he walks!

Cooper started walking this weekend! He went from three timid steps at a time to suddenly taking off across the house. He is so proud of himself! Oh, and we also went cold turkey on nursing. When he signs for milk, he gets a sippy cup full of it. He may not drink it, but it keeps him from pulling up my shirt. I guess it's been a productive weekend for the little guy!

sometimes you get lucky

And was I ever lucky at one of my local quilt shops yesterday! I went in looking for a particular shade of shot cotton for Rob's quilt, and was really disappointed that it was sold out. So I checked the sale section and found these:

Technically, the pumpkins weren't in the sale section, but they were a good find considering I had looked online just hours earlier and couldn't find them. Claire had just asked if I could find more of the West Hill ponies in blue for a quilt I'm making for her bed. I told her it was probably going to be hard to do, so I was thrilled beyond belief to find two yards on that bolt. I'm in love with the Nicey Jane too. I never realized how cool the print is.

Cooper does not consider himself as lucky. It's embarassing to be driven around the neighborhood wearing powder blue fleece. But that's fall for you. I'll let him upgrade to the cool plaid Patagonia snowsuit when the weather gets a bit colder. 

scenes from the weekend

Whew, is it Monday already? I'm pooped. So here's an abbreviated version of the weekend:

Mullet Removal/First Haircut (Cooper was starting to look like an 80s hearthrob, which was not cool.) Avery was our official photographer. The photos are all pretty funny.

Sewing-in with the Anchorage Modern Quilt Guild. We made some improv blocks a la Denyse Schmidt and ate some of the best cookies and cinnamon rolls ever. I also started a super secret project for Rob that will hopefully be revealed next week.

 

Do I look tired? Because I am. Drama-free teething no longer exists in this house.


 SNOW! It stuck to the mountains, but we got a bunch of flakes down low too. Winter is on it's way!

Lasagna for dinner-- and the next couple of days for lunch. Good stuff. In fact, it's the best lasagna recipe you could ever make and has been the only one I've used since I was in high school. If you want it, let me know.

And have I mentioned how much I love my blogging friends? It's good to be a Krista.

It's 25 degrees outside right now at my house. Here's hoping it's a bit warmer where you're at! Have a good week!

it only took 9 months...

... for me to get puked on inside of my mouth. I was holding Cooper up high, trying to get a better look at his new tooth (!) and he nailed me. It's just as gross as I remember from when Avery and Claire were babies. We were both shocked, staring at each other, but then we both laughed. Having a baby around is always fun.

And yes, only 9 months for that first tooth as well! It made its showing yesterday, with very little drama really. I hope the whole teething experience goes this smoothly!

squishy, feel good kind of stuff

I managed to finish the binding yesterday morning on my mustard and aqua mermaid quilt. I washed it up and was so incredibly happy with how squishy it ended up! The flannel backing makes it extra cozy, and I can see it being used a lot this winter.

It even coordinates with Casey, so maybe I won't mind when it gets covered in her fur. Although I will not invite her to snuggle in it again.

I made another mug rug as well. As I was putting it together though I didn't really think through durability, so the quilting only goes through the batting, not the backing. So I think this is destined to be a micro-mini of sorts, which will hang on the wall in one of the kids' rooms. But I can see myself making another, and doing it right. It's just so happy.

And finally, Cooper is 9 months old today. As I type this, he is happily cooing away in his crib, hopefully about to fall asleep for his morning nap. Well, scratch that. Now he's fussing, hopefully about to fall asleep for his morning nap. He's about to get his first tooth-- we can see it under the surface ready to pop. And his army crawling is getting pretty fast. He's got a two handed, one foot technique that works well. It makes him a busy guy with a lot going on. We like that.

Have a great, feel good Tuesday! What are you working on this week?

my little guy and a sewing slow down

Cooper is 8.5 months old now and full of so much personality. It's getting more and more difficult to remember those early days with him when he was colicky and crabby-- now he's just so happy. Unless you withold his food. He chatters a bunch, saying "da da" and (the girls' favorite) "blech." This morning he was a wee bit gassy, and everytime he'd let one go and I'd say, "toot!" he would laugh and laugh. Before I knew it, he was trying with all his might to let more out. What a BOY.

There is still no crawling, although Cooper gets from sitting to his tummy and is able to inch forward when he really wants something. He loves pulling back the edges of rugs and trying to munch them. No teeth either, which is good considering he gives full face kisses that include chin bites. He loves to sit on the floor and will play forever with a basketful of toys (or camping equipment when he's hanging with Rob in the gear room). He gives what a mom at school called "full body hugs," where he grabs and snuggles as hard as he can. I just love him.

My productive sewing streak has slowed a bit. I find myself just sitting in my sewing room, stacking fabric and thinking about projects, yet not wanting to cut into anything. I keep making huge messes too that make it almost impossible to get anything done. I separated out my scraps by color this morning while Cooper was napping. I've been throwing them into a big wire bowl, but I want them more useable. I might even iron them and store them flat in plastic bins to make them more project ready. I'm planning to pick up some cozy flannel this afternoon for backing my mermaid quilt and get to quilting it. I think a big finish would feel pretty good!

jack's jungle quilt

I finally got baby Jack's quilt in the wash today so I could take a photo. It's yummy!

Rob promised me that using that zebra print was in no way girly or weird. I sure hope that little Jack's parents agree.

Katrina, I hope you like how it turned out!

In other news, this little guy is lucky he's so cute, because he has reverted back to waking up every hour at night.

It's making me (and Rob) deliriously tired to say the least. Obviously he's eating enough...

But maybe it's teething? 5 month developmental craziness? I'm trying to read "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" for help, but honestly I'm so tired I can't even figure out what it's telling me to do! Any advice you've got is more than welcome.

5 months (and a finish)

Cooper is 5 months old today! Time is flying by.

This morning he weighed in at an unofficial but whopping 19 pounds. He's getting such a sweet sense of humor. He's soooo ticklish. Still not rolling a bunch, but he did manage to roll over from his back to his belly for the first time the other day, although I missed it again! I turned around from cleaning up my sewing desk, and there he was. I did see that he is using his Gymini toys to pull himself over because he can't quite do it on his own. Smart guy.

Cooper is still so crazy about his sisters and his dad. And he has smiles for just about everyone else who comes up to talk to him (unless they're wearing a baseball cap. For some reason those throw him off). He loves the dogs and my mom's cat. He'd grab at them all day if they would only let him.

Sleep is still hit or miss. Some days we can be up every hour. Lately we're back to just twice a night wake ups. The move to solid foods has been a smooth one. Cooper has had green beans, sweet potatoes, and bananas with the rice cereal. And even a couple of Baby Mum Mums, one of those great baby inventions that have popped up since the girls were little.

I did manage to squeak out another finish this morning. The funky momo is done! And I think I love it. If only I knew of a funky little baby girl to gift it to.

We're off to enjoy the amazing Alaskan sunshine. Have a wonderful weekend!

seven random things, and one milestone

Monica tagged me to post seven bits of randomness. Isn't everything I post pretty random? Here we go:

1. I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was almost 8 years old. I'm reminded of this because Claire, now seven and a half, is still on training wheels and a little bit embarassed about it. She's got a goal of getting to two wheels by the middle of May. I think Rob will get her there faster. He taught Avery to ride her bike in one afternoon when we had only been dating for about a month (he broke his finger in the process but didn't even tell me about it until a couple of months later-- tough guy). Anyway, he's good at that stuff, and I'm excited to see Claire take off!

2. I like the smell of cow manure. It brings back memories of living on our dairy farm in Washintgton when I was a little kid.

3. I love vending machines. At my last job, we had one of those old school ones where you have to put exact change in the slots and crank a knob to get your goodies, so I got obsessive about saving quarters, nickels, and dimes in my desk. My fave picks were Pop Tarts. I blame them for a good part of the 50 pounds I gained when I was pregnant with Cooper actually. Now that I'm staying home, I'm eating much better. Except for when I have weak moments at the grocery store and see Pop Tarts on sale, like I did the other day. Luckily they don't hit the spot as much as they did six months ago.

4. My favorite job ever was when I was a tour guide for the Alaska Railroad for two summers right after high school. The people and ever-changing views were amazing. When I was on my first training trip, the train derailed. Totally crazy experience.

5. Everything in my house is covered in dog hair. I should spend Cooper's naptime vacuuming and cleaning instead of messing around on the computer, but I'm not. Priorities, right? Maybe this afternoon.

6. I want to be a runner. I did high school cross country, ran the Dublin Marathon in college, but it has never come naturally to me to get outside and run. I want to get to the point where it's easy and enjoyable. I want to get out on trails with Rob and be able to keep up. And I want to do the Humpy's Half Marathon in August. I hope I can get myself together and train like I should.

7. I have a strong allegiance to one baseball team, and I've never been afraid to encourage my children to love them too.

So there you go.

In not so random news, Cooper rolled over for the first time last night! I didn't see it-- Rob was playing with him on our bed when he did it. I'm actually quite thrilled that it happened that way. I spend so much more time with the little guy than Rob does, so for him to get to see a "first" instead of me is pretty awesome. Hopefully I'll catch a repeat today with the camera.

Do I get to tag people too? If so, Krista and Susan, you're it.

catching up & the 4 month (!) update

Cooper turned 4 months old yesterday! He celebrated it by marking a whole week of waking up every 1 to 2 hours to eat. Granted he has a cold, but I think he's enjoying his middle of the night snacks and won't be rushing to sleep through them again. That makes for very sleep-deprived parents, so I really haven't had much motivation to sew, or do anything really.

But on to the good things about Cooper at this stage. At an unofficial weigh in with me this morning, he was topping the scale at 18 pounds. Yes, 18 pounds. We'll find out how accurate that is at his checkup next week. He's wearing 6-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers. We're considering starting solids very soon. (For all mommies with babies/toddlers reading this, did you start at 4 months or wait until 6 months? There are new recommendations since Avery and Claire were babies.) Cooper grabs everything in his reach, can sit for small periods on his own, and is rolling over onto his side every chance he has. Naps are better, sometimes 2 hours at a time. One of the biggest changes is his vocalization. He talks and talks and talks. And he's got the sweetest little voice, so we all love hearing it. He really is a joy.

In other news, we sat down as a family the other night and mapped out our summer. We've got big plans. Vacations to Orlando and Seattle, roadtrips in the van, lemonade stands, bike riding, bat roost and catapult construction, and much much more. Avery and Claire had a lot of great ideas. It got us all really excited for the months ahead. And for warmer weather. Can you believe it's snowing outside right now? Absolutely ridiculous.

changing every day

Cooper is almost 16 weeks old. Where has the time gone?



I'm excited to report that he's changed from a very fussy newborn into a much happier and content baby. He's close to rolling over and has much better control of his hands. Really likes tummy time. He lights up when he sees his dad and sisters. We really love this little guy.

scenes from the weekend

We had a mellow weekend. Cooper is getting more content, and really likes hanging out with his big sisters. He's 14 weeks old today! Ack!



With Rob gone to a conference, I stayed up way too late every night sewing. I completed my first block for the "quilt-as-you-go" quilt along. I'm really digging this technique! It uses a LOT of thread though. I'll need to stock up. My sewing area is overflowing with strips of fabric too. Makes for a big mess (and a little bit of swearing when they accidently get sewn to the backs of other projects).





In my quest for zipper mastery, I whipped up a little pouch for the tools I use to sew by hand.



And I kept on with the batik log cabin quilt. Just waiting for that aqua sashing to show up from Pink Chalk Studio.

playmat- done!

Cooper's playmat is finally complete!



He'll learn to love it.