Happy Birthday, Sweet Cooper!!

My baby boy is ONE YEAR OLD!! Can you believe it? How does a year fly by so fast??

Cooper is doing so well. Today he had his one year check. He weighed in at 22 pounds, and he is 30 inches long. (A little over 50% for height, and 50% for weight) He is doing everything developmentally that he should, and is very healthy! He had two shots today-HIB (Which we only got today because they were out of it when he was suppose to get it) and polio. Oh, and he also had to get a finger prick-which totally didn't phase him! The shots were a different story-it was very sad :(

We had such a fun party for him on Sunday at "Family Dinner" at my parents house. We ordered pizza (his favorite!...well, besides blueberries...), opened a few presents, and of course had CAKE! He was so funny with his little cake. I had put an icing border along the top of his cake in a light blue icing-he picked off each little "star" shape and ate them. It was so funny! So basically, he just ate the icing.

In celebration of Cooper turning a year old, here are 12 fun facts about Cooper!

1. He is a happy, easy goin' guy! He is more than content to just play and explore on his own. I can go about my business around the house, and he is happy just to play around me.

2. He has a very adventurous spirit! He loves to explore and CLIMB! Let me tell you, this boy LOVES to climb on anything and everything. It doesn't matter if it's an inch off the ground, he wants to climb on it because it is off the ground. It also doesn't matter if it is the end tables in my family room. Yes, you read that right. He pushes his little walking toy over to the end table, and the couches, and climbs up. Little stinker!! He gives Miss Donna (the child care worker) at the gym a run for her money-being in her words "The youngest baby to climb up the slide."

3. Cooper's idea of the perfect diet is cheese, fruit and crackers. If I would let him, that is all he would eat. Cooper is a somewhat picky eater. He will not eat meat-unless it is McDonald's chicken nuggets-nice, huh? He also won't eat bread, but he will eat crackers. Also, veggies-forget it. He was such a good eater with baby food veggies-but he doesn't want to be fed anymore by spoon. So, we tried little diced up pieces of veggies. No go. So, alas, I keep offering them at lunch and dinner, hoping one day soon he will eat them. He does eat freeze dried corn, but I seriously doubt that has much in the nutrient department. I am excited though that he likes black beans, and he ate an entire black bea burger last night at dinner!

4. He is veeeeeeeery close to walking! He is cruising all over the place, and will even stand up on his own right in the middle of the room. No go on the walking yet though.

5. He has 3 teeth on the top, and 2 teeth on the bottom.

6. He is all done nursing, and was no problem to wean! He also has been sleeping soooo well since being weaned! yes!

7. He says several words now: Dada, Mama, Ella, hi, all-done, bye-bye, down, cheese

8. He is a pro stair climber! He also has started to figure out how to get back down. He even knows how to get off a bed all by himself.

9. He loves playing "chase" with his sister. Basically, she runs around our kitchen island and hides on one side, waiting for him to crawl around and find her, then she runs off again. Both of them giggling the whole time. It is so cute. I can hardly wait until he can run after her :)

10. He loves being outside and exploring. And by exploring, I mean picking up leaves and other nasty things and putting them in his mouth. I keep trying to tell him that if he would learn to walk, he would have way more fun outside! :)

11. He loves to follow Sammy, my parents dog, around their house and "pant" like Sammy does. It is so funny!

12. This sweet little spirit melts my heart every day, and we are so blessed to have him in our lives! We love you, baby boy!!

Here's a few pictures from the party day! The awesome picture above my sister Kelly took! Isn't she an awesome photographer? Check out her blog for more pictures!