Family Elf Dance

My cousin sent this to me with her family and I thought it was so hilarious that I just had to create it for our fam. Ryan is my favorite. Enjoy!

Friends From Chicago

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Our friends Megan and Mike (and their daughter Emmie) came to see us off on Sunday morning. They used to live in Chicago and we wish they were still here. It was a short visit but still good to see them.

Bath

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Ryan gets his weekly bath. We brought along an inflatable duck that my cousin gave to us, blew it up and put it in my parents' tub. Despite all the water in his eyes, Ryan does very well during his baths. In fact, he loves them.

Good Puppy

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Tim and Cooper on Christmas Morning.

Christmas Morning

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

We had our Cooley Christmas on Saturday morning because the Long's are stealing me during the real Christmas holiday. Papa is helping Ryan ride without training wheels.


You can click on the picture to be taken to the Week 19 pictures as well as all the pictures from Christmas Morning.

Thanksgiving Dinner

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Nonny and Ryan snuggle after turkey. I should have taken some photos of the food. It was that good.

Dominoes

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

We spent a lot of time with the family playing dominoes this weekend. We played a form of dominoes called Mexican Dominoes which means the numbers on the bones go up to 12 instead of 6. We played whenever we had a free minute - which wasn't too often.

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Ryan even helped my Dad play a little bit: "Papa, the whole table is waiting for you to lay your piece. It's not that difficult. Lay your 7 next to the other 7 on the table."

Sledding in MN

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

We received just enough snow so that we could pull the sled out of the attic for Ryan when we were in MN. All it did though was provide a good photo op - we couldn't actually send him down the hill yet. So we took the opportunity to get a family picture.

Clicking on the picture will take you to the Week 18 pictures on Flickr.

We're without Dan again, in the big Minni

Ryan and I left Dan early to spend some extra time with the Minnesota crew for Thanksgiving. It's nice that we are able to do this, but too bad that we have to leave Dan...we miss him.

Despite that, we are having a great time and Ryan is having so much fun he is exhausted! He's been sleeping very well, which is wonderful for me!! Here he is before a nap. He's so tired, but no one wants to put him to bed b/c it means they have to stop cuddling him.

Cuddling with Grammy.

Cuddling with Aunt Bear.

Grammy and Papa Babysit

Grammy and Papa babysat Ryan yesterday while Tim, Rachel, Kerry, and I went to the Vikes game. Skol Vikes! Though I have to remain loyal to the Browns, there is usually not a conflict of interest like in baseball so I don't feel bad cheering for the Vikings. It was my first live football game of the season, which is crazy since I usually go to all of the ND games, so I had a blast! Also, I felt right at home sitting by a guy named Dan and his buddy Ryan!! What a coinkidink.

G and P (that's Grammy and Papa, not to be confused with Gary and Paula) had a blast with Ryan. Their activities included lots of laughing in front of the full length mirror. Just look at those "Cooley eyes".





Ryan can be a little full of himself-he loves that little guy he sees in the mirror. Let's hope he outgrows this by the time it is no longer cute.

Marla's Baby Shower

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Sharis and her Mom threw a baby shower for Marla this weekend in Cleveland. Marla and Ben are getting close to having a new child. It's pretty amazing to watch even though we just went through it. I tagged along to help with Ryan and wherever else I could. I managed to sneak in a little football watching time with Sharis' sister's husband's sister's husband (Marla's brother in law Jeff) while the shower was in session and while Ryan was flirting with the ladies. Ryan was pretty good in the long car rides there and back. We managed to make it back in 6 hours while it took us 6 hours and 45 minutes to get out there.

Click on the picture to be taken to the Week 18 photos.

Ryan Rolls Over

Ryan rolled from his back to his tummy several times yesterday and even rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time. He did the former for the first time about 1.5 weeks ago, but I wasn't sure if it truly counted b/c he had a little help from the blanket he was lying on. Regardless, I am obviously much more excited about this milestone than he is. Enjoy making Cooley history with us!!

Crash and Burn

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Ryan and I were out for a walk and he started to get fussy so I quickly headed home to get him to bed. I didn't make it in time. He was too tired and took a nose dive into his little car seat bundle me. When we got home I lifted him out of his stroller and put him "as is" into his crib so he could finish out his nap.

Ryan Can Read

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

I know you all probably figured he could read by now since you saw the video of him writing, but I wanted to show you proof in case there was any doubt. This is for real, not staged. He enjoys leafing through this book from his Great Aunt Vicki in his Bumbo while Mommy makes dinner.

Sibling Weekend

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

I want to thank Tim and Kerry for coming into town with their significant others this weekend. I knew Kerry was coming into town but Tim surprised me out at the bar during my Birthday party. It was a nice surprise! We had a fantastic time with them and really enjoyed getting to know them better (the significant others that is). Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Kerry and Nick (I don't know how that happened), but there are some pics over on Kerry's Flickr page.

If you click on the picture you will be taken to the Week 17 pictures.

Our Little Monkey

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Ryan is a happy little man during and after bath time. He just graduated to using the baby bath without the mesh hammock.

There are a few more pictures of Ryan in the Week 16 set that were just added.

An Exhausting Weekend

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

We kicked off this weekend with a party at our house for Dan's 30th birthday. It was a pretty small gathering and although the guest of honor was actually Dan, Ryan was a huge crowd favorite. Don't my boys look handsome? I am one lucky girl.

Ryan stayed up a little later than normal and thus began our downward spiral toward one wired kid.

Aunt Kerry and her boyfriend Nick and Uncle Tim and his girlfriend Rachel were in town for the weekend as well and this meant major fun for Little Man. Who wants to nap when your aunt and uncle are around to play with?! Not to mention Ryan's little brain is really working overtime with all the learning he's doing lately (see post on "Ryan studying hands"-intense). Despite the fact that he barely napped Saturday and Sunday, he was still one happy, laughing little guy. Dan and I struggled for 4 hours last night to get him down for bed and I am finally able to reach some semblance of normalcy today as he is in the midst of a 2.5+ hour nap. We'll get him rested up again only to inundate him with another party weekend full of family at his Aunt Marla's shower coming up on the 10th. Stardom is exhausting.

Watch Him Learn

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Here Ryan studies his hands. Hands are quite interesting indeed.

A Kid Who Obviously Hates His Car Seat

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Ryan has been known to cry hysterically in his car seat and work himself up into such a fit that he is literally soaked from head to toe when I am finally able to get to him and save him from the treacherous seat. He seems to be getting over this fear with age. I am impressed with his growth and maturity. Way to take it like a man, Ryan.

Subscribe to Email Comments

Blogger has now made it possible to subscribe to email comments so that when you make a comment on someone's post, you can see all comments that follow - they will be emailed to you.  Blogger has a post about how it works if you would like to read about it.

An example of when I use this is if I am dying for some information on Jackson over at "The Schneller Teller" and his negligent parents haven't updated his blog in a week or two (which happens quite often), I can subscribe to the comments of their last post to find out what their friends and family are saying about it.  This way, if I am not getting any REAL news from the Schnellers, I can at least get bits and pieces from their family and friends.  

Halloween Outfit

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

This is as close as Ryan got to dressing up for Halloween. We didn't do much in terms of dressing up because he can't really enjoy it yet. Next year.

His great grandmother Nonny gave him this outfit. My Little Pumpkin.

You will be taken to Ryan's Week 16 photo set if you click on this picture.

Birthday Cake

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Here is the cherry cake Sharis made for me. Yum. Ryan was very interested in the candles.

You will be taken to Ryan's Week 15 set if you click on the picture.

Ryan Makes Dad's Birthday Card

This is what Ryan and I did for Dan's birthday. It was quite the project! Took me awhile to get it up, I wanted to have it done on the 29th as part of Dan's "gift" b/c as many of you might guess he is ALWAYS on me to do more blog posts. Unfortunately, I had a lot of other things that I had to accomplish that day as well...sorry for the delay...enjoy!