Mamma Won't Pay $25 for a Onesie

I always tell Cooper, "Mom and Dad may be cash poor, but we're rich in love." Then he makes this face.



I saw these adorably hip onesies in Old Navy selling for $25 a pop. Jakob is the working guy right now and I wasn't about to plunk down the hard earned cheddar for more Cooper fashions. So...I made my own.



I knitted & stitched this weirdo onesie.



It features a friendly one-eyed alien from the planet 'SpittySphere.' It's a place where infant spit-up is a valued commodity. Therefore, he loves hanging out on Cooper's chest.



Honestly, this kid could make a paper bag look super cute.

Thanksgiving

Behold! A bearded turkey!



I made this out of construction paper. This is a 'Jakob' Turkey. Known for its unusual sense of humor, bugged out eyes and bushy beard, the Jakob Turkey is a crafty creature. I made turkeys representing each of my friends who came over to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.



It was a whirlwind of a day. Awol was over at 6:15am to begin the bird. Did I mention that he broke his right arm and bone-bruised his left? Originally, his paper turkey was going to have two broken wings, but I decided to accentuate the positive by merely giving his turkey a swoopy pompadour. Since his arms were still on the gimpy side, I had to force him to let me do tasks like potato chopping. Note to the kiddies out there: if you lack arm control, FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, don't attempt to use a cleaver.



It was a strange day. Lovely, yes, but strange. We were sort of the Turkey Day 'pit stop'. Most folks came right around dinnertime and then had other feasts to attend. It was nice to see my old friend Ryan Gantz again. (And by old friend, I mean he is an old bastard, not that we're friends from long ago. I'm just kidding. He's an excellent good friend.)



Cooper tried turkey for the first time and he HATED it. He's loved every food he's tried thus far. Peas, carrots, prune and squash have all been grand successes.



He took a spoonful of mashed up Beachnut Stage 1 Turkey and he made a face like he was being tortured. He then used his tongue to push any and all turkey bits out of his mouth.



We tried a second turkey spoonful, and this time he cried AND shook his head back and forth as if to say, "NO! NO! NO! What are you doing to me???!!!"



I fed him some prunes to make him happy. As you can see, it worked.

I'm so thankful for Cooper and Jakob. My guys. They're the best.



Oh, and though there's never been any doubt that Coop is a spitting image of his father, here's further proof:



Look at that face! It's the same expression Jakob has in over 130 different photographs.



Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday. (Nothing beats Halloween. The costume/candy factor is tough to top.)



Thanksgiving is all about being with loved ones, eating a home cooked meal together and taking time out of your busy year to let everyone know that you are thankful. It's a day of true appreciation for the good things.



There are many days when I hear myself saying, "UG! Why do I have to deal with this?" But on Thanksgiving I get to say, "I'm so lucky that this is my deal."

Domesticated Monsters

WARNING--The following post does not included pictures of Cooper. Feel free to skip this post if you check in on this blog for the sole purpose of looking at my adorable kid.



I meant to post these around Halloween, but I forgot. I started making these sketches that have monsters from old black and white movies going about their days; doing tasks like all the ordinary hoy polloi of the world. I admit they are silly. I haven't done any serious art in mucho longtemps.



Perhaps my hormones are on the rampage yet again, but I have felt like an artistic moron lately. I had a rather mind-splitting epiphany on Saturday night after seeing my friend Andrew's show. (By the way, it's a good show. I wouldn't plug it if it was a snoozer. See The Angry Guy in the Pink Hat.) I think it's Andrew's best work thus far as an actor. He's getting better and better. Unfortunately, I feel I'm getting worse and worse.



I'd like to say that this is yet another one of my typical blue moods, but it seems deeper. I have an overwhelming amount of self-doubt lately.

I did recently cut a tremendous amount of sugar out of my diet. But I can't have therapy sessions with Ben & Jerry anymore. I must start taking care of myself.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Cooper enjoys eating. Heck, he's my kid. How could he not?



The mushy rice cereal that he wolfs down tastes like paste. I was curious, so I tried a little. It was like slurping paper mache soup. I suppose if all you've ever had is breastmilk, then it's most likely a thrilling change of pace.



Then, we tried peas. We even had a John Lennon-inspired theme song for the event.

All we are saaaaaying...is give PEAS a chance.



Apparently there's another song about eating peas that goes like this:

Peas, peas, peas, peas
Eating Goober Peas
My they are delicious
Eating Goober peas.




Coop loved peas and now he's become a big fan of carrots, too. We're trying not to introduce him to too much. I've heard you can trigger food allergies by rushing into food. We wait seven days betwixt new food experiences.

Next week is going to be puréed turkey dinner. Yum.

King of the Nursery

His Royal Majesty presides over his subjects.



"All Hail King Cooper! Huzzah!!!"



It's good to be the king.

Cooper at Age 22 (Weeks, That Is)

First things first, you are finally getting hair.



Check it out! Tiny blonde peachy fuzz is sticking up in the back of your head. You've developed the most adorable case of 'bed head' ever.



It seems you have a new best friend. That lion is nearly as old as mommy! GrAnnemarie made it many, many moons ago. I'm glad you dig it. I was going to let you name the lion, but you just kept blowing raspberries. And although 'Thppft!', and 'Pbththth!' are not bad names, let's just call him 'Kingston,' until you start exploring some vowels.



I love the way you kick your legs when you're excited to see me.
I love the way you make the sweetest, "Mmmmm" sound when you eat.
I love the way you turn and smile when I say your name.
I love that you prefer Cookie Monster's gruff growl to Elmo's squeaky squawking.
I love the way you hide your head into my shoulder as if to say, "Too many neurons firing off. I need to check out for a moment, please."
I love that the drippy cloth game still enthralls you.
I love the way you watch me do 'Itsy Bitsy Spider.' You look at me like I'm magic.
I love how you know that you're too tired and so you roll over, put your hand over your eyes and block out the crazy world.
I love how when you wake up again, you're refreshed and ready to play.
I love that your learning to love tummy time. Once you figure out that the arms play a key role in crawling, they'll be no stopping you.



You're fine tuning your sense of humor. You like my silly faces and when I pretend to eat your feet. (What is it about baby feet? They're delectable.)

You like to eat peas and tonight we're trying carrots. Each milestone is a celebration. It also makes you a little more independent. You'll always be my kid, but you won't always be my little guy.

5 MONTHS OLD? REALLY? Seriously? Thank you for the best (and quickest) 5 months of my life.

For more Cooper & Kingston pix, click here to visit Flickr.