First Day of School...

For Daddy (but Coop looks so much cuter in the Thomas the Train backpack).

Steve's grad program started today, which means it is the beginning of many weeks where Coop and I will spend our Tuesdays and Thursdays alone. We are too excited for Steve to miss him too much, and to be honest, everyone needs an outlet, and Lord knows Steve has paid his dues and deserves this.

Not to mention, I kind of like the one on one Coop time.

Ok, I love it.

It gives us more opportunities to rub noses.

Pic 1 - post nap - what the heck he does while he sleeps I don't even want to know, but hair like that does not happen by accident.

Pic 2 - sometimes he just likes to wear a hat.

Pics 3 & 4 - Coop is ready for school. Or just walking around the apartment, loading cars in and out of his backpack. Ya know, either one, he is ready for!

Eskimo Kisses

Tonight I put you to bed - just me and you, a bath, a bottle, and some nail clippers.

What is it with you and nail clippers these days???? Why won't you let me clip those talons. You are a walking talking weapon, and you think it it HILARIOUS. Needless to say my attempt to trim your nails while you sucked down your milk in ignorance was less then successful when you were on to me before the first clip. We wrestled some, but I think I got about 60% of your digits trimmed, and for me, that was a success. Since your bottle was long gone by then, I tried to hold you and read you a book - one of your favorite day time activities, and you were like, oh no lady, no book reading after 6pm. So I just held you. I held you and sang a horribly morbid song my mom used to sing to me. It may be morbid, but it has a pretty melody and reminds me of being "rockied" to sleep when I was little, and dang it kiddo, I am a sucker for sentiment.

You didn't fight it, you laid against my chest and breathed in and out and snuggled. We rubbed noses like we had fleetingly earlier today, more by chance and accident then intention - it was a mis-aimed kiss that turned into a new thing. When I touched our noses and wiggled my face back and forth with you cuddled in my arms tonight, you giggled, then craned your neck so I would do it again.

This was one of my favorite bedtimes with you in a long time. I am glad your routine of bottle then bed works so well for you, allowing you to get enough rest and be comfortable in your own bed, but sometimes its nice to break the routine and learn or relearn something new, something simple, something like the Eskimo kiss.

The Legendary

His kicks. They are legendary.

One Point Five

Coop hit the year and a half mark yesterday and we celebrated with THREE SHOTS TO THE THIGHS!!! Woot Woot!

Yeah, it was pitiful as usual. But we got confirmation- he is long and lean and adorable.

He is 33 inches tall, and 24 pounds and 7 ounces.

75th percentile for height and 25-30th for weight.

We have a strict exercise regimen up in here - it consists of running back and forth from the different things he is not allowed to do trying to get there first so he can do it before we can stop him!!!

I thought it was weird that my kid was getting a chicken pox vaccination. That was like a right of passage when I was a kid (aren't I OLD sounding). Though, I suppose it was not a real rocking right of passage and I didn't really learn anything from having chicken pox, so I have no real problem with him missing it, but seems weird nonetheless.

Way to grow, little buddy. Keep up the good work, pox free.

Top 10 Things I am Loving About Coop Right Now

1. He is a total social butterfly. It almost happened overnight. He went from being a shy momma's boy to being a TOTAL FLIRT. Aunt Allison can swoop into our place and just pluck him right up off the floor. Does he cry? Does he fuss? Does he reach for Mommy? No. He may take a moment to pause and look to see if this person holding him is someone he deems worthy enough, but then he is all like, "Hey, what's up, how about a belly rub????" Or when we take him for walks - he literally makes eye contact with every passing person he can and smiles. I have seen surly valet workers go from brooding to a giant smile. The Power of Coop - he cannot be resisted.

2. His love of elevators. I guess this is really more about loving the excitement I get to experience EVERY TIME Coop sees the front door open and takes off at full throttle to push the elevator DOWN button. Oh. My. Gosh. A button. Cooper height. That lights up. That we WANT him to push. Thank goodness we have a dead bolt on our front door, because that kid can open doors, and he LIKES TO GO BYE BYE!!!

3. The way, every single time, when I come out of the bedroom / office and enter the playroom / living room Coop will stop whatever he is doing (building with blocks, banging spatulas on the floor, reading I Love You Stinky Face for the umpteenth time... Any of the those important things) and look straight at me and give me the biggest, cheesiest smile.

4. His hands. The way he places them in mine and we walk holding hands. I pray to God every night that he will do this one more day. So far, so good, but I know some day my heart will ache a little when he doesn't want to hold my hand. That will be when I bite my Mommy tongue, and know he is growing up, and put my Mommy hand back in my Mommy pocket, and wipe the Mommy tear from my Mommy cheek, and in a Mommy whisper (so his friends don't hear) tell him that Mommy loves him, and then go home and curl up into a Mommy ball and die. SO I AM SO LOVING THIS NOW!

5. The way he loves his Ba ba. I know, I know, he should be learning to go without a bottle now, he should be DONE WITH THE BOTTLE, the bottle should be put away for eternity... well, too bad so sad, I tend to disagree. This little guy has NEVER had a pacifier dependency, nor does he suck his thumb or fingers, his teeth get brushed twice a day and... and... and... well, I guess the real truth is, I don't think he is ready to give up his ba ba, so even if all of the above was not true, he would still get it, because I will be dam*ed if I take a bottle away from my little guy when he still needs it. Yes. NEEDS IT. I know in the coming months to a year he will no longer NEED it and he will be just WANTING it, or perhaps he will get rid of the bottle without prompting... who knows. For now, his ba ba is his one true love. His muse. Say "ba ba" and he will shoot to the fridge and help you open it. Get him out of the bath and lay him on the bed without also placing the ba ba in his hand, and he will let you know about it. So why do I love it? Cause he loves it so. This is also why several formally indistinguishable stuffed animals are now like family.

6. That HAIR. Oh my goodness that HAIR. It is the mullet to rule all mullets. So very Billy Ray Cyrus. And when he is hot or it is humid... the CURLS. The time for a haircut is nearing and I swear on my shoes that I never would have guessed, but I think I may just sniffle a bit.

7. The KICKING... YES! IT IS SO!!! YOU KICK NOW, COOPER (and in the sweet dance move way, not the tantrum way). And it is Hi-larious. Seriously, nothing more can be said about it. I must simply upload a video, no words can do it justice.

8. The way Coop pulls my face into his when he wants a kiss or wants an under the chin tickle. Cooper's hands on the sides of my face = a giant puddle of Mommy.

9. The way Cooper will crawl into my lap when he wants to have a book read. He will literally back his booty right onto my lap, making it known that I am not to move, and his spot is right where he plants himself. Coop was not the super cuddly, snuggle all day kid once he became mobile. He was SUPER interactive, but he liked to DO much more then sit. So now when he actually chooses to move his little perfect self to sit in my lap, well, I assure you that I comply.

10. The "mischievous" face. Cooper, when you are being naughty (i.e. hiking a leg up onto the table to hoist yourself onto the top of "DO NOT SIT ON THAT", poking the cat too forcibly IN THE EYE, trying to touch the buttons on mommy's Do-Not-Touch-I-Have-Not-Saved-That-Yet work machine) and you KNOW you are being naughty. I TRY TRY TRY not to laugh and sometimes have to literally turn away or I will give away that I am so not as strict as I am trying to sound. I mean, I guess I am as "strict" because I do mean that you cannot do that, but I am not as serious, because how can a person be serious when you pull THAT face??? And I think you know this, drat you... you already know my weaknesses. I will so be in trouble in about 15 years... Sigh.

Holding Hands

Dear Cooper,

I know you will not always want to hold my hand.

I know some day it will not be cool to do so.

I know some day you will take a step out in the world without reaching back to make sure I will take that step with you.

I know some day you will think you know where you are going without me.

I know some day I will reach for your hand, and you will pull away, instead of smiling and reaching the rest of the way to meet me.

Please don't let that happen too soon.

I love to hold your hand.
I love to reach for you, and still have your fingers wrapped up in mine.

Someday you will be ready to go out in this world, and some day you will know what is the right way for you better then I do. But it will take Mommy a while to stop holding on, and perhaps a lifetime to not hold her breath watching you walk alone.

So for now, let's just keep holding hands.

Love,
Mommy

Unleash the Beast

Moving into a new place with no stairs and outlets that we have 100% covered, we have decided to give Coop more freedom (read: Coop has refused to submit to the caging in that we used to employ to keep him in check / alive and we have had to hustle to catch up and baby proof / find new ways to occupy him).

Some new things he enjoys:
1) peeled sweet potatoes. He will not eat them cooked and mashed or french fried, but when I start peeling them he HAS TO HAVE ONE and then carries it around like his baby... that he occasionally takes a bit or two from.

2) "his" drawer... then again, what in this house isn't "his".... Anyways, this is the aforementioned "safe" drawer, no knives or potato peelers, all spatulas and whisks. He enjoys taking things from this drawer and moving them, and then moving them back. It is a friggin riot.

3) MAGNETS!!! Do you have any idea how fun it is to swipe at the refrigerator and knock them ALL DOWN!!! Whoppee! They are also a nice decoy for when he goes for the trash. Oh, yes, he LOVES the trash. Touching it. Throwing things in it. He already thew his own shoe in the trash, which I thankfully saw and retrieved. God help us when he gets a hold of our keys and we realize after the trash is down the chute...

In all seriousness, this kid was like a Tasmanian devil on speed for the first few days when The Fence Came Down, and exhaustingly hilarious exploring his new world of wonders. Now he is almost calm and cool about it. Almost.

Our Village

We have only been back in Chicago a few weeks, and already we have found time to see our family on several occasions. Something we struggled to do when we lived here before, not because we didn't WANT to find the time, but because there was just no time to be found. Before it was working or going to school on opposite schedules, trying to graduate on 3 hours of sleep, and pass the Bar on 6. Before it was figuring out how to be a mom and wife and sane person, three things that seemed almost impossible to be simultaneously.

I think we have all settled into our little roles in our little nuclear family. It took time but it happened. And, on top of that, we found TIME!!! Hallelujah!

Now Coop's family tree is expanding even more as he gets reacquainted with the Chicago crew. And he is loving every second of it. I think Coop already knows, among other things, that Grandpa is always good for a quick trip in his car, and Grandma is an excellent reader, and Beka is the greatest snuggler and Aunt Allison gives excellent belly rubs.

I am so excited for him to get to know everything else there is to know about our family up here. He is very much loved, and he is very much the lucky one.

Toddler for Rent

Not for sale, because we would miss him eventually... I am pretty sure of that.

Seriously, this kid has ENERGY and he is SMART. He can no longer be contained, and takes any effort to be corralled as a challenge to his superiority thus he must immediately demolish said challenge and put Mommy and Daddy back in our lowly places of inferior being.

While looking back and laughing at me.

Oh, and if we stop him. THAT. IS. NOT. O.K.!!!

He is still easily distracted and just pitiful when he gets in "trouble." He doesn't hit or kick or bite (thank GOD!)... Yet. He just cries. Sobs. Wails. Does that lower lip thing. Until we give in (Bad Parents) or we distract him and engage him in things we DO want him to do (Good Parents). There is a mixture, I won't say how much of which, of good parenting and bad parenting going on... and it is certainly tougher for some of us (STEVE) to stick to our guns and not give in (though, REALLY, does a child really EVER need a magnet bottle opener? No, so no matter how hard he cries, STEVE, one should NOT give in).

In Daddy's defense, he is around this little monster at least 8 hours a day more then I am, so he has been worn down. To a stub.

I saw on another blog a chart showing how, as a child ages, their difficultness increases proportionate to their cuteness, thus saving them from expulsion from the home. Oh how true. He is a little terror, but he is so stinkin cute.

He fake chews (one of the many important things I taught him), which is Hi-Larious.

He head butts, which is sentimental to Mommy who used to think head butting was a sport.

He dances.

and...

He KISSES. yes, he has given kisses for a while now. But those were usually open mouthed maulings, or merely lean-ins leaving the kissee to do all the work. Not any more, no, he leans in and puckers up and gently presses his sweet lips to your face.

But, don't get greedy, if you ask for a second kiss, he will most likely just offer you his hand, and you are permitted to kiss his knuckles like an emperor's jeweled rings.

And not only does he kiss us properly now. He kisses the cats. He kisses the refrigerator and the bathtub metal parts (both reflective, thus kissing himself).

He sits on the floor and goes through the drawer of kitchen utensils we have designated "safe for Cooper" and pulls them out finding new ways to make music pounding on the floor.

He is super. And a keeper, and I love him.

But... if you wanted to rent him... for a couple of hours... say Saturday mornings from 6:30-naptime, I might be willing to lend him out.

: )

Cause Believe It or Not...

We live here.

With him.

Just Enjoying Our Hood...

To The BEAN!!!

Holding Hands and Running Wild

We Even Let Daddy Join the Fun...

To Explore Alone...

And sometimes together...

And Away We Went...

To the Pavilion...

We Could Have Stayed There All Day...

But we had other places to go...

The Place for an Afternoon Away...

It really was quite amazing.

Millenium Park

Today was a little bit of an insane day for me at work.

But, I managed to steal a little time in the middle of the afternoon.

I sent some emails and at the end told people I would be at the park for a bit.

We started out at the water fall.

Yes, it is some really impressive and moving art exhibit, but to a boy like Coop, it was just a waterfall. A magical waterfall.