Merry Merry Christmas!

What a beautiful sight when we woke up Christmas morning!

Santa came! Time to get our little munchkin!

I wish I had a picture of his first reaction when he saw this big red wagon sitting by the tree. I had the video camera and Philip was walking with Cooper. I need to teach Drake how to take pictures! Anyway, my little boy was so excited to see what Santa brought! Of course, he has no idea who Santa is yet, but he did know that that wagon wasn't there when he went to bed and when he woke up, it was in front of the tree with a big bow....he knew it was something special and just for him!

Within minutes, Cooper was trying to get the wagon outside and kept saying, "Dake, dake, dake" like he wanted Drake to jump in so they could head out!

The second Cooper's little feet hit the snow, he wanted to just walk and walk and walk and walk. I think he liked hearing that crunchy snow sound with each step. (We got about three inches in our yard!)

Sometimes it's really hard to stand in the snow if you are 15 months old. Good thing it's a soft landing.

My little munchkin.

Is there anything cuter than snowy little feet? That's a sign of a happy Christmas morning, if you ask me!

Time for stockings and presents! And, yes, that is a miniature dust broom and pan. Coop loves to help me sweep, so Santa brought him his very own baby-sized broom! And, yes, he kind of hasn't let go of it since Christmas morning.

Tearing open packages + rolling in the shreds = happy baby

After finishing Christmas morning festivities with the three of us, we headed to my parents' house (Philip's family spent the holiday in Atlanta this year).

My mom knew that I had been looking for a little table and chairs for Cooper, and she happened upon one a few days before Christmas, so she surprised us with it! Cooper loves it and immediately knew it was just for him.

All day I kept asking for a family picture, if nothing else, I wanted to make sure to get a family picture. Well, sometimes that proves to be impossible...

Sometimes you get a squirmy baby, then the dog's tushi gets in the way, then the baby starts crying, then your husband's patience runs out while the baby is still squirming and crying, and finally, you are left with the mommy who never got her Christmas Day family picture.

We wish you a Merry Merry Everything!!

Christmas Eve

We had a pretty quiet Christmas Eve at home with just the three of us, which was perfect. It was cold and snowy, so we bundled up inside, played around the Christmas tree, and got ready for Santa.

As more and more presents were added to the tree, someone grew increasingly interested in those bright little packages. At one point, I walked in the room to find him picking up presents and shaking them! How do little kids instantly know to do that?

To top it off, it started snowing in the afternoon and didn't stop until about 11 p.m., and it slowly began covering our neighborhood. It was cold and snowy and icy, and I loved it! I think I'm one of the few people in Dallas that actually loves that type of weather. Actually, I take that back...a little 15-month old boy loved it, too!

When I was growing up, we read The Night Before Christmas every year on Christmas Eve, as well as every day during the holiday season, but I have so many memories of reading that story after we got home from church and before heading off to bed on Christmas Eve. I want to create the same tradition with my kids, so I bought a brand new book and wrapped it up for Cooper to open on Christmas Eve. And by the way, who knew there were so many different ways to illustrate the same story? I looked through several copies before finding the perfect one for us!

Ok, so it wasn't Cooper's first Christmas, but Auntie Boo and Uncle Saleem got these jammies for Cooper last year, when it was his first Christmas, but instead of receiving a three-month size, the company sent an 18-month size. Who has a first Christmas at 18 months? Anyway, the jammies swallowed Coop last year, but fit perfectly this year!

Reading "The Night Before Christmas." I'm so excited about making this a tradition for our family!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas from Team Lamb

Where's Cooper?

Our kitchen island has three cabinets--the first cabinet is the "Cooper Cabinet" where I keep things he can play with, and the other two cabinets have baby locks on them because there are...were....breakable items in there. Well, a few weeks ago, Cooper was happily playing in his cabinet, when he decided to get a little adventurous. He would reach over into the second cabinet as far as he could, grab something and then hand it to me. He did this over and over, handing me glass jars and a tea kettle, and then he decided to dig a little deeper!

He decided to unload the cabinet and began handing me everything he could reach! I have since rearranged the entire cabinet and filled it with nonbreakable items and tupperware.

"Here, Mommy, this is in my way."

Who knew cabinets could be so fun?!

Melts My Heart

Is there anything cuter than a little boy wearing footed fleece monkey PJs, holding his blankie and his milk, and ready for bed? I think not.

Proud Mommy

Recently, I'm seeing more and more "little boy" Cooper and less "baby" Cooper. I know that Cooper understands a lot more from me than he can communicate back, but today he showed me several times just how much he really understands from me and the sign language that we've been working on.

First, at lunchtime, I said "Cooper, are you hungry?" and I did the sign for "eat," and what did he do?! He walked over to his highchair and indicated that he was ready to sit down! I don't know if he understood the words or the sign, but either way, that was a big accomplishment!

Later that night, we were all sitting in the den and playing, and I said, "Cooper, it's bathtime. Let's go take a bath." Cooper dropped the toy he was holding, walked out of the den, down the hall and stood at the bathroom door! Philip and I looked at each other like--did you see that?! When Cooper realized I wasn't right behind him, he turned around and walked back in the den with a look on his face like, "come on Mommy, you said it was bathtime..."

THEN, Cooper and I were in his room, and I was rocking him a little before putting him in bed when he sat up in my lap and did the sign for "milk." Even though we had already brushed his teeth, I wanted to reward him for doing the sign, so I put him down, he pulled his bedroom door open, walked to the kitchen and pointed up at the fridge! After taking a few sips of his milk, he handed me his cup and I said, "ok, it's time for night-night." He picked up his blankie and walked back to his room.

Wow! It just amazes me that his little brain is constantly processing and learning and taking everything in. It's like he absorbs for months and months and then all of a sudden--click!--it all makes sense to him! I am one proud Mommy!

Drop It

My friend Megan recently blogged about her daughter, Ella, saying "goway" to their dog, trying to get the dog to go away while Ella was eating. It made me wonder if Cooper was repeating anything we were saying to Drake. So, Philip and I opened our ears and sure enough, we heard something the other night--Cooper walked over to Drake, who was holding a big red ball in his mouth, held out his hand, and started saying, "dah, dah, dah." Now, that might not mean anything to you, but he was telling Drake to "drop it," which is the command for Drake to drop what he has in his mouth. Sure enough, Drake dropped the ball, Cooper picked it up while saying "ball, ball, ball" and then threw it for Drake. Drake went back over to Cooper with the ball in his mouth, and Cooper again held out his hand and said, "dah, dah, dah," Drake dropped the ball, and over and over again they played fetch! It's Cooper's new favorite game and brings out lots of fun squeals from Cooper!

"Dah, Dah, Dah"

Ok, so maybe we need to teach Coop not to put his hand in Drake's mouth...

Throwing the ball for Drake (we'll work on aim later).

Best Friends!