Daddy Day Care Is Now Open!

Let me start this by saying that I never thought that this would be easy, but I never imagined it would be so tiring either. That being said, here is the story...

Amanda has basketball camp this week. She has to be at the gym at 8:00 am and gets home about 4:00 pm. That means that I am in charge of making sure that Cooper is in good shape when she gets home. Before I get to that, let's elaborate a little on why Cooper slept so much this past weekend...

Turns out when babies go through growth spurts, they sleep a LOT. This is due to the fact that the only time you can grow is when you are asleep. (Those of you that already know this and are bored, remember, I am writing this for Cooper. He may not know that when he reads this.) On top of sleeping a lot, they eat a lot too. Now for a typical feeding, Cooper eats 4 oz. Well, here lately he's been eating AT LEAST 4 oz and, more often than not, 5-6 oz. So that is why he slept so much while he was at Doc and Cindy Lou's on Father's Day. In the words of Paul Harvey, and now for the rest of the story...

Monday came and went with no real issue. In fact, it was quite enjoyable to get to spend so much time by ourselves. It's not that we don't like when Amanda is here, it's just that since Coop was born, there have not been an abundance of opportunities for it to be just me and him. After Monday I thought that was going to be a breeze. Well, that's what I get for thinking.

Tuesday it was like I had a different kid at my house. He was fussy ALL day. At no point could I put him down in order for me to get anything done. I had planned on doing some stuff around the house so that is was kinda clean when Amanda got home. Well that wasn't going to happen. Coop just wasn't having it. If he wasn't fussing he was either spitting up or needed a diaper change. Let's just say it made for a long day.

Wednesday my son was back. He was his typical self. He woke up at 6:30 and took a catnap or two and didn't really take a REAL nap until 1. When we got up, he sat in his seat or played in the floor on his belly. Now this I could get used to.

I don't really know what Thursday has in store, but I will keep you updated. Friday will be normal. Amanda will be done with camp and at home to hang out with us. I'm not saying that I could make a living as a daycare provider, but as long as days like Tuesday are not real common, I could end up being pretty good at this.

Daddy's First Father's Day

Sunday we celebrated my first Father's Day. Amanda and Cooper had given me a truck liner for my Father's Day/ Anniversary present. (It's AWESOME and looks great!) To start the day we went to Granbury to visit Doc and Cindy Lou and hang out with Amanda's Family. Cooper was true to form around that group and slept most of the time like he seems to do anytime he's around them. I swear they think he never opens his eyes! (More on that later.)

After we left Granbury we went back to Mimom and D-Daddy's. We hung out there and ate dinner and then, much to Evan's delight, we spent a little time in the pool to end the day.

Cooper LOVED the water and wasn't real bothered by the fact that I have HORRIFIC tan lines. The only thing about it that he didn't like was when it came time to get out.

Overall it was a great Father's Day and I look forward to many more.

Cooper's First Camping Trip

So apparently over the years since I was younger, spending the night with grandparents is now called "camping." At least that is what it is called at Mimom's and D-Daddy's. On Friday, June 17, 2011, Amanda and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. In order for us to do what we had planned (dinner at Texas de Brazil and Four Day Weekend) we had to leave Cooper with my parents. Amanda and I were definitely a little anxious, but Mimom and D-Daddy were super excited. Ironically, it was also Clint and Hillary's anniversary so Evan was there too. We took Coop over about 6:00 pm and left to go enjoy the evening. We had a great time, even though we called and checked on Coop twice. More to be funny than really concerned. We left Ft. Worth around midnight. As you get older, and especially after you have kids, midnight is LATE! When we drove by the house we contemplated just pulling in and sleeping there, but decided to forego that idea and just head home to sleep a solid 8 hours for the first time in months.

The next morning we woke up and went picked Cooper up. Much to our surprise he was just as we left him. Turns out that even though it has been 20+ years since they had a kid of their own in diapers, Mimom and D-Daddy are more than capable of taking care of Coop.

The Many Faces of Cooper!

Now that Coop is 2 months old, we have noticed that some of the faces he made just a few weeks ago are not being made as often. Here are some of the good ones so far.

We Now Play Pass The Baby!

Well, it is the last day of school and Amanda has been back all week. This has been a rather difficult transition for her as she is not quite ready to leave Cooper for most of the day. In our planning for this event, we decided to make arrangements to play a little game we call "Pass the Baby."

In order to play Pass the Baby, you have to have a minimum of 6 players. There is no maximum number as the more people that play, the more interesting the game becomes. The players in this initial version are...
Deda, Cindy Lou, Momma Lou, Mimi, Mimom, D-Daddy, Daddy and Mommy.

Deda played first as she came and kept Cooper on Tuesday. I think that they both really enjoyed their time together even though Amanda was a little anxious to get back to Cooper. Cooper was awake most of the day and played a lot. At 2:00 pm Mommy was done with class so Deda had to bring Cooper up to the school.

Cindy Lou probably got the lesser end of the deal because she kept Coop on Wednesday, along with Micah. Micah was enamored with the fact that Cooper is starting to show some personality and is a lot more alert for longer periods. However, Miss Micah was NOT a fan of changing diapers, nor was she a fan of post feeding activities. Cooper got a little queasy after eating and might have spit up... a lot! According to Micah she "saw it coming and dove out of the way." Cindy Lou did get to give Coop a bath as a result though.

Thursday brought with it Momma Lou. She loved getting to spend some time with Coop, or Mister M as she calls him. The only draw back is that he did sleep quite a bit that morning so she didn't get to play quite as much as she wanted. Thursday night Mommy and Daddy left Cooper with Mimom and D-Daddy thinking that they would watch him while we ran to the house and got a quick workout in. While the workout was brutally difficult, it did only last an hour. Before we could get back over to Mimom and D-Daddy's we got a call that said "Cooper said he wants El Fenix. We will bring him home later." You gotta love when that happens!

Friday was Mimi's day. Cooper was eating a bottle when she got there and was wide awake. She was ready to play and Cooper looked to be agreeing.

Pass the Baby was a big success this week. I am not sure that it will catch on on a big scale, but I am pretty sure that it will be a staple game around the Rodgers' house for some time. The fact that we have so many people who so willingly drop what they are doing to come help out (I realize this is more to get to spend time with Cooper than anything) is a true blessing. Everyone was so excited when their day came and tried to convince Amanda and I that we needed to be gone just a little bit longer each day.

To all who helped, we thank you so much and Cooper is so lucky to have so many in his life who love him so much.