Poor Cooper. It’s been almost a year since I wrote out an update on what he’s been up to and how he’s changing. Blame it on a move and a very unmotivated Mommy. There are still lots of pictures and my memory isn’t horrible, so I will try my best and summarize the big stuff over the past year.
Sleeping: He definitely has Shaw in his blood. He loves it. He even asks to go “nigh nigh” after lunch (nap time) and after dinner for bed. He’s been pretty consistent at sleeping about 12-14 hours at night and taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. He can manage if he doesn’t get his nap, but he definitely does best when he gets his sleep. He rarely takes a nap at school and when he does it’s for 30 minutes to an hour typically. He uses his pacy only when he’s sleeping and I’m guessing that’s part of why he doesn’t nap as well at school, since he doesn’t have the pacy at school.
We transitioned him from the crib to the toddler bed in July and he did great! Our bedtime routine changed, but otherwise his sleeping/staying in the bed has not changed. We went on vacation and when we got home, Mimi and Papaw had moved out his crib (for Lilly) and put the toddler bed (that we got for free from a family that had outgrown it) in his room along with Sesame Street cling ons on the wall, which he thought was so cool!
Bedtime routine changed from bath, jammies, books, and bottle of milk on the couch to bath, jammies, hugs all around, songs by Mom, and kisses in bed. He now always tries for “more songs” when I tell him one more and always turns his head for cheek, ear, nose, pacy, and chin kisses before we say “nigh nigh Mommy” and “ob u” (love you). He sleeps with his pacy, his blue and white polka dot blanket, and his babies (Domo, Wally, Elmo, Leo, and Bobo).
Getting rid of the bottle was my main goal and we tried sippy cups of milk, but he always took us back to the kitchen and pointed to the cabinet with bottles, so transitioning to no milk at all was easier and made more sense because we don’t want him drinking right before bed anyway.
Eating: The boy does like to eat... just on his own terms. He has transitioned from milk/baby food to occasionally drinking milk with breakfast/supper, sippy cups of mostly water and a little bit of juice or lemonade and whatever we’re eating. He was just fine eating baby food and I finally just made the decision that we were not doing it any more. He could eat table food when he wanted and we were using baby food because it was easier. I got over that! He was not going to be 2 and still eating baby food!
Meal time was the source of a couple of horrible meltdowns, like 30-45 minutes worth of screaming even after dinner, but those are extremely rare right now.
His favorite foods right now are chick-fil-a nuggets (he eats 6 of those and some fruit easily), any kind of fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, oatmeal, yogurt, refried beans, corn, mac & cheese, hot dogs, and anything sweet (cake, cookies, ice cream, m&ms, rice crispy treats, fruit snacks).
He will eat lots of things and we are eating, but still is very picky. He still does not eat a lot of meat other than chicken, but is getting better about trying things. He doesn’t like to try a lot of things for us, but they say at school he eats everything. We are working on decreasing his portion size to make him more successful.
His favorite place to eat out is Chick-Fil-A. We take him other places as well and most of the time he gets chicken of some sort. He rarely eats much of what we order him, so I’m starting to take something with us or just letting him eat off of our plates to not waste food/money. He does eat refried beans at the Mexican restaurants. He’s gone from always being in the high chair when we’re out (and even at home) to sometimes a booster seat and even starting to just sit on the booth/chair alone. Such a big boy!!
Healthy & Growing: Aside from a few ear infections, one case of strep, and a virus that caused a horrible rash all over his body he has been pretty healthy. His stats at his 2 year check up were:
head:49.5 in (72 percentile)
weight: 33.2 lbs (93 percentile)
height: 38 in (99 percentile... he was actually in the 50th percentile for 3 year olds!)
diaper size: 5-6
clothing size: 2T-3T and starting some 4T shirts
shoe size: 7-8
Personality: Friendly but shy. Likes to check things out but not afraid to jump right in the middle of stuff. Active. Has a huge heart and is not afraid to share (his food his toys, etc.) Though we did go through a “mine” stage where everything was “mine” but he’s doing better with that.
Speech/Language: Probably the biggest change in him over the past year.
Receptive: He is oh so very smart. He has long been understanding most everything we say even though he wasn’t using many words. He pointed to pictures in books, did everything we asked him to do, and just figured things out. His memory has also improved so much. He knows his system about things and has his routines that he likes to stick to. He will go and get something for us and is always watching and learning. He knows all of his letters (can point to them and name them) and several colors (red, blue, green, yellow). His newest game is to do something (make a funny sound or do a funny movement) and then say “Mommy do it” or whoever he is trying to get to copy what he’s doing. He thinks it is hilarious when we do what he does!
Expressive: He went from only saying a few words consistently and only saying “dodo” or “dah” when he didn’t know how to say something to imitating everything and using lots more words almost over night. Right after his 2nd birthday in April, his language exploded. Almost daily there were new words and putting 2-3 words together. He now uses plurals, possessive s, some 5-6 word sentences, negatives, asks questions, and is using verbs and in/the/a appropriately. He has all of his age appropriate sounds and lots of other sounds, though Mommy & Daddy still have to be a translator a lot of the time. There are times when we have no idea what he is talking about and it is frustrating all around.
He has probably hundreds of words that he uses now so there is no way I could list all of them, but I will list a few favorites:
eem eem m&m
shiss kiss
tain tyou thank you
peez please
bonana banana
dess Jess
chechup ketchup
Tinasee Tennessee
tomaino Towmater
yiyee Lilly
reree Jere
hego here you go
pay play
ub ew love you
nigh nigh night night
yightning kween lightening mcqueen
souside outside
bock bock chicken
bainkit blanket
Missssipeee Mississippi
Coopuh Cooper
Sleeping: He definitely has Shaw in his blood. He loves it. He even asks to go “nigh nigh” after lunch (nap time) and after dinner for bed. He’s been pretty consistent at sleeping about 12-14 hours at night and taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. He can manage if he doesn’t get his nap, but he definitely does best when he gets his sleep. He rarely takes a nap at school and when he does it’s for 30 minutes to an hour typically. He uses his pacy only when he’s sleeping and I’m guessing that’s part of why he doesn’t nap as well at school, since he doesn’t have the pacy at school.
We transitioned him from the crib to the toddler bed in July and he did great! Our bedtime routine changed, but otherwise his sleeping/staying in the bed has not changed. We went on vacation and when we got home, Mimi and Papaw had moved out his crib (for Lilly) and put the toddler bed (that we got for free from a family that had outgrown it) in his room along with Sesame Street cling ons on the wall, which he thought was so cool!
Bedtime routine changed from bath, jammies, books, and bottle of milk on the couch to bath, jammies, hugs all around, songs by Mom, and kisses in bed. He now always tries for “more songs” when I tell him one more and always turns his head for cheek, ear, nose, pacy, and chin kisses before we say “nigh nigh Mommy” and “ob u” (love you). He sleeps with his pacy, his blue and white polka dot blanket, and his babies (Domo, Wally, Elmo, Leo, and Bobo).
Getting rid of the bottle was my main goal and we tried sippy cups of milk, but he always took us back to the kitchen and pointed to the cabinet with bottles, so transitioning to no milk at all was easier and made more sense because we don’t want him drinking right before bed anyway.
Eating: The boy does like to eat... just on his own terms. He has transitioned from milk/baby food to occasionally drinking milk with breakfast/supper, sippy cups of mostly water and a little bit of juice or lemonade and whatever we’re eating. He was just fine eating baby food and I finally just made the decision that we were not doing it any more. He could eat table food when he wanted and we were using baby food because it was easier. I got over that! He was not going to be 2 and still eating baby food!
Meal time was the source of a couple of horrible meltdowns, like 30-45 minutes worth of screaming even after dinner, but those are extremely rare right now.
His favorite foods right now are chick-fil-a nuggets (he eats 6 of those and some fruit easily), any kind of fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, oatmeal, yogurt, refried beans, corn, mac & cheese, hot dogs, and anything sweet (cake, cookies, ice cream, m&ms, rice crispy treats, fruit snacks).
He will eat lots of things and we are eating, but still is very picky. He still does not eat a lot of meat other than chicken, but is getting better about trying things. He doesn’t like to try a lot of things for us, but they say at school he eats everything. We are working on decreasing his portion size to make him more successful.
His favorite place to eat out is Chick-Fil-A. We take him other places as well and most of the time he gets chicken of some sort. He rarely eats much of what we order him, so I’m starting to take something with us or just letting him eat off of our plates to not waste food/money. He does eat refried beans at the Mexican restaurants. He’s gone from always being in the high chair when we’re out (and even at home) to sometimes a booster seat and even starting to just sit on the booth/chair alone. Such a big boy!!
Healthy & Growing: Aside from a few ear infections, one case of strep, and a virus that caused a horrible rash all over his body he has been pretty healthy. His stats at his 2 year check up were:
head:49.5 in (72 percentile)
weight: 33.2 lbs (93 percentile)
height: 38 in (99 percentile... he was actually in the 50th percentile for 3 year olds!)
diaper size: 5-6
clothing size: 2T-3T and starting some 4T shirts
shoe size: 7-8
Personality: Friendly but shy. Likes to check things out but not afraid to jump right in the middle of stuff. Active. Has a huge heart and is not afraid to share (his food his toys, etc.) Though we did go through a “mine” stage where everything was “mine” but he’s doing better with that.
Speech/Language: Probably the biggest change in him over the past year.
Receptive: He is oh so very smart. He has long been understanding most everything we say even though he wasn’t using many words. He pointed to pictures in books, did everything we asked him to do, and just figured things out. His memory has also improved so much. He knows his system about things and has his routines that he likes to stick to. He will go and get something for us and is always watching and learning. He knows all of his letters (can point to them and name them) and several colors (red, blue, green, yellow). His newest game is to do something (make a funny sound or do a funny movement) and then say “Mommy do it” or whoever he is trying to get to copy what he’s doing. He thinks it is hilarious when we do what he does!
Expressive: He went from only saying a few words consistently and only saying “dodo” or “dah” when he didn’t know how to say something to imitating everything and using lots more words almost over night. Right after his 2nd birthday in April, his language exploded. Almost daily there were new words and putting 2-3 words together. He now uses plurals, possessive s, some 5-6 word sentences, negatives, asks questions, and is using verbs and in/the/a appropriately. He has all of his age appropriate sounds and lots of other sounds, though Mommy & Daddy still have to be a translator a lot of the time. There are times when we have no idea what he is talking about and it is frustrating all around.
He has probably hundreds of words that he uses now so there is no way I could list all of them, but I will list a few favorites:
eem eem m&m
shiss kiss
tain tyou thank you
peez please
bonana banana
dess Jess
chechup ketchup
Tinasee Tennessee
tomaino Towmater
yiyee Lilly
reree Jere
hego here you go
pay play
ub ew love you
nigh nigh night night
yightning kween lightening mcqueen
souside outside
bock bock chicken
bainkit blanket
Missssipeee Mississippi
Coopuh Cooper
rawrerry strawberry
samich sandwhich
ogurt yogurt
It’s really funny when you say something to him the way that he says it and he says “No” and then you say it the right way and he says “Yeah”. He doesn’t recognize that we’re saying things the way he says them!
Motor Development: Able to climb up on couch/chairs alone. Jumping with both feet off the ground. Tries to hop on one foot. Pedaling the trikes at school (he’s still not quite tall enough for his at home).
Travels/Adventures: Several trips to Knoxville to see Mamaw and Pappy for the weekend. Spent 2 weeks with them in February and had a blast! Christmas trips to MS, AR, and Knoxville. Spent a weekend with Aunt Jess and Uncle Sean - they took you to a petting zoo. Vacation to Baltimore, MD to see Grandmommy & Papa Chas and got to stay with them a few days while Mommy & Daddy went away for a few days. Guys weekend to AR with Daddy to visit Granny Helen & stayed with Uncle Jesse and Aunt Beth. A few trips to Murfreesboro to see Uncle Ben & Aunt Laura.
Favorite songs: He loves music. A few favorites right now are... Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Jesus Loves Me. God is so Good. Amazing Grace. Rocky Top. Hey Baby. Wake Up by Arcade Fire. Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem.
Favorite TV Shows/Movies: Sesame Street (particularly Elmo), Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, Finding Nemo, and Cars
Favorite Toys:
samich sandwhich
ogurt yogurt
It’s really funny when you say something to him the way that he says it and he says “No” and then you say it the right way and he says “Yeah”. He doesn’t recognize that we’re saying things the way he says them!
Motor Development: Able to climb up on couch/chairs alone. Jumping with both feet off the ground. Tries to hop on one foot. Pedaling the trikes at school (he’s still not quite tall enough for his at home).
Travels/Adventures: Several trips to Knoxville to see Mamaw and Pappy for the weekend. Spent 2 weeks with them in February and had a blast! Christmas trips to MS, AR, and Knoxville. Spent a weekend with Aunt Jess and Uncle Sean - they took you to a petting zoo. Vacation to Baltimore, MD to see Grandmommy & Papa Chas and got to stay with them a few days while Mommy & Daddy went away for a few days. Guys weekend to AR with Daddy to visit Granny Helen & stayed with Uncle Jesse and Aunt Beth. A few trips to Murfreesboro to see Uncle Ben & Aunt Laura.
Favorite songs: He loves music. A few favorites right now are... Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Jesus Loves Me. God is so Good. Amazing Grace. Rocky Top. Hey Baby. Wake Up by Arcade Fire. Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem.
Favorite TV Shows/Movies: Sesame Street (particularly Elmo), Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, Finding Nemo, and Cars
Favorite Toys:
- books (he goes in spurts of which books are his favs... right now he loves “Llama Llama Red Pajama” and “Down by the Cool of the Pool”). He prefers someone to read to him, but he will go through his books and look at them himself, even starting to “read” them.
- blocks: he prefers playing with someone else and by playing he likes to watch you build a tower and then knock it down, but he is getting better at building a tower himself
- animals, sesame street characters, barn, bucket, etc. He loves to put things in something and then take them out.
- cars are his newest obsession: he likes to race them, park them, crash them, put them in his bag, pour them out, count them, etc.
- balls: any kind of ball to roll in the house and throw outside
- outside he loves his newest toy from Mimi, Lightening McQueen that he can ride. His tractor that was his Daddy’s growing up - he’s still a little to small to ride it himself, but he rides on it while Daddy pushes him to the mailbox. Trike. T-ball set.
- blocks: he prefers playing with someone else and by playing he likes to watch you build a tower and then knock it down, but he is getting better at building a tower himself
- animals, sesame street characters, barn, bucket, etc. He loves to put things in something and then take them out.
- cars are his newest obsession: he likes to race them, park them, crash them, put them in his bag, pour them out, count them, etc.
- balls: any kind of ball to roll in the house and throw outside
- outside he loves his newest toy from Mimi, Lightening McQueen that he can ride. His tractor that was his Daddy’s growing up - he’s still a little to small to ride it himself, but he rides on it while Daddy pushes him to the mailbox. Trike. T-ball set.
- Mommy’s iPhone: he only gets this when we’re out and we need a distraction like when we’re waiting on our food at a restaurant and his favorite thing right now is a puzzle app where he drags the pieces to the right spot (Tozzle).
- Puzzles: he only has a few right now, but he enjoys getting them out and mixing up the pieces and then putting them in the right puzzle.
Special Memories:
- now using pacy only when going to bed
- started school the day after he turned 2 and has really enjoyed it overall. He has really opened up since being there and is learning so much. We love that he gets to be around kids his age. When we ask him what he is going to do at school or what he did at school he always says “pay, eat, nap, ahbey, no shoes fence”. We have worked with him on taking a nap at school, obeying his teachers, and not throwing his shoes over the fence on the playground, which is why he says all of those things.
stung by a sweat bee at school on the face x2 for the first time
- becoming a big brother... he was so funny when I was pregnant and would imitate me when I would get sick or grunt when I was sitting down/standing up or but his hands on his back and go “oh my back urts”. It also took him awhile to realize that Mommy was the only one who had a baby in her belly... he’d point to Zach, Mimi, Papaw, and even his belly and say “Bobbie?”. Now that she’s here he has been really good with her. He always asks to hold her and kiss and hug her. He only holds her for about 30 seconds before he’s “all done” but that’s ok.
Special Memories:
- now using pacy only when going to bed
- started school the day after he turned 2 and has really enjoyed it overall. He has really opened up since being there and is learning so much. We love that he gets to be around kids his age. When we ask him what he is going to do at school or what he did at school he always says “pay, eat, nap, ahbey, no shoes fence”. We have worked with him on taking a nap at school, obeying his teachers, and not throwing his shoes over the fence on the playground, which is why he says all of those things.
stung by a sweat bee at school on the face x2 for the first time
- becoming a big brother... he was so funny when I was pregnant and would imitate me when I would get sick or grunt when I was sitting down/standing up or but his hands on his back and go “oh my back urts”. It also took him awhile to realize that Mommy was the only one who had a baby in her belly... he’d point to Zach, Mimi, Papaw, and even his belly and say “Bobbie?”. Now that she’s here he has been really good with her. He always asks to hold her and kiss and hug her. He only holds her for about 30 seconds before he’s “all done” but that’s ok.
He has grown up so much over the past year and we have loved watching him!
