I get it now

I'll admit.  I didn't get it. I had a "what's the big deal kind of attitude"...

Well, now I get it.

We took Cooper for his FIRST HAIR CUT today.  (Do I need to say any more?!?!)

I made the appointment.  It was MY idea. I didn't get it.  Don't worry, I didn't break down into sobbing hysterics, but I kind of wanted to.  My baby grew up x100 between 12:15 and 12:30 today.  He went from BABY to BOY before my eyes.  Wait, I can get even more dramatic if you want me to.  The same hairs from his sweet little head that he was born with are now on the floor and being swept into the trash!  OK.  I'll stop.  But I totally get it now.  

Once I got over myself, I realized that Cooper was doing great!  He was so still and very interested in what Susan was doing.  He cried when she got out the clippers to cut around his ears.  I didn't blame him.  It would scare me too. She asked if I wanted gel.. I said no.  She asked if I wanted it styled with spikes like his dad... I said no.  Didn't she know I was doing everything I could just to keep it together!  Don't make it worse by putting grown up gel in his hair! 

As for me...I'm sure I'll recover soon, but I'm going to miss seeing that disheveled, unruly head poking up at me when I go in to get him from his naps. We might wait awhile for the next one.

I'll spare you having to look at the 50+ photos I took in a matter of 15 minutes. Here are a few of my favorites and of course, the finished product.

The before.  Looks like I could use a hair cut also!

 The first snip

 Those darn clippers

All Done!

Sigh... another opportunity to let go.  

It's ok if I shed a few tears along the way... right?

Cooper John 9 months

9 months. 3/4 of a year. He's been around as long as I was pregnant (if you don't count the 4 early weeks of pregnancy). Another milestone and another month of incredible growth.  This month I am in utter amazement of what this boy is learning to do.  

How does he know what to do next???? 

I am baffled. 

  

I have found a new admiration for creation and the God who designed it all.

So last month he started crawling.  From there he learned to push himself up to a sitting position when he wanted a break from the crawling. Then he started pulling himself up on things!  It all happened in a matter of weeks.  

How does he know what to do next??? 

Still baffled. 

But totally in love with watching him figure it all out.  

He approaches these new skills with such determination.  He has a sense of freedom with his newfound skills too.  And boy is he brave!  He pulls up without any reservation of possibly falling over.  He goes for things out of his reach without fear of losing balance.  He looks over the edge of the chair at his toys below and is ready to dive down and get them. He crawls down the hall and into rooms looking for us if we have left the room he was in.  Not afraid.  I wouldn't mind if he was just a little more cautious.  But the Lord is giving me another avenue to say "I have placed this precious boy into your hands Lord and I trust You."  

Other fun tidbits about the boy this month.  

He started clapping the day he turned 9 months.  He was on his changing table and just started clapping.  He does it with such gusto too!  Very purposeful about his claps.  

He had his first round of antibiotics for an ear infection.  He had his first fever that lasted about 5 days stemming from a throat infection.  He was one sick boy.

He traveled to Lake Arrowhead to hang with our friends from Compass for one last hurrah!

And this one is huge..are you ready for this... he stayed overnight without me...twice!!  The first time we left him with his Grammie and Gramps overnight. Then the next weekend I escaped with the ladies from North Coast Church and he had his Papa all to himself for two days! He did great.  I don't think he even missed me and it was easier than I thought it would be.

And finally..the photos.

It is getting so hard to get these photos!  This next series is me trying to get him to look at me, but as you can see so many other things are more interesting.  Like eating the chair of course.

 He has pulled up!

 Are those some delicious legs or what!!

Here we go..start to finish of pulling up!

He is so sweet with his books.  He loves to crawl into the closet and pull them out.

Nope. Not afraid.

 Look, I'll just use one hand!

...and I'll climb all over Papa

 But wait.. he is bigger than me..and can tackle me!!!

Thankful for another month of giggles.

An intruder and a little bit of clean up..ok a lot

We had an intruder at the Poladian house this week.  

Its name..the stomach flu.  Its offense...sickness.   

The bug intruded on my sweet husband.  Poor thing he was so sick it made me sad. Even still, we decided it was best if Cooper and I fled the scene.  Yep, we took off in an effort to stay healthy. 

(Here is where I admit to my phobia of germs and nothing makes me run faster than the thought of the flu.  Throwing up..the worst. Nausea..unbearable. Chills and aches...yuck.)

So in the morning when Matt was better and decided to take off to work my one request was open every window and sliding door in the house.  Fresh air in and germy air out. A few hours later Cooper and I came home.  I gave the guy lunch, put him down for his nap and went to work. I sprayed disinfectant on every counter top Matt may have come in contact with and left it for 10 minutes, longer than the recommended 1 minute listed on the bottle for sanitizing.  We were not taking any chances here.  I used bleach on every toilet and cleaned the floors around the toilet.  All sheets, towels, blankets and clothes that were worn during the intrusion period were washed in hot water. Any toy of Cooper's that Matt could have breathed on was cleaned.

I was tireless.  

When I was done I wanted to do it again...you know...just to be sure every germ was GONE.

Here comes the lesson.

When I was putting the sheets back on the bed I thought about my sin.  Just as disgusting as the stomach bug germs.  Just as far reaching and intrusive.  But do I go to the great lengths (and I know they are great - a little over the top some of you may even say) to rid myself of it as I do when a sickness invades my home?  I can't answer with a resounding YES! and I see that as a problem.  My sin, albeit it very respectable (you should all read Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges), is SIN.  It is what keeps me from a relationship with a Holy God.  It is the difference between Christ and myself.  It is what I work to shed as I travel the road of sanctification.  Its absence in heaven makes me long for the day when I can arrive.  It is what brings me to my knees in humble gratitude toward Christ.  

You see, because my sin is too great for me to repay and too entangling in this life for me to get free from, I need help.  I need a sinless life.  I don't have one and I can't live one. But God in His mercy sent His Son to live the sinless life I couldn't.  God made provision for the repayment of my sins through Christ's death on the cross.  He conquered it and beat it and because I believe He did when God looks at my life... He sees a sinless one.  AMAZING!     

This message..the gospel message...should encourage me every day to flee from sin just like I did the stomach bug. To scour my life and clean it up. I must use bleach if necessary and go back over it one more time just to make sure it is GONE.

Have you?

Cooper John 8 months

Here we go with another month to report on!  I'm sitting here typing, watching him on the monitor move about in his bed instead of taking his nap and smiling because it seems like Cooper has always been part of our family.  Our days without him seem so distant when in reality less than a year ago we didn't even know we were having a boy!

The big news this month is CRAWLING!!  Just a few days after Cooper passed up the 8 month mark he figured it out.  Moving the hands and legs together to move forward.  What a feat!  For the past month he had been trying so hard.  He had the legs down for a long time before he got the arms moving.  But all the pieces have been put together and he is on the move!  He still prefers to get up on all fours and fling himself forward..he can get there faster...but I can be sure by the 9 month post I'll be able to report about a little man crawling all over the place...and a tired mama chasing after him.

He continues to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables...not turning his nose up at too many.  His definite favorites include avocado, sweet potato, apple sauce and banana. The next up in his cue to try are proteins and dairy!  Yogurt, tofu, chicken..yummy!

He is so curious and interested in what is going on.  We pray that curiosity stays and leads him to an understanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross.  That he remains interested in other people and has a heart to love them.  He is sweet and playful and rough and tough all at the same time. 

He is precious to us. So precious.  

He experienced his first trauma this past month.  We were driving out on the toll roads in Orange County when we were hit by a car running a red light.  It was loud and spun us around, but by God's grace we were both unharmed.  Cooper charmed the Police Officers and Paramedics as well as two passer-bys who stopped to help. The car is in the shop, Coop has a new car seat and I am ever so thankful it wasn't any worse. 

And of course... a photo gallery of our big boy!

This face with the bed head cracks me up..and yes I took the photo into the sun :) 

This next series is so typical Cooper. Fingers in his mouth and rolling around! The only thing missing is grabbing his feet and putting them in his mouth.

And lastly, our crawler.  So proud of him! 

This month I am counting my blessings and praising God, who before time began planned the course of each of our lives and decided Cooper should be part of ours.