Growing Son, Emotional Mother

Had such a fun day with Coop today: Cleaned house together, side by side; sorted laundry together; practiced alphabet recognition, and memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance; went to the park just the two of us and found a "secret" path through the woods, played chase and firetruck on the playground, played on the swings; came home and watched Toy Story 3, which made me bawl; read bedtime stories tonight, including "Love You Forever" and bawled, and snuggled him in bed a little longer than I probably should when trying to keep him an independent sleeper. I am so emotional lately about Coop growing up, and will certainly miss cleaning up these kinds of messes someday:
The bat is a fire hose, the boxes were firetrucks, airplanes, and a pirate ship, and the cars were from playing race cars together. Sometimes wish we could freeze time. This was one of those days I really love being a mother.

Fourth of July (2012)

The 4th of July was so fun this year with Cooper experiencing a few firsts, and being more conscious of what the holiday is about, and enjoying things more.

Coop was all excited to wave his American flag, which he will tell you represents the United States of "Amerita."

Aunt Denise and Uncle Jim visited us for the day.  Cooper just LOVES when Aunt Denise comes to visit.  He loves her so much, and always talks about her visits for days afterward.

 We started the morning off at a local parade.  We were very lucky to have a nice shady spot within a very short walking distance from the car, and a nice little breeze to keep us cool.  It was actually very pleasant to be outside that morning.

Cooper was curious as the parade began, this being his first-ever parade.

 I was sure glad the parade didn't disappoint and had tractors and firetrucks just as I had told him it would.  He was all about the tractors!

I thought the firetrucks would be his favorite, but as soon as they sounded their sirens, Coop started crying and booked it into the woods!

 Every time a firetruck or police car would come by (and there were lots!), Cooper INSISTED that one of us hold him back in the woods about 30 feet.  He didn't want to be anywhere near them.  It was so pitiful.  Poor little guy. 

 Coming home and having a nice big 4th of July cupcake from Aunt Denise, with A LOT of red, white, and blue frosting, made ALL the difference.

 Since we seldom get a picture of the three of us, we snapped one just before Denise and Jim left for home.

 Cooper decided he liked Aunt Denise's hat.

Our fireworks experience was quite comical.  We were in such a rush, that I had no camera, and thus no pictures.

After Cooper being so afraid of the loud fire engines at the parade, we were worried he'd be too scared of the loud fireworks to enjoy the big show we were planning on attending in our town.  All afternoon we kept telling him how loud they'd be, and asking whether he wanted to go.  He watched a few on YouTube, and kept insisting he'd like them.

As soon as the neighbors started doing fireworks around 7 pm, all the booming and popping sounds sent Cooper running upstairs to the couch where he wouldn't let us put him down, and sat with his head burrowed  into our shoulders every time he heard fireworks.  So we decided at that point to rule out going to see anything live.  We were so sad that we hadn't at least purchased some for home, but would rather Cooper have a good time than wrestle a screaming, crying toddler.

So we sat at home watching the fireworks in Washington D.C. on TV.  Cooper liked those fireworks, and as it started to get dark, I decided that if we could just get him to SEE them and understand where the loud boom was coming from, that he'd enjoy them.  We were all in our pajamas on the couch, when I heard some big ones outside our front window, so I ran Coop to the window to show him.  We ventured outside to the driveway, and I said to Nate, "It's 9:20.  Fireworks show starts at 9:30 (15 min away).  If we get in the car NOW, we can make it!"  Nate ran and got his keys, while I got in the car with Cooper, trying to convince him that it would be fun, that he just needed to trust us.  Nate drove like a madman, and we made it downtown JUST in the nick of time.  The fireworks had just started.  We found a public parking lot, and "parked" the car in the only remaining spot, part of the driveway.  We hopped out of the car, opened the back, and watched the fireworks.  Cooper exclaimed, "I like them!  They're AWESOME and beautiful and sparkly!  And I'm not even trying (crying)!"  It was all worth it to see the smile on his face.  He's looking forward to fireworks in Utah next week!!

Carousel Flashback

A few weeks ago during the heatwave, on a Saturday when the temperature in Charlotte was 106, we ventured out to one of the malls to enjoy some good old air conditioning besides in our own home.  As Cooper asked to go on the carousel, my mind flashed back to almost exactly a year to the day when we had just finished moving to our current house, and in a like manner wanted to escape the heat.  I thought it funny that we ended up in the same place almost exactly a year later.  Look how much our little guy has grown up!

2012

2011

Learning to Write

Cooper's first-ever attempt at writing his name. I drew the letters on a piece of paper, he looked at it, and wrote his own.

Sweet and Mischevious

Couldn't help taking a picture of this little guy all snuggles with his "Snoofy" Dog and Llama Llama one night. So sweet.

 One day I made zucchini bread, something Cooper LOVES to eat.  I had it on the cooling rack on top of the stove, and as I turned to fold some laundry, Cooper pulled over a chair, and this is how I found him after I'd just told him he had to wait until after dinner to have some.  Sneaky little bugger!!

 Cooper was very proud last month when we picked the first tomato from our tiny little garden.  Up to that point he wouldn't eat tomatoes unless cooked in something.  Now he loves to eat tomatoes from our garden in salads with salad dressing, which he calls "sauce."

Videos from June/July

Have taken a few videos in the last month or so.  Here are a few that probably only grandparents will enjoy. :)

This one is Cooper reading a book.  He was being SO CUTE before I turned on the camera, of course.


Cooper will pretend that just about anything is a fire hose.


Here is our little rock star after Family Home Evening one night.


Funny little one Nate took of Coop doing this crazy spin while I was fixing dinner.  He was doing it over, and over again.


This one is Aunt Denise trying to take a picture, and accidentally having the video on instead of camera.  Cooper squints his eyes a lot in pictures, so she was telling him to open them up and smile.  The result is pretty funny.


One night Cooper was being a goof before bedtime.

First Swimming Lessons

Cooper recently finished his first swimming lessons, which was the first level without parent involvement.  He did well learning to blow bubbles in the water, and grew more and more confident over the course of the two weeks of lessons.

 He was at a bit of a disadvantage with the water being chin-high when on his tip toes, so he didn't get much of a break of water being in his face, but he handled it like a champ.

 Here you can see his first attempt at swimming on his back.

We've been going to the outdoor pool/water park 2-3 times per week, and most of the time we go with his friends Ethan and Addison.  Ethan is about 8 months older than Cooper, but they get along great!  I would say Ethan is probably his "best" friend at this point.  Their favorite things to do at the water park are go down the big kid water slide wearing life jackets.  I couldn't believe Coop wanted to go all by himself!  They also love splashing water on each other, and Cooper loves turning all the steering wheels that affect water spraying out of various pipes.

In going to the pool for the last month, Cooper's confidence in the water has increased immensely.  We've gone from not wanting to be in water deeper than he could touch in, to being able to "swim" by moving his arms in a swimming motion with hands cupped, and kicking his feet (which he still does from the knees), with the assistance of arm floaties (partially deflated).  He'll swim about a 10 ft. distance by himself in any depth of water before needing any kind of reassurance.  He also LOVES to jump in off the side, but only into the arms of someone, and only if that someone agrees to keep his head above water.  Still not a fan of going under the water, but he's gone from crying when he's dunked to just asking not to do it again; he doesn't get dunked often, mostly when I "accidentally" let his head go under the water when jumping from the side.  He also doesn't mind if water gets in his face or nose when swimming with his head above the water.  I think these things are HUGE for a little guy his age.  His swimming instructor was very surprised at the end of lessons to find out how young Cooper was compared to his 5 and 3-1/2 yr classmates.  I am very proud of him, and very hopeful that he'll have no fear of the water, and learn to swim like a fish, two things I still struggle with as an adult, which is probably why I'm so enamored with him learning.