You're Two

Dear Cooper,

So where did the time go? How is it you are already two years old? You are officially no longer a baby, and although you have not been a baby for some time now, I think hitting the 2 year mile stone officially turns you into a toddler.

Cooper over the past two years you have grown up so much. From crawling, to walking, to running, and everything in between. I have heard you develop your speech and have seen you learn to do karate, dance, tickle us, and run to the refrigerator. I have seen you learn how to color, read your books, and have candid conversations with your "Brain Trust."

Cooper, you have grown up so much and I am so proud of you. You are a remarkable little boy and have touched me in ways I could never explain. You mean to the world to me and I love you so much. I know in the coming years, you will learn to play games, go to school, make friends, become more socialized, and further develop and grow as a young man. As much as the thought of you further growing up makes me sad, I can honestly say I can't wait to better get to know the amazing little guy that you are becoming.

I look forward to going to ball games, coaching your teams, collecting baseball cards with you, or share in whatever your interests are. I love you and I can't wait to get to you know you more and watch you grow. You are so amazing and you make your mom and me so very proud.

I will always love you,

Dada

Thanks, With Love

And some parting pictures, with love.

More Mickey!

Mommy made a Mickey Mouse cookie cake this year. I only had to tell half of the people who attended the party that was who it was supposed to be, so I think it was pretty much a success. At least it tasted pretty good.

Hey Mickey Your So Fine...

Your so fine, you blow Coop's mind, hey Mickey!

Coop got a dancing singing Mickey and you can tell by the look on his face, IT. WAS. AWESOME. The highlight was probably when Coop picked up his guitar and starting jamming out WITH Mickey. Such a rockstar!

Don't ask about the backwards hoodie... it required bribery to get him to take it off...

Birthday Afternoon

Then, after playing hard ALL morning (even in his crib during "nap" time), Cooper had MORE company and Grandma and Grandpa Kowalski, Beka and Great Grandma Kowalski all came over to celebrate our big little boy.

He had presents DELUXE (even from people not here - Thanks Great Aunt K, Fitzgeralds and Boswells) and seriously was in heaven playing with every single thing as he opened it. I was so proud of how well behaved our little two year old terror was / is. He really spent the whole day playing with his toys like a grateful little boy, not the spoiled little imp he could be. He gave lots of hugs and kisses and just generally was well behaved, thus far not having any sort of meltdown (despite the fact that he must have gone up and down on at least 2 sugar highs). Two more hours to go (at a MAX - no nap = early bedtime), let's see if it holds....

Birthday Morning!

Cooper woke up to a VERY special Birthday surprise today - GRANDPA COX WAS HERE!!!! And, as if that was not enough, just as soon as we could get Mamaw on Skype, he tore right into all the presents! Lordy, does this kid love this guitar.

He loved everything, in fact, but MY favorite present was the Cooper M&Ms. Almost as delicious as he is!

Doo (or, Two)

Cooper,

Do you know that with rare exception (for example right after you started putting yourself to sleep and we couldn't tell if you were asleep yet or just quiet and there were harsh consequences for guessing wrong...) your father AND I have looked in on you each night before we go to bed. Not one of us, BOTH of us?

Do you know that after you go to sleep, we talk about you, and if you listened in you would hear us say "He is just so stinking cute" about 15 different times between the hours of your bed time and our bed time?

That's just it, kid, we are so friggin smitten with you, we do the sappiest things.

This year has been one of the most exhilarating and exasperating years of my life, and in turn will be extra memorable in terms of thinking of my life in terms of your life. Isn't everything measured in terms of you somehow, now? My hours of work are measured in the minutes I am away from you. My success measured in your happiness. My age measured in how far I look down to see the top of your head. My life measured by how I shape yours...

And so far, my goodness are we all doing well. You are, far and away, the happiest child I have ever known. Not just "content" but HAPPY. Let me explain. You are not just sitting in this world content in your surroundings, and watching every one and everything with satisfaction. You are standing up, shaking your booty, clapping your hands, stomping your feet, running in circles, bear crawling, jumping, wrestling, giggling LIVING in a world of happiness. You make your own happiness making it redundant that I would (happily) walk through fire to find happiness for you. And yet, despite this independent you that doesn't NEED me, I feel so involved in your happiness - the way you spread it through our house and everywhere you go. Sometimes I wonder if you were put here for me, to take care of me, and not the other way around. Your blind enthusiasm for every second is so refreshing. I can be MIA from your life and feel tattered and beaten up over it, and then I walk into a room, you run into my arms, and I feel refreshed. You never hold a grudge. You never stick it to me for missing a bedtime, or playtime. It's like you know how much I am already sticking it to myself, and you are here to say, "It's ok, Momma, let's forget about that and just play!" And, oh Sweet Potato, we do.

That's you, you know. You are my Sweet Potato. I think I began referring to you by this name when you were still in my belly - perhaps as I read a reference to some size of your gestation... yet, it didn't stick then any more then any other food references. Somehow, though, it has become my go-to staple nickname for you. That, and "Love"... I catch myself saying "Come here, Love"... and it SO doesn't sound like something I would say, and yet, I do. Oh, all the things I never thought I would do and yet I find myself doing....

But enough about me, what about YOU??? What about all the amazing stuff YOU are doing??? It is crazy to think of you just one year ago and compare that little baby to the big little boy I see now. What a year it has been - complete mobility, newfound languages, mastery of fine motor skills. I wish my learning curve was half as steep. I think my favorite moment in all of your second year (yeah right, as if I can pick one moment, but go along with me here) is when your dad and I were standing in the kitchen in our new place in Chicago talking, you were running around between us, then suddenly you stopped, and as is usual, we both looked down at you. You held us captivated for a beat and then went "noop" and then took off again. It was hysterical. That has been you. Hysterical. When anyone laughs, you laugh with them. You might not even know what is so funny, but you are so happy and vibrant and amazing, you laugh because it is fun and it feels good to laugh. If I could remember to live more like you, I would probably sleep more at night, be 20 pounds thinner, and drink gallons less coffee. Unlucky for me, I will never be able to be just like you, but lucky for me, you are here in my life reminding me to try.

Last year I wrote about how you would snuggle only at certain times (or to reach certain items) and that is different now. Now you can't snuggle enough and oh my goodness do I love every second of it. A lot is different now. Now I am the mom of a TWO year old (gasp!). How did this happen? I think of how fast this time has gone by, and OHHOLYMOTHER, if this sprint through time keeps up, I am going to wake up tomorrow to a teenager. But, then again, that was one of the things I was so happy about when I found out you were a boy - that when you were a teenager, you wouldn't be a teenage girl. Oh, but that is so far off. Even if it goes quickly, a LOT will happen between now and then, and I will be the lucky (and proud) Momma that will watch you every step along the way.

I love you Sweet Potato.

Yours Truly,
Mom

Senior Fever, Summer Fever or something like that...

Holy Moly... I feel like I am about to bounce of these walls. I am taking my first vacation from work starting in as little as 47 minutes and as many as one hour and 47 minutes (there is a time at which it is acceptable to leave if I am caught up on work and have completed all of the things I must do before I leave, even if I am leaving things undone to do when I return, and there is a HARD STOP - like brick wall at 70mph HARD. STOP.). And.... I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

Funny things:
1) I am taking exactly 2 days of vacation - a Friday and a Monday around a weekend.
2) These days will be spent at home with my family, nowhere exotic, but a happy place
3) I am taking home my computer, will check my blackberry compulsively and have printed 2 50+ page contracts to review for a pro bono client and try to make sense of
4) I will likely be asked to do some form of work between now and Tuesday, but I DON'T EVEN MIND!!!!
5) One of the days I am taking off is for Cooper's 2 year old appointment - the one with all the needles... I am a masochist (I cannot stand the thought of someone giving Cooper shots and not being there to comfort him - that is my job, first and foremost).

Anyway, point being, it is nothing BIG (a la a 2 week trip to Nepal like a colleague just took)and I will likely work at least a little bit but I am about to pee my pants I am so excited.

I won't though.

In semi-related news - Cooper used the potty for the first time the other night - Monday I think? It was great, though I think a complete accident. We don't expect this to become habit, but at least he is excited about sitting on the potty.

Super Fan

Um, yeah, so, Cooper KIND OF, sort of, MAYBE, in a very cool nonchalant way, like whatever, could live without him but prefers not to, adores Mickey Mouse. Thanks to the help of many friends and family he has been equipped with the proper attire to demonstrate his allegiance.

I always thought until kids get older, like pre-teenish or something, their parents are the 'heroes'...

Yeah, that ship has sailed.

If you aren't sporting two giant Mickey ears, you can just keep on walkin'.

BEDTIMEOUT!!!

Coop was... shall we say "opinionated" today.

Of course I should know not to brag on my child, but as an idiot, I decided that when our friends who were over last night said "So, he just goes to bed by himself" to respond with "oh, yeah, since about 6 months old he has put himself to bed and slept for 12 hours, and even before that he would sleep at least 12 hours, we just had to rock him to sleep" (Cue smug parent smile)... (and all this is true, actually, with the exception of a very few nights - like can be counted on one hand - Coop HAS, and the exceptions are for good reason, i.e. teething, diaper loaded, arm pseudo-caught in crib).

So, naturally, Cooper chatted for a bit, then was quiet - fulfilling my sleep prophecy - then suddenly started screaming bloody murder - fulfilling the Parent's Law (that which your child always does, they shall never do when you want them to). He had good reason (an ENORMOUS diaper), but that sure killed the night and wiped that smug smile right off.

And so today - we had lunch plans with wonderful friends in from out of town who I have not seen in over a year, and Coop who was already tired from a less-than-usual-sleep-night refused to nap (thanks to another well-timed diaper). The 15 minutes leading up to when we left were HORRIBLE. They went something like this:

Steve: Cooper, let's put your shoes on.

Cooper: stomping, grunting, running past Dad screaming into the bathroom where Mom is getting ready to go / taking deep breaths

Me: Cooper, can you please help Daddy and put on your coat.

Cooper: tears welling up, hard to decipher whining / crying

Steve: Coop, we need to put on your shoes and your coat.

Cooper: rips coat out of Steve's hand and charges into Mommy and whines / throws mini-fit while demanding Mommy put on his jacket, demanding his right arm go into the left armhole

And so on and so forth until I had said "That makes Mommy sad" so many times I was really starting to believe it. I was sad for the lovely lunch we were about to ruin for two very nice people excitedly anticipating the birth of their sure to be lovely child, who were bound to soon walk away from one meal with us thinking "what have we got ourselves into" and "I hope our child is not like that little he-demon".

So we go to lunch and...

He was perfectly delightful. All smiles, all laughs, and sat patiently and quietly in his highchair for a full 1.5 hour leisurely lunch.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This is the kid that is usually around... So long as I don't start bragging about it.

Rico Suave

Coop had about 3 baths today... it was just one of those messy kinds of days (painting, blueberries, dirty diapers...) We finally opted to just have him spend the rest of the day in a robe. While that part was casual - his hair was all business.

And yes, that is him propping his feet up on my arm, making himself into some sort of floating crayola genie.

Body Paint

So, we were not actually using body paint, but Coop opted to express his artistic ability in the messiest way possible. It was pretty cute, actually, because he painted a picture with a paintbrush first, VERY nice and neat, but then we busted out the finger paint, and ohmygosh it was tooooo much fun squishing the paint between his fingers, mock putting on smell good, and banging his palms in the paint (and all that other what not) to resist.

Oh... My... Gosh!!!

Cooper received an extra special early Valentines Day present from Grandma and Grandpa Kowalski when they came to sit this weekend (so we could go out for an early Valentines Day - THANK YOU!!!!)

A Mickey Mouse Guitar. Mickey is basically the most amazing thing in the world in our house, like so amazing fantastic and cool. So, needless to say, Cooper was a happy camper.

Great Aunt Krishia, the Giver of Awesome Recipes

In honor of neither of our family's teams making it into the Super Bowl, I made a delicious fruit salad brought to us direct from West Texas. This was Cooper's first taste of the amazingness that is this fruit salad, but he seemed to approve.

Dude Looks Like a Lady

I was scrolling through the pics of Coop we took today, and Steve looked over to check them out. He said "He looks like Yoko Ono."

You be the judge...