11 Months.

Happy 11 month birthday, Cooper Hudson!  This post is a little late because of some trouble with iphoto.  Glad that's resolved!  Can you believe that we have one more month until it's party time.  I am getting SO EXCITED!  Bring on the cake!

This has been a big month for you.  You are changing so quickly!  I guess after next month, you will no longer be an infant, but a TODDLER!  What in the world!  The biggest news this month is that you are taking some steps!  Oh my goodness, I thought my heart might explode the first time you took those steps across the living room floor!  A couple of weeks ago, we were at Lifegroup and you took your first 4 steps right in a row!  Daddy and I both saw, which was an answer to one of my prayers.  We practice with you each day, and you seem to grow more confident all the time.

Crawling is still your preferred method of mobility, but I can tell that you feel so proud of yourself when you walk.  I love it.  I am so proud of you my sweet boy.  This video was taken the first day that you seemed to actually "get it."  Way to go, Coop!

This month, you've also learned to clap!  You are so cute.  We took you to your first World Mandate and you loved clapping to the music.  You've also started to sway back and forth when you hear music.  I love your little heart that wants to worship.

You've been getting better with your sign language and are now signing "more" and "all done."  I'm not totally sure that you understand the meaning just yet, but if we say "more," you will do the sign, so that's good news!   You've also started to wave.  Hi.  Bye.  You flap your arm like a little bird when you wave.  So cute. 

 The one person that you really don't like to say goodbye to is Daddy.  He is your favorite (I can admit it).  You still crawl to the door when he leaves and hoot like a little owl. "Whooo whoooo whooooo!"  It's sad, but it's also so sweet the way that you love him.  Precious boy.

I would say that our biggest obstacle this month has been feeding.  You've never been a great eater, but for some reason, this month you've been a bit picky.  I'd be happy to never give you another Cheerio again, but those seem to be the only finger food that you are into.  Well, Cheerios, puffs, bread, and other carbs.  I hope you like to run, like Daddy, if you are going to keep that up.  I sure do wish you would add fruits and veggies to your repertoire, but the nurse told me to just be patient with you.  I think it must be the texture that you aren't crazy about because cooked veggies and soft fruit mostly bring on your gag reflex.  At any rate, this month you tried strawberries, cheese, deli meat, beef, egg yolk, cut up waffles & bagels, and an ice cream cone in Nantucket (which you simultaneously loved and hated, if that's possible).

You've gotten much better with your sippy cup and are actually getting some water!  You are pretty independent, too.  You usually eat the first several oz. of your bottle with no trouble, but then want to take the remainder standing up and drinking like a little goat.  Silly!  A lot of people have told us that you look like the Gerber baby.  Obviously you are way cuter than that kid, but I do think you have some resemblance with your little winged curls on the side of your head and your big eyes and long eyelashes.

You got two teeth this month, giving you five total teeth!  I didn't even notice one until I was feeding you one day, and there it was... bottom tooth, through the surface!  I am thinking it's twin should be in at any time- you've got all the teething symptoms.  Hurry up tooth!

You have quite the adventurous little heart.  A few weeks ago during your naptime, you crawled out of your crib and bonked your head on the floor.  SO SAD!  We had already lowered your crib once... I didn't think you were capable of escaping, but I should know better than to put things past you, my boy. Your mattress is safely at floor level, and you have surprisingly been sleeping much better.  You still nap twice a day for about 1.5- 2 hours each, which is an improvement from your 1 hour naps last month.  YAY COOP!

A few weeks ago you found this hiding spot under an end table and now you love just going there to sit.  Sometimes I ask, "Where's Cooper?  Where's Cooper?!!" and you just giggle when I come to find you.  Can't wait to play hide-and-seek with you.  Can't wait to build forts with you.    

We've been trying to teach you some animal sounds recently.  You are obsessed with dogs, so we ask, "what does the doggie say?"  We think you are trying to say, "woof," but you only say the "ffff" sound.  You only make that sound for a doggie, so we are pretty sure it's a woof.  I love it.  You scrunch up your little nose like a bunny, and it melts my heart.  One day I will have to break down and get you a dog, but in the mean time, I am glad that you are happy to play with Wally and Norman.

Sometimes you like to look out the front window at Daddy while he mows the yard.

Sometimes you make faces at him.

You went to your first two football games this month, Coop.  Sic 'em Bears!  Hopefully by the end of the season you will be able to do a sic 'em bears with Mommy and Daddy.

You loved seeing your friends at the Baylor game.  Maybe one day you and Parker will be college roommates- and maybe Clara will be your future girlfriend!  We are so blessed to be surrounded with such amazing buddies, aren't we Coop?

You still love to watch Mommy and Daddy brush their teeth.  It always makes you chuckle.  I had to get a picture of Daddy brushing and you laughing just so I'd remember that little quirk about you :)

You found the toilet paper.

Cooper Boo, I love you so much and am so incredibly proud of you.  You are the sweetest little thing, and my heart feels so full just being your Mommy.  I can't believe that we've had you for 11 whole months.  Each day really gets better & better with you.  You are a joy.  I love you, little pumpkin.  Happy 11 months!

Nantucket, part 3

Our last day in Nantucket was a rainy one.  Boo.  But thankfully, the on and off drizzle didn't stop us from getting out of the house and wrapping up a wonderful vacation.  

Since we knew we wanted to stay inside while the storm was passing, we went to The Whaling Museum.  We were such nerds and sat through several presentations, that were actually pretty interesting!  Did you know that the whalers went out to sea for several YEARS at a time in hopes of bringing back TWENTY whales?!!  Whaling boat captains would make so much money off of their whales that they could often retire in their thirties or forties!  Crazy.  

We spent some of the afternoon out shopping and hanging out at the Even Keel Cafe for a late afternoon lunch.  While we were there, we looked over and saw Jerry Stiller!  Our family was obsessed with Seinfeld growing up, so it was awesome to see the guy who played George's dad on the show.  If you aren't a Seinfeld person, you might know his hilarious son, Ben Stiller.  Sure would have loved to see him too!  Only mom was brave enough to go and shake his hand and she said he was super nice!

During the later part of the day we decided to drive around the island a little bit.  We saw this super old windmill, that is the second oldest working windmill in the country.

And then we finally made our way to the Cisco Brewery and Winery.  Massachusetts is STRICT, and wouldn't let me do the wine tasting because I didn't have my ID.  Bummer!  So we bottle to try out at home.  Winning!  Todd tried the Whale's Tale Pale Ale and thought it was pretty good.

I love the atmosphere at places like this.  Love the live music.  Love everyone just hanging out and having a good time.  There were a ton of labs running around, which Cooper loved.  It's unfortunate that I'm not really a dog lover.  One day I know I'm going to have to get over it, because a boy has got to have a dog.  But not today!

That night we picked up a yummy lobster dinner from Sayle's.  Mmmmmmm!!  There is nothing better than fresh, fresh seafood!

We got some good rest that night in preparation for our 13 hour trek home the following day- and then naturally loaded up on coffee before boarding the ferry.  One last stop at The Bean!

We ALL enjoyed the coffee!

Bye bye Nantucket!

We hope to see you next summer!

Nantucket, part 2

Our second day in Nantucket was all about embracing the activities that were offered to us seaside.  We woke up incredibly early for a 5 hour fishing trip on The Albacore, the fishing boat that we chartered for the morning.  The only fishing that I'd ever done before was at summer camp, where we were elated to catch fish that were longer than 6 inches!  Our trip out to sea was probably the highlight of the vacation!

 Sunset or sunrise, Nantucket Harbor is breathtaking.

The week before we left for the Cape, Cooper had been sick with a stomach bug.  He passed it on to me and Todd before we left for our trip, but then poor Meg got it our first day in town.  Sweet girl had been sick all night, but still decided to come fishing at 6 am.  What a trooper!

And also, props to my mom, who had the stomach bug, but still volunteered to stay at home with Cooper.  What a saint!

 I loved that our Captain steered with his foot!  Coffee in one hand, donut in the other!

 Proof that we were up, literally, at the crack of dawn.

Ok, so for a girl who had only caught 6 inch fish at camp, I was pretty proud of the 25 lb. striped bass that I reeled in!  At this first location, we fished for striped bass (we kept 3) and bluefish (we threw them all back).  It was such a rush to be reeling in the fish and guessing what kind we'd get and how big it would be!  And what a thrill to pull it up onto the boat to see how huge it actually was!

 It wasn't long before Todd reeled a big fish in too!  

Meg spent half of the morning passed out on the boat.  Poor girl!  It was kind of like the time my parents took us to a Garth Brooks concert and she slept through the whole thing!  She was probably 8 years old or so, but WHO DOES THAT?!

After we had had reached our fill of striped bass and bluefish, we went out to another location to try for sea bass.  Sea bass are much smaller, but had to be 14 inches or more for us to keep them.  We probably caught 20 sea bass, but only kept 3.

 All in all, the four of us caught around 50 fish!  There were even a few times where 3 of us would be reeling in a fish at the same time!  Our Captain definitely took us out to the right fishing spots!

I felt so proud as we pulled back into the harbor.  Hundreds of years ago, Nantucket was an old whaling town.  I wonder how those old whalers felt as they pulled back into the harbor after being at sea for a few years, now with 20 or so whales in tow.

Here we are with our fish!  I felt really proud of the fact that a few other tourists that had gathered near the dock started taking pictures with MY FISH!  Hilarious!  And weird.  

We now have about 30 striped bass fillets in the freezer, so if anyone has any recipes, send them my way!  Todd cooked some up last night, but I had a hard time eating it since I knew that I had killed it.  Do other "hunters" have that problem?

After taking quick showers, we headed back to Brotherhood of Thieves- because it was just THAT good!  

 I love when the boo makes this face at the table!

After our late lunch, we went back home to regroup and decided to head out to the beach.  

My only regret of the trip is that we didn't spend more time at the beach.  I would have loved a full day there!  Beautiful white sand, a gentle surf, and very few people would  have made for a totally relaxing day!

The biggest surprise was that Cooper HATED the beach and cried most of the time we were there.  The sand must have been too weird for him.  He did NOT like it!

Todd said that he would cry too, if he had to wear that outfit.  Cooper, that outfit is called smocking, and probably cost $47, so it would've been cool if you had smiled.  Just saying.

What would we do without Lolly?

Well, I guess we won't be getting him a sandbox for his birthday!

One day, this boy is going to learn to love the ocean.

I'm so glad that Cooper has found a good friend in Bobo!

We capped off the evening with Bananagrams, Nerts, and tossing magazines off of the coffee table.

Another great day in Nantucket!