Cooper Time

    Feeding the chickens some scraps

     It's D-Day, due date that is, and no baby on the scene yet. I keep joking that I hope he's not waiting for us to give him a name before he makes his appearance. That could mean trouble!
     As I've been preparing for baby number two, my biggest anxiety has been for Cooper. I've been worrying about how he'll adjust and feeling a little guilty for kicking him out of the baby position. It's such a weird thing, preparing to welcome another person that you'll love as much as the one that you already have...I have to admit it's hard for me to believe that I could love another little boy as much as I love Cooper, but I haven't met a momma yet who has told me that it isn't true.
     So as we're waiting on the little guy to arrive, I've been trying to soak up some Cooper time and enjoy the last few days with an only child. He's such a 'hoot' that it's easy to enjoy hanging out with him. This post is just going to be some little Cooper tidbits and stories.
     He's recently gotten interested in trying to get the horses to follow him; mainly Dandy. He'll pet him on he nose, walk a little ways, stop, look back and...cluck, cluck. It's so cute the way he clucks to the horse and then moves on. Some days he's more successful at getting the horse to follow than others, but he's working on it. He also likes to lead the horses around when we have them out grazing in the yard. He has to pull pretty hard, but usually gets them to follow. Pretty soon he'll be riding them around the yard instead of leading them.

     Now that it's gardening season, I have to watch Cooper the Terror around the plants. He is all boy..as many have told me..and so he likes to grab stems and tromp on rows. He hasn't permanently hurt any plants yet, but there have been lots of "No Cooper!"s and threats of spankings. We'll see how it goes when we have our full garden planted and lots of seedlings coming up!

"Cooper!!!"

     The other day when I was coming back from a walk, Cooper spotted me from inside the yard and came running to the fence. Then he started climbing the fence. He climbed high enough that he could put his arms over the top of the fence...uh oh! And I thought we were safe letting him play in the yard with the gates locked. If he starts climbing the fences, we are in trouble.
     Daddy's boy...Mama's boy. I think Cooper knows that something is about to change because he's been a little clingier lately. He wants to cuddle and be loved on more...which I'm not complaining about. Now it seems that he's getting clingy with Daddy. He loves working with Dalton and riding around in the truck with him. The other day Dalton took him to feed, while I got ready at the house. Dalton said that when he turned on the road to head back to the house Cooper started complaining and didn't want to come back. This is good news for me because when baby comes he'll hopefully have more opportunities to go with Daddy! Dalton has started to let Cooper pull the feed button in the truck, so that cubes dump into the troughs. He really likes this and immediately reaches for the button when he sees a cow. He's been showing some self-restraint though and only pulling it when told.

Riding with Daddy on the lawnmower...it was so cute!

     Speaking of Cooper complaining, he's really demanding lately. He will point and shake his arm vigorously when he wants us to go somewhere or sit with him. He does this in the car too when he wants to go a certain way. He's still not using many words, but he will say Papa and Baby now, when prompted. He's trying to say more, but we have to really make him focus to get him to make the sounds. He does know some of his letters though, which is exciting. He knows what sounds they make and can point to the letters that I ask him to. Pretty soon he'll be singing his ABC's!
     Papa John and Popsey...this is because of you. Cooper has started to pretend like he's spitting a lot. The weird part is that he does it when he has a cup (not a sippy cup), and sometimes takes a sip and then spits it back into the cup. We couldn't figure out where he was getting this until I remembered that he's been around both Popsey and Papa John...who often spit into cups. So I'm thinking he's learned from then. What a copycat!
     Sleeping update: he's been sleeping in his big bed on his own. Most of the nights he still wakes up at least once, but we're able to go in and put him back to sleep easily. He did sleep two full nights in a row recently though, so there is hope! We moved the crib into the baby's room and adjusted it to the infant height too. Well, the other day I heard Cooper calling me, went to find him and found him in the crib! He' d climbed in there on his own. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him so that he doesn't climb in with little brother!
     The other day I was outside working in the yard and looked around but didn't see Cooper anywhere. I called his name, heard some rattling, and tada......he popped out! I think he learned this trick from his pal Little Girl.

 Where's Cooper?

 "Mama!?"

     Speaking of Little Girl, the other day she disappeared for a whole day and night. I was so worried! I kept thinking Cooper is about to have his whole world turned upside down and now his best friend is missing...oh no! Thanks to God, she showed back up the next morning. She must have been doing a night hunt.
     I could go on and on about all of Cooper's stories, quirks and things, but I'd better wrap it up. It probably seems like I've gone on and on anyway! I'm really excited for him to be a big brother. I think he'll be a great one...once he gets used to sharing the attention.
     Hopefully the next post will be about the new baby. I'm scheduled to induce next Tuesday if he doesn't come by then, so we're praying that he comes on his own before then.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13