Boys and Trash Trucks

We can detect the sound from a mile away.  The trash truck.  Even Austin, at 18 months old, knows the sound.  And as soon as his little ears find it, I start hearing, "Ta tuck!  Ta tuck!  Ta tuck!"  And, "It's coming, it's coming!" from Cooperman.  I'm sure when Little One is here, he, too, will join in our Thursday ritual. 

Boys and their obsession with trash trucks...not sure I will ever understand it.  We have been watching the trash truck come down our alley and pick up our trash cans almost every week for at least two years now.  We have the same trash truck crew, and they are always friendly with the boys.  We give them Dr. Pepper and water regularly, bake them cookies on special occasions, and always make sure to give them a big, "thank you" each week.  They've even congratulated me on Little One joining our family and frequently comment on how big the boys are getting.  I often wonder if other people watch them like we do, or if we are that house.  Either way, the boys enjoy "the show" and I always try to make it a lesson in giving thanks to others for providing a service to us, especially like taking care of our trash.  And it's a great time to talk about trash and recycling, what all that means and where it all goes.  (Which is amazing to me, because I don't think I knew what "recycling" really meant until I was nearing the end of college.)

 

I Adore Them

04.16.2013

We went to water plants outside, so Coop decided he needed to put on his fireman gear because really we were putting out fires on all the plants...in his eyes.  (In the second pic, Austin was yelling, "Ma-MA!")

 04.23.2013

I was working in the boys' rooms checking summer clothes and swim gear (for our upcoming beach trip...yea!), and the boys kept themselves entertained by throwing around the piles of clothing I had neatly folded and separated.  Austin kept coming up to me with different things he wanted to put on.  He started with jammies underneath, added Cooper's swim shorts and swim shirt, one boot, one croc, a fleece and a red hat.  He was like this for most of the afternoon, and I just adore that he picked out his own clothes.  Coop decided to be a lifeguard and put on his swim clothes along with his goggles around the top of his head, topped off with cowboy boots.  (I got a good picture with my big camera.  I'll add it after I add the pictures to the computer.)

  

And then he decided to change jackets, "jack, jack, jack."

If messing up the piles of clothing wasn't fun enough, Austin proceeded to pull clothes out of a laundry basket and throw them all of the room.  Awesome.

And, yes, I did just sit there and snap pictures.

 

That was so funny!! 

This is how they entertained themselves while I worked in Austin's room.  And, honestly, these pictures don't even come close to capturing the tornado that came through that room.  I had to walk on my tip toes and take gentle, yet large steps, between the dresser and the closet as to not step on a truck, dinosaur, musical instrument, train, ball, or toy little person. 

 

04.22.2013

Pirate Jake came for a visit today.  He even tied his bandana by himself...and put his tennis shoes on the wrong feet.  Perfection.

 

I mean, seriously, is there anything cuter than a freshly awakened baby wearing a diaper and a rocket pajama top?  I think not.

 

Thanking Our Police Force

Our normally cozy, quiet neighborhood went through a bit of a "shake up" a couple of weeks ago.  For a few weeks, I was on high alert safety mode anytime we went outside and was taking extra safety precautions even when we were inside.  I hated it.  I hated that someone put fear in me and in our neighborhood.  (The boys, of course, had no idea what was going on.  They just thought it was cool to frequently see helicopters and policemen.)  Our local police force was working extra hard and extra long hours to patrol and do their best to make us feel "safe."  Luckily, their hard work paid off and they caught the person responsible for turning our community up-side-down.

To say "thanks" to the police force, our community organized an appreciation week for our local station.  So the boys and I made cookies and delivered them to the station one afternoon.  I'd never been to a police station, so I had no idea what to expect.  We walked through the front doors and when the administration person at the front saw Cooper holding a bag of cookies, he quickly buzzed us through the office entrance door.  We were greeted by an officer immediately and Cooper handed him the cookies with a polite, yet quiet "thank you."  The officer gave both boys a police badge sticker and both boys' eyes lit up.  (How did Austin know that was a cool sticker??)  Looking around the office, I was overcome with pride for our community.  Everywhere I looked, there were notes, cards, drawings, signs, all thanking the police officers.  You could tell they were appreciative; there was just a sense of "unity" that I wasn't expecting to feel.  It was pretty cool, and it made me glad that we took the time to bake those yummy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  And, while I was focused on the walls covered in thank you's, Cooper was focused on all the gadgets and "tools" (as I called them) on the policeman's belt.

After our exchange inside, we were led outside where the boys got to "drive" a police car.  And turn on the siren.  And the lights.  And play with the search light.  AWE-SOME.  Even to a 17-month-old, who, when he couldn't get enough of pushing the siren button, I took him out of the car, and I was given a very sad look followed by, "Poopa car.  Poopa car!"  He so badly wanted to sit back in that car with his big brother. 

We had a great visit!  And I'm glad we took the time to do something nice, although little, for the policemen.  It was the least we could do for restoring our sense of security, and it was good "giving thanks" lesson for Cooper. 

This Yellow Swing

When I was pregnant with Austin, I spent a lot of time pushing Cooper on this swing.  A lot of our conversations were about Baby Brother--what he might look like, what babies do and don't do, and how fun it would be to have Baby Brother swing WITH Cooper.  I remember telling Coop it would be awhile before his little brother is old enough to sit there and swing with him.  And now I'm wondering how this time came so quickly?  Austin loves to sit and swing with his big brother and Coop loves having Austin there with him.  I don't know if Coop remembers our conversations, but I sure do, and it just makes me smile to see them sitting there together.  All the while, I have another little boy growing in my tummy who will one day (probably before I even realize it) sit on this swing with one of his big brothers.

March Trip to the Zoo

The boys and I have taken advantage of the nice weather we've had recently with a few trips to the zoo.  On our most recent trip, we ventured down a path that had the greatest boulders to climb on and the most intriguing (according to two little boys) area with rocks.  They sat and played in this rock area for a good hour, at least.  We dug for fossils, we built little rock houses, we collected rocks to bring home, and we just sat and played and got dirty.  And it was perfect.  

After a picnic near the elephants, we ventured over to the giraffes.  Coop loves feeding them, and he's a total pro at this point.  Austin, on the other hand, loved getting a close look, but didn't really know what to think when they tried to eat the lettuce out of his hand.  

Austin's first favorite part of the day?  Seeing the gorillas.  He loves them!  (Which makes me smile because the gorillas were always Coop's favorite at this age, too.)  And each time we go to the zoo, Austin gets so, so excited to see the "Lil-las."  If you ask him to say "gorilla," he will say, with the most enthusiastic tone, "Lil-LA!!!!!" 

Coop loves looking at the map.  We take frequent stops to examine the map and figure out which way to head next.

Later that day, Coop convinced me it was warm enough to pull out the pool.  So we spent the afternoon running and splashing and looking forward to even warmer weather!

Austin's second favorite part of the day?  When Daddy got home.

03.04.2013