Month 20

Weighs: 28 lbs.
Length: 34 in.
Status: Excited about life, learning and people

Firsts/Milestones:

Cooper continues to mimic the main word we say in most sentences.  He picks up new words almost every day and it's exciting and adorable! If he doesn't know the words to explain something he uses baby babble along with hand gestures and sign language to get what he needs and wants.  He is seriously amazing!

Words Cooper says consistently:
Basketball (ba-ball)
Balloon (ball-oo)
Blue (boo)-His favorite color is blue.  He gravitates to everything blue.  Even if it's not blue, it is to him.
Thank You (Ta Too)
Please (Pee)
Bread (bed)
Bye Bye
There (de)
Two (and he holds up two fingers)
Shoes
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 understands pretty much everything we say.  If we are bragging about him to someone he beams from ear to ear. We have had to start spelling things if we don't want him to know what we are talking about, especially when it comes to the big "C" words- chocolate, candy and cookies.

Sounds Cooper Knows:
Anything motorized he has down.
Elephant
Duck
Cow
Bunny (he will wiggle his nose)
Bee
Tiger
Lion
Cougar
Mouse
Dinosaur
Monster
Aligator (GRR)
Monkey
Snake
Dog
Cat
Bird

Cooper gets excited about everything.  He has such a love for life, for people and experiencing new things.  When he gets excited he balls up his little fists, does a fist pump and says, "YA"!

Cooper's emotions are very apparent and can change in an instant- When he is excited, he fists pumps, laughs with his whole body and has energy coming out of his ears.  When he is angry, he has knocked over chairs, thrown things, kicked, hit and screamed.  When he is disappointed or knows he is in trouble he bows his head and looks up at you and breathes really slowly through his nose.  When he is shy he gets really clingy and giggly.  When he is content he likes to play quietly on his own.  When he is bored he gets into everything he knows he shouldn't.  When he is sad, he has a heart wrenching cry and likes to be cuddled.  When he is hurt, he likes to have it kissed better and given a big hug.    

Went down a slide by himself- He was nervous at first but as soon as he did it once nothing stopped him

Gives knuckles, fives and tens

Cooper loves to be the funny man.  He will do anything to make people laugh or smile. His laugh is so genuine and carefree and his smile makes the whole room light up.  He has a big toy spider and he loves to chase people with it to get a reaction out of them and he thinks it is hilarious.

Cooper is not shy.  He will approach anyone and older kids adore him.  Kids his age don't get him yet.  He loves to hold hands, hug and pretend to share with other kids and overall is very sweet.  There is only a problem if another kid decides to take what he has labeled "his territory."  



Favorites:

Mike took Cooper on a father/son outing to buy shoes and to Brianne's horror came home with Toy Story shoes that light up when you walk!  Mike said at the shoe store Cooper absolutely lit up when he saw them and would not put them down so how could Mike resist?  Mike was right, the first thing Cooper wants to do when he wakes up is put on his shoes.  He demands to wear them for his nap and sometimes he will just cuddle the shoes while he sleeps. If he's not wearing them he will walk around with them saying "shoes" over and over.  It's pretty adorable and honestly, Cooper makes Toy Story shoes look good. : )

Looking for airplanes in the sky and motorcycles, trucks, and buses on the road

Taking walks in the stroller

His toy lawn mower- He found his lawn mower after not having it all winter and it was not an option to separate it from him.  We have taken it in the car and into stores with us.  He has been seen following me around the store pushing his lawn mower.

Balloons-He loves it when we blow up balloons and make them squeak or let the air blow on his face.  He also loves helium balloons and looking for them in the store.

Blowing bubbles-He gets so excited when he blows a bubble himself

Coloring and painting

Playdough

Playing with his food

Cooper is a pretty good eater and we have found he likes foods most kids would not like-He loves things such as, steak, shrimp bisque, salmon, chips and salsa, cooked carrots, smoothies, and greek yogurt.  He doesn't like food such as, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, spaghetti, goldfish PB&J and cheese.

Experiencing new places, new foods and meeting new people

Dipping his food in sauce, soup, and milk

Helping around the house

Being chased

Nursery

Riding Elevators and Escalators

Holding Hands, 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:

We had the privilege and honor of having Jordan come for a day to visit!  We loved our day with her and just love who she is!  We feel so lucky and so blessed to have such a sweet, unselfish, patient, forgiving, funny, beautiful and wonderful person as Cooper's birth mother.  We couldn't have asked for a better birth mother and it's more than apparent how much she loves Cooper.  We started our day with Jordan making breakfast (one of Cooper's favorite morning activities) then went to one of his favorite places, the Treehouse Museum and played with the train sets the majority of the time. It just so happened to be Dr. Suess's Birthday and the public library was doing a birthday party so we went and ate cake, made a craft and watched part of "Horton Hears a Who".  Cooper loves trains so we went to Union Station and climbed on the trains.  Such a wonderful and perfect day with Jordan!

Jordan always seems to have the best timing!  Cooper's birth could not have been more epic, but this is up there on the list.  Jordan was saying her goodbyes and opened the door to leave and there, on our porch, delivered that day was a package she had sent from Alaska for Cooper!  We got to open the package with Jordan and we all loved the thoughtful and adorable gifts sent with love from Alaska.  It was the perfect way to end our day together.  Thanks Jordan for such a fun day and for being in our lives!  We love you!

We have started baby sitting a 3 month old baby named Tydus pretty consistently and Cooper loves him.  Tydus makes lots of noises while he sleeps and if Cooper hears him he will point at him and smile.  If he cries, Cooper will get his pacifier or his blanket and he loves to pat his head.  We weren't sure how he would react to a baby brother or sister so this has helped us see he would probably do just fine.  We have submitted our adoption paperwork again so we will see where that leads this time around.  : )