Month 18

Weighs: 27.8 lbs.
Length: 34 in.
Status: Helper, Explorer, and Active X3!

Firsts/Milestones:

Words Cooper can say:
Ball (hard B sound and sounds like Baw)
Banana (nananana)
Again (gen)
Milk (mi),
Me
All done (aww duh)
Mmmm (when something tastes really good)
Choo Choo
Hot
Go (doe)
More
Ya
Mom
Dad

Animal Sounds Cooper Knows:
Aligator (GRR)
Monkey
Snake
Dog
Cat
Bird

Body parts Cooper can label:
Toes
Legs
Nose
Mouth
Tongue
Belly button
Hair/head
Ears (he has these straight now)
Eyes

You all know Cooper is a big time hugger, kisser and cuddler but until now it has only been us.  It is now spreading to the little ladies!  He loves to hug his cousin Eliza. Cooper is almost twice Eliza's size even though she is only one month younger so it is adorable when he wraps his big arms around her and squeezes. Sometimes he will plant a kiss on her as well.   She will occasionally hug back but sometimes Cooper gets rejected. Ha Ha.  He does the same to an older girl named Abby who attends one of our play groups.  She is 2 1/2 and loves the attention!  Cooper is just a sweet heart and loves to be affectionate but we will have to have a talk when he gets older.  : )

Loves Hide -and- Go- Seek!  He always has the same hiding place but we always act surprised to see him. : ) We are learning all our parent's old tricks. Ha Ha

First Christmas Cooper was excited about and he got SPOILED!! Christmas was drawn out for three days because he was overwhelmed.  He was always happy with what he opened and wanted to play instead of rip more paper. He was pretty good at opening presents though!  A BIG thank you to all who contributed to him getting spoiled. : ) Most importantly he is spoiled by love!  He is lucky to be loved by so many amazing people!

Cooper loves to help set the table.  His job is to put the cups, forks and spoons on the table and loves extra assignments.  We will enjoy the excitement he has for helping while it lasts!  : )

Riding Front Runner- We thought it would be fun to ride the Front Runner into Salt Lake one weekend since Cooper loves trains so much.  He didn't let us down with his excitement!  He loved looking out the windows and oohing and awing.  We met Brianne's parents in Salt Lake for dinner and had a delightful and interesting dinner with them. (see under memorable moments for more info) ha ha

Cooper got to meet his Uncle TJ for the first time!  TJ returned home from his mission in Mexico on the 10th and we got to go to the airport and see him.  Cooper has already warmed up to him and got to play tennis with him.

Favorites:

Looking for icicles and eating them

Nursery- He doesn't cry when we leave and doesn't notice when we come to pick him up because he is so engaged.

Giving Hugs and Kisses

Cooking

Pushing Buttons

Riding Elevators and Escalators

Riding his new Christmas bikes

Being chased

His Love Sac

Playing with trucks, cars, airplanes, trains, tools, and anything that moves or makes noise

Playing on the iPad with dad

Books

Playing Outside in the snow

Snow Blowing

When daddy makes him laugh

Being thrown into the air

Memorable Moments:
Here is the story about our "interesting" dinner with the parents...We went to Benihana for dinner which is a Japanese Hibachi restaurant where they cook right in front of you and do a little entertaining as well (we went there with Jordan the night her water broke!).  We were all sitting on the long end of the table and Cooper wanted to sit on everyone's lap so he was being passed up and down the table.  He was with Brianne's mom and she was engaged in a conversation with the lady next to her (who we didn't know) and Cooper knocked a full glass of ice water onto this lady!  She was of course kind about it but we were still embarrassed.  The night went on and the amazing Filet Minion, Shrimp, Chicken and scallops were almost done cooking when Cooper (who was in between Brianne's Dad and Mike) knocked over a Strawberry Mango Lemonade onto the hibachi grill all over the amazing food that was almost cooked to perfection!  It sizzled and steamed and caused a lot of attention and the cook didn't know what to do!  He stood there for a minute with his mouth open and after he composed himself he asked everyone at the table if they still wanted to eat the food. Ha Ha Everyone was gracious and still ate the food but we were dying of embarrassment!

Cooper got a really high fever of 103 on New Year's Eve at about 10:00 pm so we spent the night trying to get his fever down and trying to comfort him so he could sleep.  We both agreed we would not have wanted to be doing anything else so it didn't ruin the night but it was really sad to see him so lethargic and sick!  We heard the fireworks at midnight at least! : )  On New Years Day all we did was cuddle on the couch, watch movies and sleep.  We took him to the Doc the next day and he had Strep Throat. : (  He is back to himself now though and is catching up on the playing he didn't get to do.

We celebrated Cooper's Half Birthday only because it was on 12-12-12!  We had a few family member come and Brianne made dinner and a Half Birthday cake. Cooper got to blow out 1 1/2 candles, then the best part was we all got to do a cake smash!  Cooper and his cousin Porter started digging in after the candles were blown out so we all joined in. Eating cake like that is the best!  Afterward, we went downtown to see a Christmas Village Ogden City sponsors every year.  Businesses from around town set up little houses and decorate the inside then you can walk around and look in all the windows.  12-12-12 was a great day for a half birthday! : )