My "Napping" Bookworm

So many wonderful things about having a video monitor; this is just one example. On this particular day, instead of sleeping, Cooper was reading books in his bed. He knows it's ok if he doesn't fall asleep, but he needs to stay in his room and at least rest for a little bit. He can play in his bed or read books, but I've told him he needs to stay in bed. Which, really, isn't a problem with him. He really only gets out of bed if he needs something. On a rare occasion, he'll get out of bed for no reason, but it's very rare. And, for the most part, Cooper is still a good napper. He never fights me on naps, but sometimes he just doesn't fall asleep and wants to come out of his room after 20 minutes or so. I am always able to redirect him to bed and get him to rest awhile longer when this happens, though. When he's not reading in his bed, he's usually either playing with his dinosaurs or playing trash truck, of course.

I kept watching the monitor on this day because he would get a book, sit down and look at each page slowly, put the book down and jump out bed, grab another book, jump back in bed, and then "read" that book slowly. Over and over and over he did this. Probably for over an hour. When I went into his room later that day, there was a HUGE pile of books at the foot of his bed. I love that he is such a bookworm and enjoys looking at books.
I've even found him a few times reading books to Austin--so sweet.

Christmas Day 2011

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" more than a broken traffic light from Santa and a little boy with a fever. Cooper woke up early Christmas morning, around 6:30 a.m. I had just crawled back into bed after feeding Austin Boo and I could instantly tell that Cooper wasn't feeling well. So he crawled into bed with Philip and I and we started our Christmas morning by watching a little Curious George. Santa wasn't even on Cooper's radar yet, so we kept him in our room and quiet until about 8:00 a.m. But as soon as Philip asked Cooper if he was ready to see if Santa came, Coop jumped out of bed, wide-eyed and giggling!

The look on his face when he saw that Santa came was priceless. He was pretty quiet looking at all of his goodies, and it took him several minutes to notice everything. I think he was in shock and awe that Santa came and brought the fun toys--the traffic light and the cement truck--that he actually asked for.

Merry Christmas from my little sleepy head.

I loved seeing him look around and notice more signs that Santa had been there. The look on his face was a mixture of trying to figure it out, complete awe, and pure curiosity. He was not only excited about checking out his own stocking, but also checking out what Santa in stockings left for Mommy and Daddy, too!

Once he realized that Santa ate the cookies, he quickly ran outside to check on the reindeer food. He ran back in to happily tell me only one carrot was left, "Reindeer like their food!!".

I took Cooper to the UT Co-Op one afternoon to pick out a few presents for Philip. He got to pick everything out on his own, and he made some great choices--a baseball bat and ball, some socks, and a little football player bobble head.

Play time with Poppi=the highlight of Cooper's day, any day.

The men building the fire station from Mommy and Daddy.

Overall, we had a great Christmas. Quieter than what we had anticipated, due to Coop not feeling well, but we had a great time being home all day and playing with new toys. This was the first year that Cooper really showed anticipation and excitement about Christmas. It makes me realize how each year will be more and more exciting for him and Austin. I just can't get over how on Christmas Day, he kept looking around with an expression that seemed to wonder....you mean elves really came in the house?! Down the chimney?! And they left us goodies in our stockings and under the tree?! He watched Prep & Landing, or "Elves" as he calls it, so many times in the month of December, I'm pretty sure he can recite parts of the movie. Coop would pretend to be Wayne the Elf and come down the chimney, puff the stockings, get the tree ready, and marshal in Santa's sleigh.

And, would you believe that about a week and a half after Christmas, Santa brought a new (working) traffic light! We woke up one morning and there was a traffic light sitting by the fireplace with a note to Cooper from Santa and Wayne the Elf. However, now Cooper thinks Santa might come down the chimney any night and leave toys or fix a broken toy for him. We're working on that one...

Merry Christmas!!

12.25.2011

Today: Fireman, Trash Trucks and Imagination

We were blessed with beautiful weather today, so we spent our entire morning outside. It was much needed for all of us!

Fireman Cooper took care of lots and lots and lots of fires all over the backyard. Couldn't believe we were playing with the water hose in the middle of January. He asked me to get the pool out, but luckily the water hose ended up being enough water entertainment. He was so cute running around the backyard, putting out fires. We've been reading The Little Fire Engine (with Fireman Small) almost every day recently, and he kept acting out parts of the book...fire in the attic, helping the little girl. He would give me different jobs to do. Holding the hose, running to the pumper truck, getting more water from the hydrant, checking on the fire dog. We were busy, busy!

Fireman Austin kept an eye on things for us, too.

Fire dog Drake was ready for action.

Time for a lunch break, outside of course.

And, if our outside time couldn't have gotten any more fun...the trash truck showed up. I could do an entire post on Cooper's excitement about watching the trash truck each week. (In fact, I need to do that!) We heard the truck pull into the ally, and Coop ran to the gate, ready to hand over a bag of trash. Seriously...this is the highlight of his week, each and every week.

Heading inside for a nap...when did he get so big that he can ride on my back? He jumped on and I started making horse noises, saying "giddy up, giddy up!!" But Cooper asked me why I was being a horse because "We're astronauts! Blast off!!!" Love him.

After a good nap and dinner, Cooper walked by the kitchen table when he stopped suddenly and said, "Ah! A footprint!" while pointing to the floor. He proceeded to tell us that it was a dinosaur footprint and it was a clue. He pretended to have a magnifying glass in his hand and walked around looking for more clues. Then, he got his binoculars and after more clue searching, he found a dinosaur tooth! It was right in the middle of the floor...not sure how we had missed it.

This is the dinosaur tooth. Cooper asked me to hold it and "keep it an eye on it for me." I obliged, of course.

The next thing I knew, Coop is telling Philip they have to take one of his dinos to the dentist to fix his teeth. The dentist office was by the fire, so he and Philip got some tools and went to work on the dino.

(His binoculars.)

According to Cooper, this is the dino that's been walking around the house. Mystery solved!

The main theme that I saw out of Cooper today--imagination. Everything we did, everything we played with, even our conversations. His imagination amazes me on a daily basis, and I'm glad I captured so much of it today with my camera.

My boys

I love these two with everything I have. The whole of my heart. My entire being. They are my world.
And their daddy, too.
Just wanted to share that.