.

Road Trip to Lake Tahoe with Grandma Kirk and Aunt Brittney- It was a just the girls trip +Cooper.

Opens Doors- No more containing Cooper with a closed door unless it is locked.

Goes down the stairs backwards- Our life changed when Cooper realized his boundaries with the stairs. He knows to stop at the top of the stairs, turn around, get on his hands and knees and scoot backwards until he gets to the top stair. Quite a complex skill to master!

Not only is Cooper realizing his boundaries with the stairs but he realizes there are boundaries for many things around the house such as the electronics. They are a huge temptation to Cooper and sometimes Cooper will get this mischievous look on his face and slowly go toward the electronics, look back to see if we're looking and continue until we don't let him get closer. He loves to test his boundaries! He is dang cute in the process but we can't let him know that. ;)

Cooper is starting to want to help around the house. He loves to help move the clothes from the washer to the dryer, hand me clothes to put on hangers, pour ingredients when we cook and hold the dust pan when we sweep. He especially loves to help Mike mow the lawn and water the plants.

Sitting in a Fire Truck- He got to sit in the driver's seat, wear the firemen hat and boots, and see the lights flash.

Sparklers and Pop-It's for the 4th and 24th- Cooper was neutral on the Sparklers and tried to eat the Pop-it's so we will try again next year. : )


Favorites:
The garbage truck- Every Tuesday morning when we hear the garbage truck we go outside in our pjs and follow the garbage truck up the street. Occasionally the driver will notice Cooper's excitement and he will honk the horn or back up so we can hear the beeping noise. Cooper loves it!

Hearing the doorbell ring- Cooper always thinks it's daddy when the doorbell rings so he will run to the door and open it and gets really shy when it's not Mike. Mike knows this so he will ring the door bell when he gets home so Cooper can really be excited.

Dancing to the ABC song his dinosaur sings

Chewing on everything

Dogs, Cats, Birds and Chipmunks- There is a cat that lives across the street and whenever we are in the front the cat will come over and follow Cooper around and vise versa. They seem to be good buddies. : )The other day we saw a chipmunk in a golf cart on the steering wheel, jumping from the seat to the dash board and drinking some orange juice from a cup in the cup holder and Cooper couldn't get enough. He laughed and could have watched that chipmunk forever.

The lawn mower- Cooper knows where we house the lawn mower and when we are outside he will run to the shed and beg for us to open the door so he can check it out. Mike will hold him sometimes when he mows and sometimes Cooper will follow behind Mike with his own toy lawn mower. As long as he is with Daddy while he mows he is happy.

Cousin Porter- Well...it's more of a love/hate relationship with those two. They play well together most of the time but disagree when the other has a toy they want. It's fun to watch them interact together because they can go from laughing and chasing each other to staring each other down and taking each other's toys away.

Playing in the hose and in the sprinklers- We like to walk around the neighborhood looking for neighbors who have their sprinklers on. Cooper likes to put his thumb over the spout so it sprays in all crazy directions.

Elevators- Cooper loves to push the buttons and watch the numbers beep

Escalators- We were meeting up with some friends at the mall and to pass the time we went up and down the escalators and Cooper loved it. Now whenever we see an escalator we have to take 5 minutes to take a ride. Why pay for an amusement park at this age right?

Collecting pine cones, sticks and rocks- If we are outside Cooper will be seen with at least two or three in his hands.

Socializing
Chewing on Toothbrushes

Experiencing new things- He is the happiest and the most content when he is in a new place and doing something he has never done before.

Swings and the slide

Going on walks- He will go to his stroller when he wants to go on a walk and lift up his arms and grunt.

Books-All books even The Little Mermaid : )
Throwing things down the stairs
Hiding from us and popping out

Memorable Moments:

Today at church Cooper was playing with a little boy behind us who is about 2 1/2. Yes, Cooper is a drooler and his drool was just dripping from his mouth all the way to the floor. The little boy got the most horrified look on his face and told his dad, "That baby is dropping his spit!" We had a good laugh.

This is a sad story but we were at one of our play groups and there was a little girl about 3 there who had a big bag of Fruit Loops. Of course Cooper wanted them so he went over there and attempted to put his little hand in the bag to help himself. The little girl totally freaked out and yelled for her mom and tore the bag away from Cooper and the look on Cooper's face was the saddest look I have ever seen on his handsome face. His little lip went down, his eyes went wide and his chin started quivering and he just walked over to me looking totally defeated. I felt so bad for him and apparently the mom of the little girl did too because she came over and gave him his own bag of fruit loops. Those are the hard lessons in life right? Life isn't always kind.

Thanks Grandma Debbie for your visit! Cooper has made good use of his new outfit that he looks so handsome in and we were so excited to have a good way to display his little baseball foot. We put the trophy and his baseball on the shelf in his room and it looks great! Cooper also really loves the little board books and especially likes looking at the pictures of the animals. Thanks for the awesome birthday gifts and for the great visit! We loved visiting with you!

Grandma and Grandpa Kirk took Cooper to the Trout Farm near our house and this kind of fishing is perfect for people with short attention spans so it was so fun! Cooper got to chum the fish by throwing food to the fish (of course he tried to eat it) and he got to touch his first slimy fish. The fish would flick their tails and splash water all over Cooper and he was all smiles.

There is a lady in our neighborhood who just lost her newborn grandson to an infection in his intestine and we were at her house visiting with her. Normally Cooper doesn't stop moving but on this day he walked over to this lady and put his head in her lap. She picked him up and he put his head on her shoulder and just cuddled with her for a minute. I was wondering if he could sense her sadness or maybe she just looked like a nice grandma figure. Either way, this lady loved it and it brought a smile to her face.

Things that Make Cooper Cry:
When he gets his feelings hurt
When we take him away from something he wants to do
When he has to take a nap in the afternoon
Being sick
Getting teeth
When he wants something he can't have
When he's hungry
If he is having fun and the fun stops
When he wants more attention or is bored


Things that Make Cooper Smile and Laugh:
Dad- No one can make Cooper laugh more than Mike. Cooper is turning into quite a daddy's boy.
Watching himself on a video or looking at pictures of himself
Seeing mom or dad first thing in the morning
When the door bell rings
When we say, "Let's go outside"
When we chase him
Experiencing new things
When we do weird random unexpected things : )
Playing hide and go seek
Getting tickled
Getting startled or surprised
He will smile at anyone who will give him attention.