Happy Father's Day!

Cooper was very excited for Father's Day this year.  We picked out a fun DAD frame for Jason, got a round of golf and a Cooper is going to take him to Bass Pro Shop later and pick out a new fishing rod.  I kinda think that should be a Father-Son thing...but I have a feeling Mom will be coming along.

We started the day early and headed down for our first trip to the Zoo.  We headed in and went right over to check out the zebra.

We quickly found our way to the children's area and let Cooper run around for a while.  Fortunately the children's area was fairly empty, so he was able to run from animal to animal.  I'm pretty sure he had no idea what he was looking at, but he enjoyed it.

After the petting zoo, Cooper was starting to get hot & tired.  We slowly made our way through a few more exhibits, stopping to see the monkeys.

We're all looking forward to more time at the zoo!

Speed Demon

Last year Cooper's godfather sent him a baptism gift that made me laugh.  It was a fire truck.  Cooper was 3 months old.  The truck sat in the attic for a while and finally this summer Jason convinced me that we needed to bring it down.  Late one Saturday, we put the truck together and Cooper was pretty excited the next morning. 

For now, he uses it more to climb on...and he can push Eileen.  But he hasn't quite figured out how to move it forward himself.  This week I taught him to keep his feet up so that we could really motor around the house.  Note the perma-grin on this face as Jason speeds laps around the sofa.  And giggle a little at the sound effects.

Sing along...

Earlier this week, we headed home from dinner and Cooper realized that Jason wasn't getting in the same car.  He flipped his lid.  So I did the only thing I could do - crank the radio.  Thank goodness for satellite radio because within seconds I found...Ke$ha.

I'm not your typical Ke$ha fan.  But her songs are easy.  It is the same thing over and over again, meaning I know some of the words.  By the end of the song, Cooper knew them as well.  If you're familiar with the song Blow you'll hear his version of it at the beginning of the video.

If you know the words to the other song he sings, sing along!  And then email me and let me know what song it is because we have no clue.

18 Month Photos

A few months ago I entered a contest of sorts on Facebook.  A Houston photographer was giving away a free session and I won!  I never win anything.  Really.  I can't remember the last time I won something other than a $2 lotto ticket.  Since I planned on trying to take 18 month photos of Cooper, this was perfect.

Julie met us just outside of Downtown one really hot morning earlier this month.  I wasn't sure how Cooper would do, especially since there was so much to see and so many places to run around.  Julie was very patient with us and Cooper and somehow worked her magic.  I was thrilled to see the photos - she managed to capture some of my favorite Cooper expressions!  I'm in love with so many of the pics and need just a few (dozen) more frames for the house.  And maybe an extra wall or two...

These two are probably my favorite...

Julie was even gracious enough to drive over to Minute Maid and take a few more photos.  Cooper had a blast running around and yelling "ball!!" again and again.

I'm so glad we had the chance to meet Julie and that I can show off her work.  Check out her website here.

18 Months Old

Good grief.  This kid wears me out.  Some days it is from trying not to scream and other days it is from laughing until I cry.

The boy loves to eat.  He can now open the pantry door.  Anything on the bottom shelf is fair game.  He can almost open the fridge and once that happens, I'm in serious trouble.  He can tell when we're spelling "M-I-L-K" and starts running over to the fridge yelling "milKAH milKAH."  I'm pretty sure there isn't a fruit he won't eat, but veggies are still questionable.  He will try them, but he gives them back with a head shake & a "no."

Somewhere in the last 18 months we managed to sleep train Cooper.  I guess.  When he's tired, he walks to his room saying "night-night" and reaches for his blanket.  He toyed around with climbing out of the crib, but gave up and we removed the bumper to keep him from trying again.  That doesn't mean he won't climb on other things.  The couch, a chair, our bed, the table, his fire truck...moving the fire truck to the couch so he can climb on the back of the couch.  But the best Spider Man impression was when he scaled the dishwasher to get something off of the counter.  Officially, nothing is safe in this house.  Or any house for that matter.

Cooper also talks a LOT.  I have no idea what he is saying most of the time, but I do get a few words.  Milk, outside, no, night-night, ball, banana, cracker, blanket...the list is getting longer, that's for sure.  And it makes like just a little easier! 

M-I-C-K-E-Y

M-O-U-S-E!

Cooper has been a fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for a while.  We DVR it, if that tells you anything.  He really only watches the songs, and then spends the rest of the time playing.  We've also had this stuffed Mickey Mouse in a pinstripe baseball suit on the shelf in his room since the beginning.  He's seen it, but suddenly this weekend he realized that the Mickey Mouse on the shelf was the same Mickey Mouse in the tv.

He freaked.  Like all out crying until he got his hands on that Mickey.  I had to pry it from one arm to another to get his shirt on.  And he wouldn't let it go. 

The real test now is going to see if he will pick Mickey over the Monkey...

Batter up!

Cooper has recently become obsessed with baseball on TV.  If we flip the channel to the game, he freezes and starts yelling "Ball!" really loud.  Over and over.  Since we had a long weekend, I wanted to try taking him to the game.  We bought some cheap tickets and headed out to the stadium.

We started looking around the stadium and stopped to watch the teams taking batting practice.

We decided to take Cooper over to check out the kids play area and snapped a photo that looked a little similar...

We finally headed to our seats to catch the first pitch.

Cooper had a great time watching the game, but did tire out about the 6th inning.

We'll be back for more games, though, since Aunt Carla made Cooper a member of the Astros Buddies club.