We're Back!

JUMP!

After a short hiatus, the picture is back.

Thanks again to Andrea Weiss for the awesome photography you have been viewing the past month.

Boxing Day

One more holiday picture for Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your families
a very Merry Christmas!

From The Andersons
Todd, Gina, Madison and Cooper Claus

The Gawrysiak Fam

The Andersons, Gawrysiaks and Coffeys

Personalized Video Message from Santa

I heard about this website from a friend of mine on Facebook. It is really cute! You type some information about your child (or whomever) on the website and then it... errr... Santa generates a personal message including the info. I bet kids would really get a kick out of this!

Portable North Pole

Check it out!
Watch Cooper's message from Santa and then click on the HOME button to make your own.
One more day to talk to Santa before the big day!

The Anderson Fam

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

... so we are just chillin' at home.

An Extravaganza of Naked

I bet you were a little curious when you read the title.
It's just an extravaganza of a naked baby... sorry to disappoint.

Fire Meats Desire

We were having a good chuckle over this at work today when there was a story about it on Headline News. Burger King has now come out with a fragrance for men called Flame by BK (You have GOT TO click on the link, by the way... hilarious website). This is for real! Yes... you can smell like flame-broiled goodness for only $3.99 a bottle. Actually, BK claims it doesn't smell like burgers and fries... "it's the smell of seduction with just a hint of meat." So, my question is, "Why did they feel they needed to tap into the fragrance market?" Their ad wizards seriously sat around a table pondering what new merchandise could spark business and this is what they came up with?! Perhaps, Burger King should stick to what it knows. I must say that I am slightly curious about what it smells like. You can't even get it at Burger King though. You have to get in online. I think they missed the mark on that one... they should offer it at their stores if they really want to sell it. The whole thing is CRAZY!

Big Trouble Comes in a Small Package

This kid has plenty of toys, but apparently they aren't nearly as fun as every other "non-toy" in our house. Scurrying around after Cooper and veering him away from certain things in our house has become a full-time job for me (while he is awake). Well, I'll veer him away and send him back to his toys once I've snapped a picture of course. Here is my big trouble, with bigger and better trouble yet to come... I am sure.

Taking all of the diapers and throwing them around
the living room is great fun.

Climbing up on the baskets is exciting.

Oooh, Madison's water dish is WAY fun to splash in.

The dishwasher is full of colorful things with food residue and Madison has always liked that too.

Haven't Had Enough?

Do you think there are enough pictures taken of this kid? Jeez, his life is like a paparazzi or something. I am going to have to make sure I keep up with the picture taking once we have our second child (I don't have news or anything... I'm just thinking ahead). I have a few more pictures scheduled for posting up until Christmas. Then I promise to take a break from the "Picture of the Day"... for awhile at least.

Ready for Eats

My Love Affair with Oxi Clean

You don't know stains until you have a baby. I never had to work on stains like I do now. I have to say that I get a little obsessive about it too. Maybe I'll be singing a different tune once I've been doing this mothering thing a little longer.

Anyway, I just wanted to plug my favorite stain fighter... Oxi Clean! I get the Oxi Clean Baby variation, which is non-irritating and better for sensitive skin. If you haven't used Oxi Clean before, it is awesome! It makes whites brighter as a laundry booster and gets set in stains out. The Baby variety does not have any scents either. I've missed a stain before, put it through the wash and then soaked it in Oxi Clean afterwards and it still came out. I noticed there is an Oxi Clean Carpet Cleaner, which I should look into getting too. I'm not sure if they sell Oxi Clean everywhere. I get mine at Target. Anyway... it's a mom's dream!

Turkey Legs

Turkey Legs on Thanksgiving...

Cooper was interested, but his cousin, Brian... not so much.

Wearing My Babe

9 Month Munchkin

Cooper had his 9 month check-up today. Here are his current stats:
Length: 28 in. (34%)
Weight: 15 lbs. 11 oz. (0%)
Head Circumference: 43.4 cm. (5%)
As you can see, we still have quite a little peanut on our hands. He's still making growth and the doctor sees no cause for concern. He's just a tiny man. Last time I weighed him (with clothes on, mind you), he was 17 lbs. So, either his clothes weighed a lot or he lost some weight with his new found mobility. Either could be true.

That brings me to his new milestones:

• Crawling (cruising all over like a pro)
• Pulling himself up to a standing position while holding onto objects, such as furniture
• Saying, "Mamama" and "Dadadada"
• Clapping
• Sitting up completely unsupported
  
• Feeding himself small pieces of food with a raking motion (no pincer grasp yet)
• Beginning separation anxiety at nighttime (not really a milestone, but worth noting)

Because of the last item, nighttime has been horrible for the last 2 weeks. Cooper has been up every 2 hours, standing up in his crib and crying "Mamamama!" I'm at my wits end. I know I jump to his beckon call too quickly too, but I just hate hearing the crying. This has to stop though, so we are going to try the "cry it out" method tonight. We did that a couple months ago when he had sleep issues and after a couple days, he was sleeping through the night. Now, he's back to his old ways, so I guess we'll try it again.

Cooper still does not have any teeth. However, our doctor thought that they would be coming very soon when she looked and felt around inside of his mouth. I hope so, because I have seriously thought he's been teething for 5 months... all of the symptoms.

Overall, it seems that he is doing well and besides his bad sleeping habits... we're doing great!

The Smile I Love

Cooper has his 9 month check up today.  I can't believe he's already 9 1/2 months old!  My cousin, Corey, took this picture on the 4th of July when Cooper was 4 months old.  His face looks so "little" to me in this picture.  I will update after Cooper's check-up to let you know the 9 month stats.

Sad Wittle Face

Meeting Santa

I had to work on Saturday, which was the day that Santa Claus was going to be at The Packers Pro Shop... Santa-Packers style! Todd, my mom and dad came to the store when I got off work to take Cooper to see Santa for the first time.
Cooper was so funny about the whole experience. When we set him down on Santa's lap, he just stared at him. He wasn't so sure about this guy. We were all trying to get Coop to smile for the picture, but no dice. He kept looking up at Santa trying to figure this out and then the lip started to quiver and soon the crying started. What is it about Santa that freaks kids out? It must be the scary long, white beard and hair.

So, then we tried a family picture to see if Cooper would feel more comfortable and hopefully smile. However, that really didn't work either. Oh well... there is always next year.

Diaper Changes are FUN!

Profile

No Car Seat!

Getting strapped into the car seat is not a fun task.

Gilligan

My Uncle Earl defaced Cooper's bucket hat by writing "Gilligan" on it with permanent marker at our 4th of July party. Luckily, I bought it in the Dollar Section at Target... so he was forgiven. Cooper does look a little "Gilligan" in this picture.

Cooper is 62

I think you might all be ready for a non-picture post. So, here it goes....
I was reading Baby Center's TOP baby names for 2008. That always interests me and I've had several posts about baby names. Emma takes the cake for the #1 girl name this year and Aiden is #1 for boys. I was actually amazed to find that Cooper is the 62nd most popular boy's name. I didn't even think it would make the top 100. I never heard of another Cooper when we came up with the name, but now people will tell me of other Coopers they know. So, I suppose they are out there. This is what is really strange though... I really liked the name Maya for a girl and had wanted that for a girl's name. Guess what? Maya (same spelling) is the 62nd most popular girl's name. Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think? Or is that not irony? I always get confused. In any case, it appears that I am a fan of names that are 62nd most popular.

He's Done

Getting Tired

Newlyweds

Come In Close

Curious Eyes

Naked

More Family Photographs

I am currently in the process of making a collage calendar for my mom's side of the family including pictures of everyone from the year's events. My cousin, Corey, is a good photographer. He does photography as part of his job and had a website with over 900 pictures from family events from this year for me to go through for the calendar. It has been fun and overwhelming going through all of the pictures and deciding which ones to include in the calendar. There were a lot of cute pictures of Cooper and our family, so I thought I'd start posting some of them on the blog. You know... just in case you hadn't seen quite enough pictures of Cooper. Yeah right! So, here is the beginning of some of Corey's pictures. Kelly took some of the pictures with Corey's camera on Thanksgiving... so some of the credit can go to her too.

Smiley guy

Mom, Grandma and Cooper on Thanksgiving

No more kisses, Aunt Dory!

Stay tuned for more of Corey's pictures. I might post more after I've run out of Andrea's pictures.

What's So Funny?

Cooper the Crawler

Cooper turned 9 months old today! In a couple weeks we'll have his 9 month check-up, in which I will certainly post updates on his progress. I can't believe how quickly the time went by. I know that sounds cliche and something everyone says, but it's true. A BIG milestone was made this week... crawling!

Cooper has been moving around for a while now, but not on all fours. This week he figured out that he could move around much easier by getting his knees into action. Life is a little different for me now. Of course this happened the day after we put up our Christmas tree. So, now I spend my days blockading areas and redirecting him from things I don't want him to get into. Ahhh.... I'm proud of him though. For some reason his favorite place to crawl is in this little space between the chair and table. I'm constantly pulling him out of there, besides this one time that I grabbed the camera instead.

Sweet Child of Mine

The Gang

My Little Teddy Bear

Todd and I found this little winter suit on sale at Carter's. I think Cooper looks so cute every time I put it on him... a little teddy bear.

Three's Company

Happiness