This is how I found Cooper when I went to wake him up for therapy today. He opened his eyes when I turned the light on. He was all cuddled up with his quilt covering his body, his blankie over his head, and his bottle in his hand. It was so cute I had to take a picture. A minute later he started crying hysterically because he didn't want to wake up. Oh well, sometimes you just have to hold onto these sweet moments....otherwise you'd go nuts! Cooper actually almost always sleeps with a blanket over his head, he gets it from his father (who can't sleep without a pillow completely covering his head)!

Yay! I clapped today! I know, I should have been clapping for quite a while now, but I just wasn't okay? But now I am so....yay!! Tonight I was running around and getting all worked up and all of the sudden I stopped what I was doing and put my hands together. I even made a sound similar to "yay". For the rest of the night I couldn't stop clapping because I was happy, and it really seemed to make Mommy happy. At one point I tried to clap but I was holding my bottle in one hand. Mommy said "Why don't you put down your bottle so you can really clap?" So I did! It was like I totally understood what she was saying, at least it seemed that way.

Mommy considers this a pretty major milestone...just wait until she sees what is next!

My Great Uncle Randy came over for dinner tonight. I really enjoyed playing with him, he really is "great"! He tickled me and made me laugh, and he read me the same book over and over even though I kept turning the pages too fast. It was really fun. Usually I am real shy around people I don't know, but I was't shy with Uncle Randy at all!

This morning we went to get our pictures taken for the Christmas card. It didn't go too well. I refused to smile, at all. After a while they just gave up and took my picture anyway. So I apologize in advance for my serious face on the card, you will just have to use your imagination and pretend you can see my beautiful smile.

Today my teacher Miss Dorothy came over. She seems like a nice enough lady, but I am just terrified of her! She took out stuff to play with and I really wanted to, but I was to afraid to even touch it. I did have about five minutes where I pulled it together enough to put coins in the piggy bank and show her how I can stack my cups in the right order. I also made a little eye contact which she seemed really happy about. Mommy says she hopes I get used to this whole therapy stuff soon because it kills her to watch me cry so much.

Tonight Mommy pulled out a Christmas gift from last year. The Leapfrog Little Leaps video game. Quinn wasn't that interested (he was happy just to watch) but I grabbed the controller and knew exactly what to do. Mommy says I take after Daddy, I am just a natural born gamer!

I also did something really weird tonight. Quinn was sitting in front of the TV and I walked up to him and started ruffling his hair, and not in a gentle way. I went nuts running both my hands through it and then I took my hands out of his hair and completely tackled him! I was laughing the whole time and so was Quinn, but Mommy made me stop. She said "no" but I don't think she meant it cause she was also laughing. I kept going back and doing it over again, it was just so fun! It was weird that I did that cause I don't usually touch Quinn at all. It must be my boy instincts starting to kick in...you can't fight nature!

I had a pretty cranky day today. I don't know why, sometimes it just happens. Maybe I missed Quinn, I was kinda getting used to having him around in the morning.

I did do something really good today. I always like to play with the stacking cups in the living room. I throw them, hit them together, put things in them...but I never stack them. Today all of the sudden I decided to stack them! I stacked them 3 cups high and then I started experimenting with adding other things (like my bottle) to the stack. It was really fun. Mommy said to make sure I do that when my teacher comes over on Wednesday. We will see....

I got my haircut for the first time ever today! Mommy was so sure I was going to cry and scream but I didn't. The lady sat me down and gave me the best thing ever, a lollipop! I sat there and ate my lollipop and watched T.V. and let them cut my hair. I didn't even move! Mommy was pretty surprised when Grandma Jan told her how good I was. That's me, full of surprises!

Today was Grandma Jan and Grandpa Don day! Can you believe that I actually ate the tofu-chicken fingers they gave me? I don't even eat real chicken fingers!!!

We went to the mall and played in the play area. It was fun but it took me a long time to relax enough to really enjoy it. I have got to get over that, I am missing out on some pretty serious "fun time". We went to this place called Orange Julius and had the yummiest drink ever! Yum, yum, yum!

I got to stay up a little later tonight cause Daddy was in my room taking down my changing table. I am not a baby anymore, next thing you know my crib will be going in the attic too!

We should have no problems potty training Cooper, he already has his stance down :)

What?

We went to a party today and I actually had a really good time! I was a little jealous of all the attention that Quinn got from everybody, but I am starting to get used to that. I wasn't clingy with Mommy at all, so that was good. I enjoyed playing with the other kids and there were some pretty cool toys there. Mommy and me decorated a bag for trick or treating, but she was so busy trying to watch Quinn, socialize, and spell my name...that she screwed up. When we got home she realized she had made a bag for Copper!! Whoops! She tore the bottom of one of the p's and now it is all fixed. Good one, Mom.

All in all I had a great time. I drank two juice boxes and ate a cookie and some glue. Yummo.

Suri Cruise:
Cooper's dream girl, she is beautiful and loaded, and she has access to unlimited bottles...even if she is 18 months old. Who knew we had so much in common with Tom and Katie, they can't say no to the "Baba" either!

This morning me and Mommy went to a playdate/craftdate. We were making pumpkin pails for kids in the hospital. They were pretty nice, but I think those kids are gonna be dissapointed when there is no candy in them!

I was being really shy as usual. I did have a good time playing with Emine, she is the coolest girl I know. Plus, Ms. Ginger had yummy cookies...I really enjoyed that part.

"Will Sign for Yogurt"
Today G.G. Berta was feeding me yogurt and it was so yummy that I finally decided to use one of those signs Mommy tried to teach me. I signed "more" like a maniac everytime I wanted another spoonful. This whole "communication" thing could actually be useful, hmmmm......

Eat, eat, eat! That is what I said to Mommy today! Yup, I SAID it! My first word.

Mommy was talking to Quinn and asking him if he wanted to eat. Well, I don't know if Quinn wanted to eat....but I sure did! So I walked right up to Mommy and said "eat". She said "WHAT!" and I said "Eat, eat, eat!" What's the big deal?

We shall see if I choose to say it tommorow or the next day, but for today...I said my first word. Four times!

Today we went exploring in the backyard. Cooper really enjoyed it!

Playing with the leaves while we waited for Grandma Berta to join us.

A boy and his dog. Cooper followed Portia all over the back yard.

There is so much exploring to do in our new back yard!

Good news, I spent two whole hours with Cousin Zoe today and she didn't beat me up once! It was a pretty fun visit except I was being shy. We played in the sand and swung on the swing, which I totally love. Swinging relaxes me, Mommy should get herself a swing...she could use some relaxing.

Tonight we went to Red Robin for dinner and I had the best time! I played with my balloon and kept smacking Mommy in the face with it. I ate a ton of fries and drank a bunch of Sprite. I especially enjoyed reading the drink menu, it was very colorful. I talked the whole time cause I was so excited to be out to dinner with Mommy and Daddy. I didn't fuss once!

My eye looks much better today! That Benedryl really makes me sleepy, it's super yummy though!

Today Mommy put my yogurt in a bowl and handed me a spoon, that was interesting. I got a few bites in my mouth, but I sure made a mess. Then she gave me one of those new Lunchables Jrs. It was a plastic container with three sections. There were crackers, cheese, and turkey (all little of course). At first I ate almost all the crackers. Then it became a sorting excercise. Then to Mommy's amazement I actually ate most of the cheese and turkey! Now we just have to convince Peapod to carry them. It was a good lunch.

Hey, you should see the other guy!

No, he didn't get in a fight with Quinn. We think it must be a bug bite or something. Hopefully Benedryl will do the trick.

I ate a half of a grilled cheese sandwich today! I never do that! Quinn didn't want it so I wolfed it down. Weird. We will see if I will eat one tommorow. I am funny like that.

Yesterday Grandma Donna, Grandpop Bill, Uncle Ian, and Aunt Sarah came over. I really loved all the attention. Uncle Ian held me a bunch and Grandpop Bill tickled me!

I can't wait until Quinn is feeling better, I want him to go back to school!! I miss my Mommy time. I cry everytime I see her cuddling with Quinn (which is a lot when he is sick).

I had quite a morning today! Me and Mommy took Grandma Berta to Target to get her medicine and it was pretty fun. I liked sitting in the cart and I was better behaved than usual. While Mommy was looking at sweatshirts for me and Quinn (it is getting cold outside), I picked out my Halloween costume. I pulled it right off the rack, but Mommy says I am too big for it, so I guess I will just be whatever. I just hope I get to eat candy this year!

After shopping we went to the playground behind the Target. It is the one with the bouncy rubber ground and I really don't like walking on that stuff. I did better than last time at least. I was really shy and hung back from the other kids, but I enjoyed watching them. Mommy says next time she is going to bring Quinn with us so he can show me how a playground is done!

Tonight Grandma Donna came over and it was really nice seeing her. She is really good at reading me books and she even gave me a bath!! I love baths....now.

It has been a while since Mommy has posted an update, so here is what is new with me!

* I love to run in circles through the living room, dining room, and kitchen! I do it all day long and Mommy says I am gonna run track when I get older.

* My new favorite thing is to insist that people read books to me. I go up to Mommy, grab her hand, make sure it is open, and then put my book in it. She gets the message. My absolute favorite books are my french books that Uncle Scott bought me in Paris. Of course, Mommy doesn't actually "read" those to me.

* I signed "more" for the first time the other night, I really wanted another graham cracker.

That is all Mommy can think of for now, but she is gonna try and update more often!

I went to the state fair for the first time ever today! I hope it isn't my last time cause I really liked it! Mommy tried to show me all the animals, but I was much more interested in watching all the people and rides. I loved my balloon so much, but it came off the string and floated away :( A nice girl sitting next to me gave me her's though, wasn't that nice? I didn't take my eye off that balloon the rest of the night, I was so worried it would float away too.

We got ice cream and Mommy shared her Strawberry Cheesecake flavor with me. Daddy tried to give me some of his Mint Chip, but it wasn't nearly as good as Mommy's so I didn't ask for anymore of his. Mommy's was sooooo good!

I had a really fun night and was a good boy the whole time! What a great start to the weekend!

I had the funnest morning! We took Great Grandma Berta to the eye doctor and it was great. Everyone there made such a big deal about how cute I am. I got to run all over the place and get into all sorts of trouble. Plus, this eye doctor has a dog in his office! When the lady who works there came in and brought that little dog with her I was sooooo excited. The doggie looked a lot like Portia and gave me kisses just like she does. I spent the rest of the time we were there trying to find the doggie again. The lady kept letting me go to the back and say hi to the doggie, but Mommy was having a hard time watching both me and Quinn. She got a bunch of those "You have your hands full" comments this morning :)

My house was taken over by kids this morning! Mommy had invited a bunch of kids over to play with me and Quinn. At first I wasn't sure I was happy about that, but then I decided it was fun. Even though me and my brother fight over every single toy, I had no problem letting other kids play with my toys. I even let Sam wear my firefighter hat! I figured it was okay cause he is my buddy :)

Having all those kids over was fun, but the best part was that Mommy put out goldfish crackers for us to eat, yum! She also made little lemon cupcakes that I couldn't get enough of. I am such a piggie sometimes.

The only low point was when Emine got too close to me I started crying. I thought she was gonna hit me just like Cousin Zoe! Mommy told everyone that I was scared of girls, how embarrasing!!

I had a really fun weekend away! I got to spend a lot of alone time with Mommy and Daddy and that was great. I loved the hotel room, it was so fun to run around in circles in a new place. I really liked petting the cats and dogs at the Cracker Barrel. Everyone thought I was so cute, one lady came up and commented on my red hair. She asked if the mailman was my real daddy...what??? How rude! Daddy said, nope our mailman doesn't have red hair either. I get it from my Great Grandma Hattie, duh.....

It was nice to sleep in my own crib again, I really don't like that portable crib. I was so happy to see Great Grandma Berta that I kept going over to her and hugging her. I missed her while we were away. We should have brought her with us, then we would have known if all those people speaking Spanish at the wedding were talking about us!

A good Jewish boy :) He does love his hats.

Cousin Zoe. Cooper steered clear of her this time, but she beat up on Quinn a little.

Yummy bread.

Biting off more than he could chew (hey it is hard with only 6 teeth!)

Cooper and Grandma Jan, worn out by the end of the wedding.

This is Cooper's favorite hat, he wears it all day long.

Cooper loves hats, all hats!

Two cute guys in backwards caps :)

No, Cooper wasn't actually singing, he thinks his microphone is an ice cream cone!

I love Orange Soda! No, I mean it....I really love Orange Soda!!! I drank a ton of it at the party we went to on Saturday, it was so good. I got so hyped from the sugar that I stayed up extra late even though we were in the car and I had only the shortest of naps. I also really love Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, but Mommy says I am out of luck on that one cause we live in Maryland. But Miss Connie promised to bring us some next time she visits! Yummo!

Today we went out with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Don. It was really fun. I like to wear Grandpa's hat and I love it that he still carries me around the block, even though I can walk on my own.

I had a rough day. We went to the MVA, which I didn't mind at all...but it sucked to have to listed to Quinn cry the whole time. I somehow cut my lip while we were there and that was very upsetting, but I got over it quickly.

The whole rest of the day I was really cranky cause of my teeth. I also was up a lot last night crying because of them too. Thank God for bubble gum flavored children's Motrin!

Tonight while we were playing in the playroom I spit up pretty bad. It was gross but luckily I was holding my hat at the time and most of it went in there. Mommy was pretty happy about that and she washed it out right away and gave it back. I love my hat so much, it is never far from me.

I have been seriously cranky all day. It probably has something to do with all these sharp little teeth that are trying to poke through my gums :(

Even though I was cranky Mommy still decided to give me a bath. I *really* needed one! The first thing I did was grab the bar of soap and shove it in my mouth. Yuck...not gonna do that again! I did, however, spend the remainder of my bath having a great time chasing that slippery little bar of soap all around the tub. It was one of the funnest baths I have ever had. Mommy said I was silly, but at least she would be sure that my hands got clean that way. Now I have soap under my fingernails instead of dirt! :)

We had a minor crisis today...we ran out of formula! Daddy panicked but Mommy said, "just put some milk in his bottle". Well, it wasn't formula, but it was okay and I got used to it. We got more formula tonight and I just ate extra regular food to make up for it during the day. I am lucky Mommy even still gives me formula...Dr. Crawford said not to! But Mommy takes pity on me because I love my bottle so much and because I am still in major teething mode.

Great Grandma Berta came over this morning and we hung out. She was lots of fun as usual. She thinks everything I do is hilarious, even my poop cracks her up! She was trying to change my diaper and it was so gross she kept making funny sounds...I thought that was pretty darn funny. Almost as funny as when I pull my hat down over my eyes so I can't see and then run around the playroom. Life here at the Banta house is just full of laughs!

Grandma Donna and Granpop Bill came over tonight! I haven't seen Grandpop Bill in so long he had never even seen me walk. Well I showed him big time. Now that I am getting so good at it I walk all the time. All day long I walk back and forth across the playroom. I am even getting really good at stepping over all the toys, which Mommy says is an important skill to have if I am going to live in her house!

I love ice cream cones! Really, eating an ice cream cone is even better than eating it off a spoon!

I also love Grandma Berta! I had the best time playing with her this morning. Thanks for coming over to watch us while Mommy was a sleepy-head :)

We skipped Gymboree today. Mommy is gonna see if we can put a hold on our account so maybe when I get a little older I will enjoy it more. We'll see.

Instead I had a great time running around my playroom talking my head off. It was really nice to have the place all to myself again after all that company. I have a new mission....I want to climb on all the furniture. Unfortunately, I am really not good at climbing. I am a really good walker, but I can't climb up on anything by myself and it is really making me mad! When I can't get where I want, guess what I do? Yup, I cry and fuss. It isn't easy being me!

I had an interesting morning. First when I woke up and saw my cousin Emilia I got really excited. Then I saw Cousin Aaron and got even more excited. When Cousin Sam walked into the room I almost lost it! I love it when my cousins come to visit!!!

We all went to Walmart to buy Grandma Berta a new microwave, that was kinda boring. Then we went across the street to the Asian supermarket. I never go to the supermarket with Mommy, so when I saw all that food I got a little overwhelmed. I realized I was hungry! Mommy made me a bottle real quick and I was happy to sit in the cart and drink it while we explored the store. There were all kinds of neat fruits and vegetables. Lots of dead fish, and even some that were still alive! All the big kids got to pick out Asian candy and Emilia shared hers with me! It was so yummy!!! Mommy said that when I get bigger she will take me and Quinn there and we can pick out our own weird candy! Yay!

This morning me, Mommy, and Grandma Berta went to the playground at the senior center. It was a cool playground, but I wasn't old enough for it. After we played a while we went into the center to check it out. All the old ladies were all over me, saying what a cute little redheaded boy I was. I saw that one coming! Mommy said I was definately the youngest person there, and she was probably the next youngest, lol! Mommy is so funny sometimes :)

After that we went to brunch at Bob Evans. I wasn't into it. I fussed most of the time. The only thing that made me happy was drinking apple juice through my silly straw. I also managed to get my hands on a packet of butter and before Mommy realized I bit it open! Butter is yummy :)

Yesterday was Gymboree day, is 24 weeks up yet? I really do not enjoy the Gymboree! I think my problem is that I am just not a follower. I prefer to go my own way....like the opposite direction from Gymboree. Oh well.

Today Daddy came home!!! Yay! I got so excited when I saw him. Even though it was almost my bedtime I started running around in circles because I didn't know what else to do. I kept falling because I was so tired, but I didn't want to go to bed. I just wanted to stay with my Daddy!

I discovered something today......I really love ketchup! I can't believe I have been eating my french fries plain my entire life (all 13 months of it). We went out to lunch today and Mommy was sitting right next to me. She handed me a french fry and then took one for herself, but she dipped hers into this red stuff before she ate it. It looked interesting, so the next time she handed me a fry, I gave it back to her. She was confused so I looked right at the ketchup and pushed her hand towards it. She finally figured it out and dipped it for me. It was so yummy!!! I made sure she dipped all my fries for the rest of the meal, and even tried to get her to dip my grilled cheese (she refused). I growing up so fast! Pretty soon I will be dipping all by myself!!!

Cooper and his cousins went to the tire park today, it was so much fun!

Cooper playing with the steering wheel at the park. He could barely reach, but that didn't stop him!

Cousin Emilia...she is such a great little mommy!

Cousin Sam....he runs so fast!!!

Cousin Aaron...Cooper just loves his red hat!

Cooper and Emilia climbing up the slide.

"Look Mom, I climbed all the way to the top!"