Reading

Cooper has always been fascinated with words on pages. He also loves being read to. He has this Halloween flap book that is his favorite. He is able to open every flap on his own and he already turns the pages of books, something many kids don't do until about 18 months. I sure hope he enjoys reading as he gets older because it's something I've never enjoyed much. I have always struggled with reading comprehension and I only like realistic fiction (for the most part). I hope Cooper finds a love for all books. I hope with my background as a teacher I will better be able to help him do well with reading comprehension. He also likes to take all of the books out of his book holder. He does it daily. Usually multiple times a day.

My mom made me a Hallmark Recordable book for my birthday when she lived in Tennessee. Now, it's Cooper's favorite. He's kind of taken it over. He loves to open it and hear Nana's voice. He gets frustrated if he can't open the book. He ends up opening it over and over again.

Some fun updates:

• Cooper started standing up from sitting, without grabbing onto anything, yesterday.
• He has started opening doors and drawers on his own. He gets upset when I close them.
• He makes all kinds of noises.
• He's started squinting when you squint at him.
• He's struggling with eating our food so we've gone back to stage 3 baby food at the direction of an occupational therapist and developmentalist.
• He loves chicken noodle soup, peas, and goldfish crackers. Whenever we eat, he wants some.
• Still not taking a sippy cup very well. We're still working on it!

Bath Time!

This kid LOVES being in the water. When he hears the water in the tub come on, he crawls as fast as he can to the tub and stands by it watching the water fill up. He gets so excited! He's even taken his own diaper off once. He didn't want to get out of the tub the other night. He ended up staying in for 45 minutes! Needless to say, he had cute little pruned feet.

Pruned feet!

He loves to chew on q-tips so we let him while we try to get him dressed in an attempt to keep him still.

Mommy taught him how to put bubbles on his face. My brother and I used to do this with the bubbles from dish water. He thought it was funny.

Loving his bath time!

It's a New Year!

The past year has been the best of our lives. I am super excited for a new year. There is something rejuvenating about it. I'm excited to watch Cooper grow and for all the fun things we will do together this year. We're hoping Chris will get to go full time and I'll get to be a stay-at-home mom. There is a chance we could get pregnant with our next child, but we aren't thinking about that until the end of the year. There are so many fun things to look forward to and enjoy this year. It's going to be hard to top this past year. Here's to 2013!

Cooper & The Vacuum

I've heard many kids being scared of the vacuum, but Cooper loves it. He always watches it and if he hears it running in a different room, he comes to it. He loves to watch it and loves to play with it. He's a very curious kid. We sat him on the vacuum and he just let us clean the floor with him on it. I love these memories. My Grandpa Call used to do this with the grandkids and I know it's something he would do with Cooper now if we lived closer.

Riding the vacuum while I cleaned up his goldfish mess at Grandma Frederiksen's house.

Caught him playing with the vacuum. Such a sweet face.

Lots of snow!!!

We finally are getting a good snow storm! We went out to make a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and not sticky enough. We decided to go sledding instead! I love being a mom!!!!!

A Wonderful Christmas

Christmas this year was the best thus far. It was an exhausting, but wonderful day. We really enjoyed spending time with our families and giving them gifts. It is so much more fun when you have a child! We both get so excited for him. We started the day as our little family of three. Cooper even helped tear the paper of his own presents.

We then went to Great-Grandma/Grandpa Smith's house and ate grandpa's traditional Christmas breakfast pronounced "barfrushka."

Then, we went to Nana's and ate a delicious dinner and Facetimed with Great-Grandma/Grandpa Call while opening presents.

We ended the day at Grandma & Grandpa Frederiksen's. We chatted and played the Wii. Then, we opened gifts. Aunt Katie & Uncle Scott got Cooper THE cutest gift! Little stuffed animals that "talk." They are Yoda and Chubaka from Star Wars. He really likes Yoda. He carried a conversation on with him. Hilarious!

We feel so blessed to be sounded by family we love and appreciate on such a special day. The laughter was needed and company was great. It couldn't have been a better Christmas.

Christmas Advent Calendar

Christmas went by so fast last year because we were so busy running to and from work, school, and the hospital that we wanted to do something that allowed us to enjoy the season more this year. I decided to make an advent calendar. A few of the things we did: Watched It's a Wonderful Life and ate chocolate chip cookies, slept by the Christmas tree, watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, made salt dough Christmas ornaments, drove around to see the Christmas lights, pictures with Santa, attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas Concert with Alfie Boe (Amazing!), wrapped presents, ate some candy, went to parties, and went to the library with intentions to read Christmas stories, but Cooper just wanted to play with the Legos! We had a lot of fun!

Slept by the Christmas tree and watched Arthur's Christmas.

Smith Family Christmas Party in Lehi

Drive around and see Christmas lights.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at our Annual Christmas Eve party hosted by Aunt Johnnie. We had a Cafe Rio style dinner and shared our favorite Christmas memories. Things I shared: wrapping my mom's socks when we were little as her Christmas gift and she didn't know where they were and driving through this park decked out in Christmas lights and scenes in St. Albans, WV. It was a great evening.

That night we went to the NICU to drop off outfits that ourselves, as well as family members and friends, donated for us to give to the families in the NICU during Christmas. We felt like Santa and it was so great to see many of the nurses that helped take care of Cooper. We're so grateful for them. It will be something we do each year. We donated 21 outfits.

Merry Christmas!

Bathtime!

Cooper loves bathtime. He hears the water and crawls right to the tub. He makes a grunting sound (you would think he was pooping) trying to get in the tub. He gets so excited!

Can you see his four teeth?

Zonked!

Chris told me to look at the text he sent my mom this morning. It's embarassing to even post this photo, but it's a funny memory. After feeding Cooper, we both fell asleep. We were very tired and it was before noon!

Santa & Cooper

Cooper had his first picture with Santa today! He was so good. He just sat down on his lap, relaxed, and let us take a few pictures. Thanks to Nana for wanting to take him to have them done. She loves him so much.

We also went down a slide for the first time. Cooper didn't seem to think anything of it. He was too interested in the candy cane Santa gave him.

Naughty or Nice

Cooper discovered the presents we wrapped last night and put under the tree, along with the ribbons I left out. As you can see, he also decided to undecorate the tree by pulling off the berries and garland. He makes me smile. Instead of being a mom that gets upset, I'm a mom that has to take pictures. The things he does just makes me smile. I love seeing his curiosity in full force.

Called to Serve

Chris' sister, Rachel, received her mission call! She's been called to serve in the Hawaii, Honolulu mission! I'm so excited for her! She's going to make an amazing missionary! She reports to the Missionary Training Center on April 10th!

Christmas Concert

Chris' parents invited us to go with them to the Annual Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas Concert. It was the best one we've ever been to. They had the "Candy Bomber" there and shared his story. They parachuted candy from the ceilings. The music was heavenly! The singer, Alfie Boe, has a beautiful voice. My favorite song was "Bring Him Home." The organ solo was amazing, too! There was no denying the Spirit there.

A Family Tradition

When I was little all the grandkids made sugar cookies with my grandma. We decided to start that tradition this year now that we have a kid and do it with my mom, Cooper's grandma. We had a lot of fun. Cooper even made his own cookie and got to eat it (without icing). He was so hyper afterwards we decided no more cookies! It's amazing how much more fun life is with kids.

Sledding!

I've been waiting for the snow so we could take Cooper out in his new sled. We didn't get much over night, but it was enough to try it out! He loved it. Wasn't sure what to think of the feeling of the cold snow, but loved being pulled around. He is so curious.

Frederiksen Family Photo

I love being part of another great family. I love Chris' family. I love having sisters. I love having a dad that's a real dad to us. He's what I always expected a dad to be. His whole family is great and I love being a part of it. One of my favorite things is getting together and playing games with them. We have a lot of fun.