Cooper's First Halloween (subtitled SNACK-O-LANTERN!)

Yes, we've officially graduated to parenthood.

We've embraced Halloween, as opposed to our typical ritual of going to dinner then sitting in a dark house pretending not to be home so as to not have to deal with the rigors of handing out candy while keeping the two overly anxious labs from busting through the door to lick the kids (which scares most of them to death).

We weren't planning on dressing Cooper up, but Super Aunt Sarah found a super cool costume for him that we couldn't resist. So we crashed the Samson Halloween costume party downtown to show off Cooper's awesome costume. Of course, he also got to sport one of my favorite outfits, the SNACK-O-LANTERN (yes I'm screaming SNACK-O-LANTERN as I type this).

Lots of pics from today...

Some pics from this morning in his Snack-o-lantern outfit before we went partying.

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

He is starting to be able to sit up on his own now

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

You've got to be pretty cute to pull off these pants. That or rich like TBone.

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

Will his eyes stay blue? We aren't sure

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

And now for the unveiling of his costume...an elephant!

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

Then it was party time, where Coop had to get dolled up again.

I call this one "Daddy please help me"

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

A good sport, and pretty darn cute too

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

And Cooper with the host of the party (and cooker of some dandy BBQ ribs) Tony "Where do you want it?" the Driller.

From Cooper's 1st Halloween

A hike, a loss and a huge win

Another glorious Saturday on the Front Range that shouldn't be wasted, led us to The People's Republic of Boulder for some hiking at Chautauqua Park, home of the famous Flat Irons. Quick call to Sarah and she headed our way to meet up for a quick hike and some lunch before we all headed home to watch the huge OState vs Texas football game.

Some pixies from the hike...

Cooper ready for the trail

From Chautauqua Hike

Classic view

From Chautauqua Hike

What? In the Bjorn and not asleep? Happy regardless

From Chautauqua Hike

Jill and Cooper pose by the mini-flat irons in front of the real thing

From Chautauqua Hike

A little closer now

From Chautauqua Hike

And then it was time for pizza at The Sink. The Sink is Boulder's version of Joe's (for you OState grads), kind of a hole in the wall bar near campus that has become a tradition. Good pizza, lots of beer on tap sounded like a fine place for lunch. We devoured a pizza, took in some suds and then headed back home for the football event.

The game itself was really good. OState showed up, played well and had some chances to beat the best team in the country (by far in my opinion) on their home field. Came up a play or two short, but they played a great 60 minute game and the improvement from last year to this year is incredible. Definitely disappointed with a loss, but hard to be too discouraged about that game.

Then the big win...

We had a great dinner in Boulder at Pasta Jays with Curtis, Alanna and Micah Bird, which left two happy (and full) parents. Came home and played with Cooper then put him through his typical bedtime ritual including reading his two books to him. We put him to sleep for the night, then relaxed and watched Coldplay on SNL last night. Lights out.

Jill woke us this morning, glanced at the alarm clock and was shocked. 7a.m. and neither of us had gotten up all night to check on Cooper.

He slept through the night.

(Insert Chorus Bells) Hallelujah!

He must have been tired from his big day out on the town, but regardless it was a huge victory for us. We've been slowing down his night time feedings, but this was a big leap. He won't likely do this again tonight, but 8 hours of good, solid sleep last night should make it that much easier to deal with whatever tonight deals us.

New Cooper Video

Cooper has gained new appreciation for his bouncer chair lately. Jill caught this video of him for me the other day, so I thought I'd throw it up on the blog for others to see.

Growing Boy

From Cooper's 10/19 weekend

Its a bittersweet day for me, Coop has outgrown his "Little Cutie" hat with the puppy dog ears on it. Seeing him in that little hat just made me smile, regardless of how little sleep I had been getting. The good news is that we've got lots and lots of cute hats for him to grow into for the foreseeable future, starting with this new hat...

From Cooper's 10/19 weekend

So tonight I'll get back to CO and be able to hold Coop and read him his bedtime story again. Jill told me he is really starting to laugh, and I just can't wait to hear it. It amazes me how something as simple as seeing your kid smile or laugh makes everything else seem really small.

And now some pics I didn't get posted up last weekend from our Friday hike:

1. Cooper isn't receptive to his sweet new glasses at first, but he did warm up to them after a couple minutes

From Cooper's 10/19 weekend

2. With the Fall chill in the air, he got to sport his sweet Nikes that Anna Banana's crew got for him

From Cooper's 10/19 weekend

3. Ready to hit the trail

From Cooper's 10/19 weekend

Weekend and week out

From Cooper at 11 weeks

Glorious Fall weather on the Front Range this weekend, and we had a busy schedule. Friday the whole gang (including the dogs) went for a hike at Lion's Gulch with only 4 other people on the entire trail. I got in a quick bike ride to check out the cyclocross race setup for Saturday on the Niner, then headed back to the house. We tried out some new local flavor in Longmont for dinner, which turned out quite nicely. Mike O'Shays on Main St was a busy place, but the food was quite good and we'll likely be back.

Saturday I had volunteered to work at the Blue Sky cyclocross race at Xilinx on the west side of Longmont, so I was up and at the course at 7am Saturday morning. Luckily, we had a huge turnout of volunteers and I was able to take off by 10am so Jill, Cooper and I could head to the post office and turn in applications for passports. Jill and I have been needing to get them and evidently even infants have to have them now, so Cooper got one too. Very strange to put 2 feet for height and have to wonder about what to answer for hair and eye color.

Lunch with Sarah and her coworker Diane and then back to the house for some grilling, football watching and Nintendo Wii time. John (The Punisher) and Amy Perry came over to grill out and drink some beer, and unfortunately to humiliate me in Wii Bowling. Why is it that I'm the worst Wii bowler in history? At least I'm better at Guitar Hero....for now.

From Cooper at 11 weeks

From Cooper at 11 weeks

Today was a lazy day to do some laundry, play with Cooper and the pooches and just hang out. We hit up the Walnut Brewery for dinner before coming home to relax. Took some pics today hanging out at the house, Coop is really growing, getting some more hair and learning some new tricks. He giggles and smiles a lot and really follows us around with his eyes when we are up and about.

The pics...

From Cooper at 11 weeks

From Cooper at 11 weeks

Feet that are always in motion

From Cooper at 11 weeks

From Cooper at 11 weeks

Change in the air

From Cooper - Back in Black (Lab)

Its that time of year. Blow out the sprinklers, set up the road bike on the trainer and put the heated seats on in the car. After two weeks on the road and away from the pups, we all took it pretty easy this weekend, which played out well since it was cold and drizzly most of the weekend. Better weather is soon to return, but Fall has definitely arrived.

The big news of the weekend was the Pokes pulling out the big win on the road in Mizzou. I'll admit I thought they might blow it right at the end, but maybe they've finally found a way to win games that they have typically lost in the past.

Some more pics from the weekend:

Cooper in his "Snack-o-lantern outfit that Sarah got him"

From Cooper - Back in Black (Lab)

Some sweet socks that look like little tennis shoes that Amy got us

From Cooper - Back in Black (Lab)

Molly checks out Cooper to see if he changed in the 10 days he was away

From Cooper - Back in Black (Lab)

Cooper trying to imitate the pooch on his shirt

From Cooper - Back in Black (Lab)

Couple pics from a few weeks back that I never got posted

From Cooper, Riley and the Family

Yack and Riley

From Cooper, Riley and the Family

Proud Parents

From Cooper, Riley and the Family

Riley posing

From Cooper, Riley and the Family

Get your game face on

From Game Day

Cooper is ready to settle in on the couch and watch some serious football today.

Go Pokes!

Headed home!

Kinetic

Jill and Coop have been with me in SA since Monday, and we've been on the go since we touched down. Linda was in SA playing army, so from Thursday night on we got to hang out with her and her aunt and uncle who live north of SA. We've squeezed a lot of activities and good dining in the last 3 or 4 days, and just now have enough time post up all the happenings.

Thursday, we all met up at Paul & Anita's (Linda's aunt and uncle) house to have some dinner and catch up. Good food and lots to talk about, as well as playing Pass the Cooper around the table. We set plans for Friday and then headed home with our bellies full.

Friday Jill, Cooper and I got up and tried to hit up the zoo before it got too hot. That didn't quite work out, as it got pretty hot by the time we were done, but we covered the zoo and then grabbed some lunch before hooking up with Linda and Anita.



Anita took off to her daughter's volleyball game, but the rest of us headed to the River Walk. We went to the Alamo, then toured the River Walk before heading for some tasty margaritas at La Fonda on Main.






Saturday, we headed up north, picked up Anita and Lynda and traveled near Fredericksburg, to Enchanted Rock State Park. We hiked up (Cooper, of course, slept the whole time) the Summit Trail, then back down before branching off and doing about half of the Loop Trail as well. Hot, sweaty and ready for food we hit up Rudy's (2nd time for Jill and I) for some outstanding BBQ. We headed back to Anita's house, watched some football, talked, and then ultimately said our goodbyes.






Today was a day to sleep in, then have a leisurely stroll around the huge outlet mall complex in San Marcos. Dinner, laundry, and showers later we are resting comfortably at our temporary home here at the Marriott. We'll be here for a couple more days, then take a brief detour to Houston for Solarc Ascent before heading back to SA to fly home on Thursday.

Can't wait to get back to CO for some dry air, cool temps, and hopefully some aspens that are still blazing. I've got a date with two puppies that we all are missing, and some plans to get my tires on the new Picture Rock trail between Heil and Hall Ranch in Lyons.

For now though, The Coop and I need a nap.

My Monkey