Almost Walking

Each day my little Austin Boo is taking a few more steps.  I wasn't sure when this little guy might walk, but about two weeks ago, out of nowhere, he walked from me (sitting by the fireplace) to Cooper (sitting in the brown chair).  It was probably only about three steps or so, but Coop and I erupted in cheers and clapping and Austin looked at both of us, wide-eyed, and started clapping, too.  He knew he just did something pretty cool.  I loved, loved how purely proud Cooper was of his little brother at that moment.  Since that day, Coop and I have been giving Austin "walking lessons" a couple of times a day, and it's starting to pay off!

 Love this of him looking at his feet--what are they doing?!

 

Friday, December 14, 2012

There are no words to describe today...

Philip and I were away from the boys for most of the day.  Not unusual for Philip because he works, but very unusual for me to be gone from morning until early evening.  When I met back up with Coop and Austin, I hugged those boys and felt a sense of protection, vulnerability, and overwhelming love.  How blessed I was to be able to hug and kiss my boys, every day, but that day in particular.  It just hit me a little harder.

When we got home that evening, after having dinner with Gammi and Poppi, Coop held my hand and said, "Mommy, wherever you go, I'm going to follow you.  I want to be with my family.  I loooove my family."  I know he hadn't seen or heard anything about what occurred in Connecticut that day, but it was a sweet coincidence.  Maybe being away from him all day?  The first thought that popped in my head after he told me he was going to follow me was, "Please do."  Quite different than the thought that popped into my head a few days prior when he told me he likes following me around the house.  At that time, I thought, "Can't I have two seconds?!

I'm taking in these boys every day because I can.  Because we're together.  Because I can hold them and hug them and kiss them.  And for that, we are beyond blessed.

Trains with Poppi 2012

For the third year, we had a great afternoon checking out the Christmas train display at the mall with Poppi.  I love, love that we've gone every year for the last three, all with Poppi.  I've loved seeing Coop's interests change each year.  The exhibit is, for the most part, the same every year, but Coop sees new things each time we go.  This year, for example, he spotted a firetruck train car.  Ding ding!  Big hit with my little fireman, of course.  He also really focused more on pushing the interactive buttons and finding what "activity" the button started (kids swinging, ice skaters, lights in a building...things like that).  In years past, he liked pushing the buttons, but didn't take too much time to find the activity.  He really noticed more details about the train cars and each scene, too--the little figures working in the oil field or the construction crew building a train track or the people on the street or in the park and what exactly they were doing.  Love, love to see it through his eyes.

We had so much fun with Poppi!  But, honestly, we probably could have spent an afternoon digging in the dirt with Poppi and Cooper would have had just as much fun.  Any time with Poppi is some of Cooper's favorite time.

(These are all phone pics, so they aren't the best.  I'm still learning how to use my phone camera.)

 We gave Austin a break from the stroller, and he kept trying to crawl away.  Back to the stroller with a little snack kept him content, for the most part.  :)

Yes, this is in the middle of Neiman Marcus.  Yes, Coop did drive it all around the women's section, with Poppi's help and encouragement.  And, yes, it was over $700.

Will Climb for a Quesadilla

I left the kitchen for two seconds.  Two.  And returned to find this.  One, he made it to the top of the stool.  And two, little guy was super hungry and decided to go ahead and eat his quesadillas (that I had just started to cut for him).  Instead of helping him down from the stool, I grabbed my phone and snapped a few pics.  He was perfectly proud of himself and content to stand there and eat his dinner.  I adore this little guy.

 

 

Coolest Dad Ever

A few days ago, Coop asked me if we could decorate his fort for Christmas.  My response was that I didn't think we could put lights up because there wasn't a plug over there, but we could decorate with other things for sure.  Philip pulled some garland out of the attic for us and I had some ribbon I was going to tie around things.  However, when I returned from running a few errands this afternoon, I found this.

Cooper was so excited about it.  He ran to the car as I was getting out and said, "Mommy!  Mommy!  We have a surprise to show you!!"  He grabbed my hand and pulled me around the corner to the fort.  So great!

Philip ran a really long extension cord from the carport (where we have an outlet), across the roof of the carport, over to the fence, along the top of the fence, and over to the fort.  It was totally rigged up in true Philip fashion.  It took all afternoon and Philip said Coop was a big help, and Austin enjoyed getting into all kinds of mischief in the backyard.

If you notice in the pictures, Coop is holding up his "famous rock"as he called it and wanted to make sure I got it in all the pictures.

Welcome to Coopertown

While Coop was sick (in August/September), he barely moved from laying down on the couch or our bed.  He just didn't feel like sitting on the floor, playing in the playroom.  So, while I was off for a run one morning, Philip and Cooper created Coopertown at our kitchen table.  It was so great!  And exactly what Coop needed.  Our table stayed like this for at least one month, but it kept Coop happy and at times distracted, so I didn't mind.  (This was the very beginning of him being sick, and you can see just how pale his face was.  It grew even more pale as the fever continued.)

 

08.19.2012

Today 11/19/2012

Today I loved going on a long walk with my sweet boys, then playing in the front yard for an hour in this gorgeous weather.  We played with sticks and leaves and read a couple of books, and it was perfect.  Then, we laid down under the cottonwood and waited for leaves to fall on us.  Only one fell, but it was so great to lay there, Coop to my left and Austin on my lap, watching the leaves "dance and laugh" as Coop put it.  Perfect.

I only took these two pictures, after the fact, because it was one of those moments when I knew if I moved and grabbed my phone, the moment would change and would be over.  I wasn't about to risk that.  So I took mental pictures and absorbed that sweet time with my boys.

 Mr. Cool

Cooper Says... (Part Two)

May 2012

I'm sweaty.  I need to take my shirt off, like my Daddy.  That's what boys do.

June 2012

Cooper: Mom, when you're finished with Austin, are you going to give him to another family and get another baby?
Me: Finished?  What do you mean?  Austin is a part of our family.
Cooper: When he's born and raised, is he going to live with another family?  Drakie is my little brother and Mocha is my little sister.
*We proceeded to talk about family and what that means and that Austin will always, always be his little brother.  :)

When i was a little boy, I was a shark.  A nice shark.  I lived in pools!  But not now.  I'm a big boy.  I'm Cooper!  The fireman.

Cooper: Mommy, why can't I poop in the backyard?  We can just pick it up with a scooper like we do Drakie's poo poo.  That's a good idea!

Thomas the Train lives in America.  I live on (NAME OF OUR STREET).

Mom, do firefighters put out volcanos?

July 2012

Leaning his chin over the backseat, talking to Carter and Cameron, "I really love you guys."

Mom, Austin makes my heart happy.  I'm so glad we have him.

Cooper: Mom, did the delivery men deliver Austin to us?
Me: That's a smart thought, but remember how Austin was in my tummy?  Dr. S helped get Austin out at the hospital.
Cooper: Oh.  And now we have him at home!  I'm so glad.

August 2012

Me: Coop, I'm going to clean Austin's nose.  I'll be right back.

Coop: Ok.  If you need help with Little Buddy, just holler.  I'll be right there to help!

(After throwing the ball for Austin) Go fetch, Austin!

(Picked up a vintage camera from the bookshelves.)  I'm gonna take a picture of the fire.  This is gonna be AWEsome!

(Coop and I made cardboard fire truck for Coop to wear and when he saw the finished product...)
Wow.  A fire extinguisher AND an axe?!  That. Is SO. AMAZING.

At the beach, watching seagulls flying overhead...
Mom, those birds flying look just like army guys.  (He would say this each time we saw a formation of seagulls.  One of those moments I wish to be inside his little head.)

September 2012

While getting our lunch ready for a picnic in the fort...
Me: Ok, I just need to figure out where Austin will sit for our picnic.
Coop: You can just milk him.  (Said very matter-of-factly and referring to nursing him.  Coop knows that Austin gets milk from Mommy.  This was a little glimpse into how his brain puts things together.)

I was cutting up a rotisserie chicken...
Coop: Did a chicken make that?
Me: This?  This is a chicken.
Coop: Well...but did a chicken make it?
Me: Tell me more about what you're thinking...
Coop: Chickens live on farms.  A farmer and a chicken put that chicken in the oven to bake.  They put the chicken on a truck and the truck took the chicken to the grocery store.  Then, we bought the chicken for dinner!  Right?  So a chicken made that?
*I told him I wasn't sure if the chicken actually helped with the cooking, but everything else was absolutely correct.  :)

Mom, when you go camping, you can't take any paper or monkeys.  They could cause forest fires.

Do rockets live on the moon?  Is the moon where outer space is?

Mom, what will I be when I grow up?  Can I really be a firefighter?  Really??  You be a princess and I'll save you when your castle burns.

C: What do you want to be when you grow up, Mom?
Me: An Olympic runner!  What do you think Poppi will be?
C: He's already big, Silly!

Coop and I went canoeing on a lake while in Florida.  Let's just say, Mom had a few difficulties with steering.  All of the below quotes were directed toward me:
Uh, Sailor, you're not very good at this.
Uh, Captain, we have a problem...
You can do it!!  You can do it!!
(And after getting us back to the dock..)
Good job, Mom!  Phew!  That was a close one.

Me: We only have two more days at the beach and then it's time to head back home.
Coop: Aaawwww.  That's so sad.  We've had so many days!

October 2012

How do I talk?  From my body?  (Been asking lots of questions about how our bodies were made.)
Who put my arms on?  Who put your arms on?  Who gave me my bones?

Let's go entertain ourselves, Dad!

I had a GREAT day!!  (As he jumped in the car after his first day of preschool for the year.)

Did God build me in Heaven?  Is Heaven his workshop?  Did God lay me down or build me on a stand?  What kind of tools did he use?

Austin, I'm going outside.  If you need anything, ask Mom.  Keep an eye on Mom, ok Buddy?

If you're not silly, I'll be silly and get your giggles out.

From awhile ago...

Me: Austin, do you want to help me make lunch?

Coop: He can't help you.  He has such little hands.

Austin was crying in the car...

Mama, my ears need a rest.  It's ok, Austin.  We are right here.  It's ok.  (Then, he began signing Old MacDonald....then went into Wheels on the Bus and finally just went into SHHHHHHHH.)

New Post: Sick Cooper

I mentioned awhile ago about Cooper getting West Nile.  I finally finished my super crazy long post about the entire ordeal.  Now, I'm pretty sure the only person who will read the entire thing is my Mom.  :)  But, in case you'd like to scan it, here's the link.

Sick Cooper

Ladies and Gentlemen, at 12.5 Months, We Have a Sleeper

Yep.  Finally.  At 12.5 months, Austin Buddy has decided he can finally sleep through the night.  Phew.  My eyes have been burning when I wake up in the morning from being closed for so long.  I hadn't had a good, full nights sleep in over a year.  Man, it feels good, too!

I stopped nursing and the last feeding I dropped was the overnight one.  I knew that would be what would change his pattern at night, it was just a matter of knowing we'd have a rough couple of nights where we all, Cooper included, might not get much sleep.  It took about three nights.  Pretty rough, long nights, but we managed and we made it through.  And now, we put the boys to bed by 7:00 p.m. and they sleep until about 7:00 a.m.  (Sometimes Coop wakes up a little earlier or Austin wakes up a little later.)  It was a long time coming, and I'm so glad we've turned this page!

These sweet pictures were taken (with my phone) during our weekend at the WayBack.  Ironically, Austin did not sleep through the night the night prior to taking these pictures.  He woke up around 1:30 a.m. and after I spent about 45 minutes rocking and singing to him, Philip took over.  They went outside, rocked on the porch and looked at the stars for TWO more hours.  I think they both actually had a really great time.

It's All Fun and Games Until You Run Into a Jet Wing

I think the title says it all.  We played at the flight museum early last week and just before we were about to leave, Cooper decided his army men needed to play on one of the big army jets outside of the museum.  He was having so much fun, and I was working on getting my camera ready on my phone to take a picture, when I suddenly hear very loud crying.  I ran around the jet wing to find Coop holding his face, with big tears coming down.  He had run smack dab into the wing of the plane!  There was a lot of blood and I was found myself talking overly calm and slow to not only calm Cooper down, but to keep myself calm.  I finally got the bleeding to stop and didn't think we'd need stitches, but was glad for our first aid kit in the car!  It was pretty chaotic for several minutes--Coop was upset, trying to calm down, but upset nonetheless, and Austin was ready to G-O.  He, too, was crying and refused everything I gave him for a distraction--keys, no; snack, no; musical toy, no; band aid box, no, no, no.  I considered taking a quick picture of the chaotic scene that was happening around me, but didn't.  (But, now, I'm kind of wishing I had!)

I took this picture before the great wing incident.  Coop loved pretending to be the army helicopter pilot!

Luckily, Coop's fine.  He has a cut from the top of his nose, down toward his cheek.  It's looking better, and I don't think he'll have a scar.  But, it's been funny to hear him tell people what happened; his answer is pretty awesome.  The best conversation was one I overheard after I dropped him off at school, two days after the incident...

Cooper: Lila, I have a boo-boo on my nose.  (He said with his chin tilted down toward his shoulder.)
Lila: Ouch!  What happened?
Cooper: I ran into a army jet plane.
Lila: Wow.

Awesome.

This cute little picture was taken before the great jet plane wing incident.  He was thrilled to sit in the pilot seat of an army helicopter!

Halloween Fail

I have two pictures from Halloween.

This one...

and this one.

We had really fun plans this year.  Pizza party with Duncan and Abby, then trick-or-treating together to all of our neighbors.  However....a nasty little virus had other plans for Cooperman.  He had the most horrible, deep, barky cough, with 103+ fever.  I took him to the doctor earlier in the day and was told that he has "the virus that everyone has right now" and that he'll have a fever for a few more days.  Oh, great. 

Coop was so excited about Halloween and our fun plans with neighbors.  He was going to dress as a fireman (of course) and Austin was his dalmation.  And, he wanted Philip to dress as a pirate cowboy.  We had plans!

We decided that Coop could sit on our sidewalk and at least wave to Duncan and Abby, and he could eat a popsicle.  Then, we could go to just a few houses for trick-or-treating.  So at 5:30, Coop got dressed and said he was going to lay down until it was time to go outside.  Five minutes later, he was sound asleep in the chair.  I tried to wake him around 6:00 to see if he wanted to go trick-or-treating, and he barely moved.  As Philip picked him up to move him to bed, he woke up and starting crying, asking, "what about the pizza party and trick-or-treating with Duncan and Abby??"  So sad.  (And, Philip did end up dressing as a cowboy, but Coop fell asleep before he even saw!)

However!  We have the best neighbors around and when they all found out that Coop was sick and already asleep, they all said that when he's better, our street will just have a Halloween redo for Cooper.  Isn't that so great!  Up and down the street, everyone had the same response.  We told Cooper this as we were tucking him in and it seemed to help.  When he woke up the next morning, he walked into our room, holding the basket of leftover candy (that I left on the kitchen table), asked what it was and then laid his head on my chest and said, "awww..  I missed all the fun."  I quickly reminded him about Halloween redo and he perked up (as much as his sick little self could). 

So, two days later, he still has a fever and a cough.  And he's asked everyday, "is THIS the day I get to go trick-or-treating?"  We keep telling him it will be a few more days....a few more days...

Stay tuned for Halloween, Part 2!