Cooper's busy week

Lounged around looking cute. (Though Alan already made fun of me for dressing him in pastel green overalls, saying that he could join the fierce Easter Egg Gang. Apparently "real" overalls are denim. Whatever.)



Took a nap in the swing.

Lounged around looking cute.

Visited Daddy at Eastern Illinois University.

Helped Daddy clean off his desk.

Got a mohawk from Daddy. (One of Alan's co-workers suggested that Cooper's first words should be a plaintive "No, Daddy." I can see her point.)

Next week will be a big week for Cooper -- we're taking the train up to Chicago for several days! Time to explore the big city!

Funniest birthday card!

Alan received the following birthday note from my Dad, along with two quarters and three pennies taped to a notecard. Man, we laughed and laughed!



Alan,



Joan left me with the Honey-Do job of getting you a birthday card. Of course, I have nothing else to do except build my house all day. [Note: My folks were in the process of building a new house.] To save time, I called Dollar General and Teri [the manager and a friend of Mom's] said they have two choices of cards: 50-cent and $1.00 cards. She said there are only two Son-in-Law cards to pick from on the 50-cent side. I chose card No. A665, and it should cost you 53 cents. Go down the block and get your own card; you have as much time as I do. Besides, it saves me a stamp.



P.S. I would probably just read the card and then buy two 25-cent candy bars.



Sincerely,

Cecil


.

And just for fun, unrelated to my Dad's funny note, a cute picture of Cooper sleeping:

Back to Kansas

Because having a baby isn't enough of a major-life stressor for one year, we've decided also to change jobs, sell our house, buy a new house, and move to another state. Alan accepted a teaching position in the Econ Dept at Baker University (my alma mater!), and so we're headed back home to Kansas. We're excited to be going, sad to be leaving, and dreading the hassle of moving. But Cooper is anxious to be closer to the rest of his family. This is the cheer he does to demonstrate his enthusiasm:

"B"

"U"

And then he makes a handmotion for "wildcats," for the Baker University Wildcats, but that movement is difficult to photograph. So you're stuck with just the B and the U.


In other news, our cats have been (surprisingly, but thankfully, I suppose) uninterested in the newest resident of our home. This picture was staged -- Mikey was sleeping peacefully alone on the couch and I stuck Cooper next to him for the photo op. Neither looks particularly happy.



Here's the 6 week (already?!) aligator shot:

And last night we gave Cooper his first baby tub bath. As expected, he screamed most of the time. But he didn't pee on us or poop in the water, both of which would have been reasonable reactions.

Family visit

Alan's family, including two people who hadn't yet met Cooper, came to visit this past weekend. I swear, Cooper's butt never touched the ground.


Cousin Jonathan and Uncle David (sporting dashing overalls and a Grizzly Adams beard) took their obligatory turns holding the young'un.

Would it suck to be so little that you can't change positions when you have a crick in your neck?

Trying out a snappy new knitted blanket:

Sleeping peacefully:

And modeling a great new knitted cap:

Cooper's first road trip

We loaded up the car (man, babies require lots of crap!) and drove to Kansas on Friday. We stopped every 2 1/2 - 3 hours to feed and change Cooper and let him stretch a bit. And for being confined in the car seat like a Nascar racer, he did really well. He slept most of the trip, and still managed to sleep a decent amount during the night.

Anyway, this was the first time Alan's family had seen Cooper, and apparently there were extensive discussions about who got to hold him first. Grandma Carol pulled rank and got the first turn:


And then Grandpa Jerry:


And then Jennifer, Cooper's 5-year old cousin, who had been practicing holding her baby dolls:

And finally, Aunt Julie:

We drove back to Illinois yesterday, and after four days on the road, we were exhausted, especially Cooper. He couldn't even stay awake for tummy time:

Or to visit with Dad:

Lordy Lordy

Look who's 40!!

More pictures of the kiddo.

Just because I can.


Reading a game theory textbook with Dad.


His first bottle-feeding. Went pretty well.

In his swing.

Dressed as a Middle Eastern woman.

And with the beanie baby named Coop. (I already *gasp* removed the tag to save in his baby book. Guess we won't be funding his college education on beanie babies.)

Week 3

Just some random pictures before I head off to the kitchen to bake an apple pie for a cake/pie contest at the law school.

Does he look like he's growing compared to the alligator?



We google Cooper Grant and came up with Cooper Grant Commons, a housing development area "priced from the $180's" in New Jersey. Snazzy poster, huh?



Last week, we had a huge snow storm. The University of Illinois actually canceled classes, something I'm told they haven't done for 30 years. And they did it both Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Alan waited until the snow was just right (or until he was so stir-crazy, he had to get out of the house), and then built an igloo in our driveway.

Faces my son makes

I'm telling you... I could watch this kid for hours.

New Friends for Cooper

A friend recommended that we take regular photos next to the same stuffed animal to monitor and share how big Cooper is getting. Here's the Week #1 photo with his new alligator (crocodile?) friend.



For Cooper's first Valentine's Day, his Daddy got him... wait for it... a rubber chicken. According to Alan, "It's never too early for gag gifts."

This weekend, more of my family came to Tuscola to see the new kiddo. And they must really want to see him because we're still in the middle of a bathroom remodel project that started the day before Cooper was born (he was 11 days early, remember -- we didn't plan this), so we have no shower in the house. They didn't seem to care, and were at least polite enough not to tell us that we smell.

Aunt Carmen with the bear she made out of fancy-schmancy polar-tec fabric.

Aunt Kelly

Uncle Toban

And, lest you think Cooper is always sleeping, here's a picture from our "awake time" yesterday.