8 months

You stand along furniture.
You pull yourself up on furniture.
You love walking while holding a willing soul's fingers.
YOu crawl. FAST!
You say dada when you;re happy and mama when you're hungry
you started getting your first tooth on the bottom on MOnday December 16
You started feeding yourself today. Chunks of banana. You got more on your hands and spread all over the high chair tray than you did in your mouth.
You love to chew on nerf bullets.
You started to sit in the big tub without your baby tub for the first time this week.
You smile a big toothless grin whenever you catch my eye and I smile at you.
You bolt to me crawling after we smile at each other.
You climb up my leg and just hold on for as long as possible.
You still cry yourself to sleep almost every bed time.
You smile at Meriden.
You laugh for no reason at random times.
You don't snuggle. Even when I nurse you, you put your arm up as if to push me away.

I love you little man. I really do just adore you.
Love,
Mom

7 months

You are growing so fast!! Moving all over the ground!
Guess what!? You're really starting to sleep through the night! You're nursing more on schedule without getting too distracted (most of the time). You are even getting more regular morning/evening naps. You are happier because of it.
You are good for babysitters except for when they put you to bed and they can't stand to hear you cry so they feel sorry for you and rock you to sleep. i don't blame them. Your cry is so so sad and you are so so fun to cuddle and rock to sleep.
You are scooting faster and spending more time on your knees and have quite a determination to get something if you want it.
You sometimes eat 2-3 meals of solids a day. We are graduating you from Bumbo to high chair this week. You still absolutely love your Johhny Jump Up. you're starting to tease your sister by grabbing her hair or clothes as she walks by you in your Jump up and she really doesn't like that.
You mom is still just crazy about you and so is your dad, you sister, and grandpa and boy, just about everyone.
You deserve it. Your spirit is so sweet and I just adore you my lil' Jeffie.
I love you.
Love,
Mom

Scooting and Sleeping

Thriving: Scooting
Still working on: Sleeping

Jeffrey Jeremy Cooper... I am STILL struggling to figure out how to get you to sleep. We have no regular time you sleep, no regular amount of time you sleep and no regular way of getting you to sleep! We've tried letting you cry yourself to sleep in your bed and our bed, swaddling, quiet, noise, binkys, full tummy, singing, rocking, stroking face... You wake up at the blink of an eye if you do fall asleep whether you cry yourself to sleep, fall asleep int he car or fall asleep nursing...
Last night you cried for... well I didn't keep track, by I'm guessing an hour. Dad and I finally used ear plugs. My rule is to get you to sleep for 7 hours or until 6am. Whichever comes first. You were hollering at about 4 1/2 hours. When you finally cried yourself back to sleep I came and got you after TEN HOURS- because my milk was going to burst.
My goal: Get you to fall asleep on your own under 30 minutes, stay asleep for 2 hours, take 2 naps each day, and sleep through the night.

On a happier note- you SCOOT!! We just got it on video as proof. I can't believe it. You have been trying to move for awhile and for over a month you've been rolling all over the room. Now you push yourself forward and reach and lunge yourself and you are on the move. In your Johnny Jump Up this week there were some things by your feet and Dad noticed you scooting back and running forward and kicking the stuff across the room! You are such a boy. Hehe...

I'm pretty much in love with you. I love the way you smell. I love how adorable you are, I love stroking your hair, I love kissing you, I love tickling you, I love your laugh and your smile and everything about you. You are so cute with your sister and with how you play with toys. You are discovering the world and I LOVE watching you  do it.

Haha, yesterday 2 different people asked us if:
1. You and Meriden were twins...
2. You and Meriden were girls... just for the record you didn't have a trace of pink on you. I think it was the long hair.

Oh, and I love your hair.

How to make money as a kid

Jeff, I am so excited to help you make money as a kid.  I have been working on my niche website called howtomakemoneyasakid.com and it will be so much fun to teach you how to make money as a kid.  It will be so cool to see you have multiple streams of passive income that will pay for your mission, college and even after that.  You will be able to build and do whatever you want.  I can only wonder what passions and talents you will have that will direct you in the way you should make money.  I wish I could have started when I was your age.  Maybe in a year or two my site will start making me a passive income.  

Jeff I think I kiss you too much.

Jeff you are such a cute little man.  I always want to kiss your little cheeks.  Today on our hike I saw an awesome place to camp and go fishing.  It was on our hike up the Santaquin narrows.  It will be so much fun when we can go set up a tent up there and fish all day, eat our fish and just enjoy the mountains.

You are so good at the Johnny Jump Up.  You jump around and when I say your name you always turn and look at me.  You are getting the hang of that thing.  You have such a sweet great spirit.  I can tell that you are an elect son of God.  I look forward to working with you in the kingdom of God.

5 1/2 months and growing like a weed!

My dear little Jeffie... or as Meriden has begun calling you Jep-pie or Dep-pie!

Your loving spirit has enhanced the love in our family something fierce. Your smile melts my heart. Your high pitched squeal brings excitement to our family. Your active nature is so fun to watch. Here are some new happenings in your life.
1. You not only have discovered your hands (that happened more then a month ago) but now you use them. Your little pinchers or death grip can get ahold of almost anything and its almost impossible to let go... especially my hair.
2. You still cry yourself to sleep almost every nap. This week we did "The Cry Out". Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. You screamed for at least a good hour during each of those nights. For me it wasn't too bad.  I hear you scream all the time. Don't get me wrong, I did not enjoy it. But I told myself over and over that you have to learn to sleep through the night. Dad struggled. He has finally started wearing ear plugs. Friday night you slept all the way through until about 6:30am. Whew-hoo! Success! But then last night you were screaming. And my milk was full. And I hate that it bothers Dad so much. So I nursed you on the couch for about 30 min and then put you back in bed.
3. You are a very unpredictable eater. It seems like Meriden would eat whenever it was offered to her- be it breast milk or solids. You on the other hand... you're hit and miss. Especially with nursing and especially since you've become very social. You nurse when its been 3+ hours and you are STARVING and then you sometimes (this happens a few times everyday) will then eat about 30 seconds to 3 minutes and then you won't eat anymore. Almost like, I've taken away that starving feeling and now I can't be bothered... grrr, because then you're hungry a short time later. The good news is though that I weighed you yesterday and you weigh 18lbs. I don't think Meriden weighed that until she was 1! We go for your next well check in 2 weeks and we'll see what the doctor says.
4. You have such fun hair. Its like a comb over right on top. I get a lot of comments on your fun hair.
5. You are starting to discover you sister. Meriden has loved you since the day she met you. She has always been so interested in you. If you're crying and I'm in the other room and I come in I'll find her doll, rag, and some rattle all right next to you as she tries everything to share and make you happy. You're finally starting to look at her. Try and touch her face, pull her hair and smile at her. You've been a real trooper with her. You never cry when she sits on you. You rarely cry with anything she does to you- except poking your eye out, then you cry. And that's good. I just know you two will be such good friends.
6. You've become mobile! You scoot, roll and move every way you can. You jump like crazy in your johnny jump up in the kitchen. You somehow get all over the living room rolling but just a little ways frontwards and backwards since your scoots are very small. You love your play mat and play under it a lot. You love to be held.

Son, I just adore you. In the mornings I nurse you real early and then you stay in bed with Dad and I and then Dad gets up and its just me and you. You spit and gurgle and make happy coo noises and then fall back asleep. You look so comfy in our bed. I love snuggling close to you in bed. You smell so sweet and loving. I'm so grateful I get to be your mother. When I look in your eyes I think, "for one so small you seem so strong" (tarzan lyrics) and I do feel like you are already so strong both spiritually and emotionally. You will do great things in your life doing much good for all those around you.

I love you Jeffie.
Love,
Mom

Your Baby Blessing

My little Jeffie,
You have started crying yourself to sleep. It tore me apart the first couple times but now that I've seen that you fall asleep really quite quickly (about 5 minutes) and you sleep more soundly than when I rock you to sleep- I realize its got a lot of benefits.
At 3 months you started standing. You staighten you body and stand straight up looking around like "what's going on?!". Eventually your neck and legs get tired and flop like a little rag doll but you are getting so strong!
Yesterday (3 1/2 months) you rolled over! I was working on my YW lesson and Meriden was asleep so you were lying on the floor on a blanket and you rolled to your side- which you've done a lot lately and then all of a sudden you were on your tummy! You are so strong!

Dad gave you your baby blessing 2 weeks ago -June 30, 2013.
Prayer circle: Doug Oldham, Josh Rittmanic, Jeff Cooper, Jeremy Cooper, Thane Kennedy, Jeremy Meldrum, Tanner Carver
Jeffrey Jeremy Cooper by the power of the Holy Melchezideck Priesthood we come together to give you a name. The name by which you will be known on the records of the church will be Jeffrey Jeremy Cooper. At this time we'd like to give you this blessing. We bless you to be a great example to those around you and to be a strong bearer of the priesthood. You will serve your family and all those around you. We bless you to be a great missionary through out your life and to always share the gospel with those you meet and share your testimony and love. We bless you to stay close to the spirit that it will guide and direct you.Come close to the Savior and rely on Him.  Use the atonement in your life. Your Heavenly Father loves and cares about you very much. We love you. Know that you are loved. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

It was a beautiful blessing. We did it in the Relief Society room at 4pm at Grandpa and Grandma Cooper's building after their ward. For sacrament meeting Harrison Oldham gave his homecoming talk. The Scarbers and Gunsons were there and the Meldrums, Tanner Carvers, Doug and Melissa Oldham and Josh and Megan Rittmanic. On the phone I had a row of 12-13 year olds with a cell phone with Grandpa Burk, Uncle Theron, Uncle Mark, Aunt Jeni and Aunt Jessica and Aunt Rashelle. It was a little chaotic for Mommy but everything turned out great. Afterwards we had chicken haystacks at Grandpa and Grandma Cooper's house and visited. Uncle Thane and Aunt Chelsea announced that they're expecting another baby! And that was cool because at Melody's blessing dinner we had announced that we were pregnant with Meriden.

I love you sweet baby boy. Thank you for making my life so meaningful and sweet.

Love,
Mom

Smiling at 8 weeks!

You started smiling and it is so adorable. You are almost always fussy around 8-10pm each night. Cry really hard with no way of being consoled. You won't nurse even though you're acting hungry. I always feel so bad because I don't know how to help you. You have been letting me sleep ALL NIGHT! 5-9 hours! It has been awesome. You are so sweet and I'm just in love with you. Everyone calls you "mini Steve". haha. Meriden loves you so much adn gets excited every time she seems you. She loves to sit on you and sort of backs up slowly like a semi truck going beep... beep until she gets to his head and lowers herself. But then I save you... thankfully. I just know you are going to be the best of friends. 

7 weeks and slept 7 hours!

My Jeffy, 

Jeffrey you are as sweet as ever. You've been making eye contact for the last 2 weeks or so (you were about 5ish weeks) and I feel like we're getting so close to a smile. You are such a good little nurser. Your sleep at night ranges from 2 2/12 hours (a bad night) to 7 hours (an awesome night). Pretty soon I think you'll be sleeping through the night. You're still growing like a weed. Your 3 month clothes are tight on you and newborn clothes I was trying to squeeze on you for awhile are out of the question and now put away. 

Meriden wants to play with you but you are still more interested in staring at the wall then interacting with her. She's anxious for you to grow up so she can have a friend. She tries to sit on you and touch you. She always gets happier when she sees you. I can tell you 2 are going to be the best of friends. 

We're so grateful you're in our family. We feel more complete now that you are here. Grandpa Cooper loves to hold you and Grandma Cooper even watched you on Friday night while Dad and I went and played tennis for our date. You fell asleep on her chest and looked so peaceful. 

You've had less messy diapers, I think you're holding on to all that food and that's how you're growing so much. You hate sitting in your mess and you cry until someone changes. You make the cutest little snorting noises when you're hungry. You do it all the time so i have to put your bassinet in the hall so it doesn't wake me up at night. You dad can sleep through you howling and everything. Lucky Dad! 

You love being swaddled and sometimes because you're so cozy- you sleep in your car seat for hours looking so peaceful and comfortable. 

When we work outside we leave you in your carrier in the shade and you're just as content as can be. I carry you in my roo-wrap and you seem to like being snuggled up to me in there. It takes you a little while to settle in though. 

You've been camping 2 times now. Goblin Valley and Maple Lake (up Payosn canyon). We went to Goblin Valley with the Kennedy's (Thane, Chelsea and Melody) and we went to Maple Lake with the Phelps and Jacob (Tyler and Jeni). You are an awesome camper even at 6 weeks old. 

I love you so much little Jeffrey and ma so grateful that you're in our family!

Love,

Mom

One month old!

Jeffrey my boy,
You turned one month old yesterday. I need to take some pictures of you to show off the double chin that you're getting. You are such a sweet little baby. You've survived a lot this last month.
-Going through a birth canal- ouch!
-Figuring out how to eat. This is probably your best talent. You can latch on without hardly any assistance.
-Gas pains. Poor little guy. Your face gets all red, you wake up and make grunting noises and then you pas so much gas. This happens probably once a day. I'm trying to take chocolate out or change my diet to see if it will help you in this area.
-Getting constantly poked in the eye, scratched and haired pulled by your very loving sister that has I'm sure pure intentions. Thankfully you cry whenever any of this begins so i can run to your rescue.
-Circumcision. Thankfully you won't ever remember this. You healed well and I'm glad it's over.
-Lots and lots of poop. Probably your 2nd best talent. Your sister would poop probably every few days. You poop ALL THE TIME! I ran out of size 1 diapers so we've been putting Meriden's size 3 diapers on you and you fill them up every few hours. She rarely fill a whole diaper and I only change her 3-4 times a day.
-Lots of love from lots of people. All your Cooper aunts and uncles and grandparents are wanting to hold you. They love you so much. Since Baby Mallorie is all the way in Wisconsin, you're the first baby they've had around since Meriden was a tiny baby.
You need to know that I absolutely adore you. I stare at you and just smile all the time. If I could have a perfect day, I'd probably spend it just holding you on my chest and watching you peacefully breathe and sleep.
You are fussy for about an hour every evening and its hard to console you. I wonder if you're colic or something isn't settling well. I wish I could fix it for you.
Love you so much.
Love,
Mom

Your first week of life

A week has already passed by since you've joined our family.
Looks:
You are still as cute as can be. Lots of people think you look like your Dad. You actually remind me a lot of your Uncle Mark. Probably because he was so small and skinny too. Dad says you remind him of his cousin Doug.
Sleep:
Your first night home I kept your bassinet by our bed. You woke up probably 2-3 times to eat.
however as soon as you latched on, you'd fall asleep. Last night was your best night so far- woke at 3am, nursed for 30 min and went right back to sleep and didn't wake again until 7:30am. Thanks for the sleep!
Eat:
Either I'm better at helping you to nurse or your better at nursing than Meriden. You latch on correctly almost always. However, keeping you awake to eat is usually a battle.
Doctor:
You got circumcised yesterday. Dad went with you to watch and I stayed with Meriden. I felt so bad for you. Thankfully you're healing well. We use A LOT of vaseline. You have also gained back your birth weight + 2 ounces so you are now 7lbs 4oz. The dr. was proud of you. I've been scared that you were catching Meriden's cold but the dr. said you sound fine. I was so worried 2 nights ago I stayed up almost all night holding you up right to help you breath. 

From Dad

Dear Jeffrey

            I am so glad you have joined our family.  You bring so much joy and happiness to my life.  My life keeps getting better and better.  First I got your mom the girl of my dreams. Next I got Meriden, my chunky monkey, and now you my little Jeffie.  I feel honored to be your father. 

            Jeffie, I want to let you know how amazing your mom is.  She is an elect lady and you are one lucky dude to have her as your mom.  She went through a lot hard times to have you.  I am thankful she was willing to go through every thing she did to get you here.  She carried you in her womb for 9 months.  At first you would take all her energy and make her feel sick at night.  As you got bigger she got diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  To make sure you grew healthy and had the right sugar levels she had to control her diet and not eat any yummy food.  She had to eat the same kind of food day after day, just meat and veggies.  To monitor her sugars she had to poke herself 4 to 5 times a day to check her blood sugars.  The last two weeks she couldn’t eat any carbs at all.  If she did her blood sugar would spike.  She didn’t eat any carbs so you could come home from the hospital soon and not have to stay there for weeks. 

            On top of all that you kept kicking her and making her uncomfortable.  I don’t blame you, it must have been pretty cramped in there.  Your mom was very uncomfortable a lot of the time.  Her back hurt and she couldn’t go hiking or do very much fun things.  I am so grateful for her sacrifice to get you here. 

            When you decided to come out early it didn’t give mom enough time to get an epidural so she had to birth you naturally.  An epidural makes it not hurt as bad when you are coming out the birth canal.  We were trying out our new tent trailer at Lincon Beach Campground and mom started to get contractions.  We thought they were fake like we had with Meriden.  At 3:30 AM we decided to go home so mom could take a shower and relax.  The contractions didn’t go away and at 6:00 your mom woke me up and said the contractions were real and you were on your way.  We got to the hospital and the nurse said it was too late to get an epidural.  Your mom was so strong and brave and pushed you out all by herself and felt you the whole way out.  After you got out the doctor had to push on mom’s belly to make the uterus clamp down so she would stop bleeding.  He had to do it over and over.  It wasn’t fun for her because it hurt a lot. 

            Now for the next 6 weeks she has to heal and get better.  Like I said earlier she went through a lot to get you here.  I am proud of her and grateful for her sacrifice and all she went through to get you here.  Your mom is an amazing woman.  She is very brave and loves you and me so much.  I love her so much for getting you here.  We are going to have a lot of fun together.  Mom is really fun.  She will take good care of you your whole life.  We are both lucky to have her.

Love Dad

Jeffrey's Birth Letter

April 4, 2013, 7:54am
7lbs 2oz, 19 inches

My sweet little Jeffrey Jeremy Cooper,

Today, you were born. I did not think you were going to be born today, but you decided to surprise us! Mommy has been so very careful about every little thing she puts in her body, testing her blood sugar 5 times a day and measuring and weighing all her food. In the last two weeks my body especially has had troubles with any carbohydrates. I have been eating only meat, cheese, eggs and A LOT of vegetables. I knew you’d be worth every little sacrifice. The doctor was a little concerned with the gestational diabetes so he planned for you to come on Monday, April 8^th. You were to be induced at 8am. I was grateful because this way, Daddy and I could go see Lord of the Dance- tickets we bought months ago, go to Daddy’s mission reunion and enjoy conference all before you would come to us. Mommy also had a great big desire to go camping in our new pop-up trailer since we hadn’t used it and we knew we wouldn’t be using it for some time after you were born. Yesterday Mommy and Meriden spent the day with Autumn and her family. Daddy got off work and we arrived at home from SLC at about 7:30pm. By 8:00pm we had the car loaded and the trailer hooked up to go camping at Lincoln Beach. While Daddy set up the trailer, Mommy grilled some veggies and chicken on the grill. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and put Meriden to bed. The weather was great- about 43 degrees. Daddy and I spent some time outside staring at the stars and talking. We were so very excited to have you join our family. It seems like so long that we’ve been waiting for you to get here. We snuggled up in all our blankets and watched “Red Dawn”. It ended at about 12:30am. Now, for the past week, I’ve been feeling Braxton Hicks about every hour. There were 2 Sundays that they were especially bad. With Meriden, I had these a lot. And she was 5 days past her due date. Your due date wasn’t until April 10^th! After the movie, I really started feeling what I thought were BH. They were so consistent that I started timing them. Wow, 9 minutes apart. Huh… well, they’ll go away. 12:39…. 12:48…. 12:57… 1:06... these are really hurting…2:04…2:13… 2:22… and then, a really special experience. I felt Grandma Meriden Burk’s presence with me. I felt as if she was sitting next to me and in my mind I head, “Cherise, don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right… I reflected on that a lot during your birth and I know it was a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father because he loves us… 3:00…3:09… 3:18… 3:27… Um… Steven, I’ve been having labor pains the last 3 hours. Can we go home so I can take a shower and relax? Okay babe… Grab my duffle, camera, purse, laptop and of coarse, Meriden. Unhitch the trailer and head home. Boy, these really hurt. We got home and I told Dad to go to bed, being completely certain that these were BH. I took a bath… still there… walked all around the apartment… still there… rocked on my hands and knees… tried to fall asleep, they kept waking me up. Finally, around 5 or so, they hurt so bad that I decided to take another bath. Daddy had turned down the water heater so I could really get some good hot water. I took the shower head off and sprayed my tummy with the hot water. For about 15 minutes I didn’t feel anything. Yes, they’ve finally gone away. Nope… they came back except this time so painful I could hardly stand it. Oh my I thought, this is real. This is really real. I got out and woke Daddy up. I had to lay down through the contraction and now I was starting to moan they hurt so bad. We called Grandma Cooper and she suggested going to the hospital. We called Aunt Chelsea and said we’d be bringing Meriden right over. Daddy packed all our bags as I told him what to pack and then every 4 mintes he’d run over and help me relax through some extremely painful contractions. Finally, we had the stuff ready and got in the van. Daddy drove about 90mph and Aunt Chelsea met us outside to take your sister, Meriden. Daddy drove really fast to the hospital while every few minutes I would groan with pain. We grabbed a wheelchair and ran up to labor and delivery. By this time the pain was so bad I could hardly stand it. Pleeeease, get the anesthesiologist! I need an epideral!! The nurse hadn’t even checked me in when she checked my dialation. Fully dialated! She could feel the sack. Now each contraction I feel like I have to push. She told me to keep breathing, the doctor would be here soon. I couldn’t help it, I HAD to push. The doctor- Dr. Skinner, who lives in Woodland Hills was about to take a shower when he got the call. He jumped in his car, sped and ran down the halls. By this time, your head, through the sack was really showing. I had not had any vitals taken, any IVs hooked up, any information given. I just pushed with all my might! Your head came out and then one more push and the rest of your body was there. I was shaking really really bad. They asked if I wanted to hold you but I could hardly breathe or think, so I said give me some time. They weighed your sweet little body. 7 lbs 2 ounces, 19 inches long. You are just a little guy compared to your sister’s 9lbs 2 oz and 20 inches… but she was almost a week late and you were about a week early. They said everything looked great and you were hollering just perfect. You were so beautiful and handsome and perfect and I was so relieved. The pain was still right in the middle though. The doctor had to stitch me because I had ripped 1^st degree tears and a little on my euretha. He did give me a shot to numb me. He also put in a cathader. I felt some of the stitching. He also put 8 pills up my rectum to help my uterus clamp down. He also pushed as hard as he could on the inside and outside of my uterus trying to help all the birth to come out and clamp down. He showed me your placenta and your nice healthy umbilical cord. Finally, he was done. It took probably an hour of working on me in which I was tensed, screaming and in as much pain as the peak of birth. I missed the epideral so bad. The good part is, Daddy and I won’t be paying $1500 more dollars to have it. The nurse, Marie, was finally able to take my vitals and information. You were put on my tummy, even during the pain and slept right through my screams. You were looking for milk. Finally I was able to just nurse you and I finally was able to feel peace. You latched on just right and did a good job sucking. You nursed on both sides for about 20 minutes. Daddy and I just relished every second of you. We admired your long fingers and toes, your super thick dark curly brown hair, your cute little nose and every other possible detail about you. We love you so much. Thank you for joining our family. We’re so excited for Meriden to meet you!

I love you so much!

Love,

Mom