The Beautiful Mess: 28 weeks!

What a fun week we have had! :) This past weekend we drove down to Atlanta to watch my little sister walk across the stage and graduate from high school! The trip down was rather exhausting because Coop was not in the best mood! It had been almost a week since he had pooped and it was clearly hurting him! Poor little fella's belly was so tight and hard! I ended up riding in the back with him and just rubbing his belly until he fell asleep. Despite his foul mood, we made great time getting down there and had a little bit of time to relax before the graduation festivities that evening. Graduation was at 7:00 in their football stadium and it was about 112 degrees outside! ok, maybe not that hot, but it sure felt like it when I was sitting there for 3 hours with a baby that constantly wanted to bounce on my legs! Whew! I sure got my workout that night! He did GREAT! I was so worried that the week with out pooping was all going to explode while we were at graduation....luckily it did not (he actually had the biggest, stinkiest, messiest, worst blow out in his 6 months of life the next morning after breakfast!) Coop was SO good for the long graduation and only ~~cried~~ wailed once when the group behind us screamed for someone walking across the stage. We were like 3 graduates from the end and it just scared the pop (thankfully, not literally) out of this so sleepy baby and he just cried! Poor Nicole.....we were all waiting to cheer for her when he name was called and they skipped right over her! so we thought "maybe she'll be next" nope....about 6 or 7 graduates later they slipped her in. Of all the people to skip, it had to be her.....at least she'll never forget her graduation! :)
After finding my sister in the crowd of caps and gowns, we took a few pictures and headed back to the house where family was gathering for food, gifts, and hanging out. Cooper, however, returned to the house, said his hellos, took a bath, and went to bed! it was a couple hours past bedtime for him by that point!
The next morning, like I mentioned, Cooper had his big poop-splosion! it was NASTY but I was so glad because I knew he would feel better! He literally went straight into the tub and his clothes went outside to be hosed off! Maybe he should have gone straight outside to be hosed down too! That day was a relaxing one. We got a slip-n-slide from walmart and the kids played while we watched. Cooper was not a fan of the cold water though! That night we had smores and just hung out.
Sunday My grandparents, Aunt and cousin's little girl, headed back home and the rest of is hung out. We went to the mall to serach for shoes for my bother's wedding. Both Nicole and I are in it and needed ivory shoes to wear. Ivory is a much harder color to find that one would think! I ended up finding a high heel that was super cute and Kristin and Carrington talked me into it! I NEVER wear high heels because I'm already tall enough and this one is like 3 inches tall! but it was just too cute....and the ONLY ivory shoe I could find! My sister, however, would never wear a heel like that so we continued the search. She found a dressy flip flop that would work but will have to get it from another location because they didn't have her size. Successful trip, I'd say!
Monday morning we were planning to head back early but ended up staying and watching a movie and waiting for my dad to get home from work. We hit the road around 4:30 and got home around 11:30. The trip back was better then the trip down, until the last couple hours when Coop had just HAD ENOUGH of that stinkin carseat! but we made it, and it was a great trip!
Tuesday was recovery day and yesterday was Cooper's 6 month check up! Everything was great and he is developmentally right where he should be in all areas! We can now start upping his solid intake and introduce some finger foods (like cheerios or puffs) and a sippy cup....this is where it will get reeeeeeal interesting! :) he also got 2 shots yesterday and by bed time I think they were really bothering him. One of them bled a lot, which has never happened, but he was just terribly restless the first hour or so after he went to bed. I ended up giving him some Tylenol and he conked out!

At 28 weeks Cooper:

weighs 16 pounds and 15 ounces (seems small to me to be 6 1/2 months old but supposedly he's in the 50th percentile)
is 27 1/4 inches long (75th percentile) He did not like being stretched out and fought it hard core, so he may actually be a bit longer than this.
has a head circumference that is 43 cm (which is somewhere between 25th and 50th percentile according to the dr....he's just a little peanut!)
is laughing all the time! It's so easy to get him to cackle now (as long as he's well rested and in a good humor)
sits like a pro! he will sit for LONG periods of time playing with a toy....I'd say he's definitely got that mastered now!
is crawling more often now. I've seen an actual crawl many times this week....I guess he's starting to transition from the frog hop to the actual crawl now.
LOVES the sound of anything crinkly! He really loved the paper on the doctor's table yesterday...he had it thoroughly shreded by the time the dr got in to see him!
spent his first night in a cloth diaper all night and there were NO leaks! yay! The last several nights I have gotten him up from either sleeping all night or even just a nap, and he and the sheet are both wet! I decided I was done with those stinky disposables that just leak out the top around his waist and figured I might as well try the cloth....if he leaked, oh well...nothing new! :) We made it all night last night....13 hours from the time the diaper went on until it came off....without a leak at all! I think I'm over the fear of cloth diapering him a night now! I had been afraid that he would leak since cloth needs to be changed more frequently and he sleeps so long, but I'm afraid no more! :)
LOVES his mommy! we are buds because we spend all day together....and he just thinks everything I do is great! I'm not arguing! ;)
LOVES his daddy! He gets so happy when daddy comes home and loves for daddy to come talk to him, he just griiiiins!
is starting to show a little bit of stranger anxiety, which he did for the doctor. She said it's absolutely developmentally appropriate for his age, however, I don't want him to get too clingy and fussy when someone "new" approaches. I think him being at the YMCA while I'm working will help with that a little....at least I hope so!
loves shoving things in his mouth....mainly his bibs or burp cloths! he just SHOVES them in there and lets them hang out....check out the doctor's office picture below for an example! :)
gives the sweetest kisses! So maybe they just consist of him opening his mouth and leaning in to your cheek, but then he pulls back and just grins...like he really thinks he's giving kisses! it's so sweet (and maybe a ~~little~~ lot slobbery, but still so sweet!)
likes apples! We tried some steamed and pureed apples this morning and he gobbled them right up! So far we have a great eater on our hands!
sucks on his toes! He has done this a time or two, but this week he has had that big toe in his mouth just sucking away several times!
is about to get kicked off the changing table! He is almost too big and wiggly to be up there! Every time I try to change him it's a battle amongst trying to distract him with a toy, trying to keep his kicking feet out of the dirty diaper, trying to keep him on the table...and on his back, AND trying to get a clean diaper on him and his clothes back on! Whew, can we say exhausting!
loves peek-a-boo. While we were in Atlanta, his aunt Sami was his peek-a-boo partner....he loved it and just grinned at her!
likes swinging! We took his sassy seat doorway jumper with us to Atlanta and Nicole would pull him back and swing him in it, he LOVED it! I'm thinking we will need to get a play set with a swing for our backyard! :)