Silly NIghts

Last night was one of those nights that we were having so much fun...laying on the floor in Cooper's room before we put him to bed. Reading books, being silly, and just enjoying our family. I was having so much fun and wanted to grab a camera to capture it, but was afraid if I moved the "moment" would be over. But...I took my chance! While Philip was reading, I sneaked out, grabbed the camera and raced back into Cooper's room to see this...
It all started with Philip. While I was getting Coop in his jammies, Philip decided to use Bevo as a pillow and lay on Coop's floor. Cooper thought that looked like a lot of fun, so he grabbed Big Elephant for his pillow and his bed pillow for me and insisted that we all lay on the floor and "read books to me?". Ok...twist my arm!

We laid there for about an hour. Reading books and laughing and just enjoying our sweet boy. He kept saying, "I cozy." Or as he cuddled up to Philip, "Oh, this nice."

At one point, Cooper decided that dino needed to lay down and read books with us, too.Then, he got up and got blankets for all of us. And as he covered each of us up, he asked, "you cozy, Mommy? You cozy, Daddy?" So sweet!!

We'll still have nights like this when Baby Munchkin is here, right? I'm sure we will. It will only add to the fun and silliness and sweetness...and chaos! And, I can't think of anything better.

I Sure Love This Boy

I love having a boy.

Cowboy boots--check! SWA safety vest (from when Mommy got to work on the ramp)--check! Wrench, pencil, and pliers in his vest pocket--check! Oh, and he found a rolly polly to add to the pocket, too.

"Come on, Mama! I'll show you around!"

Don't forget the big stick!

Now, he's ready to help Daddy in the front yard.

Love. Having. A boy. (And, I get to have TWO of them!!)

It's a...

BOY!!!!!

It was confirmed today that Cooper is going to have a little brother. I have to admit, I'm super excited about this. A little disappointed that it's not a girl, but I think had they said "girl!" I would be a little disappointed that it wasn't a boy. And, having a boy is a little easier for me...I already have almost everything I need. Clothes--check! Nursery ready--check! Trucks and tools--check, check!!

When I was pregnant with Cooper, I wondered a lot about the experiences of delivering a baby and being a mom. This time around, it's interesting, I find myself really thinking and wondering who this little person is going to be. What will he like? What will his disposition be like? What will be his favorite color and favorite foods? Will he like art and books? Will he be sensitive or funny? Will he be loud or quiet? How will he be similar to and different than Cooper? I think I focus on this so much because I realize that we almost didn't have this little boy. I tear up thinking of how things happened...who was the little person who God decided wasn't for us, and who is this amazing gift who brightened my world?

One thing the doctor did say...well, let me preface by saying the doctor emphasized that "the baby looks AWESOME!". But he also said that in the umbilical cord, I only have two vessels as opposed to three going to the baby. Now, yes, some times this can be a scary thing and can be associated with birth defects. BUT, "the baby looks AWESOME!" 10 fingers, 10 toes, four chambers of the heart, good blood flow, good organs, and great brain development. The baby is just the size he should be--about 13 ounces. Spine looks great, mouth area and nose look great, head size looks good. And he sure was a wiggle worm! They looked at everything and it all checked out a-ok! The doctor said that if something were to develop incorrectly, it would have by now. However, because this is something that is a off from a normal pregnancy, they want to check the baby every month, so I'll be going back every four weeks for sonograms. Knowing me and my worrisome self, this makes me feel more relaxed about things knowing that he will be constantly checked and monitored...just in case. But, "the baby looks awesome!" I've promised Philip that I wouldn't Google this situation. I will not. I will not. I will not. Again, I know my worrisome self and Google can make a pregnant chick go CRA-ZY. I'm really trying not to over think it and just continue to focus on the fact that the doctor emphasized, "the baby looks awesome!". I feel like this situation makes me even more in awe and just amazed at what a miracle this little guy is.
Halfway there--20 more weeks to go!

First Teeth Cleaning

Surprisingly, in his two-and-a-half years, Cooper has been to the dentist several times, but never to get his teeth cleaned...until last week!

Our previous several dentist visits were due to Cooper's two chipped front teeth. Did I blog about that?? If not, it happened about eight or so months ago. He was going in for a belly dive right over Drake just as Drake decided to stand up. Cooper flopped over and caught himself with his teeth...on the tile floor. Ouch! It chipped the inside corners of his two front teeth. Double ouch! We rushed to the dentist and she's been keeping an eye on them and did a couple of x-rays over the last eight months. Luckily, there is no damage to his permanent teeth and almost all of the sensitivity issues have finally gone away (it did take almost the entire eight months, though). He had some rough visits to the dentist since chipping these teeth. I think the teeth were just so sensitive that he was nervous and scared for people to look in his mouth and poke around.

It was time for another checkup and time to get his first cleaning, so I scheduled something and crossed my fingers for no tears! And, amazingly, my little monkey seriously could not have done better!! I was/am so, so, so proud of him! He didn't mind any of the tools they used--the twirly toothbrush, the water sprayer, the air sucker, (those are all technical terms, by the way) the mirror, the floss--nothing bothered him. Phew!!
The dental hygienist was so great with him, too. She explained everything she was about to do, and first she would show how the tool worked on her hand, then she would let Cooper try it on his hand, then she showed him how it works in his mouth.

He even let the dentist check out the two front teeth and smooth them out a little. He sometimes gets a little blister on his bottom lip from the roughness of those chipped teeth, so hopefully smoothing them out will help. Cooper didn't even flinch when the dentist worked on those teeth.
This appointment could not have gone better and I am SO proud of my big boy!!

Conversations

Some recent conversations with Cooper...

5.15. 2011
While sitting at the dinner table, Cooper was talking about Batman and Spiderman, and Philip asked Coop if he liked Superman.
Cooper: Superman? I like him!
Philip: What do you think about this? (Showing Cooper his Superman tattoo)
Cooper: Whoa! What you do? Daddy good boy, get tattoo!!

5.17.2011
Cooper to Philip: What you do today, Daddy?
Philip: I went to work. Worked on my computer. Went to a meeting. Came home and played with Cooper. What did you do today?
Cooper: I work on my (com)puter. Work in flowers. (No mention of the ducks we fed that morning!)

5.17.2011

Cooper and I were at a fabric store...
Cooper: Mommy, I have question.
Me: Ok, what's your question?
Cooper: (pointing to fabric) My question...what's this?
Me: That is laminate with cotton backing.
Cooper: Ok. (walks away then a few seconds later turns back to me) Let me know if you need help with anything. (Sales girl laughs, asking Cooper if he'd like a job at the store.)

5.18.2011
Cooper: Pretty neckess, Mommy. (Gently holding the diamond heart necklace I was wearing.)
Me: Thank you. Daddy gave that to me.
Cooper: Awww. That nice Daddy.

5.18.2011
I walked around the corner to see Cooper sitting in the front windows, with no mowers in sight.
Me: What are you doing, buddy?
Cooper: I just waiting for cement truck.
Me: Waiting for one to drive down our street?
Cooper: Yea. Not see one yet. I sit here.

5.21.2011

We had a cookout at our house and Fireman Paul was there. Cooper noticed smoke coming out of the grill...

Cooper: Ooohhh! Smoke! Lots of smoke!!! Where Fireman Paul?

Paul came over to assure Cooper that it was all a-ok.

5.23.2011

Cooper: Mommy, you ride horse. I ride donkey.

Me: Ok! Where are we going?

Cooper: Go on walk. We see mowers, leaf blowers, trees, maybe snake and rolly polly.

Me: Snake?! Yikes!

Cooper: It's ok. I protect you. And Drake.

Love. This. Age.

Cooper's ET Moment

I wish I had a picture of Cooper in his bed this morning when I went to wake him up. It was kind of an ET moment.

Let me back up a little... At about 4:30 this morning, I woke up to "Beep, beep, beep! Watch out! I backing up!!" coming through the monitor. For some reason, my little man woke up and decided to have some play time in the middle of the night. It must have been quite the time because it lasted for almost two hours (I dozed in and out to different noises, chatting with Big Elephant, and truck sounds).

We have Gymboree Thursday mornings, and I let Cooper sleep as late as possible, but I finally had to go in and wake him up a little after 9:00 this morning. When I peaked in the crib, the only part of Cooper I could see was his sweet little face. He was completely covered by Big Elephant, Gus the Giraffe, and Ooh Ooh. It was just like that scene in ET when ET is hidden in the stuffed animals.

I laughed and told Coop that he must have had quite the party in his crib last night. He smiled, rubbed his eye, and said, "I did!"
I sure love this silly little munchkin.

Two and a Half

Two and a half

2 1/2

2.5

Six months until three!

No matter how I write it or see it, I still can't believe it. How is my baby two and a half years old?

I remember a conversation I had with my SWA friend, Gwen, when I was pregnant with Coop. She was telling me that the baby stage is difficult, but it gets more and more fun as they grow. My thought was that the baby stage doesn't scare me. I know what to do with babies. But what in the world do you do with a two or three-year-old boy?! Gwen smiled and just told me that by then I'll know exactly what to do with a little boy. And now that I'm at that stage, I realize that she's so right. As long as it involves tools, trucks, making trash piles or animals, I've got a happy camper on my hands!

This is a really, really fun age. However, the last couple of weeks have turned this into a challenging stage. Every time Coop has hit a milestone age--1, 1.5, 2--I feel like we go through a couple of difficult weeks. It's like he knows he's just taken a step closer to being an independent big boy and begins to test his limits. Right now we are definitely working through letting him discover and explore and be as independent as a two and a-half-year-old can be, but not letting him cross the line into controlling the situation. Therein lies our challenge! Some days his listening ears are completely turned off and somedays he is the sweetest little guy and best listener around. I understand that it's also a matter of communication. There is so much he wants to say, but just doesn't have the words to say it all, so he gets frustrated about that. I've really been trying to work on acknowledging his feelings and helping him understand how to communicate those feelings. It's a work in progress, but we'll get through it!

On to the fun stuff! All about Cooper at two and a half:

• He loves, loves playing outside. He doesn't need toys outside to have fun, either. Brooms, sticks, rakes, balls, his lawn mower and leaf blower, towels, dirt, or any tool from Daddy's tool room are all this little one needs to stay entertained.
  
• Making trash piles is a daily activity. He will gather anything within reach, pick a spot around the house...our bed, the couch, in a laundry basket...and pile everything up and proudly proclaim, "Look my trash pile! Here come trash man!!"
• Every day we open our front shutters and look around the neighborhood for any lawn mowers in action. He will sit in that front window and watch until the lawn crew is completely finished with their work. And, he loves to tell me each step along the way...mowing, leaf blowing and weed eating. My little man loves it all!

• We still go to Gymboree once a week, and Coop still loves it. Every week we get to pretend to be construction workers, firefighters, farmers, errand runners, mailmen...you name it, we use our imagination to take on that role. Plus, he still gets to climb, bounce, slide, and run under the parachute.
  
• He LOVES music. Coop can rock out at the drop of a hat and have a blast with his own little dance party. He can pick out a guitar when a song is playing and loves to grab his Handy Manny guitar and play along. He knows a lot of instruments and is genuinely interested in knowing how to play them and what they sound like. I LOVE that he has an ear for music and an interest in it. I hope this sticks around! Some of his favorite songs right now are Rocket 88, Country Road, and Country Boy.

• Favorite books these days include Things that Go, Trucks, Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, Llama Llama, Big Blue Train, and any Little Critter book. A retired woman in our neighborhood created a children's library in her home and she opens her doors three days a week for several hours. Coop and I love, love walking to the library every other week and picking out new books to bring home. He gets to pick out five new books each time and even gets to check them in and out with a scanner...big fun! Coop has his own library card and library bag and gets so excited about library days!
  
• Cooper still sleeps in his crib and still loves his crib. He is showing absolutely no signs of climbing out or wanting to sleep in a bigger bed. I've already bought the bedding for his big boy bed and we talk a lot about his big boy room, so hopefully once we have it all ready, he'll be excited and ready to make the change. He falls asleep completely on his own in bed. And he always plays in his bed for 15 minutes to sometimes over an hour before falling asleep at night. He talks, sings, makes truck or car noises, and just has his own little conversations with Big Elephant. I love to listen to that sweet voice on the monitor! He still sleeps for about 12 hours at night and close to three hours each day for a nap. Who knew he would grow into such a great sleeper?!

• Some other favs at this age: Jackson (his best bud, for sure), Handy Manny, Clifford the Big Red Dog (aka: Cliff Dog), Curious George, Toy Story, trucks, robots, tools, cooking, trash trucks, lawn equipment, dinosaurs, wearing his cowboy boots with anything and everything, helping Mommy cook and Daddy fix things, Drake (Cooper says Drake is, "my puppy dog.").
• Every day Cooper picks out little treasures and carries those around EVERY. WHERE. WE. GO. His treasures can be anything...his play tools, one of Philip's flashlights, a pencil, a small dog leash, a stretchy wrist band, a sunglasses band, a small empty box, etc. Think of the most random objects and those things are typically Coop's "treasures." And even thought he knows the real name of all the objects he chooses to be treasures, when they are his daily treasures, he calls them as such. This is maybe one of my favorite little quirky things about Coop. I love it and it makes me smile every single day.
• Potty training...we're not there yet. He goes through phases where he wants to try the big potty and phases where he wants nothing to do with it. If I ask him about going on the big potty, he very politely declines with a, "no, thank you." I just don't want to force it and I want him to be able to tell me that he needs to go. I just think that's really important from talking to other moms who've gone through this. There is a difference in me taking him all the time and him actually knowing when he needs to potty. It will happen in time...right?

• And my favorite aspect of Cooper is his sweet personality. He's got a huge, huge heart. He is concerned when people (or even characters in a book) look sad, and he cheers for people when they do something that's exciting in his eyes. I love that he has such a kind and loving spirit at such a young age. He's also independent, determined, stubborn, and persistent. :) He doesn't like crowded activities--he usually keeps off to one side when it's crowded. He's funny, creative, inventive, playful, giving, silly, genuine, spirited, and I have to go back to it, he's full of life.

I love, love this age. Wish I could bottle it up and record every second because it's going by way too quickly.

03.16.2011

Silly Boy

We were on our way home from swim lessons tonight when Cooper says, "Look what my did!! I silly!!" I turned around to see this.
I sure love this silly boy with every single ounce of my heart!

Riding Elephants

We heard that the Farmer's Market was going to have elephants one afternoon available for riding and to watch them eat. I didn't want to miss this opportunity, so Sarah and I headed downtown with the boys. I wasn't sure what to expect, but overall, we had a good time. I did keep wondering if it was ok to ride elephants...is it safe for the elephant? is it safe for the boys? what if an elephant gets spooked and runs? In the end, luckily we didn't have any wild elephant adventures stomping through downtown...phew!

I think Cooper liked watching the elephants more than riding them. Not sure if he realized that that was something out of the ordinary. Maybe he thought it was like riding horses? He's seen a lot of elephants in his 2 1/2 years between all our trips to the zoo and now this. But I still love the look of awe on his face when he gets to see those beautiful animals up close!

This was the first time, too, that Cooper saw a clown. He wasn't sure what to think about that. Poor clown was trying to engage Cooper and make him smile, but Cooper just stared at him, trying to figure out who/what this person was. In the end, the clown got a wave, but that was about all Coop was ready to express!
Sarah and I commented how quickly the line was moving, and we realized it was because they could...were...squeeze(ing) a lot of people on those elephant saddles! Love the expressions on the boys faces!

We can officially cross "ride elephant" off our to-do list. Check!

03.30.2011

Boots and Sweatpants

We were heading to Jackson's house one day with Cooper looking like this. He insisted on wearing "pants like Jackson" and "boots like Daddy." Then he added his football necklace, his phone clip and, of course, had to carry his gas can.
I mean...whoever said you couldn't wear cowboy boots with sweatpants??
And with that, he was ready to go play!