Primal Scream

I've talked a few times about how Cooper is getting into everything. It has happened so fast. He has no compulsions about going anywhere. Last night his curious exploring got the better of him.

We have a really nice book case that Micole bought for $5 at an estate sale. It was the steal of the century. On the bottom there is a cabinet where we store various cooking pots and trays. Around 8 o'clock or so, Cooper was playing with one of the cabinet doors. Micole and I never thought anything of it, because there wasn't anything harmful in there.

Soon however, young Cooper had opened and closed the cabinet door with his right hand while leaving a few fingers from his left hand smashed in the hinge end. Oh, what a scream! Imagine a scream of pure terror mixed with the sound of fingernails running across a chalkboard. It was horrible. I was shaken. The sound of his ominous shriek still echoes in my bones.

It took a few seconds to gather myself, open the door, and pull his hand out. Cooper was crying as hard as he ever has. I handed him to his mother. He cried for a little while and so did I. He's doing fine now.

The scream really shook me up. There was something completely instinctual about it. It rocked me to my core. I imagine it would be the feeling a momma bear gets when she hears one of her cubs screaming and then she runs off to find and save him from whatever trouble he's gotten himself into.

I know you can't protect your children from everything. Otherwise they would be living in a bubble. There are plenty of bumps, cuts, and bruises ahead of us. I think I can deal with those, but that scream still gets to me. I guess I am a very empathic person and I'm also a little more sensitive to things since my mother died. That scream just gives me the willies thinking about it.


Some nights he won't look at me when I try to take a picture of him.

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No matter how hard I try to get his attention, he just won't pay me any.

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He just won't look at me.

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It's all about watching the puppy dog.

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Michigan Week

It's Michigan week!


Just five more days! Because I'm diehard Ohio State fan married to a Michigan girl, I live the rivalry all year long. It's time to put up or shut up. I'm sure I'll have at least one bet, but I'm looking for more.

Tubby Custard

I haven't blogged since Wednesday. It's not because Cooper has become camera shy, except for maybe this picture. I have a lot to catch up on.

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I had the pleasure of staying home Friday with Cooper.

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My life changed forever on Friday. I watched the Teletubbies for the first time with Cooper. Tubby custard! Tubby custard! There's no turning back. I'm now the father that watches kiddy shows with his kid (and I love it). It's an important milestone. We also watched some of Bob the Builder and his Baby Einstein tapes.

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We went to lunch on Friday with Pappy.

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Today we took Cooper to JCPenney's for his Xmas photos. It is always an adventure trying to get an infant to sit still/not cry/look up/smile. Usually you can get 2 out of 4, but it's darn near impossible to get all 4. I think we got a few good pictures. We'll have some Christmas cards soon. If any of my friends out there in the blogosphere want one, send me your address to mcandou2004 AT gmail dot com. I can't promise anything since supplies are limited, but there might be a few left over I can send out.

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The Mystery of the Missing Bowl

We had quite the mystery this morning. Cooper knocked over Dobie's food and water bowls. I put them back in place. As I've said before, saying "no" does not work yet. Within the minute, Cooper knocked the bowls over again, but this time I could only find one.

I looked and looked and looked some more. Under the dining table. By the garbage can. Beside the refrigerator. Under chairs. After several minutes I became extremely frustrated. I was starting to believe the bowl rolled into a wormhole and was stuck in some parallel dimension. Soon I formulated a plan, which involved calling CBS to get their CSI people on the case, but because it would've involved a large amount of cash I instead decided to wake up the wife.

She got up and looked around for a minute or two. She was initially as perplexed as I was, until she came upon the solution. It turns out the two bowls were stacked together. When Cooper knocked the bowls over the second time, the one must have flipped perfectly onto the other. Mystery solved. Case closed. Daddy stupid.

A Handful

Coop's got a cold. He's been in a good mood, but he sounds horrible and miserable when he coughs. I didn't know a baby could make sounds like those.

Dobie is just checking to make sure we brought home the right baby from the babysitter.

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I'm pretty sure we got the right one. He definitely looks like Cooper and his poop smelled as bad as Cooper's poop. Must be him.

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He got into the wrapping paper. Which came after pulling everything off the side table earlier in the evening. Cooper has gone from immobility to exploring everywhere he can in a matter of just 10 days to 2 weeks.

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The Day's Pictures

I like staying home with Cooper. It's a lot of work. He's always wanting or getting into something. It's hard to get anything else done (though I did). The day just flies by. The good thing is I get to do it all again this Friday when I'm off for Veteran's Day.

Nap time early this morning.

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They're all buddy-buddy now.

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I'm sure Cooper's thinking "when Mommy stays home at least she'll comb my hair".

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Mommy set up this photo.

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The day so far

I walked out of the den this morning to see the dog laying on his back curled up next to Cooper. It is an obvious (and good) sign that he sees Cooper as dominant. Dobie knows his place in this household.

We took a nap earlier. It took much positioning, repositioning, re-repositioning, and re-re-repositioning before Cooper was comfortable. Of course the position he finally chose involved having his head placed firmly up my armpit, with two of his fingers securely situated in my nostrils. It took so long to get him settled that I was not about to move. It's kind of like when you go to move the television antennae and you find out that your movement affects the reception. You eventually wind up in some pretzel-like position out of a game of Twister just so you can watch the show.

When we got up I let out a fairly loud fart. Cooper laughed and clapped for me, which I found a bit funny since I'm not usually accustomed to that kind of a response to my "work". Yes, I am an artist, but I don't generally require applause.

News of the day

Cooper goes about 2 weeks or so without pulling himself onto the coffee table and then suddenly he can use it to walk around.

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We won't have this table in the living room at our next house. He grabs everything on it. You take one thing away and he grabs another. You take that thing away and he grabs another. It's a repetitive process that ends when the dog wants to go outside.

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He was really going after my beer.

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His pants fell down while he was holding himself up.

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Tomorrow is Stay At Home Dad day around these parts, so I may blog some more if the kid gives me a chance.

7-2, 1st Place AFC North

I believe my most common saying right now is "No, no, no, no...no no, no!". Or at least something to that effect. Cooper is getting into everything. He wants to grab everything in reach and then put said items into his mouth. He listens to me, but he doesn't know "no", yet. Not fully anyways. He looks at me with a slight bit of puzzlement each time I say it and then he smiles. Then he proceeds to do whatever he was doing prior and we repeat the entire process, each time with another smile.

Extreme Closeup.

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Watching the Bengals game with Daddy. I think they're undefeated when he wears that outfit. He was already in bed during the Jaguars game and it was in the wash when we played the Steelers. Just what I need, another thing to be superstitious about.

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The new carseat is set up and ready. We could've done this a month ago. At least.

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A little video of Cooper laughing.

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This picture is from the other morning. Apparently Cooper crawled under the coffee table, sat up, and could not figure out how to get out. Trapped! It was absolutely horrible for the poor lad.

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Quick And To The Point

He's got the strap.

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Now he's eyeing it.

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Of course I knew it would eventually go in his mouth.

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I tried to get a decent bathtime picture, but he would not look at me. The spoons are much more interesting because they're shiny. I need to get a rhinestone cowboy outfit so I'll be sparkly and he'll maybe pay attention to me.

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His hair is getting long enough that it curls up when it gets wet.

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#2 With A Bullet

Well, I didn't get to sleep when I wanted to last night. Within mere seconds of placing my head on the pillow, Cooper's binky fell out of his mouth. Usually, anymore he'll put the bink back in on his own, but the night Daddy wants to sleep early it's a different story. When I arrived in the nursery, we played a game of put the bink in, spit it out for several minutes.

Eventually I picked him up and took him to the rocker. At one point the bink fell out again, but I absolutely refused to put it back in. Coop sat up groggily, put it in his mouth, and then fell as if he were fainting onto my chest. I heard a mild thud as his head hit below my sternum.

I know I'm #2. Mommy's #1. I think I've narrowed the gap over time. It used to be that if Mommy left for 15 minutes to go to the store, I would be treated to 14 and 1/2 minutes of baby screams. Not the case anymore, but sometimes I feel like chopped liver. For example, I picked him up a week or so ago at the baby sitter's house. He cried a little when I got there and then pretty much ignored me. A few hours later, I'm laying on the floor playing with him. Mommy walks in and suddenly he's crawling up my shoulder acting as if he's going to jump straight onto the recliner and then climb up the back of it to her. Yes, I'm definitely #2.

Mommy makes faces and it's laugh out loud funny. Daddy makes faces and I get a look like "who is this freak Mommy's hanging out with?". A lot of times I get ignored when it comes to the fun stuff.

Cooper surprised me on the way to work this morning. I said "Cooper let's clap!", and then I clapped my hands dot-dadot-dot-dot-dot. He starts clapping. "Oh you really are paying attention to me!", I think to myself. A nice moment. But I'm still #2.

It's not the television remote, but it will do.

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This position is kind of new. It's the first time I've seen him get up this far by himself. He gets frustrated because he can't stand up. It's funny to watch.

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What did I do before I had a baby and a blog?

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My favorite picture of the night.

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Fall Back

I used to like when we turned the clock back. This time the time change is much harder than ever before. The infant's internal clock is hardwired to a certain range of times for certain actions. Sleeptime was 8-9PM. Now it is 7-8PM. Almost surely he will wake between 5-6AM instead of 6-7AM. Everything is a little bit off.

I'm tired. Micole's tired. I can't believe I'm going to go to bed right after posting this. It seems so much later and it is, but at the same time of course it isn't.

Three pictures for the road.

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Good night. Sleep tight.

Trick or Treat

We sat in our driveway and handed out candy, while Cooper played in the Exersaucer.

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It wasn't very busy at all. I think I ate more candy than I handed out. I was getting sick from eating it.

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I don't know why we even buy him toys at this point. He can be easily entertained by anything - some newspaper, a straw, daddy's watch, ginsu knives, or in this case a bag of candy.

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Cooper likes looking at this little mirror on the Exersaucer. He gets right up on it for a few seconds and then he pulls his head back and then he repeats the process a dozen or so times.

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This would have been a classic picture if Mommy hadn't blinked. Oh, maybe it will be anyways.

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From the kids say the darnedest things file: One kid came up tonight and I gave him some candy. He told me that his bag was almost full, so I said "Well, then you gotta go home and empty it and then come back out and get some more." He looked at me kind of funny (a little angrily even) and said "No! I'm going to eat it!"

Well okay, you do that then. He put me in my place.