Cooper: 7 months

Very, very belated but I was pretty preoccupied with Christmas, New Years, travel, Scott being home for 2 weeks, and generally not opening my computer! 

First Annual Retchless Turkey Trot. Also, Scott did No Shave November. It's over now ;-).

Height & Weight -  Height: *No length measurement this month* Weight: Approx. 18 lbs.

SO BIG!

Eating - All formula, all the time. Coop is officially weaned and it was 100% painless for him, moderately painful for me ;-)! He is still a snacker and gives us a run for our money to get enough formula in him every day. It doesn't matter how long he goes between feedings, he won't take more than 4oz. at a time (except before bed when, if we pull out all our tricks, we can get 8oz. in him). So, we have quit the battle and just give him lots of bottles throughout the day. 

Never a fight to get his yogurt in him!

Solids are going pretty well. Every morning at 8am sharp Coop gets a yogurt and devours it. He is pretty much a pro at puffs and teething biscuits (rice cracker things) but isn't too keen on actual food pieces. Avocado, banana, pasta, etc. all pretty much hit the floor for Nana to eat! Purees are still going well but it is anyone's guess what flavor he might like or hate on any given day.  

Puffs! (above picture is pre haircut, below is after...this will make sense once you read "new this month")

Sleeping (naps) - We are in a great napping schedule and Coop naps twice a day. First nap is around 9:30am and the second at about 1:30pm. Both are about two hours.

Oh that face! He has me wrapped around his finger.

Sleeping (night) -So much progress! I finally got fed up with the couch and decided that it was just time for Noah and Cooper to move in the same room and sort it out. It took a few nights of Noah waking up yelling, "Baby Cooper is crying!" before everyone got used to the new arrangements but we are firmly on the right track. From time to time Coop will wake up but he only cries for a few minutes and Noah doesn't even notice any more. (Of course, now Noah wakes up asking to go potty, it's always something with sleep!!)

Snoozing boys.

Cooper goes to bed (after bath) every night at 7pm and usually wakes between 5 and 5:30am for a bottle but then goes right back to sleep until 7 or 8.

Nothing to do with sleep, but he met Santa and was the perfect smiling baby!

Clothing - Growing, growing, growing! He is pretty much pushing the limits on 6 month clothes. 6-12 fit best by far! Still size 3 diapers although we might introduce size 4 at night.

First trip to Napa (we can add that to "new this month" too!). For the record, he woke up at 2am that night with a fever and had a 24 hour fever/cold.

New this Month - Sitting has come SO far. We won't leave him alone in a seated position yet but he rarely topples over any more. He is also much more sturdy standing (when we are holding him) and has started rocking while on all fours (he almost immediately squashes back down though!). 

Up!

And splat!!

Coopie also got his first haircut! His comb-over had officially gotten out of control so I decided to take action. No pictures because Mom and Dad were both pretty instrumental in making sure only hair was cut in the at-home beauty parlor!

What do you mean, comb-over?!?!

Cooper Likes - Everything! He is the happiest guy. I would say his favorite right now is big brother. Noah can make him giggle like crazy and they are starting to really interact. People in general are still his all time favorite although he is beginning to show a little more interest in his toys. He is also a big fan of his exersaucer these days.

Happy baby on our flight to St. Louis.

A preview of a lifetime of brother wrestling!

 Cooper Dislikes - Croup & RSV. Oh, wait, that might be Mom & Dad. Or everyone. It was awful. We awoke one night in St. Louis to Cooper having stridor again and knew immediately it was croup. We didn't rush to the hospital this time but managed it through the night with trips into the garage (cold air, but not as cold as outside) and lots of snuggles. The next day we were first at Urgent Care, got some steroids and were on the mend. Then, Christmas Eve, he tanked. He got a nasty fever and was listless. Urgent Care round two for an RSV diagnosis. This virus is nasty and mean. It can last up to two weeks and has a horrible fever that you can only manage with Motrin and Tylenol. Oh, and you have to worry about it turning into pneumonia or turning bacterial and giving ear infections. GAH! Too much for one holiday season. Oh, and add to that that the prenisilone we gave him at home sent him into fits. He was literally flinging himself upside down, rocking his body incessantly, and was WIDE AWAKE at 11pm. It made for a wild night and a vow to never give that drug again. BUT...he is now 100% healthy again and we were fortunate to have a ton of helping hands to get us through the worst of it. Hopefully we can avoid ever having to add these two things to the "Cooper dislikes" field again. 
 

Sad guys on Christmas Eve.

(Oops, all of the above happened a few days after he turned 7 months but I am not retyping that for next month so we will just leave it!)
 
And, because that was kind of random, he also really hates having his face or nose wiped. He screams bloody murder when you wipe him up after a meal and having a cold is like some kind of torture with the nose wiping. It's rough to be a baby! 

8 month update coming soon!!