Okay, so this is a very late and very long post. July was a busy month! Cooper officially turned 11 months back on July 27th. During his 11th month Cooper was up to a lot of things (so this update will let you know what he was doing during July- I'll save what his up to now for the next post). Cooper surprised us with 2 more teeth on the top for a total of 6 teeth for now. He is constantly drooling so I am sure more are on the way. :) He finally mastered the fine art of drinking out of a sippy cup all on his own. He now has figured out that he needs to tip the cup up to get more of the juice/water. Yay! He loves to climb the stairs at his Nana and Papa's house (still working on learning to go down backwards- face first doesn't work so good). Cooper uses anything that is near him to stand up and will walk if he has someone or something to hold on to. He uses his walker thingy so much more to walk around the house. Cooper has stood without holding on to anything just a couple of times and for only a few seconds. He is not quite sure about letting go and walking. He is getting closer and closer to walking. Along with all these milestones, Cooper had some fun adventures in July. We went to the beach for our 6th anniversary on July 3rd and Cooper and daddy had fun playing in the sand. We went to the zoo a few times and got to see the dinosaurs too. His biggest adventure was going to Alaska to see his grandma and grandpa on July 23rd-31st. He did so great on the plane- his first flight! He had fun peeking at the people through the seats and even slept a little on the way to Alaska. The flight home he slept the whole way (it helped that the flight was during the middle of the night). It was so fun spending time with family and for Cooper to see his grandparents. He turned 11 months old while we were in Alaska so we did his 11 month photo shoot at Hatcher's Pass, an old abandoned gold mine. The pictures below are his 11 month pictures first and then our adventures in order for the month of July (so most of the Alaska pictures are towards the end).
11 months old and in his little Carhartts and SmartWool hat.
Now here are the rest of the pictures for July mostly in order. :)
Chomping on black beans! He just loves them!
Crawling around!!
Snuggling with all his stuffies.
July 3rd beach trip- we stopped at the Tillamook Forestry Center.
Ice cream at the cheese factory.
We stopped at the Blue Heron Cheese Factory to see all the animals.
I got to feed a llama. It felt so weird. I was a little nervous that it would spit on me too.
Cannon Beach
Cooper loved the sand. He liked to let it run through his fingers.
He decided to dip his face in the sand too!
Hay Stack Rock- so beautiful!
Getting cleaned up at the car.
Jeff's toy! :)
Dinosaurs at the zoo- Jeff trying to feed Cooper to the big dino!
Cooper chillaxin' in his stroller at the zoo.
Again, Jeff trying to feed Cooper to a lion now.
Cooper and I
Bigger than the baby lion.
Hanging out with his good friends Elijah, Mikayla and Bella.
Elijah reading to Cooper.
At the pool with Nikki!
Jeff's cousin Stephanie was in town from California so she got a chance to meet Cooper.
Cooper stole Stephanie's water bottle.
Cooper will crawl all over the house with one of these coasters hanging out of his mouth.
At the zoo again.
Bongo drums at the zoo!
Sippy cup master!!
Cooper's first flight on the way to Alaska.
Looking out the plane window.
The cabin in the woods.
The little cabin where we slept.
King Mountain- one of the views from where Rick and Kris (aka grandpa and grandma) live.
Castle Mountain- another view.
Reading with grandma.
"I love my grandma!"
Cuddling with daddy.
Playing with grandpa.
Playing in the little buggy. He loved making laps around the house in the buggy.
On the tram to cross the river to get to and from the house.
Hatcher's pass with daddy.
Run down gold mine buildings.
On the trail to see all of the gold mine buildings. It didn't start raining until we were at the top. We got to hike back down in the rain to the car.
Family shot
In the high chair that Kris borrowed from a friend. It was amazing, Kris was able to borrow the high chair, a pack n' play and a car seat from friends so we didn't have to pack up so much. So wonderful!
Beautiful flowers from Kris's flower beds.
Cooper sized strawberries.
Pretty butterfly on some of the flowers.
I love that I managed to capture the bee in this photo too.
Such a fun idea for planting flowers in.
Pretty garden art!
Cooper in the "tub."
Trying celery!
My mountain men in some fur hats!
Napping with daddy.
Bath time fun!!
Clean baby!
Jeff mowing the lawn at the cabin.
Out by the fire pit.
"Look I have the letter L."
Napping with mommy.
"Helping" grandma with the dishes.
Family tram pictures.
On our last day in Alaska there was air show at the Air Force base near Anchorage. We got to see some
F-22s and The Blue Angels.
Cooper enjoying the air show (he had in ear plugs and our jackets to help block the loud sounds).
Such an amazing time in Alaska! We didn't want to leave. Thank you, Rick and Kris for all that you did to make the trip possible and easy!!