Catch Up

I have fallen so behind on blogging! I'm going to try to catch up all in one post.

Life really hasn't been too exciting. Cold and flu season is in full force in Montana, so Cooper and I hardly ever leave the house.

Cooper turned 6 months old on January 14. He had a great checkup and was 11 lbs 6 oz and 21.85 inches. He was finally on the charts for weight. He was at 5% compared to other 29 weekers at 6 months old. His height is still below the chart... short like his mama.

On February 6, we went back to the clinic for the synagis shot and Cooper was 12 lbs 2 oz and 22.25 inches. I felt like he grew alot in length, but according to the measurement, not much. The good thing about him being so short is that he will fit in 0-3 month clothes awhile longer.

Cooper is so much fun now! He still smiles so much, and laughs, and always wants to interact with us. He pulls everything to his mouth! He enjoys sitting in his booster seat and likes playing on the ground on his back. He still dislikes laying on his belly, but will usually be content for a few minutes before wanting to flip over. I think his favorite play activity right now is when we make his legs do bicycle kicks. When I stop, he kicks his legs like he's telling me to do it again.

I love to watch him think. He stares at certain things, like a toy or his hand, and I can tell he's really studying it, trying to figure it out. He likes to touch everything too. He's started a new thing where he likes to rub my shirt, or the leather couch, and even the dogs fur once! He tried painting last week and loved it! He really studied the paint and looked at his hand while rubbing it with his fingers. It is amazing that the brain can work like that at such a young age!

He babbles often and sometimes gets very loud! It's a happy noise, I think he just likes to hear himself. If we do a fake cough, he coughs back. If we stick out our tounge, he starts moving his tounge around too. I just love to see him learn!

After all these positive updates, here is one negative. He fights sleep so bad! He can be completely content then gets very tired and screams when he realizes that he's about to fall asleep. It escalates to the point that nothing will sooth him. He eventually gets exhausted and we can get him to take a pacifier and fall asleep while we rock him. I mentioned it to the  developmental consultant at our last home visit and she said that he starts out just trying to keep himself awake, but it gets to the point that he cannot calm himself down. She recommended massaging him and it works! This evening he started to escalate so I put him on his back and rubbed his legs, he immediately stopped crying and locked eyes with me. I'm hoping this continues to work until we can get through this phase!

I have been struggling with getting motivated to lose the pregnancy weight. For the first 3 months, I had the c-section recovery and then the excuse that Cooper was still in the hospital. Well Coop has been home for 4 months and I still haven't gotten motivated to work out. I know that I am motivated best by competition, so Jake and I are doing a challenge between the two of us. Each month whoever loses the most weight gets $100 to spend on whatever we want. We each have a different advantage. I have more excess weight to lose so it should come off easier. Jake's advantage is that he goes to the gym before work each day while I will have to work out at home without and equipment. I really want to win so I'll take any tips! We start tomorrow so we will be weighing in on the 12th of each month and I would like to lose about 30 lbs. I'm hoping we continue the competition every month until I reach that goal.