I wanted to take Cooper to a place with a nice background and at the time of day when pictures actually turn out nice, but time slipped away that day and I ran out of sunlight fast. I ended up taking his pictures behind our apartment (not a beautiful background). Even though he is always cute, in my opinion, I still don't think they turned out as good as I had hoped due to lighting, background, and of course to the fact that he was much more interested in the grass and walking around than in posing for the camera. But here he is on his very first birthday!
Of course I got the big smile once we went inside. I edited the color on all of the ones outside because it helped a little with the lighting...bummer cause I love that sweater!
Cooper
7 1/2 teeth
walks 95% of the time
likes to climb
smiles all of the time
waves and flirts with new people but can also be shy
loves his brothers
adores his daddy
a total mama's boy
does not sleep through the night yet
takes one nap a day
gets into everything
makes the cutest facial expressions
hates the car after 5 minutes
knows some sign language
tries to talk
his favorite phrase to say is "all done" and he says it very seriously while doing the sign for it
gives kisses
follows mommy everywhere and loves to be held
cuddles when he is tired
very ticklish
has the best giggle ever
makes a "sniffer face" when asked
likes books
has absolutely no interest in t.v. yet
doesn't play with toys much, would rather get into things he shouldn't
gives high fives
loves to clap
laughs when others do
has a super strong grip
determined
loves to throw anything he can in the trash (pretty sure that's where our remote went)
is developing such a personality
sweetest baby in the world!!!
Having Cooper in our family has been such a major blessing. Having three kids has been a hard adjustment for us though. My house has probably been clean 365 minutes this year (a minute a day), and I have probably only made a very embarrassing low number of actually meals this year. I'm not sure if it's the number of kids that has been hard or just the fact that a baby is 24-7. (A baby that is not sleeping through the night, I might add). Both, probably. Taking 3 kids to the store, not that hard, but I would be a liar if I said it was fun. There are some things that surprise me with how easy they are to do with three kids (did that even make sense?), and other things that I just can't seem to master. I don't have the luxury of having a husband home while I make dinner and most nights not even to help get kids in bed, but I can say that I have learned a lot this year and know that a little extra love and patience can make up for the lack of help when he is gone. That's not a claim to mastering patience btw. So three kids has given me the busiest, most exhausting year of my life, but at the same time, the most joy I could ever imagine. Nothing in this world compares to the joy and satisfaction of having children. And since this is Cooper's birthday we are talking about here, a baby is something extra special to have at home. My baby is one. He is growing so fast, but I'm so happy that I have no regrets with the amount of time I have spent with him. I have cherished every day with him. I wish he could slow down a little, but I also love seeing him discover and grow. He is such an angel and is a constant reminder to me to be better and to be grateful. As much work as a baby and children are, the reward is a million times greater! I love my little birthday boy and am so grateful I became his mommy at this time in my life. We are all so thankful to have him in our family. He, a year later, is still a novelty around here, and the kids still fight every time we go somewhere about who gets to sit by him. We all love our little Coop! I'm so thankful to be a mommy!!! Happy Birthday Coopertiners, Kinza-ruiny head, Bootsy, Nu Nu (poor kid still has a few absurd names that just seem to come out when I talk to him). WE LOVE YOU COOPER!
When our first son, Julien, was a baby my dad got him this adorable Santa outfit. It's a 12 month outfit and when Julien wore it he was just 6 months (since that's how old he was that Christmas). A little big on him, but still so cute. Jonah and Cooper, however were just the right size for it when their time came. I have pictures of all my kids wearing this outfit and would love to include them in this post, but I can't due to my scanner being broken (yes baby Julien was before I had a digital camera) and Jonah's pics are on a 3rd party sight that I can't get off unless I order them on c.d. Anyway, here is Cooper dressed as Santa. I get a little obsessed with their cuteness when my babies wear this, so sorry there are so many, and trust me, there are way more where these came from.
