How is Cooper adjusting?

"How is Cooper adjusting?" ...that is probably the question that we get asked most often, so I thought I would blog about it.

I think Cooper likes Hudson a lot. He doesn't say a whole lot about him, but he has moved on from "Hudson. Baby. Cryning (crying)." And he wasn't saying that because Hudson was crying a lot, but just because he that was his association with baby. Now he usually asks about baby when he wakes up, and he is very generous with kisses. It's not uncommon for Cooper to kiss Hudson ten times in a row. 

And after he kisses him, he responds with, "that's sweet". Cooper also likes to touch the baby. We have to remind him to be gentle and careful with the baby. 

We also have to keep an eye on him at all times! Eric caught Cooper with his sippy cup up at Hudson's mouth as he tried to share his milk. My mom tells a story of how my brother had stuck a bottle in the microwave when I was a baby and was busily pushing buttons trying to make it work. If he had been able to start it, or my mom wouldn't have heard him when she did, we would have both been burned! It is nice that Cooper wants to share...and a little hard to explain that this is a time when we don't share. We also had a near incident yesterday when Cooper (who is completely unaware) almost sat on Hudson's head. I will no longer just let Hudson hang out on the ottoman or chair like this...

We don't have any cute pictures of Cooper holding Hudson. Everytime I ask if he wants to hold him, he responds with "no, no." Sadly, we don't really have many pictures of them together as Cooper will hardly stop long enough for us to take a picture of him. We did get a great Father's Day picture...

And attempted to get a picture of them in big brother/little brother shirts (which I think we got a decent one on our actual camera--this is from a phone)

I think part of the easy adjustment is because of Cooper's age. He doesn't connect everything yet or hold grudges/get mad directly at someone. For example, I took him outside to play with his new (to him) Cozy Coupe that some friends gave us. We only got to stay outside about 10 minutes before Hudson woke up and was crying in his crib. So even though Cooper was upset to have to go inside and I told him that we needed to go in to get brother, he had no hard feelings or wasn't able to connect that it was because of Hudson and thus be upset with Hudson. In the same breath, we have an almost two year old. I think any issues we've had with Cooper are more because of his age/personality/independence, not because of jealousy or wanting attention. 

So, the Barbs are doing pretty well. It's crazy that we will have a one month old next week! Time is going quickly and I definitely agree with those who say it's easier the second time around. 

And a few more pictures...