Sorry there have been no updates for a while. I know the 12 people who visit this blog are accustomed to new posts every three days or thereabouts. Well, DEAL! Sometimes I get busy.
The holidays came fast and furious. We journeyed to New England to visit with our families. Cooper was a peach on the plane. Other parents with ornery, volumous kids were asking us if we'd like to trade.
First stop, NEW HAMPSHIRE! It was surprisingly warm. (Thanks, global warming!) We got to visit with Mimi, Grampa Scott, Uncle Scott and Uncle J. 
Coop made out like a BANDIT. I know it's a cliché, but he really did enjoy the boxes just as much as the gifts they held.
We spent Christmas day at Gilbody Manor. There we met up with Uncle Sean and Casey. It was nice to spend time with Casey. My selfish hope is that Sean holds onto her so that I can have a partner in crime at family gatherings. 
We took a lovely walk around Bow Lake Island to meet with neighbors and friends. We ate both lobster chowdah AND lobster pie. (You won't find those out in Californ-i-a.) 
On our final evening, Mimi & Uncle J watched Coop so mommy could finally see the Borat movie. "VERY NIIICE!! HIIGH FIIVE!!!"
Next stop, MASSACHUSETTS! My father met Cooper for the first time and both of them cried. My dad was just so happy to finally hold his grandchild. Cooper was cranky from exhaustion and most likely had gas.
Cooper got to meet his Uncle Owen and Aunt Danielle. 
They liked each other immediately. I think that's because they're all so smart.
One New Year's Day, there was a grand celebration. (Thanks sooooo much Sue Mastria. You rock!)
Both great grandfathers got to meet my little man. Coop was fascinated by Pepere's beard. I think it's the only bearded man besides Dad that he's come in contact with.
Cooper met another baby. My Aunt Peg & Uncle Mike have adopted a little baby girl named Ava. They looked at each other as if to say, "Yeah, they feed me. They change me. We sing songs and stuff. My life's been swell thus far. How about you?"
I also got to see my best friend from high school, Reina, her husband Eli and her mother Mary Gwynn. Mary and I got tattoos together! How many people do you know are close enough to their best friend's MOM to join forces and make a daytrip to Rhode Island to get inked. She knitted Cooper two amazing sweaters. 
Cooper was so please to finally meet his extended family. As you can see from this picture, he was a bit worn out by the end of the day. 
We even got to see the Poyant fam. It was a full, beautiful trip home. 
Family. Grandparents. East Coast Chinese Food. It was hard to say goodbye.
Well, Coop, you experienced your first holiday season. From the looks of things, you had a smashing good time. It's only going to get better once Santa enters the picture.
You better watch out...you better not cry...
For more photos, click here to visit Flickr.
Merry Christmas, Cooper White!
6 Months
Yesterday was your Official Half Birthday, Cooper. You made it through 50% of a year. Congrats!!!
Since this is a special milestone, I decided to compose a poem for the occasion. Now, Momma is no poet! But being that it is December, I was feeling the holiday spirit and everyone knows that the holiday spirit makes you want to rhyme. 
I took you home on a Monday,
Knowing all too well that someday
You'd grow up in a short amount of time.
And though at first you couldn't see,
You seemed to recognize me
When I sang, "You Are My Sunshine."
In just a few short weeks,
You had round, dimpled cheeks
And your eyes and ears revealed the world to you.
Then you began talking
All day long you're squawking
and every noise is beautiful and new.
Not an infant anymore
Now you've started to explore
And it's amazing how far you've come.
Rolling over, eating peas,
No longer spooked by my loud sneeze,
Bravo! Be proud of what you've done!
Of course, it did go by too fast,
How quickly present becomes past
Before too long you'll be a young man
But trust me, Cooper K.
I'll always find a way
To make your childhood as joyful as I can.
I love you, my 6-month old boy.
Lil' Jake
I love this picture of Jakob. It is the definition of "nostalgia." It looks like it was taken during the Great Depression. It looks like one of those old-timey advertisements..."Buy King Midas Flour...Lil' Jake Says : It's The Best!!!"
Cooper's starting to look less like an infant and more like a little boy. I wonder if Coop's two front teeth will emerge like Daddy's in this photo.
Cooper is teething. It is a bumpy, angry, tough row to ho. I feel so bad for my little guy. In the middle of all this growing, learning, and trying to crawl, he has to deal with new teeth slicing their way through gums. He's had sleeping woes and tummy troubles.
He doesn't much like the teething toys. He spits them out and gives me a look like, "Uh, NO! That doesn't help me, woman!" He refuses to take a bottle. He screams bloody murder when one is offered. I think that's because sucking on the rubber nipple hurts and the boob gives him extra comfort. Boobs do tend to give comfort.
The best medicine is distraction. We go for more walks and play and read until momma is totally pooped out. Then, it's Exersaucer or Swing time. If anyone has other soothing suggestions, I'm all ears.
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.