Friday, February 24, 2006

11 Months

(Editor's note: For this post I invented the world's first time machine and traveled back in time two days.)

Cooper turned 11 months old today. It is hard to believe. The time has flown by. It doesn't seem possible that we're just around the corner from preparing his first birthday party.


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Aunt Kelly came over this evening. Cooper was very excited to see her. She chased him around the couch. In all of the excitement he did not fall asleep until after 11.

It was certainly much different than the last time he saw Aunt Kelly. The last time involved a lot of crying. It's funny how his mood changes. He can be shy or he can be very open.


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Monday, February 20, 2006

King Size Beds, The Gang, Music, and the Gated Community

Something I've been neglecting to blog. Cooper has slept in his own bed several times in the last week. Usually he'll still wind up in our bed sometime after midnight, but one night he slept in his bed the whole night. That's only happened once before, I believe. A couple of the other nights he made it until 4 or 5 in the morning, which is very good for him and me. I like the extra room.

This Wednesday our new king size bed will be delivered. Even if Cooper is in bed with us, I won't care because the king size will give me plenty of ample room. Atleast that is what I hope. I don't know if it will make any real difference because Cooper sticks to me like a magnet. I'm guessing that since Mommy absorbs heat and Daddy exerts heat he tends to stay near me to keep warm.


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Cooper's cousins, Thomas, Mason, and Logan, came over to play on Saturday for a few hours. The boys played and the boys did what boys generally do. Which is of course, make plenty of noise and knock things over.

It was fun to watch Cooper join in with the others. He had a rollicking good time. Not 11 months old yet, but he wants to play with the big boys and be a part of the gang. He doesn't know what the big boys are doing; he just knows that he wants to join them in doing what they are doing. Too cute.

One time they were playing with Dobie. Cooper just laughed when Dobie would bring the ball back. He even picked the ball up once and threw it. The ball only went a few feet, but I don't believe I had seen the young lad actually, intentionally, purposively throw the ball before.

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Look at that look on his face. I remember when he was just a lump in a chair. Now he's all boy.

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Proof for future generations that one time the Mini Cooper allowed Aunt Heather to hold him without him crying.

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My nightly confession: I'm really only blogging tonight because Grandma Stella's coming over tomorrow. Otherwise, I probably would've waited another day. I mean, I gotta blog. It's in my blood, but I've enjoyed stepping back a little bit from it and using it to spend more time playing with him. I want to catch every moment and hold it, then hopefully remember to blog about it later.

Just a little bit ago we were playing. He got this little Lion King scooter toy for Christmas from Pappy. It's got keys on it like a little 8 key piano. The notes it plays when you touch the keys make music that sound like something out of an old Dracula horror film. I showed Cooper how to get the keys to play a note. I'd press each key a few times, while he would watch. Then he'd hit the keys and play a note or two. Mostly he'd just get excited and smack the keys with his hands.

There's something going on in that brain of his. It's just starting to come out. It is an exciting time to watch. I'm glad I get to be in the studio audience for this show.

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Something else happened the other day. Cooper climbed the stairs. I had just gotten out of the shower and dressed when I came downstairs to watch him. I watched the television for a few minutes when I realized that it was quiet, too quiet. Just like it is in the movies, like just right before the serial killer jumps out of the bushes to slit the young couple's throats. So I knew something had to be wrong. I looked around and didn't find him at first, but then I saw him upstairs. Gasp!

Now we live in a gated community. There's one gate to the basement and one to the upstairs bedrooms. Living in a tri-level certainly has it's disadvantages.

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Tonight we went to a restaurant for dinner with Aunt Heather, Uncle Tom, and the boys. It was pleasant enough. Again, Cooper wants to be part of the gang. First, Thomas and Mason started hitting the table with their hands. Soon young Logan joined in, until finally Cooper joined the chorus. A sight to behold. A little annoying perhaps, but defintely interesting.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The 1st Bloggiversary: The Year In Review

Exactly one year ago today, I started what was then called "The Johnson Baby Blog".

First Post: 2/15/05
Hey, this is the first post at The Johnson Baby blog. Just a test. Testing123...Testing. Thanks for visiting. We'll have more up soon.

How eloquent! I'm sure I wrote a post here or there that was more verbose than that first one. I didn't have a concept at the time of how consuming blogging would become. The blogging has been fun and I have made a few friends in the process.

At the time we thought we were just 30 days away from Cooper's arrival, but it would be 37 days, and another two before the first picture of him would be posted on the blog. About that time I renamed the blog to it's current incarnation, "The Mini Cooper".


I like that picture, but I love this one, which is one of the best photos I will ever take.
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As anyone who visits here knows, there are plenty of other good ones from the past year.

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Here's some new ones so that Grandma Stella will get off of my back for not posting them every night. I've only posted 322 times over the last year, but you know some people will never be satisfied, unless of course you post every day.

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Things have certainly changed since this blogging venture began a year ago. We live in an entirely different state. We've got another baby on the way. Then today I come home to find a giant pit in my front yard with piles of dirt 6 feet high. They're starting to widen the road to 4 or 5 lanes.

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So here's to another year of blogging! May it be even more enjoyable than the first.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Back to Normal

The young lad seems to be back to his normal self again. He's shaken off the last bit of sickness and the bubbliness and smiles are back. I'd forgotten what he was like when he's well.

We went to Applebees with Aunt Kelly and Pappy Friday night, while Micole hosted Bunko with 11 other crazy women. Well, maybe only 9 of them were crazy, but that's another story. While at the B's, Cooper used crayon on the kid's menu for the first time. There are a few little red streaks on the lion's head. I made the marks on the hippo.

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A little video from Applebee's. He was certainly in a better mood than when we first got there. He didn't want anything to do with Pappy or Kelly. Only I was allowed to hold him. Not Pappy. Not Kelly. Only Daddy. Cooper didn't even like it when Pappy would look at him. After calming down and eating some mashed potatoes and cheese sticks, he was a little more bubbly.

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Not long after though and it was lights out for Cooper.

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Doing the same on Saturday.

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This evening he's all back to his normal self.

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Thursday, February 09, 2006

Finding A Reason To Blog

Cooper told me "Ba ba" this morning when I was leaving. He was too cute. I didn't want to leave. Then I thought, "If only I'd won the Powerball last night! I'd be able to stay home with him every day. Damn me to hell! Why can't I pick the right numbers just once? Why?!?! Why!?!? Why???" or something like that.

Tonight we saw the first sign of Cooper's spoilage. I was cleaning up the floor and picked up a toy near him. The beginnnings of a nasty fit started to percolate. When I gave him the toy back, he was suddenly the happiest baby in the world. I'm going to have to watch it. From now on I'm not giving him the toy back. Not only will I not give him his toy back when he cries like that, I'm going to give him a noogie instead. Which of course brings up the deep philosophical question, "When is the proper age to first give your kid a noogie?".

Some recent pictures collected by the paparazzi:

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Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Grandma Stella Keeps Me Motivated

I'm at home today sick, lying down on the couch, loaded up with Sudafed and thought I should take the opportunity to post something (ain't having a laptop with a Wi-fi connection just grand?). I know I've gotten a little lazy with the posts, but in my defense I have less to say and it's hard to get a good picture of Cooper anymore because he's almost always moving (or as of late sick).

Really there's only so much to blog about. I mean since the kid walked a few weeks ago there's not a whole lot of accomplishments left for him. There'll be his first birthday, potty training, his first day of school, graduating from high school, and then getting drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. That's about all that is left for him to do that is really truly blogworthy. Everything else is just filler.

I'm sure once the next baby arrives, I'll have plenty of blog posts in me, but that's still a couple of months away. Alas, I have Grandma Stella to put the fire to my behind. We can all thank her for helping to keep this blog as a going concern.

Micole just called me. She took Cooper to the doctor. He has a double ear infection. He's going to have to have tubes put in. They're giving a new antibiotic. I think he just finished his last antibiotic. His appetite has fallen off and he's had difficulty sleeping, which has caused some difficulty for me, because he tends to use my head for a pillow or a place to put his butt.

Some pictures since last we blogged -

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Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Two In A Row

Back to blogging again tonight. Didn't have to help Joe and Donna move because they were finished well ahead of time. With all of that unexpected time on my hands, I had to blog and make sure that Grandma Stella gets her daily dose of fresh Cooper photos.

Both of my redheaded boys are sick today. Cooper visited the doc today and he has another ear infection. The mobile vet came this evening and Dobie also has an ear infection. Is it possible for a kid to get an ear infection from drinking out of the dog's water bowl? Just wondering.

Somewhere in time, Cooper completely stopped sleeping in his own bed and now spends each evening in ours. I don't know how it happened. We got lazy. Now we can't get rid of him. Generally I don't mind him in our bed, but waking up with an infant's butt in my face is not my preferred method to start the morning. Getting kicked in the jaw is not pleasant, either. Last night was not good, because of the infection. He was restless and couldn't get comfy.

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Cooper's newest thing is throwing stuff into the basement over the gate. I found several dog toys, some of Cooper's toys, the Tivo remote, the DVD remote, a children's Tylenol container, and the cordless telephone at the bottom of the stairs this evening.
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I taught Cooper the O-H hand signals for O-H-I-O. Next, I plan to teach him YMCA.
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