Swimming!

On May 30th, Daddy and I took your tub outside and put some water in it and put on your swimming trunks! You LOVED it! We have a great video of you kicking and splashing in the water. This is the only picture we got:

Sports Fan Already

I ran upstairs to get your bottle and I came back to this:

Daddy was teaching you all about soccer and you were intently watching. You love watching it with us! Go REAL Salt Lake!

UPDATED: The day following this picture, we were at Grandma and Grandpa Frederiksen's house. You were on Grandpa's lap and he had soccer on. Anytime the game was on, you stared at it. When the commentator or a commercial came on, you just looked away. As soon as the game came back on, you were watching again. You're gonna be a soccer player!

Our Little Turtle

I've been reminiscing over the experience we had to get you here. It brings tears to my eyes and smiles to my face. It's amazing how much our life has changed since you've arrived, but in such a great way. There is so much joy in our life.

I thought I'd share the first picture daddy and I ever saw of you. We thought you looked like a little turtle. Everyone said this was the best picture they saw of a baby for the first time.

My New Favorite

I'm a mom. You're my boy. It's the best.

Natural Medicine

You're natural medicine, Babe! I can have a horrible day and as soon as I see your face and hold you, it's like nothing happened. You make everything better.

Something we've noticed about you lately: you love to rub your feet together. You get that from me!

Solid Foods!

You tried rice cereal for the first time today. At first, you kept pushing it out with your tongue and it was ALL over your face! Then, you started to get the hang of it and would suck it off the spoon and we could hear you swallowing. By the end, it was all over your face, but you finished it and then drank your bottle. You're growing up so fast! I can't believe you're already eating solid foods!

You also LOVE this ball! You can throw it (though not intentionally) and love to suck on it.

Your hair is also growing! It's so cute!

6 Month Stats

You're getting so big! You weight 12 pounds 11.5 ounces. Your length is 24.21 inches long (which is in the 1% of a normal 6 month old) and your head circumference is 16.2 inches (which is in the 3% of a normal 6 month old). It's crazy that you're even on the charts of a 6 month old since you were 3 months preemie! The doctor is very pleased! You are starting to teeth on your bottom left as we had expected. RSV season appears to be over so we can have people around and take you shopping with us and stuff. I'm super excited! We can also start you on solid foods! We're going to try cereal and then after 3-5 days we will introduce you to a food! Yum! It's going to be a whole new experience for the both of us! We also hope to bless you next month on Fast Sunday. Keep up the good work, Buddy! We love you!

• Still rolling over belly to back. 
• Starting to pull yourself forward to sit up.
• Love playing with toys and putting them in your mouth.
• Drooling tons!
• Sleeping through the night most nights.

You're a VERY happy boy! 

6 Months Old

My Little Coops, you're six months old! I can't believe how fast you've grown! You've been such a joy to raise. It's been tiring at times and not always easy, but always worth it. Even at three in the morning, I can't help but smile because you are so excited to see me. You have your six month appointment tomorrow. I can only imagine how much you way and how proud the doctor is going to be! You're doing amazing!

You had a physical therapist come to visit you today. She feels you don't need physical therapy. She is shocked that you had a stage 4 brain bleed. She said you don't show any signs of that affecting you thus far, which is amazing. She thinks you're doing great! Hearing lady came as well and says you're responding well so you're good to go! We'll see how your appointment goes tomorrow.

Happy 6 month birthday! You're HALF A YEAR old!!!! Holy cow!!!

Mom, Mommy, Mother

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!! Today was my very first Mother's Day. It was wonderful. We started the day with delicious crepes... Daddy's specialty. You had a card for me and a flower to wear to church. (I laughed at Daddy because he wrote "Rachelle" on the envelope and I told him you would have wrote Mommy. We had a little laugh.) Then, we went to church with Grandma Frederiksen. You behaved pretty well. You got tired and got a little cranky, but you fell asleep and were fine. Great Aunt Johnnie got to hold you. She said it made her Mother's Day. It was your first Sunday. It couldn't have been a better day to do it! I loved having you there and us being together. Then, we went and saw Grandma Smith and spent some time with her. Then, we went back to Grandma Frederiksen's and had a yummy dinner and you got to meet more family.

This is what I came into the kitchen to this morning... made me laugh. So cute!

How was my Mother's Day? Fantastic. I absolutely love being a mom. I love being a mom to a boy. I was so scared when I first found out. I felt so inadequate. Once you arrived, I knew it would be great and it has been. You're a great baby. I love it every time you smile. I love knowing that you love me and know me as your mother. There isn't a calling more fulfilling than that of being a mother. I feel so blessed.

Great Aunt & Uncle

You got to meet your Great Aunt T (Tracy Gates) and her son, Ronald Held, and Great Uncle Terry Call today. Aunt T was VERY excited to meet you. Had been asking for months. She was there the night you were born, too.

Baby Animal Days

I've been looking forward to taking you to baby animal days for two weeks! You had a lot of fun. The bunnies even got a smile out of you! One little girl wanted to look at you, the "real baby" instead of the baby animals. It was cute. We enjoyed getting to be out with you. It was a fun first family outing.

We spotted these three crazy animals...

You LOVED the bunnies.

 We got to hold a bunny. You kept grabbing his fur and we would have to pry your hand off.

Good morning!

This is the cute face we wake up to each morning! You definitely didn't get your morning attitude from me!

A Needed Update

Cooper, we've been so busy having so much fun that we haven't updated in a while! You're doing FANTASTIC.

• You're laughing and cooing and talking more and more!
• You're rolling from your belly to your back.
• You met your Great Uncle Van for the first time on Cinco de Mayo.
• Daddy and I took you to Lowe's one day and you were so good! You just looked around and sucked on your binky.
• You got your first cold four days ago. You're handling it well. Not too cranky.
• You are officially weened to formula. The transition was smoother than we thought it would be.
• You're in 3 month outfits. They are starting to get a little small, but 3-6 month clothes are too big.
• Daddy hit me with his elbow in his sleep the other night and I said "Ouch" and he said "Sorry, Mom." It made me laugh out loud. He called me mom. I realized my name is no longer "Hun" to your dad, it's "Mom." I love it!
• You love going on walks with Mommy and Daddy. You just fall asleep.
• You're playing with and holding toys more.
• You're drooling a ton! We think you might be starting to teeth.
• Today, you stared at Daisy, Grandma Smith's dog, and just smiled, and giggled, and talked to her. We aren't sure why you loved her so much, but you did! It was so funny watching you watch her!

We love you so much! We will never be able to tell you that enough. We will never be able to express to you how much joy and excitement you bring to our life. 

Daddy's Graduation Day

Today is graduation day for Daddy! He's worked so hard to get here! He graduates with a Bachelors Degree in Integrated Studies. He focused on Business Administration, Marketing, and Sports Management. His paper will even get published and put into the library at Weber State University! You should be so proud of Daddy! For the first two years of our marriage, he was working full time in Salt Lake City, riding the FrontRunner to get there, interning at REAL Salt Lake ALL day on game days, and going to school full time. He's definitely earned his degree. We hope you always know the value of education and find something you love to major it. Daddy loves sports so this is perfect for him!

Short Changed

The past few days have been emotionally difficult for me on the inside. I haven't shared my feelings with anyone until tonight as your dad held me in his arms and I cried. I think I've been trying to push them away for a few days, but I couldn't any more. My whole life I have known I was sent here to be a mom. My whole life I looked forward to the day I would be pregnant. Lately, I've been thinking of my pregnancy and the whole experience we went through and I just feel short changed. Three months of something I looked forward to my whole life was taken from me. So many people say I am lucky I didn't have to deal with the issues of the last trimester, but I wanted that experience. I am sad that I didn't get to give birth to you vaginally. I'm sad that I missed out on 3 whole months of getting to experience you growing inside of me. I'm sad you wouldn't breast feed when you came home. I feel like 3 months of bonding was taken from us. I'm sad we didn't get to have newborn pictures taken. I am sad I didn't get to hold you on my chest when you were born or even remember you being born. Some days, it breaks my heart. However, I know that there is a loving Heavenly Father who for some reason felt you needed to be here early. I know he felt that I needed to miss the last three months of our pregnancy. I may never know why, but what I do know is that he knows me and he loves me, and us, and that he always takes care of us and knows what is best for us. I can't say that knowing this prevents me from wishing I still had those last three months, but it does help me to feel his love and know that everything really is okay.

Middle Ear Evaluation

Basics: Fluid still behind ear. Tubes in his ears in 3 months or so if not cleared. No bacteria so that's good! We thought Cooper was probably the doctor's youngest patient. No chairs to hold this little guy! He had to sit on Mommy's lap!

Missing Daddy

You're such a smart kid. Lately you've started to pick up when daddy is supposed to be home. If he isn't home when he is supposed to be, you get extremely cranky. When daddy comes home, you're just fine. It's cute that you recognize he isn't home and want him, but you sure can scream! Silly boy! We love you!

You rolled over!

Scream! You rolled over last night all by yourself! You rolled from your belly to your back! I put you down for tummy time again tonight and you did it again! I yelled for dad and it happened so fast that he missed it! I was so excited the first time I kind of screamed and cheered and you looked at me like I was crazy!!!!

A nurse visited you today and says you're doing great! We're supposed to keep working on tummy time and work on you reaching for toys and following moving things. Doctor appointment tomorrow!

First Family Home Evening

Tonight for family home evening, we took a walk. It was the first time you were in your stroller. You loved it. You slept the whole time. We enjoyed the walk through our new neighborhood and are looking forward to many more walks! I got to go to our new ward on Sunday and loved it! It's going to be a great place to grow up!

Oxygen Update: You're off your oxygen most of the day right now. You're sleeping more which has me a little worried. You seem to sleep all the time. We visit the doctor on Friday for your 5 month appointment and see what she thinks then.

My New Favorite Picture

I love you more than anything. I love being your mom. It's the greatest blessing and calling in the world. I hope we're always close and you always know that I am here for you.