Ohhhh.....Ahhhh....

So Cooper has always been mesmerized with our TV. Maybe because it's huge (55 inches) and it dominates the room so it's the easiest thing for him to look at. He has also been turning his head toward sounds since he had the tiniest bit of control over his head. But he never seemed interested in smaller objects, like toys. He has a mobile over his swing that he sometimes looked at intently, but it only lasted a few seconds. He has a short attention span. Here the last few days though, he is noticing and checking out things.

Today when I came home from work, he was laying in his portacrib in the living room staring at a little toy. My mother bought this little toy a couple weeks ago that is meant to hang from the handle of a car seat. Well, in the car seat, it seems to hang too close to his face and he didn't like it. But Dixie had it hanging on the side of the crib, and Cooper was just staring at it so hard! I said to Dixie, "Look how hard his checking that thing out." And Dixie says, "Yeah, he's been doing that for about 15 minutes now."

He liked it so much! Later this evening, after we all ate and played a little bit, I layed him back in the portacrib, and he started staring at it again, then he reached out for it! That's a milestone I have been sorta waiting for him to hit, reaching out for objects. He didn't grab it, but he reached out and hit it. The toy has three parts: the plastic clippy piece at the top that attaches it to something, a middle round piece that jingles, and a little stuffed lion on the bottom. I think Cooper figured out that if he touched it, that it would jingle. He still isn't that coordinated with it, but he reached out several times and made it jingle. The rest of the time he sat and talked to it. Well, of course he didn't make conversation, but he cooed and squealed at it. I think he likes it.

Cooper has a lot more control over his head than most babies do at this age (according to Baby Center). As soon as he gets a little bit more steady with it, we are going to get him some sort of exersaucer play thing. Since he's noticing things now, we are going to start buying toys and things. We didn't get any toys as gifts, and we didn't buy any because, well, he wouldn't need them for a while. (We bought clothes and diapers instead.) I am excited to see him notice things and start to sorta play.

He has been smiling up a storm lately, and he coos all the time. He loves his daddy! Dixie will lay him on a blanket on the floor and just talk to him and Cooper loves it! Half the time Dixie isn't making much sense but it's his voice I guess. Cooper will just smile so big and kick his legs so hard. He hasn't really laughed yet. He smiles and makes a funny sound like he might be trying to laugh, but it isn't quite there yet. I can't wait til he does.

Right now, he's laying in his portacrib, talking to his other friend, the ceiling fan. They have a good relationship. When the fan is off, the air conditioner blows it just hard enough to make it turn really slowly, and Cooper seems to be able to actually track it, so he stays occupied with that a good bit.

So enough random rambling about my son...I have a pile of laundry from several days ago that just won't fold itself. I probably won't fold it tonight either. In the morning. Hopefully. Oh how I hate to fold clothes! That's a lie, it's not the folding that I hate, it's putting it away. I love to finish folding and see neat stacks of t-shirts, jeans, baby blankets, and onsies. Then I have to put it away. Ugh. Hopefully I can motivate myself to do it tomorrow. Maybe. I'll let y'all know how that goes. LOL.

until next time.....