KRYPTONITE!!!

So, what is the downfall of sir master Cooper the Super Man??? (yeah, I went for it)

Some might guess donuts... he is mighty fond of those, but alas, those actually make him STRONGER.

Some might guess Keeley... but, alas, she just makes him bashful with adoration.

Some might guess Mommy or Daddy - the two living breathing creatures who tend to his every need and swoon over his every movement - ... but, alas, we are really not that cool and most days he is so way over us.

Some might guess stillness as he resists it every second he is awake... but, alas, this isn't his Achilles heel, he just doesn't like it.

Some might guess toothbrushes... but, alas, that just makes him happy.

What is it, then? What can it be that is the "one weakness of an otherwise invulnerable hero" (thank you Wikipedia)????

His PANTS! They (literally) bring him to his knees.

They are too big, and apparently holding a Generals (?) cap and being super man leaves nothing to protect him from his vulnerability of being tripped by them pooling around his ankles.












In other news... Cooper and I would like to formally congratulate one Daddy for his acceptance into the graduate program that will allow him to next conquer the world.

Yay Steve!

SUPER MAN!!!

Super Cooper seemed too obvious.

These are jammies Cooper received from his Cox grandparents a while back. They are reminiscent of super man pajamas that I wore about his age... apparently almost every day. He is still a bit small for them, but they are just so friggin cute.

Yes. That is a cape.

And yes, Super Man tends to menial tasks like turning on the fan and lights in the living room with the remote control and putting on... super power blush.

Friends

Steve and I often joke about the stuffies being Coop's "friends." The truth is, he is not a daycare baby, and we don't know a lot of people with similarly aged children, so, thems the facts. There is not much outside of Steve, myself, and monkey and teddy (poor chap!), though music class has changed that some.

This past weekend Cooper got invited to a BIRTHDAY PARTY!!! YAY!

A colleague of mine also attends said music class and delivered an invite to her son's 2nd birthday party a few weeks ago. I got butterflies. I was SO EXCITED that Cooper was getting included in the social life of another two year old! (How pathetic am I?) We got a present for the kiddo before I even officially RSVPd I was so pumped. And despite Saturday already being jammed with a TON of other things (also fun, but BUSY) we attended and had a BALL!

It was at a jumpy gym place with THREE blow up bounce castles and LOTS of other toys and Cooper was in HEAVEN. He played in one of the castles (with mommy inside spotting him and daddy outside playing peek-a-boo), he cooked in the kitchen set, he ran in circles (knocking the birthday boy down - WHOOPS!) and went down the slide with Mommy (who sucked it in to look like she fit was within the weight restrictions).

All in all it was a pretty fantastic Saturday, and he was exhausted by bedtime.

Sir Chomps-a-Lot

Guess who has one molar coming in.... COOPER!!!

Guess who has Two molars coming in.... COOPER!!!

Guess who has THREE Molars coming in.... COOPER!!!

Guess who has ALL FOUR MOLARS pushing up through his gums.... COOPER!!!!

Yes, today Coop went to the dentist. I have no memories of being to a pediatric dentist, cause I think by the time my memory started actually storing things I was old enough to just go to a regular old dentist, thus, this was a new experience for the both of us. Coop was a champ and cracking people up in the waiting room. We got a lot of "how cute!" comments and the hygienist who saw us said "Yay! I get to have him!" when she came into the room, so things started out well. Despite Cooper not being a big fan of having fingers or metal objects put in his mouth by strangers the whole visit actually went really well. He has ZERO stains of any kind on his teeth. Apparently this is not too common as the nurse had said she was going to polish them before looking at them, and it was only when I asked if that was really necessary that she consented to checking for stains before going right ahead. Alas, the polish was unnecessary, his teeth are perfection. Way to go Steve - that morning brushing you have added to the daily routine may have saved us (or at least ME) from a very traumatic metal-whirring-object-in-Cooper's-mouth moment.

Odd fact: Babies born premature... a la Cooper... sometimes have issues with their molars. The front teeth are already formed, but the last 12 weeks of gestation is when the molars form, so when babies are born early there can be a lack of completion to the whole molar forming process. No real big implications from this - we just have to brush real well cause they may be extra porous, but I thought it was kind of odd.

Anywho. He was a real champ today.

Yay Coop!

Wee Ooo Wee Ooo Wee Ooo

That is my best approximation of the sound of a fire truck.

Firefighter Coop was on duty today.

And the playroom stayed in one piece.

Coincidence? I think not.

A Tale

Of a Boy... and his Cat.

Cooper has come to love Clementine again. This is a friendship that dates back to when Coop first started getting in standy-up toys, and Clem would weave between his legs and make him giggle. He would lean waaaay over the contraption he was in and touch her, and she would arch up so he could scratch her ears or back.

Then, the Boy stopped loving his Cat. He decided that if he was going to have a Cat, it would be the gray Cat. Sadly, the gray Cat never returned his affection.

Alas, the Boy has returned and now he and his Cat sit happily together peering out into the great unknown.

El Fin.

Speaking of Blowing Kisses...

Last night, completely unprompted, after I said "I love you" to Coop and handed him off to Steve for his nighttime bottle, Coop blew me kisses as I left the room. How awesome is that????

Pretty awesome.

And now to speak of something completely different.

Coop got these buckets from his Grandma and Grandpa when we went to Chicago. They are 10 buckets, descending in size, alternating in color, and they are AMAZING. Coop like to put the smaller buckets in the bigger buckets and can properly put them all in each other until there is one big bucket holding nine other. He can also stack them (pictured here). These are not new skills, just things I have failed to post about before. And, while not new in his repertoire, he is an avid bucketeer.

Also, Coop has LOTS of friends... stuffed animal friends that he totes around the house slung under his arm. He just canNOT understand why this furry little "friend" Clementine will not come and play with him... Unlike all his other little buddies, when he goes to pick her up she squirms away.

New Tricks

Just a quick update of some new things Cooper does. (And, yes, Steve pointed out that when I talk about him like this, and title posts with things such as "new tricks" it sounds more like we have a puppy then a toddler. Sorry Coop, but I am ok with that.)

First trick: "SO BIG!"

Most kid do this when they are about 6 months younger than Cooper is now, it is like one of those first tricks you teach. Coop just absolutely flat out refused to go along with this. Perhaps he wanted to wait until he had grown enough that his proclamation to the world was on point. Who knows. All I know is that we were at Costco this Sunday and he was in the cart and I was walking and talking to him and at some point I told him he was "so big." UP WENT HIS HANDS. I was like, WHAT???? I have been saying "So Big" and putting my hands up to signify just HOW big for SO long and now, out of nowhere, without me even doing a tutorial, he is "SO BIG!"

Proud = Mama.

Second Trick: Blowing Kisses.

We mastered this one by adding sound effects to it. Thus, usually he appears to be imitating Native Americans in the way that we did as kids when we played cowboys and Indians (or were Indian Princesses), but is by now most definitely not P.C., but trust me, he is blowing kisses.

Father's Day

Today is Steve's day - featuring Coop.

So, what do you do for the stay at home day on father's day???

I thought long and hard, bought the obligatory "gift from Coop" and then told Steve that I was packing Coop up for the afternoon, and he MUST watch the White Sox and drink a few beers.

He complied.

That's what is kind of funny about father's day to me... Coop, the boy to whom Steve is a father, really doesn't give a you-know-what about today, and pretty much thinks it is just like every other day where he is king of the castle.

As he should at this age I suppose, but for Steve who stays home and plays butler to our little monarch EVERY DAY, all of the typical "father's day" rituals just seemed like the wrong way to say THANK YOU to him for being such a great dad to our son (since after all, Cooper is just now learning please, and I am pretty sure thank you will take even more time as it is said AFTER one receives what one wants, and Cooper's only motivation in saying please is to GET what he wants, so why would he comply with another one of our silly demands once he has succeeded???).

Don't get me wrong, we did some family stuff - going out to lunch, napping simultaneously, playing in the morning- but Steve gives so much of himself to us every day that I kind of wanted to just give him the day off. And hopefully that is enough to say thank you.

Thank you for getting up early so that I can sleep in (even when I tell you that you better let me do it because that was supposed to be part of your father's day gift)

Thank you for laughing at things instead of getting angry.

Thank you for teaching Cooper how to growl and say please.

Thank you for everything, I suppose.
Thank you for being a father to our son. I wouldn't trade you, not even for never-ending bacon.

My Girlfriend's Back

Cooper is a little in love with a friend of the family.

She came over to visit today.

He was mighty smitten.

A Fickle Fickle Heart

Coop is a man (ha!) of many opinions.

Yesterday he looooved yogurt. LOVED it. I buy the giant things of yogurt smoothies that you can pour in a glass and drink through a straw for myself, but since we were pretty much out of fruit yesterday we poured some for him, and OMG this kiddo went crizazzzy. He was slurping it through the straw, he was drinking it from the glass. It was truly a tragedy when his glass was empty.

Aha! we thought... tomorrow for breakfast we shall do this again! So, clearly, this morning yogurt was DISGUSTING. He took one sip, and OMG (but in the GET THAT AWAY FROM ME, WHY ARE YOU FEEDING ME THIS VILE STUFF??? kind of way). So, clearly, he looooooved apple sauce. Why is apple sauce weird, you ask? It is not. Not to about 99% of the population under the age of 2. Apples all sweet and tasty mashed into an easy to consume sauce... what is there to complain about??? Well, if you are Coop up until this morning there was PLENTY to complain about. Apple sauce used to equal disgusto. Now it is divine.

Same thing for imitating. For the past few months Coop would copy our growls, or letter sounds, but unless I accidentally sneakily listened into him, I would never hear him utter "ma ma" despite my CONSTANT INCESSANT BEGGING PLEADING. Now, every time I call home from work to say "hi" he jumps on the phone and is all "MAMA!!!!" Which I LOVE.

Also, for MONTHS I have been trying to get him to blow kisses. He walks over to give kisses, he makes smacking noises, but he would just look at me deadpan like "um, ok, no." NOW, he blows kisses, complete with sound effects.

Cured... for now

A great cure for insomnia????

Waking up bright and early after staying up until almost as bright and almost as early and going to the Y for the second day in a row for a swimming fiesta.

I think Coop and I are equally pooped thanks to the summer sun and hours of swimming.

We took a camera, and were happily far to engrossed in our play time to remember to get it out to take pictures. Next time perhaps.

Coop is FEARLESS is water. Which is fine while we can still outrun him. We go to a kid splash pool that has the beachlike entry into the water and he barges straight in. He loves to play in the water fountain area where water spouts up from the ground, or dumps on you from overhead. I am always a half step behind him, ready to shield him from the larger water dumps and he almost never stops moving. He loves to get in the shallow water and bend over to submerge his face and pretend to blow bubbles while gulping in water.

See You in a Couple

As I sit here - ignoring the insomnia, or rather making USE of it - all I can think about is us.

Us is pretty dern good, no?

How lucky we are.

Tonight, I tucked you in bed, and then a wonderful person came and listened to you sleep while your dad and I went out. First to kickball, then to play darts. How lucky we are to have you. You who sleeps so well. You who wakes so happy. You who I can forget about because I needn't worry, and yet, you who is always tucked in my heart and foremost in my mind no matter where I go.

You. Beautiful you.

You BETTER always know how much we love you.

My mind is awake tonight. You are a mere 20 feet (roughly???) above me, and I can almost feel each breath you are breathing. I can wrap my arms around the air in front of me and place them exactly where they would fall if you were here with me. How cool is that? I worried so much what it would do to us when I went to work. Would we be as close? Would you know me? Would I still be MOMMY and not just that woman who comes into the house mid-afternoon???

How foolish I was.

We are tight. We are so BFFs it is not even funny. Add your Dad in the mix, and OMG we are like the friggin 3 muskateers. Thick as thieves. Maybe you will take me for a spin in your new ride?

Distractions

Before we get back to the car... check out that REMOTE CONTROL!!!! WOWEEEEE that is AWESOME!

Anywho - we broke down and bought this car for Coop today. We had decided it was something we wanted on our last trip to WalMart, but we decided that we should wait cause he already has SO MANY TOYS and we should be patient, budget and maybe get one used. So, a mere 4 days later... PURCHASED. Yes, Coop, this is why mommy has so many shoes - a complete lack of impulse control! Whoppeee!

This leads us to another thing I hope to pass on - the ability to assemble. Ask me sometime about the IKEA couch v. Steve. Not to give too much away, but IKEA won. I put this bad boy together - half before work, half after. Then - Oh My Goodness. There was door opening. Then there was door closing. Then there was key turning. Then there was key dropping and picking up. Then there was one foot in. Then there was two feet in, but facing backwards. Then there was climbing through the window. Then there was getting stuck. Then there was climbing out the window. Then there was pushing. Then there was pulling. Then there was scooting. Then there was turning of the steering wheel.

Clearly we have had a VERY busy day.

I heart you Cooper. You make me see everything from a different perspective. Yours.

And much like everything else - your perspective is just so much cooler then anyone elses.

INSOMNIA

Hello, dear Cooper,

It is 2:04 in the morning. You are asleep. Your Dad is asleep (after many reassurances that YES he should go to sleep, and NO he was not abandoning me, and NO this was not a trick, and YES I swear he is not in trouble for sleeping come sunrise), and I AM AWAKE. Hello, dear Cooper, and Hello, less dear insomnia.

There are many things I have been able to embrace about myself, and remove from my self-deprecation repertoire and hope that my children actually DO inherit from me. Examples: ability to do quick math in their heads, appreciation for juvenile, yet NEVER old humor, loving to dance no matter how silly they look, loving hugs. Noticeably absent from that list is INSOMNIA.

This has been my struggle from over a decade ago. Sometimes I just can NOT sleep. I nearly passed out after work today, and yet, when bedtime comes, I am WIRED. A kind of wired people would pay big bugs for on some kind of black market, but sadly (I guess) this wired is an allllll natural WIRED. My mind runs, and sadly, my body keeps pace. Sleep just is not in the cards.

This may be one of the biggest struggles i have had in my marriage to your Dad, Coop. Bless him, your dad, well, like you, he is a sleeper. And, whether it be because we had babies so early into our marriage that we are still "honeymooning" or just his nature, he still, bless him again, just doesn't feel right going to sleep when I am not tucked in next to him.

About one o'clock tonight he just plain relented.

Thank goodness.

And you. Today you got a new present. A CAR. A BRAND SPANKING NEW CAR!!!!

Count yourself lucky kidd-o, cause when you turn sixteen and you are looking longingly at that driveway, your dad and I will stand in your line of sight and remind you, WE ALREADY BOUGHT YOU A CAR!!!

Any other car you want from here on out, is ALL YOU!!!!

Love,
Mommy at 2:14am.

P.S. check out that vanity plate. Ignore the spelling, and that is pretty darn personalized!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Loves me that giggle!

Untrained Monkey

This is the video I did a few days ago, trying to get Coop to showcase his many talents... I am posting it so that it can be appreciated just how freakishly lucky we were to get a video documenting all the things he does. He will do all of those things pretty much on command...

So long as it is just Steve and I around...

And there is no chance of being caught on camera...

And he isn't surrounded by WAY COOLER things, like kitchen cabinets...

And the stars are aligned just so...

Trained Monkey

We have taught Coop many a thing in his 15+ months on this earth.

Not to talk, and only recently to talk... but hey! We are proud of what he does.

Here is a video showcasing all of his little learned tricks.

(For the record, his way of saying "I love you" and "All done" do look remarkably the same, but to the trained eye of a monkey trainer, they are Veeeeery different)

Sinful

You know what is awful?
Ferberizing your child (though the results are phenomenal)!

You know what is double awful?
Ferberizing your child AGAIN 9 months later...

Ugh.
The trip to Padre truly wreaked havoc on Master Cooper's sleep schedule, and yesterday we paid the price (up Monday night / Tuesday morning rocking him back to sleep, only to have him woken back up by a certain cat, fits and crying spells at bed and nap times and general grumpiness throughout the day on Tuesday).

We were fine with this - I mean, as fine as you can be. He had been a trooper, and we recognize how spoiled rotten we are with this kid's usual sleep schedule, so we take our lumps when they are due.

HOWEVER, after the awful experience of re-ferberizing him last night (we could not rock him to bed 2 nights in a row as it was clear there was some bad habits being formed, so we did the pat his back, then leave, only returning at certain intervals to briefly pat his back and tell him night night before leaving again thing) he actually went to bed at a semi-reasonable hour and slept soundlessly through the night... til MID FRIGGIN MORNING. Seriously, at 9:00am I made Steve go peak at him. He was still sound asleep... and continued in that fashion for another 40 minutes... enough time for a little breakfast in bed, and then more breakfast in bed with Cooper. It was delightful. He then took a later-then-usual but longer-then-usual nap. Falling asleep quickly and easily by himself.

I would have advised anyone I knew to NOT take a 15 month old to Padre after the hell the drive was and the torment of yesterday, but now, after today, after sleeping til 9 without interruption for the first time in... FOREVER, well, I would advise just about anyone with a 15 month old to drive to Padre... or anywhere.

It was that good.