you're seven months old, coop!

My my my, you have quite the personality these days, Coop.

And you also have many names: Coop, Mr. Coop, Mr. Baby, Mr. Bubs, just Bubs, CooperBaby, and little stinker, depending on the day. You hold your own bottle now and you love it. Somehow you manage to get the very last drop out of the bottle even though we, your loving parents, haven't even figured out how to do that. 

You sit all by yourself and play for upwards of 40 minutes independently. This makes your working mama very proud of you, and it makes mama's clients happy when they receive their photos just three days after their shoot.

You don't like it when we take something away from you (that's fun...). But at least you still think ANYTHING is the newest, coolest toy, as long as you haven't seen it yet that day. Things like: a toothbrush, a stick of deodorant, a hairbrush in a ziplock bag, a broken blackberry.  

You roll all over the place, but only if there's somewhere to go or something to get.

When people hold you on their laps, it seems like you are training for a marathon. You spring forward with your legs and rock your body back and forth like you're on a horse. You're a crazy little baby and we love you :)

Developmentally, you're strong. You can hold yourself up in a standing position as long as you're holding onto something. You keep your legs rigid and straight to prevent someone from sitting you down. We've started sign language with you :) Just a few things here and there: bottle, bed, thank you, please, eat, drink, sleep, blanket... Of course, you're not signing back yet but that time will come.

You pull off your socks every chance you get, and between the carseat and the door is a place we refer to as the sock graveyard. Most days when we arrive where we're going, you need both socks to be put back on before we can get out of the car. Mommy's purse is filled with socks, and most days the ones on your feet don't match.

Life is good, although some days are longer than others for your mom and dad. Those are the days when nothing seems to entertain you for longer than three or four minutes at a time. But by morning, everything is fixed and you're kicking your legs in your crib trying to get us to come in, swoop you up, and bring you to the big bed. We play for a bit, you have your first bottle, and by the time dad is showering and getting ready for work, you've already fallen back asleep.

Life is good, little Coop.