Month 19

Weighs: 27.8 lbs.
Length: 34 in.
Status: He doesn't know it but he's ready for winter to be over! : ) It has been a rough winter for him!

Firsts/Milestones:

Cooper tries to repeat most words we say.  The syllables are correct but his pronunciation is not and it 's super adorable!  He will usually get the first letter right.  He has attempted and come close to saying, downstairs/upstairs, excuse me, cupcake, strawberry and cookie.  He babbles all the time but his babbling is starting to sound more put together and "word like".

Words Cooper says consistently:
Two (and he holds up two fingers)
Shoes (he gets the "sh" sound sometimes but most of the time it's "jooes")
Socks
Juice (Ju)
This
Hi
Ball (hard B sound and sounds like Baw)
Banana (nananana)
Again (gen)
Milk (mi),
Me
All done/gone (aww duh)
Mmmm (when something tastes really good)
Choo Choo
Hot
Go (doe)
More
Ya
Mom
Dad

Cooper's comprehension is also coming along.  He understands, your's, mine, his, hers, I (although sometimes he will point to his eye), me, my and you. For example, we will say, "Where are my eyes?" and he will point to our eyes.  Then we will say where are your eyes and he will point to his eyes.  Also, when we read books we will ask him to point at different things and he is getting really good at finding them.

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

Cooper loves to sit in a normal chair when he eats even though he is still a little small.  When we go to restaurants he refuses his high chair so he sits on his own chair or on our lap.

Cooper loves to play pretend, especially in the kitchen.  There is a play kitchen at the children's museum we go to often and he can spend a good 30 minutes in there pretending to mix up food, putting it in the oven, making the beeping noise for the timer, washing dishes and giving other kids pretend food to eat.  He loves the kitchen so much that we cleared off one of our shelves and put some kid friendly kitchen supplies there for him.  He loves to pretend to fix his toys with his screwdriver and he pretends food is a car with sound effects and all.

He has learned "knuckles"- he does it with his fingers and occasionally says "knuckles'.

Cooper has created his own sign language and it's actaully very effective!  He pats his lap if he wants something in his lap, he pats his chest if he wants you to hold him, he pats anywhere he wants to sit, he points to himself and says, "me" if he wants a turn and he points to his empty hand if he wants you to put what you have in his hand.   He is really good at communicating what he wants with those few hand signals.

Cooper is becoming very social and actually plays with other kids rather than just playing on his own. He likes to play tag.  His version of tag is to chase other kids and be chased. He also likes to throw balls and catch/kick balls.  This is a tricky stage because he doesn't understand the concept of sharing and neither to the other kids so tears are shed occasionally.  It's a learning process!

Cooper got to play dentist!  We took Cooper to the dentist with us and he got to help take the X-ray pictures of our teeth, help the dental assistant put hygiene kits together and sit on the chair and go up and down.  He loved playing dentist!

 Favorites:

Bounce Houses

Wearing our shoes and trying to walk in them

Experiencing new places and meeting new people

Fondue- He loves to dip everything so when he was introduced to fondue he was in heaven.

Helping around the house

Jumping on the bed

Being chased

Nursery

Riding Elevators and Escalators

Giving Hugs and Kisses

Cooking

Pushing Buttons

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

Playing on the iPad with dad

Books

When daddy makes him laugh


Memorable Moments:


This winter has not been an easy one for Cooper.  It has been really cold and this year's sick season has been terrible!  Cooper caught a cough and a cold and the cold progressed to the point that one morning he woke up about 1:00 AM crying and nothing could settle him down.  We took him to the doctor and he had two severe ear infections and pneumonia!  He had to get a shot for his ears and had to wear a breathing mask during the stay.  He was on three different medications for a time, one which made him super hyper active so it was hard for him to sleep.   He is such a trooper though and is back to being happy and almost healthy.  He still has the cough and cold but his ears and lungs are much better.  We are glad he is feeling better and hope he can stay healthy until winter is over!