What a Fun Day We Had

Today (December 18) was one of those days that reminded me, again, how lucky I am to stay home with the boys.  We started our day by making a gingerbread house (one of two activities from Coop's Christmas calendar countdown).  Super fun and Coop was in to it more than I thought he would be.  We cheated a little by gluing the house together and then decorating it.  Just made it a little easier, I thought.  Plus, he had to wear his construction vest since we were building a house.  Makes sense to me.

 Then, after lunch, we headed downtown to drop off some toys to the families at a homeless shelter.  (Activity two from the calendar.)  Coop helped me pick out several toys that don't get much play time around here.  We've purchased a few toys for a toy drive at Coop's school, too.  So between the two giving opportunities, we've had several good talks about kids in need.  I think today hit him differently, in a good way, than just dropping off the store-bought toys at his school.  Today, he got to see where these kids "live" and I really tried to explain that they don't have a house or their own bedroom like he does.  I think he got it as much as he can at four years old.  As he handed over the bag of toys at the shelter, while dressed as a fireman, I might add, I could tell he was proud.  Yea.  I think my lesson was grasped.

My original plan after dropping off the toys was to stop by the downtown park and play for a little bit.  Maybe stop by Gammi's office, too, depending on time.  But, I quickly remembered that Neimans has really great windows at Christmas.  We were right around the corner, so I thought we'd check it out.  So glad we did, too!  I had forgotten that their windows during Christmas time have a huge slide/maze thing that spans two sides of the building.  Parts of it even go out over the sidewalk.  I was a little nervous at first, asking lots of questions about if he get stuck--are there exits?  will we hear him calling for help?  what if he gets scared?  Coop didn't hesitate a bit and jumped right in the entrance slot!  And off he went!  Up, down, round and round, sliding, climbing, crawling.  And stopping to wave a me a time or two, with a huge smile of his face.  The first go around, I lost track of him pretty quickly and got nervous until I saw him sliding out of the exit.  He ran up to me and excitedly said, "That. Was. AWESOME, Mom!"  Again and again he went.  For half an hour!  Each time, laughing, smiling and waving.  So much fun!

Before we headed off to see Gammi, we walked inside Neimans because I wanted Coop to see the cool Christmas tree from inside the store.  (When I worked at Neimans, I wrote an article on the Neimans Christmas trees and the extensive planning and construction process the team goes through every year, so I still like to check out the tree each year.)  As we approached the tree, however, his attention was diverted to Santa (it didn't occur to me that he might be there).  Coop got so excited and began asking if he could go see him.  I was surprised by this reaction because so far this year, Coop has shown zero interest in getting up close to Santa.  There wasn't a line, so Coop, still dressed as a fireman, went right up to Santa, wide-eyed, and began telling him what he wanted for Christmas.  (I'll get the picture scanned and add it here soon.  It's super cute--Fireman Coop and Santa!)

I tried to put Austin on Santa's lap, too, but he took one look at that sweet Santa, opened his mouth, closed his eyes, and after a 30 second silent build up, let out a huge wail.  Oh well!  Maybe next year.

After a quick stop by Gammi's office, where Coop enjoyed an ice cream treat and Austin enjoyed trying to sneak in the conference room during Gammi's meeting, we headed home.  In the car, I asked Cooper what he told Santa he wanted for Christmas.  Coop's reply was, "Mom, it's a surprise.  You have to wait until Christmas."  Fingers crossed that Santa and I are on the same wave link.

12.18.2012

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.