Cute little Cooper at 5 weeks old. 

A Day of Firsts

Tonight was our first dinner together as a family. Since Coop's been home, all we've really been able to do is eat on the run. Typically, Abbie and I would sit on the couch and have dinner while watching TV, but with Cooper around, it's been "eat when you can, what you can, and hope the baby doesn't want any".

Back in late November, after Thanksgiving, we bought a turkey knowing that it would feed us for at least a week. When you have a baby, you want to have prepared foods in the freezer (we got a deep freeze from my friends, Alex and Rebecca Stickler, when they moved and it's been a Godsend). The frozen dinners makes it soooo easy to have food ready to go. So, we cooked the turkey today. It was the first turkey for either of us since we've always gone to family's houses for Thanksgiving. It turned out GREAT! Juicy. Succulent. Tasty. okay, I'm making myself sick (ate too much tonight).

We get together the salads, and put together our plates. The table's set. We have our wine glasses filled to the top with our Orangina (no alcohol yet...and I'm not missing it one bit). Cooper's asleep in his swing. Just as Abbie puts her butt in the seat...WAAAAAAHHHHH!

So, I grab Coop and walk him a bit to see if he's just tired, and he's not...he's hungry. I give him to Abbie at the table. She plops him on her funbag and he proceeds to have his gourmet dinner. So I sit down, and we have dinner. A nice, candlelit dinner with our turkey, stuffing, salad, Orangina, and the sweet sucking sounds of Cooper. What a night for firsts!

Cooper's, um, "Opa" (German for grandpa). Ben, Abbie's second dad, stopped by for a visit today and got to see this precious little one. Ben was in from Europe for a little while and just had to see the boy. Thanks for coming by, Opa!

Six Week Growth Spurt

My little lieutenant, Cooper, seems to be going through his six week growth spurt. He's eating every hour. He's outgrown several of his outfits. He doesn't fit well into the Huggies #1's we have (although the Pampers are working out okay still...they're #1-2 size). Those damned Huggies #1's are supposed to be up to 14 lbs. What the hell?

Oh yeah, he had his one month appt on Thursday the 2nd. He's at 11 pounds, and his length is now 24.75 inches. We chose to not get him any vaccinations yet. We want to ensure that his immune system strengthens a bit more. Besides, what the hell does he need a Hepatitis B vaccination for? He's not an IV drug user. Neither of us has Hep B. Oh, yes, I forgot...the drug companies recommend it so you'll have to use their product. Riiiight.

Drugstore Cowboy Retraction

I just want to say to everyone, that no one was harmed in the making of the "I'm a Drugstore Cowboy" spot, nor were any animals mistreated. In addition, I'm making it known that my wife's version of the events of 3 Feb are different than mine........mine sounds better though. :-)

I'm A Drugstore Cowboy!

Sooo, we always worry about the health and safety of our little one(s), particularly when they're only five weeks along (man, where have the days gone...seems like yesterday we were just bringing him home from the hospital), but sometimes, its us that need to be tended to. Here's my story. Wanna hear it? Here it go!

I usually take Cooper first at night to change him before giving him to Abbie to feed. Nothing unusual about that last night except that when I awoke at 01:30AM to change him, I was itching like a champ. I handed him off to Abbie after changing his diaper, and did my usual routine...hit the bathroom then drink some water before lying down...only this time, I never got to lie down. My back and right leg started itching even worse, so I went into the bathroom to turn on the light and check it out. WHOA, NELLY! I looked like the elephant man's body attached to my head. I had hives all over my right side. Itching like crazy. Abbie poked her head in, and she about dropped the boy when she saw it. She was like, "YOU BETTER GET OVER TO CVS RIGHT NOW AND GET SOME BENADRYL, THEN GO FIRST THING IN THE MORNING TO URGENT CARE!" Um, riiiight. I was going to mosey over back to bed.

But, I didn't. Instead, I started getting annoyed by the itching. So I got myself dressed, and headed to CVS...how I looked be damned. THEN, I had to figure out what Benadryl to get. There's Benadryl for colds, there's Benadryl for allergies, there's Benadryl for colds AND allergies. Finally, I went to the Pharmacist to talk with him about it, and he said, use the Benadryl, don't use the hydrocortisone. Um, okay you goon, I was just at the Benadryl aisle, which do I get? Well, he wasn't much help, so I returned to the Benadryl aisle (nooo, it ain't aisle five...that's Sudafed). And EUREKA, you know what I found? Children's Benadryl in liquid form, with cherry flavoring. Might be good to have on hand for Cooper. And it works for adults too. So I grabbed it along with grape flavored Benadryl chewables and headed home.

Here's my tip for anyone that needs to use Benadryl...don't take two doses earlier than the directions say (which, incidentally, is 4-6 hours). I ended up taking one dose at 2AM, and then another at 5AM...and let me tell you, there wasn't any way I was getting up to do anything, even change a diaper. So poor Abbie had to do it all for the last two awakenings with him. Even right now as I type this, I'm still feeling a bit whoozy.

But hey! I purchased my first children's medication last night...that's a milestone worth reporting, isn't it? :-)

Cooper's first bath. He liked the warm water, but when he got a little bit cold, he didn't like it so much. Nor did he like the scrubbing Mom and Dad were doing to slough off his dry skin. But, like my little Cooper Trooper, he did well.

Who's that little bear on Mommy's shoulder?

It's Cooper after his bath staying warm!