It's Almost Christmas

Again, the last several weeks have been very busy for us. Cooper continues to work on cutting teeth. He has also gotten up on his hands and knees multiple times but ends up sprawled out on the floor. He's becoming much happier and smiles all the time. Josie is also working on cutting in her 2 year molars. She has been keeping herself very busy taking care of her babies. She spends most of her time nursing and rocking her baby.

Josie just loved spending Saturday morning outside in th fresh snow.

She had a visitor the other night. Santa came to do a preliminary check on what she wanted for Christmas. She was scared of him and clung to daddy but had no problem telling Santa that she wanted a Baby Stroller. Cooper also did not like Santa and screamed while being held by him.

Here are some recent pics.

Catching up

The last several weeks have been crazy. Both kids were not feeling well last week, but were both recovered for a fun and eventful weekend. Friday night, Josie spent a couple of hours with Grandma LeJeune while Luke, Cooper and I went to replace Luke's cell phone. While Josie was with Grandma they were talking about what Josie was asking Santa for for Christmas. She told Grandma that she wanted a "stroller for baby." So, on Saturday morning the Stoddard legion was hosting Breakfast with Santa and we took Josie and Cooper there. Cooper sat on Santa's lap but Josie would only go up to Santa with mommy. Here are the pictures:

On Sunday, Kendra and I baked our Christmas cookies all day. Josie loved having her cousins come over to play with and help bake.

The last several weeks Josie has been all about feeding her babies. She always tells me that she is nursing her babies, which means holding her sippy cup up to them. Cooper has loved sitting on the floor with all of his toys around him. He is even managing to pull and push himself around the floor while in the sitting position.

Another tooth and 6 months

Cooper cut another tooth through on Sunday, so he's up to 2 teeth. He had a very rough weekend but we were up early and not much routine due to deer hunting. Cooper also hit his 6 month milestone on Sunday. He had his 6 month checkup and here are his stats:

Weight - 18lbs 13 oz - 73rd percentile

height - 26 inches - 16th percentile

Josie had another big oops last week. She fell off of her chair in a meltdown and bit her lip. She had a fat lip for several days. Luckily she didn't have to go to the doctor.

Luke shot a 10 pointer on Sunday morning. Other than that his dad was the only person to shoot anything, and that was an 11 pointer but 3 tines were broken off. Hopefully next weekend brings better luck to the hunters!!

A tooth!!!

Well, yesterday Cooper cut through his first tooth. I new it was coming as he has been a drool monster lately. I had to resort to putting a bib on him all day as otherwise he would be soaking wet within just a few hours from all the drool. He cut through his lower left tooth sometime in the afternoon yesterday. Cooper is still rolling all over the place and pushing himself backwards but no crawling yet.

The other day Cooper was rolling around on the floor when he started to cry. When I finally had a chance to go get him, I realized that he was no longer crying but laughing. Josie had brought her chair over by him and was reading him a book. It was one of those moments that I realized that Josie is really growing up. She knows how to entertain her little brother, what a big girl she is getting to be.

Josie is still working on the potty training but it is slow going as we haven't been home much. She did however spend the day at Grandma and Grandpa LeJeune's last Friday and she wore underwear almost all day until she had an accident during nap and then also pooped. When she does go in her diaper, she tells me right away.

What's new!!

Well, I can't believe it but Cooper is making tracks around the house. He rolls all over the place and pushes himself backwards. He spins in a lot of circles attempting to get places. He does eventually make it to where he wants to go but sometimes it may take quite awhile. I think that if we had carpet or a big area rug he would be up on his knees crawling already or if not, soon.

To my dismay, I am slowly discovering that Cooper does not like/need as much sleep as Josie. This will mean that we need to finish off the third bedroom sooner rather than later so that Cooper can start napping in his room. Currently he is only sleeping downstairs in the swing but I do need to try and get him to sleeping in his crib. At what age is a good time to start making him cry himself to sleep? Josie was such a different baby and loved her sleep where Cooper could care less about sleep.

Josie is always doing very well with the potty training. She even went all day yesterday without going in her diaper although we were on the go quite a bit of the day. She just told me whenever she needed to go!!! Her only problem right now is #2. She has gone a couple of times on the potty but now seems to be scared of going on the potty. Any suggestions?? She is also starting to interact even more with Cooper now that he likes being down on the floor.

Halloween 2011

Well this past weekend was a very busy few days. Friday night my parents came down and we carved pumpkins. Josie had a blast drawing on the pumpkins with marker but did not want to stick her hand in them. In all, we carved out 4 pumpkins. Saturday, I got to get away from the kids for a few hours which turned into overnight as the kids stayed at my parents house.

On Monday, we took Josie to Luke's parents house and did some trick or treating around their neighborhood and then we also went to my Aunt Sue's neighborhood. Josie absolutely loved trick or treating. She would knock on the door and say trick or treat, Happy Halloween and then say Thank you. She did so good, especially considering we did't even think she would go. Josie was a monkey, although everyone thought she was a mouse, and Cooper was a cow.

Pictures

Not much new is going on in the Hanson household lately. Our corn was combined last week so that's great to have completed. Cooper still has not rolled from his belly to his back for me, but I suspect it might be hard to do on wood floors. Here is a hodgepodge of pictures from the last month.

Cooper ready for the cold weather with a hat that is too small.

Josie enjoying a giant pickle at the Vernon County Fair. She loved all of the animals and the Ferris Wheel, although she wouldn't go for a ride.

Josie walking in the corn field with daddy!

Josie and daddy at the Retreats Worlds Fair. Josie loved getting all the candy.

Josie playing in the Baking Soda she dumped all over the floor when mommy was busy in the other room. Atleast she was having fun:)

Cooper smiling for the camera for once!

Josie and daddy playing Wii. Can you tell who is the one that is always taking the pictures?

Cooper jumping and having fun in his jumperoo!

More big smiles from Cooper!

Rolling...all the way over and Potty!!!

Well, yesterday and today Josie and Cooper got to spend some time over at our neighbor Jack and Janet's house. Luke cut hay this last weekend and it was my job to rake it up, as long as I had a babysitter. Luckily Jack and Janet love the kids and couldn't wait to spend some alone time with them. Well, I went to pick up the kids yesterday and was told that Cooper was rolling all over the place at their house. Then when I picked them up today I heard the same thing. Unfortunately I have not seen this happen myself yet. I guess he was tired of mommy seeing all of his firsts!!

Josie also decided that she wanted to pee on the potty on Tuesday. After she got up from nap she insisted on having her diaper off. So I took her diaper off and just a few minutes later she was trying to put a clean diaper back on. I went over and put the diaper on Josie and as soon as it was on she started crying like crazy. I asked her what was wrong and she told me "diaper off...pee on potty." So, I told her to take the diaper off and to sit down on the potty. Needless to say she took the diaper off and sat on the potty and a few seconds later she was standing next to the potty and pointing to it saying "pee. pee." and when I went over to look there was actually pee in it. As she is only just over 2 years old I'm not pushing the potty to hard, but I do hope that she keeps at the potty and will hopefully soon be potty trained!!!

Cooper is 4 months old!!!

Cooper turned 4 months old last Tuesday!!! Unfortunately, I have had lots going on this last week. Cooper has been rolling over from back to belly for almost a month. He can sit supported for short periods of time. He loves to find his toes. He is just about outgrowing his 3-6 month clothes and will be getting into the 6-9 month clothes within the next several weeks. He has also started eating spoonfed cereal and baby food. So far, he seems to like everything that he has tried. He has not been sleeping to well that last week or so, so mommy is very tired! Here are his stats:

Weight - 16 pounds 6 ounces - 80th percentile

Height - 24 inches - 40th percentile

Head Circumference - 42.5 cm

Josie also met with the pediatric orthopedic surgeon last week because her leg is slightly bent and she toes in. The doctor confirmed that it was normal and she should outrgow it. If by 1st grade she is still toeing, we are to bring her back in for another consult.

Josie is 2!!!

I still can't believe that my baby girl is 2 already!!! Her birthday was last Monday 8/29. On the day of her birthday we spent the evening together where she got presents from mommy and daddy and Cooper. She also got to have a cake and some ice cream. We celebrated this last Saturday with a big party with our extended families. Josie got lots of wonderful presents and of course had more cake and ice cream. Since her birthday we catch her several times a day singing Happy Birthday to You!!! It is so cute!

She has been talking our ears off the last several months. Ever since her tubes were put in she has been learning so many more words and she is even starting to put phrases together.

She loves to hold her baby brother and has even started to try and feed him a bottle on occasion.

This last weekend she decided that she wanted to sleep in Cooper's crib and she figured out how to crawl in and out of his crib. Of course, this is only if the crib side is down. So now Luke and I have to remember to keep the crib side up.

The big roll!!!

Cooper officially rolled over last night. He was on his playmat and he rolled from his back to his belly. He has also rolled over 2 times already today. Yeah!!!

Nothin much...

Not much has changed here in the Hanson household in the last several weeks. Last week would have been my 1st week back to work, if I had gone back. Boy, am I sure glad that we chose for me to stay home. Our garden has been fruitful this summer and we have been out picking most days. Josie loved to pick the peas. Unfortunately, she didn't know which ones to pick so a lot of the times she would just pick the pods with no peas in them yet. She also loved to eat the peas!!

Cooper has started to giggle when being played with and talked to. He rolled from his back to his belly last week while laying on the couch. I should also state the the couch cushion does not lay perfectly flat so he did have some help from gravity. He is also sleeping pretty consistently 9-10 hours at night. I sure am spoiled by kids that like to sleep. He does not sleep much during the day though.

Josie loves to play by her little brother. Enjoy the pictures of the kids!

Baptism

This last Sunday was Cooper's baptism. We chose to have the baptism after mass with just our families. Brett and Kendra are Cooper's godparents and we can't thank them enough. Here are some of the pictures from the baptism.Enjoy!

A new chapter!

Well, this last week Luke and I came to the decision that I would leave my job at Organic Valley to stay at home with the kids. I loved my job and the people that I worked with but staying home with our kids was something we both really wanted. I wish the best to everyone that I worked with and I will truly miss them. It was a very hard decision to make as it's hard to find a job that you really like and enjoy and enjoy the people that you work with.50th percentile)

On another note, Cooper had his 2 month well baby check last week and here are the stats:

Weight - 12 lbs 12 oz(50th percentile)

Height - 21.6 in(3rd percentile)

Amazingly he is still quite a bit smaller than Josie was at this same age. Hopefully he catches up!!

Josie is still loving her baby brother and wants to hold him on a daily basis. She is talking up a storm and is learning new words steadily. Cooper loves to lay on his book and look around, although when sleeping he won't lay flat. He sleeps in his bouncy seat at night and in the swing during the day. He is sleeping 7-9 hours at a time at night. He is also eating like crazy during the day. He is quite happy in the mornings but by the evening he becomes quite unhappy and cries a lot.

8 Weeks Old!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Cooper is already 8 weeks old and set for his 2 month check up next week. He has started smiling like crazy and is finding his voice. Every once in a while he will coo. The last several nights he has slept up to 10 hours straight. I can't believe how nice it is to get some good sleep. I'm sure it won't last, but here's to hoping!! Cooper still does not sleep on his back so he spends his time sleeping in the swing during the day and his bouncy seat at night. He has started to like laying on his back, if he is awake.

Update on Cooper's cardiologist appointment, is that everything is fine and it is just a newborn murmur. We are hoping that it will go away on it's own, but come to find out they truly do run in the family. Luke had a murmur when he was a baby as well as Josie. I found out this last Friday that I have a heart murmur. The doctor had never mentioned hearing it on me before, but because of the amount of water that I am currently drinking to keep up with nursing Cooper, she was able to hear it. She said the more water a person drinks the more pronounced a heart murmur can be. Luckily, I just need to be aware that I have a murmur and no additional tests are required.
Josie is still doing really well with her brother. She is starting to love to hold him. Almost every day, she tells me she do it, which means she wants to hold him. One must stand close by when she is holding him as when she decides she is done, she just pushes him aside and goes about her business. We are working on her telling us when she wants us to pick him up. Tomorrow will mark 1 week or her not having her nuk(pacifier) except at naptime and bedtime. She had a hard time the first several days but it's getting a lot easier. Hopefully she will continue to get better about asking for it.

We also finally got air conditioning in the house last week, so we are finally able to stay home anytime it gets too warm. Yeah!!!!!!!

Updates

Well, the last 4 weeks have just flown by. Cooper had his 11 day check up and he weighed in at 8 lbs 10 ounces which meant he gained just over an ounce a day from leaving the hospital. He has also had his 1 month check up and here are the stats.

Weight - 10 lbs 5 ounces - 50th percentile

Height - 20.9 inches - 10th percentile

Head - 14.5 inches - 10th percentile

The doctor did hear a heart murmur so we are going to a pediatric cardiologist on Monday to just double check this it is just a newborn murmur. Which if it's just a newborn murmur he should out grow it.

Everything else is going well. Josie is still adjusting to having a baby in the house. She loves to give him hugs, kisses and hold him. She also likes to help burp him after being fed.

Josie posing for the camera. She is all about having her picture taken if I taking a picture of Cooper.

Josie was playing with her sunglasses and decided to put them on Cooper. I just keeping picturing that commercial on tv where the little girl is putting makeup on her little brother. Just wait a few years and it'll happen!!

Josie needing to get in on the picture taking!

Josie got invited over to the neighbors house to go swimming and ever since then she has loved playing in her little kiddy pool. She used a couple of buckets and a cup and will just play for hours.

It's not very often I'm able to get a picture of Cooper with his eyes open and him not be crying. So who does he look like?