More About Cooper at 2 Years Old

Here are some other things I love about Cooper at 2 years old:

• Any time he dances or walks fast or walks with determination to get somewhere, he bends his right arm and swings it back and forth really fast. It's so cute! I know he is really focused on something when that arm starts going.
• Before he gets in the bath, but after I've stripped him, he bolts out of the bathroom and runs through the house naked. He thinks it's the funniest thing and loves "surprising" us with this...every night! Philip calls it Coop's nightly naked jog.
• He loves touching his sippy cup to someone's drink and yelling "cheers!"
• After he wakes up and I ask what he dreamed about, he always says either Ooh Ooh or Jackson
• Loves, loves, loves his Poppi. He talks about Poppi all day, "Talk Poppi? Wi Poppi go? Poppi work. Sweep take trash out with Poppi. Poppi shave. Call Poppi? Poppi put shirt on (bringing me a shirt he wants Poppi to put on him)." It makes my heart glow.
• If he sees a mess..."Uh oh. Mess Mama. (then singing) Clean up. Clean up. Evbody Ev. Clean up." Then, he'll get a towel, wipe the floor and say, "trash." And after it's cleaned up and the towel is thrown away, I always hear, "Yea!"
• He loves his bed and is not making or showing any attempt to climb out...yet. He plays in bed before falling asleep and after waking up. Sometimes for as long as one hour! I hear him talking through the monitor and I just love his little conversations. As long as he has all his animal friends and music playing on his mobile, he's a happy camper!
  
• He is VERY particular about what songs we listen to in the car and what songs we sing at bedtime. Recently the ONLY song we listen to in the car is from the Neil Sedaka CD my mom bought Coop. It's called Hey Little Devil, and Coop likes the part where kids sing "Whoa Whoa Whoa Yea Yea Yea" throughout the song. So every time we get in the car, Coop starts asking for "Whoa Whoa Yea Yea song?" And then we listen to it over and over and over and over again. If he doesn't like the song playing or the song I'm singing, he'll either say "new song" or just a flat "no."
• He tells everything "bye" when we leave the house--toys, Drake, balls, kitchen, cats, blankie.
• He is still a great eater, but some of his favorite foods include carrots, peas, edamame, turkey/cheese sandwiches, green beans, and apples.
• Tells Drake "good boy" all the time. I heard him telling this to Mocha the other day, too. And, he loves to call Drake into his room, "Da da! Dake! Daaaa Daaaa!"
• Calls himself "Toopie" (He says "c" words with "t's": cow is tow; cool is tool; cat is tac; cooper is toopie).
• He picked up "Oh man" from Sarah (Jackson's mom) and "ruh roh" (like Scooby Doo) from me. And it's so cute how he says both of them!
• He tries to get himself dressed. I always give him some time to try to get his shirt or shorts on. He knows exactly what to do, but it's the how to do it he's still working on. I love seeing his concentration on this.
• He's talking more and more every day and starting to use words like this, that, me, and you. And if he wants to do something I'm doing--watering the flowers, for example--he'll say, "my turn."
• We go for a run several mornings a week, and Coop is completely content eating his waffle breakfast in the stroller and enjoying our morning outside.
• He loves to grab anything with a handle--a grocery bag, Mommy's purse, diaper bag, a basket--put it up on his shoulder, walk out of the room saying, "bye bye, Mama" and then return with a very excited "hi!". He usually tells me that he's just gone to Jackson's or Poppi's house or the grocery store or the park.