MommaMissy: Almost There

The Schwake clan is almost back to normal...our new normal that is. Cooper has fit in very nicely to our family. The girls really love him...and I'm not just saying that. Cate can't get enough of him. She came down with the flu (after being vaccinated, grrr) AND strep throat this week. We told her she couldn't kiss or play with Cooper until she was better. She started crying. And Clare has amazingly been great with him too and is always kissing him and 'helping'. In fact, we had only one minor book banging on head (lightly) incident which seemed more of a test (what will happen if I bonk this baby on the head) than anything. After being swiftly reprimanded and told never to do that again, that baby's aren't as strong as bigger kids, yada, yada, yada, and a bit of crying, she hasn't ever done it again. Attley has taken it all in stride with an occasional walk-by licking. And other than not sleeping, being sick for 2 of the five weeks he's been here, and being on my emotional rollercoaster, I'm doing pretty darn good as well. I think once he makes this developmental leap that happens right around 6 weeks (he's 5 1/2 weeks old as of this posting) everything should be smooth sailing.

What is this new guy like, you're wondering? Cooper is a super good baby which is helping with the getting back to normal part. He's a great nurser, rarely fusses, and already is doing a 5 hour sleep stretch at night. He's got a good case of the baby acne right now - that always seems to happen right when you get your poop enough in a group to want to get the announcement pictures out, doesn't it! He is a champ at staring at black and white patterns. He does a great karate kid imitation (the crane). He can sleep right through very loud little girl screaming. And he gave me his first real smile the other day. Just one but it was so dang cute that I can't wait to see more.

So, other than adjusting to our new life, not much has changed. We're all getting a bit of cabin fever and can't wait for warm weather. I'm chomping at the bit to get out walking again - actually just to move in general would be good. Most of my pregnancy weight is off, I just have 10 lbs to get to pre-pregnancy weight. And then I was hoping to lose even more after that. Hopefully Coop-dog (Scott's nickname for him) can help me with that - he can get fatter while I get skinnier!

Cate turned 4 on Feb 2 and has gained some new responsibilities like wiping herself after pooping and feeding Attley all by herself. We'll add more as time goes on but those tasks are going well. Our little family went to Chucky Cheese for dinner on her b-day and then celebrated with her extended family the next day.

She came away with numerous barbies, some cute clothes and misc. other toys...all of which she has loved playing with. She had her 4 year doctor's visit the other day and is right on track with everything. She's still taller than 97% of the girls her age but she's slimming down quite a bit and is average in that department.