My Cooper

Cooper has been making some great improvements. He is still a long ways off from other kids his age, which sometimes seems to be exaggerated by his size. He is getting so big and suddenly looking so much older to me. He looks more like a 4 year old than the 2.5 year old that he really is. He is so tall and is growing out of his 3T clothes, rapidly moving on to 4T's. His face is that of a miniature Peter, and I often have to laugh at the characteristics they share. They both sit at the kitchen table with their chin resting on their hands, they both let out the occasional loud, deep sigh (I call them both "sighers"), and they both laugh when they fart.

He is now getting so much more coordinated. He is a talented climber and is running faster and faster. Still my little bookworm, I love to find him in his rocking chair reading books and almost every day I go into his room to find nearly the entire contents of his bookcase emptied all over the floor. The little guys loves music and sings lots of melodies (and sometimes even gets a word or two right or at least the right consonant sounds), loves to strum a guitar, and blow on his flute. I got him a little drum set a few months ago and he loves to pull up the tiny stool to sit, grab the sticks, beat the bass with his foot and bang away on the drums and cymbal. He is even starting to take interest in puzzles and will look to see where the shape or color goes rather than randomly placing.

He understands so much more now, which helps me to talk to him more. He recognizes questions and much of the time will answer a question with a "no" or an adorable 2 syllable "ja". He doesn't always answer appropriately, but at least he is saying something. He is finally getting the hang of saying "hello" and "bye-bye" while actually looking at the person. He consistently uses the words "open", "all done", and "down" in the right situations. And he responds to things we tell him to do, such as sit here, shoes on, stand up, put this in the trash, bring me the ball, give me a kiss, open the door, etc. While he has never been one for tantrums, he definitely understands now when we say no to something and he will drop to the floor on his hands and knees, put his forehead to the ground over his hands, and stick his little booty up in the air. He may not be happy, but it is so cute. These little things may not sound so impressive for a child nearing 3 years old, but they are big accomplishments for our little guy.

Hands down, the most endearing attribute of Cooper is his happy personality. He is always smiling and is so easy going. He never gets upset when another kid takes away his toy, he just looks for a new one. He wins over every guest that walks into our house with his curiosity, big smiles, and funny walks around the room. He loves to put on other people's hats and sunglasses and "see" experience the world in a new way. Whether it is a 10 hour flight, 6 hour drive, long day touring a new city, or hiking mountains, our sweet boy is along for the ride with juice, snack, and a smile. He is without a doubt the most precious thing in our lives and we are so blessed to have such a sweet boy reminding us each day of what is important.

I can't wait for you all to see him again and see all the changes, and my goodness, see how he has grown! We will be heading to Augusta on Wednesday of this week and then to Disney World on Saturday. I can't believe it is time already. I am so excited to spend time with friends and family back home and for Cooper to spread the joy to you. See you soon!

Do You Need A Laugh?

So, BooMama just posted this video and it made me laugh out loud as I sat here alone, which is a true testament. I hope you enjoy all 5 octaves as much as I did.

Let me point out a few hilarious details:
1. Is it just me, or does he look like he is going to cry partway through?
2. Oh no, he isn't going to cry. He's just constipated.
3. Are those bird noises?
4. And holding that last note . . . genius.

The Sweetest Sound

So, Cooper has been making some big strides, which I will write about later. But for now a little tidbit that went on at the breakfast table yesterday morning. As I was sitting with Cooper having breakfast, I turned to the side and sneezed. My non-speaking son said to me, "Bless You." Ya'll, it melted my heart and made me so incredibly proud and happy.

Preschool

Today was Cooper's first day of preschool. He did absolutely wonderful. He ran in straight to the play kitchen. Came back and hugged Mommy's legs and ran back to the kitchen again. Then I told him Mommy was going bye-bye and he gave me a kiss and I left. He ran to me when I came to pick him up and was all smiles.

Here is that big boy!

Love and Proper Mascara Application

We have been having a great time with our friends, Christina and Dwayne. They have come over to travel around in celebration of Dwayne's birthday. So far, I have taken them to Salzburg, Austria and shown them around Munich for a day. Right now they are off on their own in Prague, and tomorrow we will head over to the concentration camp in Dachau (which while very worthwhile to see leaves you with that icky depressive feeling that one gets after seeing thousands of images of humans being starved, tortured, gassed, and shot). After that we will head back into Munich to Oktoberfest to lift our spirits with chicken, beer, and men dancing on tables in lederhosen. I may have mentioned it before, but the lederhosen do tend to make a girl frisky.

As Peter and I were rushing around at the last minute trying to get the house in order for our guests to arrive, I walked into the bathroom to this:

That is Cooper after a hefty application of mascara.

I should tell you that Christina and Dwayne are a young couple in the deep throws of love and affection and are engaged to be married this coming May. It is the typical scenario of giddy lovey dovey-ness that one would expect. You know, hand holding, kissing, hugging, biting, finding your partner's farts and burps charming and funny, giggling, etc. It reminds me of Peter and I when we were just newly and nearly married. Back in the day before long work hours, putting kids to bed, changing diapers, smelly socks on the floor, piles of laundry and dirty toilets, moves, moves and more moves, and when we were a good 5 or 40 pounds lighter. But some things remain the same. . . the farts and burps are still there. They just aren't as charming and funny as they used to be.

Christina and Dwayne, we have enjoyed having you here and wish you the best of luck for a happy marriage.

Survivor

You ever hear those horror stories where someone has died for whatever reason in a house and they find that person days later with a 2 year old still alive? I have no doubt that should something happen to me in the house, Cooper would still thrive. He is a scavenger! He still doesn't communicate with me when he is hungry or thirsty, I guess because he knows that he is fully capable of just going down to the kitchen and getting something himself.

He is constantly pulling food out of the cabinets and trying to get into stuff. It was several months ago that he decided he wanted a banana. I didn't realize it until I came down into the kitchen and he had almost gnawed completely through the peel to get to the banana. Eww! I put all his snacks into some plastic containers with lids that I thought he couldn't open, but of course who am I kidding? He just goes in and gets himself a waffle, rice cake, or some M&M's whenever he so pleases. Yesterday as I was cooking dinner, I turned around and saw that he had carried over a LARGE jar of nutella (chocolate spread) to the table and had already unscrewed the lid and was just about to dig in . . . with his hands. Last week he found himself Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (coveted candy around here), unwrapped it all by himself and was chowing down when I found him in the living room. There were two problems with this (besides the fact that he would not normally be allowed an entire peanut butter cup all to himself). First, the chocolate had melted at some point, so it was stuck to the paper cup liner, which Cooper was eating with no problems. Second, he found the cup in our bedroom, and I found him with the remains of the cup downstairs in the living room. It isn't the first time I've found chocolate on the wall!

When I told Peter my theory about Cooper being able to survive in the house, he agreed that Cooper would make it without any problems. But he did add that whoever ended up discovering my body would also discover Cooper sitting on me, bouncing up and down and crumbs and chocolate smeared all over me. All I can say is thank goodness cockroaches don't exist over here!

Now there's a lovely thought to leave you with!

The New Man in My Life

OK, no one is allowed to get mad at this post. As you may know, I was travelling last week to a mystery location to meet up with a man. He was short and bald, which is just my type. His name is Sam, and he is just so delicious I could scoop him up and eat him with a shrimp fork. And, I kind of think that he liked me too!

This is my nephew who I finally got to see after 6 weeks. I had a wonderful week of changing diapers, feeding him, rocking him to sleep, holding in his paci, practicing my football hold, and bouncing that baby boy. The funny thing is that it felt like a great little vacation away from my 2 year old! I enjoyed time with family and for once was not running around like a crazy person all over town as we usually are when we are in Augusta. I also got to hit a big sale at Macy's with my Aunt Brenda and got lots of great stuff. It was really hard not to call friends and let them know I was there, but I really wanted to enjoy my time with family.

Thank you, Aunt Brenda, for bringing me home. I had a wonderful time!!! And thanks, Alan and April, for sharing your little bundle of joy with me. He is just wonderful. I can't wait until Cooper gets to meet him too.

Sneaking Around

I am on a secret rendezvous with another boy, and I am starting to fall in love. Yes, my husband knows. When I am back next week, I will tell you all about it!

Something To Get Excited About

Look on the left side bar to see something new! It is our countdown to Disney World. Yes, after talking about it every trip home so far, we have finally decided to head to Disney World. We will enjoy a wonderful time with some great friends and we cannot wait!

Even the best of us . . .

. . . can have a bad day!