The Much Anticipated...

"Oh yeah".... and let me say, while this is adorably hilarious (at least to the woman who birthed him), it is even more hilarious when it just comes out of nowhere - unprompted.

I just watched this at work, to remind myself why I love the child who woke us up 3 times last night, and realized that the cuteness is mixed in with a bit of whining (Hi Cooper, how are the "twos" treating you) and he is kind of mocking me (when I say "Hi" in an exaggerated way, he then does so as well, but in a exaggerated exaggerated way)...

And yet... yep, still love him.

Why Sometimes I Prefer to Work From Home

None of my colleagues have such good manners.

Walking to the Garage With Coop

(as retold by Mommy, after the initial telling by Steve)...

"ded cah"
"boo cah"
"ellow cah"
"geen cah"
and so on and so forth as Cooper spotted more and more colors of more and more cars...

*(red car, blue car, yellow car, green car)*

Seven (+)

We are way over seven successful trips to the potty today.

There is hardly enough room in my office for all this pride... and I have a pretty decent office space...

AGAIN!

He went potty AGAIN! All by himself! Apparently, Steve told Cooper "you have to go potty before your nap"... Coop looked at him like "um, ok, yeah, whatever dude" and kept playing... then about 5 minutes later, Coop got up and went to the potty and did his business AGAIN!

AMAZING!

Seriously. We have never been this excited about pee!

Coop LOVES pottying in the potty - he gets to take his potty and empty it in the big toilet and flush it away - AREN'T YOU JEALOUS?!?!?!

Whew.

I am in a calm before (and after) a storm at work, and THANK GOODNESS, cause it would be harder to justify writing 2 pee pee related posts at work if I weren't in a holding pattern... BUT I WOULD SO DO IT ANYWAY!

I Stand Corrected, Pee! and Words

Apparently, I was dumped in a bath after seizures, not night frights. Who knows - this poor kid will have to dodge many genetic bullets in his life....

Anyways, on to bigger and better.

1) we should have a computer at home that works some time later today... this will be good for the posting of videos.

2) COOPER WENT POTTY!!!! ALL BY HIMSELF!!!

We have been thinking about potty training him for a while, and kind of dappling with the diaper free thing, but I think we were hesitant to go "all in" cause he is a boy and young to be doing such things (from what I hear most boys potty train closer to 3). Well, we had him evaluated for his speech (not cause we were really concerned, but because it was free and why not? More about this later...) and the evaluator people said they thought he was ready to potty train and we should go for it so as to not miss our window. ANYWAY... this morning, sans diaper, Cooper was playing and then got up and walked over to his potty, sat and did his business. (So I was told, sadly, I was at work already).

He got a cookie.

Then he said "Mo, cook-ah"

He got another cookie, to which he said "Mmmmmm, cook-ah"

Then he said "Mo, cook-ah" again

To which Steve said "no more" to which I (on the phone) said "GIVE THAT KID ANOTHER COOKIE, HE JUST DID HIS BUSINESS IN THE POTTY!!!"

"Mmmmm, cook-ah"

Seriously, loves him.

Now for the speech evaluators:
- In all motor development he is at or ahead of his age (he can draw circles and tries to emulate vertical and horizontal lines!)
- In comprehension of language he is at or ahead of his age
- In cognitive abilities (general smarts) - he is way ahead of his age
- In non-verbal communication he is at or ahead of his age
(you get the idea - pure genius (says his momma!)
- In verbal communication - he is spoiled

Ok, so they didn't say spoiled, but basically, he is not talking as much as someone his age "should" (based on crazy kid-norms) because he doesn't need too. He communicates effectively in other ways, and we, as parents, are not 'pushing him enough' (ouch!) Hurts to hear the truth, but makes me happy, too. If my kiddo is learning and developing intellectually on target or, dare I say it, advanced, and his only real problem is that he is SPOILED, well, call me a bad parent all you want - there is no lacking of love in this house.

That being said, No, clearly I don't WANT Cooper to ACT like a spoiled child, and as he is getting older and has more opinions and independent thoughts, he is starting to act more spoiled when he just whines or points at things instead of "using his words," so this spoiling thing is going to change its form a little bit. Spoiled with praise for "using his words" - YES, spoiled with anticipating his every want / move / hope / desire and getting it without him having to express it himself - NOT SO MUCH. I have become way more conscientious of just how much I intuit what Cooper thinks or wants or needs, and how rarely I make him express it. Bad Mommy. Someday he will have to tell someone who hasn't memorized every nuance of his little self what he wants, and if I haven't taught him to do that, then that is going to be a problem.

Needless to say, Cooper is a little hesitant to this new regime, but he LOVES the attention he gets for all the words he is using, and I think he is realizing that this opens up more possibilities.

I mean, imagine how many cook-ahs he can get now!

Nightmares

I used to have night terrors, or something like that. Apparently, I used to wake up screaming in the middle of the night and my mom or dad would come and plop me into the bathtub, and that is where my memory would begin. I don't really remember screaming in bed or what caused me to wake the whole house up. These ended sometime around the time I turned 5 or 6 (I think?) but I still wake up sweating with a pounding heart in the middle of the night sometimes, maybe now I just have grown up enough to stifle the screaming.

Last night Cooper woke up, and woke the house up, at around 1am. Steve described him as inconsolable, and after changing his diaper, he handed off a still sobbing and pretty much incoherent Cooper to me. I took Cooper into our room and laid down on my back with him on my tummy and chest, covered us both up and patted his back. He calmed down almost immediately and basically fell asleep... until he actually woke up and was like "Oh my gosh! I am in mommy and daddy's bed and that is daddy right there! I should touch his face!" At which point I took him into the kitchen, got him a sippy cup of water, rocked him for a few minutes and laid him back down to bed, where he slept quite soundly the rest of the night.

I laid in bed and wondered if it was a nightmare or if he was sick, or what in the heck had just happened? Cooper has always been an excellent sleeper and I was always so happy he slept like his Daddy cause sleep has eluded me for the majority of my life. I am hoping this was a one off bad dream.

But, on the upside, for about 5 minutes last night I got to do the ONE thing I have always wanted to do with (mobile) Cooper that I have never been able to do - snuggle and doze off to sleep. Not since Cooper was a baby and unable to wiggle free to explore the world have we napped together. I have tried it before and he CANNOT SIT STILL outside the confines of his crib. I would rather him (and all of us) sleep through the night and not be woken by scary things or things we don't understand, but I gotta enjoy whatever upside I can get! Here is to bleary eyes and a (hopefully) short work day followed by an early bedtime for all.

Dear DELL

Dear DELL,

Please magically fix my computer overnight. It has been a mighty trusty and loyal companion for several years now, and all of a sudden it is just GONE. How am I going to upload the funny video of Cooper saying "Oh yeah"???? People NEED to see this stuff, I cannot do it justice by typing in words, words don't capture inflection...

Seriously, I think there is some way we can send it to you, and maybe get it repaired, but you see, that takes effort, and I am wiped out. So, if you could just come over and fix it, requiring NO effort (except maybe getting up from the couch, walking to the door, unlocking the door... wait, too much effort, just let yourself in).... that would be great.

Thanks!
XOXOXO

Me

EXHAUSTING

Know what is exhausting???? Going to work after being woken up umpteen million (or twice) in the night by a VERY annoying cat (yes, Clementine, I am looking at YOU!). Know what is even more exhausting... doing the same thing pregnant.

OH MY GOSH!!!

Yeah, that would have been quite the bomb to drop had I not already blabbed the news to everyone in earshot (except bosses and co-workers, I am not that crazy).

I stopped writing this yesterday, because I realized I wasn't ready to put this up on the blog. Not until I hear or see a heartbeat. This isn't real to me completely yet. We have wanted this for so long, and WOW, here it is!

So, I decided to write about it and save that writing, until at some point post heart beat I feel like posting it.

So, Cooper! You are going to be, scuse me, you ARE a big brother! ! ! What is UP with that?!?! Never would have thought it was possible. I can't imagine you being anyone's 'big' anything (any more than I can imagine me being a mother of TWO). I mean, I look at you and, yes, objectively you are bigger, and sometimes (more often than I care to admit) you look like a little boy with only little traces of toddler. Let's cut that out. But then I hold our friends' new babies or I click through old pictures, and I suppose enough time has passed that you are ready to be a new little someone's big brother. This will be such a trip BIG guy. I mean, you love other kids, so long as they are not in my hands, lap or vicinity. Then you become Sir Cooper, Master of Clingy and Emperor of the Whine. (And secretly I kind of love that. I am yours. You are mine. Other people just don't get us, do they?)

But you have gotten better lately. You let me hold a few babies without even complaining. I know there will be joys and wonder watching you interact with a sibling. Other mothers of two or three go on and on about it, and yes, I am looking forward to watching you be a big brother, that will be cool. But, I am somewhat terrified of what we are about to do to you. We are so about to ruin your whole little world. I mean, if you think Daddy takes up too much of Mommy's time, well, then I don't think you will be a big fan of our new little housemate. And as much as I am so thrilled to be a family of four soon, and this baby is non-negotiable, my heart breaks a little bit for what I am taking from you. Goodbye being the only. Hello to sharing the spotlight. At least, that is what it will feel like for a while. Here is the secret, though, kiddo. I already know this, and I haven't even met your little sib yet. You will ALWAYS dance in your own spotlight. You will always be the only first. Little brother or sister will have a spotlight, too, and will always be my only second. Each one's specialness only magnified by the other.

So, before we embark on this whole journey of expanding 3 to 4, let me promise you this. I will always take time to watch just you dance.

Happy St. Pat's to ALL!!!

From our little leprechaun to you!

Too much is going on and I am too tired...
Soon, perhaps after much sleep and some homemade chicken and dumplings I will update Coop's little life story. For now, all you NEED to know is that, yes, his bow tie DOES light up!

Visitors

Coop had visitors this weekend - Aunt Krishia the Great (or in Coop (non)speak - she who he smiles at) and Mamaw (in Coop speak "Mamaw" - seriously excellent pronunciation on that one). It was a perfect sort of weekend to have put in for time off several weeks in advance because other than about 30 minutes of emails, there was really no work to be done on any of my deals, and I could actually really enjoy the time at home with company.

Many games were played. Much food was eaten. Some shopping was done.

Now I am back to work and reminding myself to just breathe and ignore the part of my brain that wants to go crazy when I am at work and there is no work to do. I am staffed on deals-a-plenty and a time will (soon) come when I will be wishing for days of quiet and early departures... speaking of, I should start packing up...

Our Little Nerd

Coop still LOVES to read. He will literally let you read to him (or force you to read to him) for hours. It is especially cute when he reads to himself. This is the Belly Button Book, clearly Sandra Boynton as we are her BIGGEST FANS!!! In the book, the belly button is referred to as a "Bee Bo." But, if you watched the video and listened to Cooper you probably already knew that.

Jump Jump, Everybody Jump Jump

Yeah, this kid has some serious hops.

Oh, AND karate moves!

Knows his Colors

we are VERY big fans of positive reinforcement (clearly) and Coop is an even HUGER fan of positive reinforcement... of himself.

There is LOTS of clapping up in here.

Maximum

The maximum number of times I can leave without totally throwing Sir Cooperton off his rocker in any given day: 2.

Rarely do I leave more than once.

Today I left like usual, early morning going to work style.

THEN, cause it was kind of a slow day, I came home for a late lunch and hung with Coop-a-loop while Steve unloaded groceries and parked the car. I even baked a batch of pre-made cookies before scooting back to work for a call. SUPER POWERS MOMMY!!!!

Then, I left a second time, but we re-played our morning routine of mommy leaving while Coop takes out the trash (he still LOVES the garbage shoot, LOVES IT). Then, halfway to work I realized that a certain 2 foot monster had taken my badge off of my pants to play with it, and I had to u-turn it and head back home to reclaim my entrance to biglaw.

Coop was happy to see me come back. Coop was NOT happy to see me leave. AGAIN.

Poor little munchkin. I brought him home some Chow Mein to make up for it - that kid loves him some Chow Mein.

Words Words, Glorious Words

And for some sweet Cooper talking action:

(added bonus - now you know what a giraffe sounds like!)

BEHOLD!!!

Of COURSE, a mere two days after I broke down and bought a new Flip.... WE FOUND THE OLD FLIP!

I am so not going to admit where this one has been chilaxing for the past few months as it is dreadfully embarrassing that it took us this long to find it IN OUR TINY APARTMENT regardless of where it was.

But, as a bonus for the money wasted buying a second video, I will rejoice by posting the video that could have been lost had we never found this one.

Musings

Edit to last post: Teddy is also a member of the Brain Trust - a founding member actually, though not appearing in the pictures....

Anywho.

Wowzers! So, we still cannot find our Flip video - we may have left it in Austin, we may have left it in _______ [fill in the blank with anywhere we have been in the last five months]. Who knows! And while I want to buy one, get all set to buy one, VOW to buy one, I go to the store and see the price and think BUT WE ALREADY HAVE ONE!!! and refuse to spend that money AGAIN. Though, my fortitude is fading.

So... to capture Coop in words.

Right now, he is TWO, or "Doo" as he says. When you ask, he will tell you and SHOW you (by putting up two fingers and his thumb, cause everyone knows the thumb doesn't count... until you are five).

Also, everything is "Mo, tease" [meaning, "more, please"].

Example:

ME: Cooper do you want to color?
Cooper: Mo, tease.

Cooper (standing at the fridge reaching for the freezer where the blueberries are hidden): Mo, tease. Mo, tease. Mo, tease. Mo, tease.

Cooper (trying to get Steve to pick him up): Mo, tease. Mo, tease.
Steve: Say 'Up, Dada"
Cooper: "Bup, tease"

SO CUTE! He has other words, like baoon (balloon) or nooon (moon) or zeza (zebra) but none of those does he offer on his own, all of those must be requested. "Mo, tease" is his universal word - like Aloha or Shalom - only more so, taking on many meanings, fit for many occasions.

His hair is getting all long and the shape is resembling a stunning bowl cut.

He can start drinking normal skim milk now - HALLELUJAH! I cannot begin to explain how many times we run out of skim milk cause we keep his milk stocked up more than ours (good parents) and then I feel guilty if I drink it because (1) it is WHOLE milk (fatty deliciousness) and (2) I am drinking Coop's milk thus depleting his milk supply (bad mommy), but now we can just buy 3 cartons of skim every other week and all be full of calcium. Seriously, I think Steve may be the only person in the world that finds this as liberating as I do.

I have a friend who just had a son. I look at that baby and think he is TINY and Cooper is HUGE. Then I realize Coop was about 1/2 the size of his son when he was born. WHAT THE HECK?

The Brain Trust

Many references have been made to "The Brain Trust" - in this blog and in conversation.

BEHOLD:



Not sure why Coop lines them up, but he does - every night and every morning. Pep talk? Plotting? Duck duck goose?

(Seriously, they can be scattered in his crib, and he will take them and set them up, just like this)



He will never tell