Cooper the little jet-setter

Right at the start of the month, Cooper took his first overseas trip. Nanny came with us so that I could compete with my pipe band in the New Zealand Pipe Band Competition. Cooper was going okay until he projectile vomited on the plane all over me.

The smell was so bad that the air hostess came asking if she could spray some air freshener! Needless to say, I was glad to get to the hotel to shower and change. He did the same thing another two times that we were there, and I realised that it was a reaction to the baby food I’d been feeding him, as he is used to home cooked food. The organic baby food seemed to be better, and I bought some bananas at the supermarket that went down extremely well.

Cooper was an angel for the trip, and when he was dressed in his pipe band t-shirt and cap was truly a little mascot for the band. Everyone loved coming up and talking to him, and judging from his reaction, he enjoyed it just as much. Despite spending so much time in his pram, he did really well. On the flight home he screamed a lot because of the early morning (we had to be up at 1.45am our time), but luckily not many other people heard because of their ear phones.

2009 NZ Pipe Band Championships

The grade 4 band that I play in came 2nd in the championship and 4th out of 23 bands overall, and the grade 3 band came 2nd overall, winning in the drum corps.

Coming back from NZ, Cooper’s appetite picked up a lot. He had been fussing more and more at meal time before we left, but when we got back he seemed to appreciate my cooking even more. He had toast for the first time, and at first didn’t know how to hold it. He has got the hang of it now, and makes a really big mess of things. It’s funny to see him hold his food in his fist. He’ll eat from one end of his fist, then the other end, open his fist a few times to see the food, close his fist and try to eat it again, even though there is no food protruding from his fist. Then he’ll open and close his fist again…… It’s only when he drops the food that he can pick it up and keep eating.

By the end of the month we had discovered that Cooper will blurt during meal time if he has had enough or is bored with what he is eating. To stop the blurting we either have to stop feeding him, or offer him dessert, which is normally fruit or yoghurt. He doesn’t have dessert with every meal, so we won’t let the blurting become a habit just so he gets his own way.

A tooth surprised us on the 16th. We were blessed with a good start to teething, as Cooper still slept through the night, and only had a bit of a cough and was more sleepy. I know that the worst could still be to come, but we’ll deal with that when we get there.

Cooper has started to scream to get our attention. I first noticed it when I was watching a bit of TV and not paying attention to him crawling around the floor, when suddenly he started doing short screams until I looked at him. He also screams at strangers when they have not smiled at him.

Cooper’s crawling is getting quicker, and he will crawl all over the house, especially when he sees the cat (he gives little squeals of delight whenever he sees her, so we know where he is). I have still not moved the vase or the wine rack, but we have discovered the need to shut the study door, otherwise we will find Cooper in there turning the computer on and off or ripping wires out of the USB port in the front. He started to crawl over top of some of his toys and onto his foam couch, and at the end of the month surprised us by pulling himself up on a stool to stand beside it.

Cooper - March 2009

He still has a fascination for wheels, and will even grab his toy bulldozer and move it along the floor as if he is driving it, although I’m sure he doesn’t know what he is doing.

Sleep is still good, and sometimes Cooper will sleep on and off until 8am when I wake him. On those few days I have tried to cut out his morning nap, but he normally falls into a deep sleep at around 11am, so I still need to keep up with a short morning nap.
Sometimes he won't have an afternoon nap, but that's hit and miss at the moment.

Nanny came with us for the eight-month health assessment and we found out that Cooper is 72cm in length and 9.03kg.

Breaking news: Cooper stays in bed for 12 hours!

After eating solids for a couple of weeks, Adam and I decided to see if Cooper would sleep through from 7pm to 7am. I had been cutting back on his 10.30pm milk over a few nights, and we were delighted when Cooper slept through on the first night without that feed, on 1 February. He woke at around 6am for a 5 second cry, and then went back to sleep.

I can’t tell you how nice it is to have the option to go to bed early every night! Occasionally Cooper will wake up and talk or cry for a few seconds closer to wake-up time, but he goes back to sleep again until I wake him for his bottle.

At his six-month health check-up, Cooper weighed 8.4kg and was 70cm in length. When we saw cousin Alison at the start of the month, we were surprised to find out the she weighs a little more than him (8.7kg), but then again he is crawling and using so much more energy. I love watching the two of them together.

Adam and I took Cooper to the pools for the first time on the 9th. It was a cool day, and the water didn’t seem that warm, but Cooper seemed to enjoy his time in the baby pool with me while Adam took photos. It was so cute to see him on his belly on a floating noodle kicking his legs behind him as he does when he crawls. We can’t wait to take him again.

On Friday 13th I returned to work, as the Financial Controller of Enterprise Architects (Vic) Pty Ltd, located at the Rialto in Melbourne. I will be there for 3 days a week in the beginning, and then it should drop to 2 days a week. Cooper stays at home with Nanny for two days, and Adam is home with him for his rostered day off (RDO) on Tuesday’s, which is great. I miss Cooper so much when I work, and can't wait to get home to see him just before he goes to bed.

Cooper has finally mastered the Jolly Jumper, and it provides us with a few minutes relief at times when we want him to stay in one place. He has also discovered wheels, and will spend ages spinning the wheels on the pram when it is folded up. It’s so cute to see him spin the wheel, start to crawl away to something else, and then remembers that the wheel is there and returns to spin it some more. The toy xylophone is something that Cooper is particularly attracted to, but then again, anything that he can bang grabs his attention. I’m not sure if this is just a boy thing or not.

Cooper - February 2009

Cooper is still as smiley as ever, and will smile at most people until they smile back. There are some people that he takes exception to, and I haven’t worked out what it is about them that makes him cry. Our financial planner came and just wanted to make Cooper smile, but Cooper cried the entire time he was here. So strange!

He is starting to get more vocal too, and his favourite sound at the moment (aside from blurting), is something like "Owfff", which he does a lot of.

Towards the end of the month, Cooper started to crawl outside of the lounge room. Up until then he was content just crawling around the lounge, and we’re happy that we have doors on the lounge to keep him in when we want. I’m determined not to properly ‘child-proof’ the house, and am hoping that if we say ‘no’ enough and move Cooper away, that he’ll eventually learn to keep away from the wine rack and a vase that is sitting on a shelf near the kitchen. I’ll let you know how it goes.

On the move...

Cooper is officially on the move. He started by rocking on his belly and rolling to get where he wanted to, and after only a few days, he discovered that commando crawling doesn’t only work in the bath!

It didn’t take long for Cooper to get the hang of crawling, even if he did drag his feet behind him, only using his arms to move himself. It happened at around the time that we stopped using the walker, as Cooper was getting into everything and we decided to wait until he can sit up before we use it more. He crawls around the floor and sucks on anything that he can get near his mouth. He particularly loves my fake Crocs as he sticks his fingers in the holes, and if he sees spots of sun peeking through the curtain onto the floor he'll crawl over and spend ages trying to grab them with his whole hand.

There are a few photos that I’ve included that show some of Cooper’s sad faces. He grunts quite loudly for up to ten minutes when he fills his nappies, and I discovered one day that if I copy him (albeit while smiling), he doesn’t like it and he cries. I only did it a few times, but one time I took some photos so that I can show him when he is big (good for his 21st perhaps!). If he is frightened by something he will always give a frown before he starts to cry, including some people who try to make his smile.

A couple of weeks into the month, Cooper weaned himself from the breast. He had been on formula feeds for two feeds each day since he was 10 weeks old, and had started to fuss more during his 2.30pm feed. One night he simply refused the breast and screamed until I had a bottle ready for him. I was sad, but luckily Cooper helped with the transition by taking a few small feeds over the next week so that I wasn’t in much pain with it.

Half way through the month we started Cooper on rice cereal, and introduced a few vegies and fruit before the end of the month, such as apple, pear, potato and sweet potato. He seemed to know exactly what to do when I put the spoon near his mouth, and he hungrily devours everything we give him. It only took a week for him to start ‘blurting’ while he was eating, and we’d end up with food all over us. A few firm words and tears ensued over a couple of days and the blurting all but stopped!

Cooper - January 2009

Adam was most upset when we decided to turn the car seats around so that they face forward. I’d be driving along and hearing Cooper’s constant little grunts as he tried to sit up, so we decided to make the change. Adam is a little sad to see Cooper’s progress with things because it is a reminder that his little boy is growing up, but he just loves to see Cooper in the rear vision mirror of the car, as do I.

Towards the end of the month Cooper discovered his feet, and would spend ages rolling around on the floor holding them and taking off his socks. He also started to move around his cot at night, and it took me a while to work out how he did it, as his sheet would still be tucked in. He lays on his back and pushes with his feet until he gets out, and then usually plays with his special musical seahorse at the end of the cot. I only discovered this when I had him on his back on the floor getting ready for a bath, and he suddenly went scooting around the room on his back to get away from me. So cute!!

'Tis the season to be jolly

We decided against having a photo taken with Santa this year, and visited our local Sunday School to borrow a nativity costume. I think that Cooper made an adorable angel, and we received so many happy responses to those who received a copy of the photo with their Christmas card.

At the start of the month Cooper developed a bad cough, and we put the baby monitor in his room for a couple of nights so we could check his breathing. We didn’t get much sleep because of the coughing, and the doctor thought that it might be a type of asthma. It wasn’t fun trying to get the Ventolin into him though.

We snuck into Daddy’s good black Holden SS when he was at work one day, to take some photos. They didn’t really turn out too good because Cooper was tired, and I had to hold him up with one hand to take a photo with the other hand. When I ‘fessed up to Adam, he didn’t tell me off like I had expected, but offered to help take some better photos after he has given it a good clean.

Cooper’s salivary glands have developed more, and it isn’t unusual for me to get a wet shoulder when I hold him, because he loves sucking on my shirt. In the baby harness he sucks the bit of material closest to his mouth, and it is always drenched. Spit is a big problem for Adam, but the health nurse reassured us that it might only last until Cooper’s swallowing action has developed more (well, until he starts teething anyway). Cooper’s hair has also started to grow to cover the bits of his head that grew and left what looked like bald patches. It looks like a really blonde colour, and it will be interesting to see what colour hair he ends up with.

Just before Christmas Cooper learned to roll from his back to his front, but only seemed to do it when I wasn’t in the room. I’d come back in to find him on his tummy. Although he didn’t move around much aside from a little commando crawling in the bath, when we put him in the walker he gets into everything. He loves it so much, especially when he learned to steer and could get to the Christmas tree ! Drawers are also within his reach, and he stands near the kitchen drawers banging them until we stop and move him. I guess that’s one of the perils of a hard floor without carpet – there is no stopping him!

Cooper - December 2008

Christmas day was a big day, and Cooper loved to suck on the wrapping paper, he helped to unwrap some of the presents. He was a little overwhelmed when we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to open more presents with my family, and the noise made him cry.

Cooper loved seeing his cousin Alison again when she visited from the Hunter Valley, and all he wanted to do was to touch her and would have sucked on her arm if we hadn’t intervened. We had Alison in the bouncer here when Cooper was in the walker, and he spent ages just sitting beside her and stetching out to touch her hair.

Touching faces is a new thing that Cooper likes to do, as well as laughing when I yell ‘Boo’ to him, and he looks at me with anticipation when I sing and play ‘Round and round the garden, like a teddy-bear’ on his hand.

I so happy that Cooper smiles heaps, and also smiles with his eyes. He goes to bed smiling, and wakes up smiling, which well and truly melts our hearts!

He laughed, which made me laugh, which made him laugh.....

November was a good month for watching Cooper doing new things, nearly all at the same time.

At the start of the month, Cooper started to laugh properly. The first time he did it I cracked up, and he laughed at my laugh, and I laughed, and he laughed again, and we kept going for a couple of minutes. It was so cute, and we could’ve gone on like that for ages!

Not long after that Cooper started to roll from his tummy to his back. I realized that I hadn’t been putting him on his tummy much for fear of him losing his feed, and when I put him on his tummy I was surprised at how strong he was. We usually put him on his tummy before his bath so that when he has no-nappy time he will pee onto the towel and not all over the room (we're lucky that he can't roll from his back to his tummy yet), and if he is impatient for his bath he can even crawl about 50 cm until he gets off the blanket, when he screams!

Cooper - November 2008

Cooper met his great-Poppy from Beerwah in Queensland, and no sooner had Poppy walked in the door than Cooper and his cousin Alison were put in his lap for much-awaited cuddles. He also experienced his first traditional Melbourne Cup day with our family, where we all go to the local park for chicken and champagne breakfast, and basically eat and drink the day away. This year we were able to celebrate with great-Poppy and Uncle Bardie.

Towards the end of the month Cooper’s legs got even stronger, and all he wants to do is stand up on your lap. I put him in the walker for a few minutes a couple of days ago and he loved it, but he hasn’t got the hang of bouncing and jumping, so when I put him in the Jolly Jumper he just stood there with stiff legs and a funny look on his face.

Just before Cooper turned four months of age I noticed that he was kicking so much in the baby bath that he was making a huge mess, so we moved onto the big bath, which he loves. The only trouble I have now in the bath is trying to stop him from turning his head to drink the bathwater.

Cooper had his second lot of needles, the four month ones, and by the time the doctor lifted the edge of his pants on the second leg, he knew what was coming and started crying even before the needle was anywhere near him. Smart kid!

At his four-month check up with the maternal child health nurse, Cooper weighed 6.66 kg and was 64 cm long.

Three nights to remember.....

I got to meet Andre Rieu, and play in his concert. Not that I was part of his talented orchestra, but I got to stand on stage with them all and play the side drum with approximately 100 other pipers and drummers in the finale on the 13, 14 & 15 November 2008.

The Australian Federal Police pipe band was the only band touring Australia with Andre, but the University of Ballarat Pipe Band was picked along with the Victoria Police Pipe Band, Hawthorn City Pipe band and Rats of Tobruk Pipe band to perform in the Melbourne concerts held at the Telstra Dome. We marched in playing Scotland the Brave, starting in two groups on the stadium ground, marched to the front of the stage, climbed up the steps to the stage (trying to avoid tripping on balloons and flower planter boxes and face-planting right at Andre’s feet), and I walked along the left side of the stage and up the steps to the ‘ballroom’ floor, standing on the balcony in the front row. For those of you watching the replay on DVD, I was directly behind the bass drummer with the leopard skin on the left.

Once on the stage we joined Andre and his orchestra playing Amazing Grace, which nearly had me in tears, then the rest of the cast came on stage and sung a song in a different language, we sang Waltzing Matilda, danced a funky dance with maracas, and then played Road to Gundagai as everyone else left the set. It was an awesome experience to be standing on stage looking out at 40,000 people in the audience, and one that I’ll remember for a long time.

With our ‘Guest Artist’ passes we were able to access most of the stadium and watch most of the performance, and were able to go to the after-party each night, the one that die-hard fans paid $1,200 each to attend. A few of us from our band spent a bit of time talking to Andre’s son Pierre, who is the Production Manager and designed the whole set, and we managed to get autographs and photos with some of the big stars, including Andre himself.

Meeing Andre Rieu and his crew

Fingers crossed that we’ll be able to perform in Andre’s concerts when he returns next year!!

Trying not to cry because he's gone, but to smile because he lived...

Sadly, Adam's father Peter died on 29 October, close to midnight.

Not long after returning from the Hunter Valley, Peter had a fall and was rushed to hospital. He seemed to come good after that, but was still kept in hospital. He was transferred to a palliative care suite at Bacchus Marsh on Tuesday 21 October, and Cooper and I spent that Friday afternoon with him. Peter held Cooper on his knees and had a good conversation with him "(ooo) and then.. (coo) .. really. .. (goo ga)... then what happened?...". That was the last time that Cooper was held and cuddled by Peter.

Over the next few days Peter's health declined, and Sarah and Alison arrived for a pre-arranged visit, and Peter's children Melissa and Scott and Melissa's two-and-a-half year old son Brandon came from Perth. The family had time to spend with Peter alone, even though Peter was sleeping most of the time, and on the Monday night when Adam thanked him for everything and told him he was proud of him, Peter said "What are you talking about? I'm proud of you". When Adam told him that he just wanted him to know, Peter said, "Don't be silly, I'll see you tomorrow". The next day, Peter woke when we arrived and said hello, waving his hands and fingers at us. For the rest of the day, he barely woke, and on Wednesday, he didn't wake at all.

Sadly, on Wednesday night, Peter passed away. The funeral was held at the Police Academy Chapel in Glen Waverly, which seats about 700 people. Being such a prominant person in the Ambulance service, the chapel was nearly full.

Farewell Peter 2008

I spoke on behalf of the family and was glad that I hadn't looked to see how many people were there until I got to the podium. I shared some favourite memories of Sarah and Adam, such as when Sarah was little and went to a pony club, the kids there were encouraged to decorate their ponies to celebrate the pony’s birthday. Sarah was sad that she didn’t have a pony there to decorate, so Peter let Sarah put a saddle and bridle on him and dress him up as her birthday pony, letting her ride on his back.

When Adam was growing up, he tried to run away a couple of times on his bike. One time Peter walked the streets of Melton looking for Adam, and when he found him, just picked up his bike and started walking home. Another time, Adam rode his bike a bit further away, and Peter drove around in the ambulance looking for him. When he found Adam talking to a bus driver he just picked up the bike, and put it in the back of the ambulance before taking Adam home. Not too many words passed between them about it, but it was by his actions, that Peter showed Adam how important he was to him.

The service ended with friend and colleague Don Ormiston playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes, and a guard of honour led by the Ambulance Service that Adam proudly stood at the head of in his ambulance dress uniform. As the hearse passed through the guard, the Ambulance helicopter did a fly-over.

Peter was someone we will never forget. He meant so many things to so many people, and it was his love of life, and eagerness to live it to its fullest, that inspired and encouraged us to be best that we can be.

Rest in Peace Peter.
10/09/1953 - 29/10/2008