A little rain...

If you're not from Texas, you may not know that we had a quite extreme drought this year.  Like we could only water the lawn twice a week, the lakes are completely dry and some restaurants quit automatically bringing water to the table unless requested.  That kind of drought.  The really scary part - it sparked some major fires this summer.

Lately, though, we've been getting a little rain.  Sometimes more than just a little - twice this month we've had some flooding.  Unfortunately, it isn't quite enough rain to put us back where we need to be, but it is nice to see green yards again.  Cooper got a rain coat & umbrella from his Granna & Papa.  I let him wear the rain coat to school last week, but it ended up causing a fight.  Apparently one of his friends wanted to see his jacket, and the end result was that his friend bit him.  Cooper keeps telling me who did it, but I'm not sure I believe him since this kid has never been a biter.

It is a cute rain coat though, so who knows!

Today I let him walk around outside a bit with his umbrella before we left.  Since I didn't want to cause anymore altercations in the classroom, we left the umbrella in the car.

One of Cooper's favorite snacks happens to be the little baby oranges - the Cuties.  I think they're pretty good, but I'm fairly certain he could eat the entire bag in one day if I let him.  He can open the fridge, open the drawer and get them out.  Yesterday, though, he decided he wanted to peel it.  I put him in his chair at the bar and let him go.  I offered help, but he kept telling me he wanted to do it by himself.  I encouraged him, told him that I was proud of him for being patient and not getting upset that it was taking a while.  And then he cracked me up - he said "I did it! I proud of me."


The only downside to this, is that I can see him feeding himself oranges from now on.  Remember how I said he could eat the whole bag??

Sundays

A few weeks ago, I spent some time building Cooper up to go to Sunday School.  We quit trying several months ago because he was miserable.  He started crying in the parking lot and by the time we got close to the door, he was hysterical.  We left.  Since then, we've been trying to keep him quiet in the church.  Sometime before Christmas he started to understand that we were going to listen to stories about Baby Jesus and that he had to be quiet.  He made it through most of the service, but never the whole thing.  This week, I decided he was going back.

I built up Sunday School - he could sing songs and color and play.  Last Sunday we talked about how fun Sunday School would be and he talked about how he wanted to go to church.  He was fine...until we got to the room.  After church, they said he'd cried for about ten minutes, and then played.  Then, I tested the water.

Me: Cooper, did you have fun at Sunday School.

Cooper: Yeah, I had fun.

Me: Do you want to go back?

Cooper: No, I go to church.

Yesterday was much of the same - he did a little crying on the way in, we shoved him in the door and turned around.  He would be fine.  After, I asked him again if he had fun (he did) and if he wanted to go back (he didn't).  His new trick is to tell us that he'll be quiet and listen in church.  I don't quite believe him.

Last weekend, Cooper kept talking about a fire truck.  He wanted to ride in his fire truck.  That made sense - he has one on the back porch.  Only...he didn't really care to ride in it.  Sunday we realized he was singing.  I Googled it and figured out there is a song about riding in a fire truck.  When Cooper says it though, it sounds like this:

fir-rah shruck...fir-rah shruck...I want ride on my fir-ruh shruck.

I also like to give him a little flexibility on Sundays.  Well, once church is over.  I'll ask him what he wants to wear and just go with it.  I'm thinking he probably doesn't have a career in fashion to look forward to.

Someone needs a haircut

A few weeks ago, Eileen came over to spend a few hours with Cooper.  She was a little hesitant a first, but she finally warmed up while we ate dinner.  We threw both of them in the tub to wash up.  The week before, Nana bought Cooper a Cars bath set on clearance at Target.  It included a loofah with a Cars toy attached.  Jason and I got a kick out of the fact that Eileen wanted to scrub Cooper's back.  I'm pretty sure Kyle wants that to be the last back she scrubs for about 30 years.

After bath, we all settled down on the sofa to watch Tangled.  I think it is going to be one of my top 5 Disney movies.  Apparently Eileen isn't much of a movie watcher, but I guess Cooper's love for the cinema rubbed off on her that night.  They both watched most of the movie before crashing.

Catching up

2011 had some ups and downs.  I won't elaborate, but for a while there I was ready for a Happy Freaking New Year.  And then it changed and I learned a very important lesson that life is mine to live, but not to control.  That said, this year hasn't really started with a bang.  Well, I guess it has.  Fireworks, to be exact.

Let me go back a bit.  When we visited Jason's parents Cooper started acting funny.  He just didn't want to sleep and asked us to lay down beside him.  I didn't give it too much thought, thinking he was just a little off from the travel and all of the holiday excitement.  We came home New Years Eve and that was the Big Bang.  Turns out, my kid is terrified of fireworks.  And because NYE was on a Saturday, we got two full freaking days of fireworks.  Two full days of a toddler trying to crawl into our skin.  Two nights of him begging to stay up and watch a movie or sleep with us.  In fact, after we came home on NYE, we put him to bed, only to wake up an hour later with him climbing over me and into the middle of our bed.

And that was just the beginning.  Since then, we've all be a little sleep deprived.  Some days are better than others.  But the others...well, last night for example he was awake at 12:30, 1, 1:15 and 2:45.  I am pretty sure that's what a 6 week growth spurt would look like, only he's not eating during the night.  I've pretty well tried everything - bribery, sticker charts, cry it out (that ended when he climbed on top of the dresser) and just sleeping on the floor.  Yesterday we started a new strategy and well...I'll say last night was mildly successful.  He was still up, but we only sat next to his bed for 10 minutes at a time.  Right now, that's the best I can hope for.

Have I mentioned how much I love coffee???

On a different note...here are few funny things he's done recently.

Before Christmas, my mom's dog Tuff was sick.  Tuff is a teeny tiny teacup poodle, so him being sick isn't good.  I called Rachel to chat and brought it up and said if something happens to that dog, this will be the "Worst.Christmas.Ever."  Tuff got better (he ate an acorn) and I told the story to my mom a few weeks later.  Sitting in the backseat, Cooper yells out "Worst. Christmas. EVER!"

I have a bad habit.  I've learned some bad words and I'm trying to unlearn them.  But I'm having a hard time with crap.  I don't think it is that bad, but Cooper probably doesn't need to go to school saying crap every 15 seconds.  Last week I was driving and said crap.  Cooper immediately told me that it was a bad word.  Jason asked if I should go to time out and Cooper's response was "ummmmmmmmmmm......"  I think that must happen at school!

He's discovered how to be silly.  Who knew?  I also get amazed at how well he talks.  Jason and I went out of town this weekend and when we got home I told him that I missed him.  He replied "I missed momma."  Heart: melted.

A little more Christmas

A few days before the New Year, we headed to see Jason's parents and celebrate Christmas.  Cooper emptied his stocking and found some animals for his Big Truck.

He also found a train whistle.

Over the last month, Cooper has become a pro at opening gifts.

Cooper helped pass out gifts...and got a little silly.

He really does love the camera!

Christmas Day

We celebrated Christmas Day with my extended family.  Haley brought over her new Barbie dolls and we caught Cooper checking out the girl toys.

We finally let the kids open their gifts, putting Cooper & Haley together so that everyone could watch.  They both squealed and giggled over their gifts, but Haley was most excited about a box that someone put her gift in.  

I didn't catch many photos - family events tend to be a little chaotic.  Cooper & Haley ran circles around the house and he ended up falling down in the kitchen.  He had a nice grout line imprinted into his forehead for a while, but it wasn't that bad.  I think I finally sat down that day around 10pm, exhausted but glad to have the opportunity to spend time with family.

Santa Came!!

A few months ago, I mentioned to Cooper that if he was good Santa would bring him a big truck.  He's fascinated with the big trucks we see on the way to & from school, so we thought he would enjoy playing with one.

Santa also picked up a sofa & a new potty.  I guess he thought we needed to work on potty training at home.  Though I'd rather wait.  Not because it means he's growing up, but because it is way too easy to just change a diaper.  :-)

Cooper was excited, but we didn't see the same level of excitement that he showed for his bike.  I think he was actually afraid the stuff was going to be taken away.  And I'm pretty sure he still didn't quite get that some random stranger just left him toys for no reason.  Maybe next year...

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we woke up, finished loading the car and headed to Nana's house.  Aunt Sassy drew the short straw at work, so she put in four 12-hour nights in a row from Friday to Monday.  We were able to celebrate Christmas Eve, though, with lunch and gifts.  We let Cooper & Zeth go first, since their attention span is just a little short.

Cooper unwrapped the gift from Lin & Adam first - another Peanut!  We laughed at the fact that he knew exactly what to do with a stick horse and started running around the house.

The last thing Cooper opened was courtesy of his Pops.  Apparently the last trip Cooper took to visit them, he found a few of Zeth's toy guns (that make a lot of noise) and carried them around.  So Pops went in search of some really loud, noisy guns that would allow Cooper to have just as much fun at home as he does there.  :-/ As soon as Cooper figured out that it made noise, he was a happy camper.

After the kids opened gifts, we all took our turns as adults.  Jason got a bunch of fishing stuff and we both got the newest love of my life - a Keurig.  Seriously, I love the fact that I can have coffee any time of the day without making a bigger pot.  However, I have a feeling my coffee consumption may get a little excessive.  We all sat down for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon prepping for Christmas day and trying to rest a little.  Finally we started to get ready for church.  And that was when the real fun began.

About 5:50, Jason walked into our room and asked where Cooper's suitcase was.  I'm pretty sure the look on my face explained it, but instead tried hoping I was wrong.  I tried to think that Jason had brought it in.  It only took 30 seconds for us to realize we knew exactly where it was - our house.  2 hours away.  

For the record, Cooper arrived that morning in jeans, a Christmas t-shirt, his Big Truck sweatshirt (above) and his new Lightning McQueen house shoes.  We quickly decided that Jason would run to Wal-Mart and purchase things for the rest of the weekend.  Thankfully, I'd thrown his coat into the car & his boots were in Jason's bag.  I ironed his jeans to remove the wax that he'd just spilled on to them from a Scentsy warmer (thank goodness those don't burn!) and we made it to church.  I was reminded the next week that at his age, most people would assume he insisted on wearing his Big Truck sweatshirt, and that probably would have been a safe assumption had we shown up in the Cars slippers.  Jason found a few pair of pajamas and he knows my guilty-mother heart well, because he even found one pair of Christmas pjs.  Can you imagine the mommy guilt I would have if he spent Christmas in non-Christmas pjs?  :-)

Merry Christmas!!

We celebrated Christmas a few days early and Santa came that night to fill our stockings.  Cooper loved opening the gifts, but we had to keep him focused - after each gift was opened, he wanted to take it out of the package to play.

 

These slippers were a last-minute purchase on Black Friday, and I'm pretty sure they were one of his favorite gifts.  He insisted on wearing them right away, and even wore them to bed that night.  In hindsight, I should have bought 5 pair.

We had a bit of a theme going on this year - Thomas & Lightning McQueen.  The good news is, he loves it.  And he was fired up about every gift.  The bad news...my house is bleeding red & blue.

But really, that face it so worth it.

Earlier this summer, I purchased a slide from Craigslist.  The seller also had a tricycle, so I grabbed it at the same time.  It needed some work, but I figured we'd use it.  Over the last month or so, Cooper has been asking about a bike and riding a bike.  We decided to fix up the tricycle and give that as one of his gifts.  We left it in the garage and took him outside to see it that night.  At first, he was confused.  But once he realized it was his bike, he did his excited dance - he jumps up and down and squeals.

We had a hard time getting him off of the bike to come back inside.  I was a little worried that he would want to drive it in the house.

We finished the night watching part of Cars 2 and Santa made a special stop to fill our stockings while we slept..

PS: I got a new lens for my camera...and I am in love!