Today: 4/23/14 Cooper's Numerous Clothing Changes

Cooper likes to dress the part.  He changes clothes at least twice a day, depending on what he's playing or what "character" he wants to be.  He changes so much that I've had to invent a Clothes Monster.  Rule is: if you don't pick up the clothes after you've changed, the Clothes Monster will pick them up and take them away.  That's a pretty big deal to a boy who likes to have all of his options and all of his fireman and army shirts clean and ready-to-wear at all times.  Today was a great example of Cooper and how he changes "roles."  I wish I had captured each outfit with my camera, but it was also one of those days, well, it was a normal day...  It was busy, and I was doing ten million things at one time all while feeding a baby and changing diapers.  So...  I took mental pictures and enjoyed the hearing stories and watching imagination flow from my sweet 5.5 year old creative one. 

Outfit One
The day started off with Coop wearing camo shorts and a DFD t-shirt (of course) to school.  They went on a field trip to the zoo today, riding the Dart train to and from.  (Super fun!  AND, Philip got to go, too, which Coop loved!) 

Outfit Two
After getting home, he immediately changed into a train conductor outfit: blue athletic pants, a blue t-shirt, a train conductor hat, carried around three train whistles, and asked me to pin his train ticket to his shirt.  He told me stories about being a train conductor while I fed Grayson, and we made train noises and motions trying to get Grayson to copy us.  Then, I began cleaning up our lunch dishes and getting the little ones ready for naps.  Coop ventured over to our big Bevo, and he and Austin began to pretend to put Bevo on a train because he had to go to his ranch so he could take a nap. 

Outfit Three
The next thing I know, Coop comes out in his orange/white sweat pants and a Longhorn shirt, wearing a cowboy hat and his boots.  He was now a Longhorn rancher, ready to get Bevo off the train and take care of all the ranch duties.  He had his pop guns and his new rubber band gun and a camo bag full of "gear."

Outfit Four
As I was reading to Austin at naptime, Coop came running into the room, grabbed a few things, and ran back out.  I noticed he had more clothes in his hands.  When I came out after getting the little ones down for naps, Coop was now dressed as a Longhorn football player and asked if I wanted to go play football.  Well, yes, I did.  So outside we went.  We played catch, he told me about being a football player, showed me how to tackle someone in slow motion, and then he told me about how he needed to go back to his ranch house after the game and he was going to ride a train to get there.  :)

Outfit Five
Little ones wake up, Coop goes back inside to change back into his Longhorn Rancher outfit: orange/white sweat pants, but this time he put on a Longhorn jersey. 

Phew.  I would be exhausted after changing clothes that many times.  But I loved seeing how one clothing change lead to the next which lead to the next which lead to the next, but in the end, they were all linked together.  Love that little boy.  Love his mind.  Love his hugely imaginative, creative self. 

Just a few recent "outfits."

Friday Morning Mowers...Still a Favorite

We've had the same lawn crew for at least five years.  They've always come on Fridays, usually mornings.  And they've always had an audience.  Every couple of years, their audience has grown.  And now, Grayson has joined the viewing party.  Reminds me of this and this.

Today: April 4, 2014

Today I went to the mall with George Washington and a fireman.  And, yes, we did get a lot of attention. 

 We went to the library, checked out seven books about our presidents, the US, and the constitution.  Coop quickly settled in with one after we got back home.

Cowboy Grayson

Grayson loves his big brothers.  L-O-V-E-S them.  Any attention he gets from them, he'll take.  It's getting to the stage where Coop and Austin are "playing" more with Grayson as opposed to just tickling, talking, or shaking a toy in front of him.  They are all interacting together and really engaging Grayson these days, and he is soaking it up.  Plus, between Grayson crawling and Coop carrying Grayson around the house, I never know where I'll find anyone!  On this particular day, I found these two..

 

03.08.2014

Grayson, Playing in Drake's Water Bowl

Why is it that a dog's water bowl is a complete magnet for babies?  Grayson is at the point where he will quietly crawl into the playroom, when he thinks no one is watching him, and race over to Drake's water bowl.  If I try to stop him mid-crawl, he turns around, gives me a huge smile, and tries to crawl faster to the bowl before I reach either him or the bowl first!  Turkey.

Kinda reminds me of this kid...

03.07.2014

Boys Will Be Boys

I'm sure this won't be the first blog post about my boys tackling each other...  I walked into Grayson's room to this.  The pictures aren't good and they are blurry, but that's because there was so much energy and movement in the room, I couldn't even keep up.  It's amazing to me that at only eight months old, Grayson had zero fear and jumped right into the dog pile with his brothers.  Because, well, that's what boys do.  And I have three of them.

 I love these below.  Grayson doesn't hesitate to crawl on over and jump in on the action.

King of the Mountain