Daddy Rock You!!!

That is Cooper's subtle request for his daddy to rock him at night before bed. Really, I love doing it so how can I resist. Kelly and I alternate nights putting Cooper to bed so that we can both contribute as parents and so that it doesn't become an overwhelming burden for either of us.. Although it was Kelly's turn to rock Cooper tonight, it quickly became a "Daddy Rock You" night. Most likely because I needed to attend an evening meeting, so I didn't get home until 7:45pm right before his bedtime. As Kelly began the process of putting Cooper down, he began screaming. "Daaaadddddyyy Roooocccckkk Yooooooouuuu," over and over. After about a minute, I went in and gave mommy a break.

So there I was, sitting on the rocking chair with Cooper and all of his bedtime paraphernalia, his stuffed animal (Gragg), two blankets, and his happy (AKA Pacifier). Somewhere in this pile of stuff is Cooper. It really is quite a site to behold.

We read a few books and after about 20 minutes of rocking, he says, "Book. Happy Day."
I say, "Happy day? You want to read the happy day book?"
He replies, "Yeah!"
I pause and think for a moment..."Uh, we have no happy day book."
He says again, "Happy day!?"
I look at him and notice that he is pointing to the bookshelf. Initially I thought he was pointing at a book, but alas on top of the bookshelf is his birthday hat from day care (AKA the Happy Day Hat).
At this point I think, "I am really screwed. I am being manipulated...again. And I know it is happening."
So I grab the hat knowing that this is going to induce play and that I will not extract it from his head when it is time for sleep.
Then Cooper says, "Sing Song?"
I say, "What song?"
Cooper replies, "Happy day song! Yeah?"
So I sing "Happy Birthday."
"More?" he says.
I sing it again.
"More, happy day?"
So after singing the birthday song about 20 times, Cooper looks at me and says, "Bed? Hat Off."
And that's it, in bed without a fight.

2 Year Old Stats

Yesterday Cooper went to the doctor for his 2 year check up. He weighs only 23 pounds (although he seems much heavier than that when I carry him around) putting him in the 3rd percentile. And he is 33 inches tall (no surprise their, mom's short too) in the 10-25th percentile range. Although most of the time Cooper is such a wonderful little boy, he is now two and often acts it.


Here are a few likes and dislikes.

Likes:
no surprise here: anything electronic
riding in daddy's car
going outside
chap stick
opening and closing doors
going to school
visiting our neighbor Papi,
climbing up and down stairs
running through automatic doors at any store (he'd make us put them in our house if we could)
doing things for himself
taking a bath
daddy to rock him
trains
Sesame Street
listening to music and singing songs
playing in his crib
LOVES oatmeal (he would eat it for every meal if we let him)
playing in mommy's car
riding his bike and go fast down the driveway
throwing balls



Dislikes:
brushing his teeth
getting dressed or undressed to put PJ's on
diaper changes
trying new foods
going to sleep
cleaning up his toys

Development:
He has about 200-300 words and continues to repeat every word we say
while trying to say his name he calls himself "Pooper"
now that he is wearing his leg brace almost every day he walks and runs much better
uses his right hand more often as a support
drinks from a cup pretty well with out spill too much (except on purpose, which happens a lot)
climbs very well onto almost anything
getting better at walking up the stairs by himself

I'm so glad that Cooper is a happy and healthy little boy. I'm so blessed to have such a fantastic little boy.

Happy Day Hat

Since Cooper's Birthday fell on a day he went to daycare his teacher made him a birthday hat. When daddy picked Cooper up that day, his "happy day" hat (as Cooper calls it) was nowhere to be found. So Cooper cried all the way home. Luckily we were able to find it the next day and take it home. He still loves to wear it and pretend that it is his "Happy Day" even though it has come and gone. How cute are these two?!

As a side note, I have no idea why all of the text is underlined or how to remove it.

80's Halloween

In 2006 Paul and I dressed up as an 80's couple for Halloween. I had a blast shopping for all the fun clothes. Thank you Ross! We also had tons of fun picking out theme music we were going to take with us to the party. I had forgotten how much fun 80's music was to listen and dance to.

We were invited to a Halloween party this year so I guess we'd better start thinking of costumes.

Cooper Turns Two!

Dear Cooper,

I can't believe you're turning TWO! These past two years have been the best of my life. You have brought so much joy and happiness to our family.

Ever since you were born you were mostly a happy baby. You've had your occasional unhappy moments but overall you are almost always smiling.

Now that you've turned two you are not afraid to show it. You've gotten very good at showing us your tantrums. Roid rages, your dad calls them. You hold nothing back; throwing yourself down on the floor, kicking and screaming, often banging your head or hitting your head. Luckily, they don't last too long and we are usually able to get you interested in something else pretty quickly.

You are boy all the way! You are so much like your dad in so many ways. (note to dad, this is a GOOD thing). You LOVE to be outside all the time! I think you and your dad could live outside if I'd let you. Maybe next summer you can. We have recently introduced you to hiking. It started out just as marching through our gardens but now you love to go down to the river walkway (or beach as you call it) and hike by the river.


Our neighbor Papi, got you your first bike for your birthday. You aren't quite able to use the pedals yet but that will come with time and practice. You are able to reach the ground so you can push yourself along a little. Your favorite thing to do is go fast down the curb of the driveway backward. Very adventurous is what you are!

Just like your dad you LOVE electronic devices, phones, computers, cameras, anything with buttons that makes noise. Play with them, bang on them, try to take them apart; it's what you do! You also love music. You are great at singing. Right now, your favorite songs are ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus, C is for Cookie, e-i-e-i-o (as you call it) and Happy Birthday. Along with singing, you enjoy playing your two pianos, and two guitars and banging on what ever you can find for a drum. (and no we don't need a drum set, we have plenty of metal bowls for that!).















You have been a trooper about wearing your brace on your right leg. Sometimes you will even ask us to put on your "sandal". Mom and dad are so proud of you for wearing it to help you walk better. Even your therapist Mary Anne has said you are doing so much better now.

This year to celebrate your birthday we had a family party with an Elmo theme. You are really into Elmo and love to watch him on Sesame Street. With the help of Grammy Rachel, we were able to make a cute Elmo cake. We had a little issue with the food coloring, but it all turned out cute in the end. I'm not sure you ever said Elmo when you saw it, oh well.

Not all of our family was able to come celebrate your birthday, but you still had a wonderful day.


Grammy Rachel was able to come visit for a few weeks and you were able to spend the day with her and Poppy (my dad) playing. You went down to the river and got to throw rocks in the water, what fun!










Grammy even took you for a ride on your bike. How fun!












You also had fun shooting baskets!
















Playing in your sandbox was fun with Poppy!










Uncle Craig was able to make it down for the weekend. He enjoyed teaching you how to properly eat a chocolate cookie. As long as it ends up all over your face, everything is great!


And who could forget the funny faces from Grammy Terry.


Jabez, the dog, was able to come celebrate your special day. You liked to say hi to her and even wanted to try and walk her. Luckily, she was a well behaved dog and didn't take you for a ride.









You are such a friendly boy and love to share. Especially sharing your Cheerios with Jabez.

















For your birthday dinner, Dad made his famous bbq chicken wings. Yum. You enjoyed eating these the best and left the potato salad for the dog. I think you may have taken a bite of the lettuce but that was all.




Opening presents was fun! You understood that they were ALL for you and no one else. You were very interested in the remote control train and played with that for awhile. Since mom and dad are "toy rookies" and forgot to check what kind of batteries the toy needed we were able to convince you to open a few more presents.



Uncle Craig and Aunt Olya got you a talking Elmo. You love the way Elmo laughs and try to imitate him every time.













Now Cookie Monster has a friend!



One of your favorite presents was from Grammy Rachel and Poppy. Who knew a $2 spider-man hamper would be so much fun. I think you wore it on your head for a good 10 minutes.









Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed got you a little guitar. You are a natural, playing and singing at the same time. We may have a future musician in the family.


Your favorite part about cake was blowing out the candles. We sang 3 times so you could blow out the candles. By the third time you were able to do it yourself.


Thank you to our family for making this a special day for Cooper!




And how could we for get these moments. Cooper had such a fun weekend with everyone he didn't want them to leave. Every time someone left he cried and cried. He misses everyone so very much.

Cooper is one of the sweetest boys I've ever met (besides his dad, of course). He almost always takes a second to give his mom a hug or kiss. He's not a cuddler but that's ok. He's learning to let me rock him at bed time, sometimes.

Thank you Cooper for bringing joy and happiness to our lives. I am so very honored to be your mother. I love you very much!

Cooper Singing

Can you guess the song?


Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and part of the ABC's

Cape Cod

Last month we went on a trip to Cape Cod. This is one of my absolute favorite places in the world to vacation. We were fortunate enough to have a direct flight into Boston. We were hoping since the flight was during Cooper's nap time that he would sleep most of the way. Well, he only slept 30 minutes, but he was very well behaved for most of the flight.

He loved to look out the window, push all the buttons on the TV in the seat in front, and talk to the people in the seats around us.

My Aunt Carol and Uncle Peter live in East Sandwich and are fortunate enough to enjoy this magnificent place every day. A huge thank you to them for hosting us at their house for over a week.

The hot humid air wasn't too difficult to deal with when we sat on the porch and enjoyed the cool breeze.




I could definitely be a porch person with a house like this!

They have a huge front yard that makes a great place to play baseball.

This year they decided to get a pool. Even though they live walking distance to the beach, having a pool in their backyard was a nice luxury. Cooper enjoyed it very much.



Almost every night we enjoyed marshmallows by the fire. S more's with Reese's peanut butter cups YUM!


Cooper had his first experience with lobsters. He wasn't quite sure what to think of them while they were alive but once they were cooked he loved to look, touch, and even had a little taste.


A few of my family members went on a whale watch. This is one of the whales they saw.


Cooper met his cousins Griffin and Cameron for the first time. It was an instant friendship.


On Saturday, we had a reunion with almost all of my dad's family. It was fun to see everyone.

Here are a few of Cooper's favorite activities while we were in Cape Cod:

Splashing in the waves at the beach.


Taking a ride on Papi.


Eating Doritos and not sharing them with anyone!


Blowing bubbles.


Playing the ladder game.


Playing in the cars pushing all the buttons.


Playing baseball.


Swinging in the hammock with all the boys was fun.


Eating popsicles was always a treat. Mom of course, was afraid his clothes would get too messy, which is why he's only in his diaper. He actually did really well



And how could we forget about the stairs. I don't think he ever got tired of walking up and down.



Cooper's absolute favorite thing to do was open and close the garage doors.

A big thank you to Auntie Carol and Uncle Peter for hosting all of us for the week. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to do it again.

To see more pictures from our trip click on the link: CapeCod2010