Weight, Wedding Dresses. and Brownies

Kyle had his 6-month appointment today. He weighs 17 lb, 3 oz, is 26 1/2 in. tall, and is in the 50th percentile for both, once again! Dr. MacFerran said he's very strong and healthy. Also, that in the next few months, Kyle could start having tantrums if we don't pay attention to him when he needs attention....REALLY!? Poor Kyle had to have some shots today, also. Thankfully, Dad took him to his check-up, so Mom didn't have to see him go through that pain. All that drama didn't seem to scar our little man too much. Here he is, cracking up at getting kissed by his Dad.




Kyle wasn't the only one to get weighed this week! I also had my weekly "check-up" at Weight Watchers! I am SO excited that I lost. This is a special loss for me because when I did the program in 2006, I hovered right around losing 28 pounds. Then I got pregnant. For the past several weeks on this go-around of the program, I've been hovering right around the 28 lb. mark. Apparently, this weight is a cross-roads for me. Either get pregnant, or bust through it and be tough in order to start losing again. No, I am NOT pregnant. I've lost 31.4 pounds since October (which makes 51 pounds since having Kyle!!!!!) I am just SO excited! In order to celebrate, I busted out my wedding dress, just to see. And, IT FIT!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of my wedding dress fitting, I thought I'd throw in a wedding video that I find quite humorous. Many of you have seen this "Best First Dance" video, but I hope you enjoy it again.

A bunch of women at work are now doing Weight Watchers. It's like a have a mini-meeting nearly everyday. We're all trying to find good snacks and meal ideas. The idea of the week is for all you chocolate lovers. Krusteaz makes a non-fat brownie mix. One of the teachers made them, and they are actually good. You can have a 2-inch brownie for only 2 points. It definitely filled my chocolate craving for the day.

Speaking of brownies....here's another funny video of someone who got a little different brownie mix. I wonder if they counted the points correctly!

Escape Artist

I would say that Kyle is a happy baby. He has been a great blessing to first-time parents. However, this happy disposition can go right out the window when you try to put him in his car seat. He squirms and fights and arches his back. If you're not careful, he'll squirm right out of the seat! I got a couple of video clips of this little Houdini act. Sorry they are so dark. I took them right after we got home from church and did not set up the proper lighting (as if we have it in this apartment) for the scene. (Uncle Matt would be so disappointed!)

He's such a little weasel! Here he is, back to his normal happy self after escaping from the evil clutches of the dreaded car seat!

Granolas

Seeing Kyle wear his REI vest today reminded me that I never put these pictures on the blog. I have all these ideas in my brain for posts that I should do, and I really thought that I'd already created this one. Guess not!
These pictures are all from our trip to Houston in December. Uncle Bando and Aunt Gummies got a new camera for Christmas. They took 171 pictures of all of us on that day and for the rest of the time we were in Houston. That's right...ONE-HUNDRED, SEVENTY-ONE!!!! Needless to say, I did not include a complete photo history of "The Cooper Christmas" from Julia's portfolio. I have condensed the collection down from overload to just a few. Most of them include Kyle, as a mini-granola boy, along with me or his Aunt and Uncle Granola. (By the way, "Granola" is a nickname given to Bando and Gummies by Hubba? because of their love of REI and all things outdoors.)

What better day for the maiden voyage of the Radio Flyer than the day Kyle is wearing his adventurous clothing from REI? The dogs LOVED following Kyle and his wagon around the house!!!




Kyle also decides to become "one" with wildlife while wearing his granola gear. Okay, it's just Atlas, but she CAN be a little wild.

Trying to sit up and play with a new toy:

Falling Forward:

He's Down!!!

Now for a few pictures from the "stripes" collection.


Here's Kyle, caught in the middle of blowing bubbles and making noises with his lips.

Mad Hands Coop

Uncle Hubba had this nickname in high school, but I think it needs to be passed down to Kyle. He's always loved his hands, mostly just to shove them in his mouth. However, he's recently started a new trick with his hands: wrist rotations. He'll be on the floor, in his swing or car seat, or in the bath and hold his hands up and do these crazy movements with them. Granna says he's doing these wrist rotations in preparation for playing the piano. Maybe he's going to be a great maestro. Maybe he's just trying to follow the Chevron policy of "safety first" by taking "rest breaks" between playing with toys. He might be concerned about carpal tunnel syndrome. Who knows? This seems to go along with his crunches, as being a unique Kyle trick. Here's a short video of Kyle doing his hand movements. I think there's even a half roll, a hand in the mouth, and maybe some crunches in there, too.

A Small Milestone

Kyle SAT UP tonight...on his own! I didn't expect it at all. I was talking on the phone and playing with him and his toys. I propped him up on my leg, and he really didn't need the support, so I let him go! He just sat there and stared Atlas right in the face. I think Atlas was startled because she started to grumble and growl a little. She didn't know what to expect from this new perspective of Kyle.

This sitting didn't last for long. He fell back several times and had to be propped back up, but he did seem to be in a bit of an adventurous mood. Every time he'd fall down, he'd roll over to his TUMMY. Many of you know about Kyle and "tummy time." They are not friends. I think he can usually last for about 2 minutes before the tantrum starts. Tonight, if just for a time, he seemed to turn over a new leaf. Not only was he continuing to roll AND stay on his tummy, he actually scooted a little across his blanket. And, when I say "a little," I really mean MAYBE 6 inches. But, it's progress. He's not at baby STEPS yet, but maybe we can call his effort "baby scoots."


Later, he enjoyed an exciting bath, where there was much kicking and squealing. His adventurous streak also continued in the bath. He kept trying to roll over and put his face under water. A couple of times he got some water in his nose, but just sneezed and did it again. I'm going to have to watch him closely so he doesn't attempt any uncertified dives. That could be dangerous without the proper training!

Hand and Foot

I love books. This love of books must come from a mom who loves books. When my brothers and sisters and I were young, we read books all the time, went to the library, and ordered books from book clubs/fairs at school. I really believe that's one reason why all my mom's kids are so smart. We laughed about one of my earliest memories: I'm at the library, listening to records with those big 80's-type headphones on, SINGING OUT LOUD, oblivious to the fact that I'm in the LIBRARY and other people can hear me, even if I can just hear the music in the headphones. My mom had to come up to me (around 4 years old) and remind me of proper library etiquette. I really look forward to continuing some of these traditions of books with Kyle.

While Granna was here, she had to get a couple of books for Kyle. We got some real "classics" that she read to me when I was young. To complete the circle of life, she read them to Kyle, too. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb is one that I pretty much know by heart. We laughed and laughed that both my mom and I read it with the SAME rhythm and intonation...living proof that what you do with your children while they're young DOES sink in.

Granna also read The Foot Book to Baby Kyle. These two books are just short enough that his attention span allows the reader to complete the whole story before he's ready to move on to the next activity. After his reading class today, he learned all about hands and feet, a great place to start!

Fun With Granna

It has been really fun having Granna visit me in Texas! We have really been getting to know each other. She loves when I do my crunches, and she's trying to figure out which sport I would be best at. I am always moving and rotating my wrists, so she also thinks I will make a great pianist or a maestro. We've been working on reading and singing together. Here's we are, warming up with some "OOOO-s:"


I think she kinda likes me. We went over to Great Grama Sue's house after church and she played with me, showed me around, and fed me. We're pals!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

I was waiting and waiting for Daddy to get back from his trip to Pittsburgh and Miami! Granna stayed with me while Mom went to the airport. I played with my aquarium and took a nap to make the time pass.



Daddy FINALLY got home on Saturday at noon. He has been going all over the country, interviewing for CRNA school. We are SOOOO glad that he's home! I sang to him (with help from Granna) when he walked in the door! Then, we went to lunch at Carino's!!!

Mommy was really happy that Daddy was home, too. (And DADDY was REALLY happy to see Mommy!!!) They put me to bed early....I guess because Daddy was so tired from all of his traveling. Here's some pictures of them after church:

Kyle's Half Birthday

Here's Kyle in his birthday suit, ready to party! He's six months old today....that clarification is for all my students at Jane Long Elementary who need a little help in determining what I meant by "half birthday" in the title....most of them haven't QUITE mastered fractions.
Speaking of Jane Long Elementary, Kyle got to visit the place today. He heard the last part of the FAMOUS annual spelling bee. This year did not disappoint. Only FOUR students actually spelled a word correctly to move on to round TWO. ROUND TWO!!! What school goes from 25 spellers down to FOUR in just ONE ROUND??? There were some possible classics: "P-e-c-k-a-n," (pecan) "I-d-i-u-i-m," (Idiom) "Yaght," (Yacht) "Tyfoon," (Typhoon)...None can compare with the ultimate representation of my school: "Youth. U-T-H. Youth." If you can't tell, I LOVE the Jane Long Spelling Bee. The "best of the best" spellers at our school go head-to-head for the intense competition....the whole thing is usually over in about 18 1/2 mintues.
Here's some pictures of Kyle, Granna, Grama Sue, and me in my classroom:




After school, we went over to Grama Sue's for a birthday dinner. Kyle was SUPER excited....so excited that he was dancing on the table.


Granna is having a GREAT time getting to see Kyle. She got to spend the whole day with him!


We would have loved to get some pictures of the half-birthday boy and his dad, but Stephen's in Florida. He's been hanging out of the east coast (Pittsburgh and Miami) this week, interviewing for CRNA programs. He gets back tomorrow, flies BACK to Miami on Monday, comes home, works a few days, and goes back out for more interviews. Hopefully all this traveling will add up to an acceptance letter. So, we just had to celebrate without Dad.

Baby Airplane!!!

One of Kyle's new interests seems to be his feet and toes. He's really been grabbing on to them lately, staring at them and trying to put them in his mouth. Everyone thinks he's teething. (According to "everyone," he's been "teething" for 2 months!!) Happy 6-month birthday, Kyle!!!