The Beautiful Mess: 23 Weeks!

And our busy life continues! :) This week was another busy one! On friday, Meaghan came over again to help watch Cooper while I got ready for the craft fair. My mom also came that afternoon to help me get things finished. Friday ended up being a VERY long day for mom and I! We worked hard into the wee hours of the morning and took a 1 hour "nap" before getting up to pack up the car to head to Wake Forest for the craft fair. The good news is....next time we'll be more ready and won't have to stay up all night getting ready! Now we know what to expect and it will make future shows easier (and we've already got one lined up for the 12th!) Saturday morning I had to wake Cooper up really early to leave for the show and I felt so bad waking him up....he was sleeping so soundly! He was SO good the whole day and got numerous compliments on how well behaved he was being! He got passed around a few times, took a couple naps on grandma and was a perfect mascot for our booth! Unfortunately, there was not a huge turnout for the craft show so we didn't do so fabulous....we made back our booth fee, though...so we'll take it for our first one! :)
Sunday was a total lazy day for us! It was rainy and cold and we just laid around all day trying to recover from a busy couple of days! As a matter of fact...Monday and Tuesday were recovery days as well! :) I took those days to just relax with my baby since I had been using every spare moment to make things and prepare for the craft show.
Tuesday also started our fussy days.....hold cow, has he ever been fussy! I'm pretty confident that he's trying to cut a tooth because even through crying he's gnawing on his hand or whatever toy is near. He constantly has something in his mouth, on the left side, gnawing away! Last night (Wednesday) we went to the grocery store and picked up some dinner while we were out. The last 20 minutes of our trip were spent with a crying baby! it even got to the point where I reached back to him and just rubbed his bottom gums (don't worry....I wasn't driving and doing this! :) ) that seemed to make him feel a little bit better, which even more confirms my suspicions that it's a tooth thing.....watch me be wrong! :)
ok for the stats....

at 23 weeks Cooper:

weighs ??? pounds
is ??? inches long
squeals out of excitement...and just because he can! He discovered this at the craft fair and continued squealing and enjoying this new sound he was making! :)
is ALL over the place! He has completely mastered the roll and scoot process! I can put him on his play mat and in no time he has flipped over....twisted around....and is rolling across the living room floor! Through this he has discovered the world of under the couch....the space where the carpet meets the linolium floor.....the hearth at the fireplace....computer cords......and, of course, ARNOLD! :) now he can get to Arnold when he wants to....until Arnold jumps up and runs away! no fair! Just wait, Arnold....you're day is coming! :)
LOVES bathtime! When we go to fill his tub for his bath he sits on my lap and bangs on the side of the tub and lunged toward to water! we might have a little water baby on our hands!
vigorously shakes anything the lands in his hands! When he gets ahold of a stuffed animal, his paci, his teething links, anything! he starts shaking them back and forth....one of these days he's bound to clonk himself in the face....not sure how he hasn't already!
doesn't like (or....rather, reacts to) air being blown in his face! This week in the endless crying fits....I started to gently blow in his face in hopes of distracting him from the crying....funniest thing ever! I will definitely have to get a video of this! he stops real quick, eyes get wide and he closes his mouth like "WHAT was that?!?!" :)
makes dressing him a huge challenge! Like I've said before, this child is rarely still....and even worse when i'm trying to get clothes on him! he twists his body...spreads out his fingers when I'm trying to get his arms in the sleeves....grabs the sleeves halfway through so I can't get his arm all the way through.....kicks his feet to avoid the socks.....pulls his leg out of his pants while I'm trying to get the other leg in....and so on.....it's quite the comedic battle! :) I think we might end up with a toddler that runs around naked! yikes! :)
has tried our the sassy seat doorway jumper! I thought he would be a whiz in that thing....but so far....he can't quite figure out what to do since it swings around when he tries to bounce. His other bouncer is stationary and he is a master at it! he does, however, like it when I hold his legs and swing him slightly! we might need to get a swing set for the backyard! Maybe we'll wait on that one a little while :)
still coughs for attention! His daddy pointed out that a kicking leg often accompanies the fake cough! :) and sometimes a little toot accompanies the kicking leg! he's like a one-man band!
knows what the paci is and how to grab hold of it and stick it in his mouth! :) if he sees it lying somewhere and he wants it....he has no trouble grabbing it!
enjoys the swing again. we put the swing away for a while because he was so active that he didn't usually want to sit in it and be still....this week, with the fussiness....i pulled it back out in desperation and he enjoyed it....even fell asleep in it!
likes when I sing to him! In particular....he likes "I knew I Loved You Before I Met You" by Savage Garden! :) I've been trying to help my brother find songs for his wedding playlist so we've been listening to lots of music on YouTube....this particular song was especially pleasing to him. He would just look at me and smile as I was singing it to him. I took a video of him because it was so cute, but upon playback....I realized that you can hear me very loudly singing....and I'm not sure I'm brave enough to share that with all of you yet! :) Of course Coop thinks it's the best thing ever, but he's not very critical at 23 weeks old! :)