The Life & Times of Delaney Jo

I realized I haven't posted much about Miss D lately, so I thought why not today?!?  Delaney has been a busy girl lately.  She seems to be growing up much too fast.  She continues to spend her days with Holly and all her friends over there.  We had a relatively brief period of  "bad behavior" over there a while back, but she seems to be on the right track now.  She continues to have a bit of a problem with authority, and who's in charge.  Like a typical first-born, she likes to be the boss, and she loves to argue.  This weighs on my patience daily (as I'm also a typical first-born).

She is a girly-girl that loves accessories and all things Princess (FROZEN, especially), but she is a rough & tumble girl too.  She loves to "help" Daddy with his projects and get dirty.  She loves to be outside and race around on her bike or scooter.  She becomes a princess at least once almost every day.  She will suddenly disappear for a few minutes, and then emerge from her room in head-to-toe glitz & glamour.  Then, she will perform...current favorites are "Let It Go", "Roar", and "Cruise".  Delaney lives for a good dance party!

Delaney's challenge this summer is overcoming her fear of swimming.  We finished a group swimming lesson session last week at the YMCA.  Delaney progressively got worse/more scared with each class and didn't complete her level.  Somewhere along the way our little water baby developed a serious fear of the water.  Her teacher recommended some private lessons, so we start those today.  I'm praying they help!  We tried on our life jacket to make sure we're ready for our upcoming trip to Okoboji.  Let's hope she's a little more comfortable in the water by then!

 Delaney is becoming more and more helpful all the time.  Aside from being a little rough & crazy, she is a a very good helpful big sister.  She loves to help feed Cooper puffs, or help with his baths, and she's great at running and grabbing things for me.  She can also help calm him down when I can get right to him.  He loves her!  She also like to help around the house.  She loves to help in the kitchen with dinner or baking.  She also is Daddy's little sidekick for various projects.  She just helped him fix our broken bed the other night, and last night she helped him trim the birch tree in the front yard.  Her face lights up when she is a good helper!

Our little girl is growing up before our eyes.  I know the last 6 months have been rough on her, but I think/hope we've made it through the worst of it.  She still isn't letting me forget how much she really wanted a baby sister, but she loves her brother to pieces!  She's full of sass and spunk, but she's really is a sweetheart underneath.  She makes me laugh daily with the crazy things she says, and she learns and absorbs so much all the time.  She has become my human post-it note because she never forgets ANYTHING.  She challenges us and keeps us on our toes, but we'd have it no other way!

A few firsts for Cooper

Last weekend was jam-packed of "firsts" for little Cooper.  He had his first trip to the Omaha Zoo, and was SOOOO good!  He took his first train ride there, too!  He celebrated his first Father's Day with his Daddy and Papas.  He also went to her first movie at the movie theater...How to Train Your Dragon 2.  He was so good through all of it, and usually had a big smile on his face!  It was a super fun and exhausting weekend!  We also saw Jaiden's dance recital, ate a lot of yummy food, and had a sleepover with Chip & Lauren!  Delaney had a ball with all of it, and was one tired girl by Sunday night!  

The two kiddos about to see the bears!

Family train ride selfie!

She is so grown up all of a sudden!

How he spent most of his first movie experience!

Cooper-6 months

We celebrated Cooper's half birthday yesterday, with a trip to visit the pediatrician for some more vaccinations and a good thorough checkup!  He checked out perfect (as usual), and we are good to go for another 3 months assuming no illness or injuries!

Cooper's 6 month stats:

Height:  26in.  (25 %)

Weight:  15lbs 15oz (10-25%)

Head:  17 1/2 in.  (75-90%)

As you can see, Cooper remains on the slightly smaller than average side of the scale, but he also remains on the same steady growth curves he had since birth.  Delaney didn't really start going "off-the-charts" until she was about 2, so I'm not worried!  Coop also continues to eat more and more all the time, so I'm expecting some big growth spurts coming.  He has been given the "green light" for more food.  He can have pretty much anything except honey & cows milk (to drink) between now and a year as long as he's ready.  We just got through most of the "single food" options, so we'll start trying some different combinations, and hopefully work to table food soon.  He seems to pay more attention when the rest of us are eating, so I expect he'll be excited for more big boy food!

He is still battling with those teeth, and the doctor yesterday said she doesn't think they are quite ready to pop though.  This bums me out because Cooper has really been struggling with them for 2 months already.  He has not been quite as smiley or happy lately.  His sleeping has also suffered.  He went a couple months with sleeping through the night, and now we're lucky if he sleeps all night once a week.  Poor kiddo (and poor Momma!)!  We are very blessed that he is a pretty laid back, happy guy because I know he's hurting, but he doesn't fuss or cry much at all, but I would be so thankful for a little relief for the little guy.

Cooper seems to be getting busier & busier every day.  He now rolls all over the place, and he can't be trusted anywhere.  He is constantly grabbing anything he can get his hands on, and EVERYTHING goes immediately to his mouth.  This is something we have been trying to teach Delaney because she's pretty oblivious to the little things she leave around the house.  He is close to officially being a "sitter".  He's got the tri-pod sit down pretty good, so it's only a matter of time.  He has also figured out that rolling can get him from point A to point B.  It's so fun to watch him work to get somewhere.  He hasn't figured out that stationary objects like walls and tables will stop his progress though, so he gets pretty mad when he runs into one of those...it's pretty funny!.  We recently got out some of the "bigger baby toys", and Cooper has been in heaven.  One of them was a little jumper gym, and he LOVES that thing.  He just bounces and bounces, and laughs and grins in there.  Delaney didn't use it all that much, so I'm excited her little brother is giving it a good workout.  It's adorable!  

Speaking of Delaney, Cooper LOVES his big sister!  She can get him to smile and giggle with the craziest things that drive us crazy!  He watches her as she walks across the room, and he can find her in a crowd.  He loves to watch her talk, sing, or dance.  He finds her completely fascinating and absolutely hilarious!  I love watching them together.  She loves him to, and is becoming more and more helpful with him all the time.  She's still a little rough, but so far Cooper appears to be pretty tough and tolerant of her brand of crazy.  

Cooper is a Momma's boy, no doubt, and I sort of love it.  There are definitely times when I wish he wasn't quite so much, but I know these days aren't going to last for long and I'm trying to soak them up while I can. I'm getting very good at one-handed tasks...washing dishes, laundry, fixing Delaney's hair, etc.  I might have mismatched biceps by the time he's one!  He is a lover, and loves to give big, sloppy, wet, open mouth kisses.  In fact, Grandma Tekamah (my mom) is a favorite of his for kissing!  He has also started examining faces.  He'll put his little chubby hands on both of your cheeks and just check you out.  It's so cute! He frequently checks out Daddy's face!  He thinks his Daddy is pretty cool!  He lights up when Craig enters the room, and Daddy can get some pretty good giggles out of him.  I'm anxious for these two to bond more as Cooper grows!  

I CANNOT believe he is six months old already.  I don't think I've even been more sleep deprived or tired that I have for the last 6 months, but it's been so worth it!  I can't imagine life without our little man!  Happy Half Birthday Scrunchie!

6 Months of Cooper

Uncle Chip Got Hitched!

So, Uncle Chip & Aunt Lauren FINALLY got married a couple weeks ago!  They were engaged for 2.5 years, so it seems like it was a long-time coming;however, for the last couple months it sure sneaked up on us fast.  Craig & I were both honored to be a part of their big day.  Lauren asked me to be her "Matron" of  Honor, although I hate the title of "Matron".  I decided I should have been called the "Best Woman" instead.  Craig got to be Chip's Best Man, which was pretty fun.  Craig is the big brother Chip never had, and Chip is the little brother Craig never had.  Delaney got to be the "Flower Girl Princess", and Cooper was an honorary Ring Bearer.  It was sort of a 3 ring circus to orchestrate all the logistics of getting our entire family properly outfitted and presentable at the right times for all the events.  But in the end, it was a wonderful day filled with lots of love & laughter!  Delaney summed it up last week for me randomly one morning before work...

Delaney (from the other room):  "Mom!"

Me:  "What?"

Delaney:  "Chip and Lauren's wedding was AMAZING!!!"

Now, the pictures!  These are some quick snapshots straight from my phone, so they aren't the best, but we are anxiously waiting the photos from the photographer!  

Princess Delaney with the beautiful bride

My beautiful babies

Jess and I with our baby brother and his new bride

Mother and Sisters of the Groom

Delaney & Chase

Me & my little man

Our family of 4 all dressed up!