My sister and her family came to visit us last weekend and we had such a good time. My sis has 3 girls that are 12, 9, and 6 years old and they're such good little helpers! They love taking care of and playing with Cooper so I appreciated the extra help :)

On Friday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium. We've been a handful of times but this was our first trip since the penguin exhibit opened and the dolphin show began so we had so much fun! The Dolphin Tales show is spectacular so don't miss it if you ever visit! Cooper LOVED watching the dolphins do their tricks and especially loved the part when the dolpins came right up to the glass because we were in the front row...we took the risk of getting wet (which we didn't) to get as close as possible. It was really cute as we were leaving because my 12 year old neice told me that she wants to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up now :)

I love watching him see new things for the first time! I think it's one of the best things about being a parent :)

He was much more interested in this croc shoes at this moment than the gigantic pool of fish right behind him...

I love this one because of the great shot of the whale shark! He was actually turning around to show me when I snapped this picture...


He wasn't able to touch any of them because they were swimming so deeply but he liked to look at them.

I love my family...that's all :)

Blueberries exploded...

on Cooper's face! LOL...

Your toddler feeding themselves is a messy experience but the clean freak in me is learning to how to let go and just let him do his thing, well, for the most part. I am one of those moms that lets him eat how he wants to eat while teaching him to eat how I expect him to eat in public. We're not the type of parents that take off his clothes during meals because that's not how he would eat in public. Cooper is delayed in his fine motor skills (due to his hypotonia) so we have yet to grasp eating with utensils. So, he still eats with his hands which is fine by me. I get to eat with him versus having to feed him then myself. Oh, and he's on a bib strike but fortunately, he's really good about getting nearly all the food in his mouth!

The blueberries are extra fresh and juicey this week at Pub.lix!

My best friend for after meal clean-ups!

Pool fun!

We've been spending a good amount of time at the pool these days because it's so friggin hot! Cooper starts swimming lessons in two weeks so that should be fun!

Cooper and I go to the pool a lot during the week so it's a special treat when Daddy comes with us :)

Sorry for my crazy face but the sun was in my eyes!

I got Cooper this swimsuit with a built in float device but I really don't like it...notice how he's in another swimsuit in the next picture, lol..

Would you look at how excited he is! This is one of my favorites...

Cooper pulling himself up!

Cooper has been very active lately and is doing new things all the time. Yes, most of you do posts like this around 9 or 10 months but this is MY time to shine! Okay, it's Coop's time to shine but it's my blog, lol...

He's been pulling himself up to standing at the coffee table for about a month now but I never had my camera around BUT today, I finally caught it! His normal motivation is my cellphone today but I was happy that his bible story book sufficed :)

Today, he also crawled up about 3 stairs on his own strength and determination! I had him on the bottom step putting on his sandals and he turns around and proceeds to climb up the stairs! We've been working on this skill for a few weeks and evidentally he's finally caught the hang of it!

Yay!

19 months!

Dear Cooper,

Holy cow, you're 19 months old today! I can't begin to tell you how my mommy heart hates how fast that time is moving/racing/speeding so much faster than I want it to! You are so much fun, well, 98% of the time. You hate the word "no" which causes quite the scene in public but otherwise, you are pure joy! You're becoming very independent but you still want me close by which I really appreciate actually :)

You love the playground and any animal! We went to feed ducks the other day for the first time and you loved them! I was scared mindless because the duck and geese were swarming us but you were laughing your head off! I'm glad that you're so brave!

I love you. You are my reason to smile and the best part of everyday...

Love forever,
Momma

I'm 19 months, yo!

I got this mom!

Someone really, really LOVED the ducks! You can't see them in this pic but this little pond has about 30 little ducks and about 20 HUGE geese!