Phone Friday 8/24

Last Friday we headed to my mom's house for the weekend.  As we drove in, we spotted a mom & baby deer crossing the driveway.  

Cooper gave us the Spiderman web shot in his new jammies.

I made Oreo cupcakes for my mom's birthday.

I picked up some Toy Story pajamas after exchanging some shorts that were way to big for Cooper.  He was extremely excited!

We'd left Cooper with my mom Sunday, only to have to go get him Monday due to fever.  I took him to the pediatrician and found out that he had Strep. We finally convinced him that yogurt would be good on his throat.

We took Eileen her birthday present and came home with a Dora goodie bag.  Cooper found the Dora sunglasses and insisted on wearing them.

Cousins

Saturday before they headed out, we took a few photos of Cooper & baby Adalynn.  Bear & Bridget call her Aly, but Cooper insists on calling her Baby Adalynn.

We started with them side by side and Cooper wasn't being a good sport.

When we asked if he wanted to hold her, he perked up.

This is my favorite photos of the day - I can't remember why he was laughing, but she doesn't look as amused.

The old ball game!

Aunt Carla signed Cooper up for the Astros Buddies club again this year.  I love it so much & have passed it along to some friends as well.  As part of the club, you have the option for 4 tickets to a game.  We decided to go Friday with Bear, Bridget & Baby Adalynn.  Adam has decided to go back to grad school, so our second kid, Aunt Sassy, came along.  :-)

We spent some time trying to get a good photo of Cooper & Aly.  Poor girl - she wasn't thrilled for the first half of the game.  We finally took her shorts off and she started grinning right away.  I can relate - when your pants are too tight, it just isn't fun.

Shortly before we started to head out, we got to see the Astros hit a home run!  Sadly, it has been a while since I've seen that and I completely forgot what would happen.  They shot off the cannon and the train started moving and Cooper flipped out.  He's not a fan of loud noises - but we quickly showed him the train and he calmed down.  We headed outside while the guys stayed to watch the Stros score again.  Thankfully we were outside because it was another home run.

The best news - we won that night!

Slip & Slide

A few weeks ago we took an evening trip to Target to check out the clearance summer toys. We found a few deeply discounted Slip & Slides and decided to scoop them up.  Cooper's 2nd pool for the summer managed to stop holding air a few weeks earlier and it is still a nice 101 on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, the stores have replaced swimming pools with Christmas trees and I'm not paying full price on Amazon.  I grabbed the remaining three non-princess Slip & Slides and stashed two away.  You know, since it will be warm enough in Texas until November to use and they will be long gone from the shelves.

Cooper had played at Joe's house on a Slip & Slide, but he wasn't really sure how it would work. He runs to the end and splashes down in the water.  There isn't much sliding - unless you count the demonstration from Jason.

My favorite thing about a Slip & Slide - it doesn't need to be blown up, filled up, and dried up completely before storage!

Phone Friday 8/17

 Last Friday we met Bear, Bridget & Adalynn at the Astros game.

Aunt Sassy came along and treated Cooper to some Cotton Candy.

Serious game watching.

After the game, we showed Cooper our Astros Brick.

Cooper loves Baby Adalynn!

Monday afternoon we escaped for a walk to the park.  I'm only slightly annoyed that our park is filled with sand & not mulch or something less...sandy.  Because that crap get everywhere.

Cheese!

Cooper woke up pretty early this morning, so we had extra snuggle time before school.

Last Sunday night was rough in our house.  Cooper woke up at 11:45 screaming.  Jason headed upstairs to check on him and I followed soon after - it wasn't a normal Cooper-scream.  We tried calming him down a bit and I offered to lay with him.  However, he kept screaming & started calling for Daddy.  We took him out of his room (because it is easily 10 degrees warmer in his room than the rest of the second floor) and took his temperature.  The whole time he would slightly calm down, only to get worked up again & scream like a banshee.  Finally we offered our bed.

He mentioned that his foot hurt, so we tried getting him to drink water thinking it was a cramp.  I also thought it might have been a night terror, though he was awake & responsive and it lasted over an hour.  Then I thought growing pains.  Really, I'm praying it wasn't growing pains.  I turned on the tv (thank you DVR & Cars) and he finally started to settle down.  The tylenol kicked in and he slept for a few hours, only to wake up screaming again & running fever.  He ended up running a low grade fever Monday and Jason stayed home with him.  That was the first time in a long time where I felt like a helpless parent - even though Cooper can talk, I had no idea what was wrong & it sucked.  Thankfully he's been good the rest of the week & we were fully equipped with coffee in the house.

Last Saturday we grabbed lunch with Bear, Bridget & Aly before they headed home.  Rachel joined us and hung out for a while after.  On the way from Chuy's something was said about going to Academy.  Cooper asked Rachel if she "likes going to Acada-you?"  I asked if he meant Academy and he said "yeah, Acada-you."  We got a kick out of that.

Sunday morning Jason & I were getting dressed and realized it was way too quiet.  He started to look for Cooper and I heard him ask what he was doing.  Cooper's reply: Nothing. Just coloring on the wall.

Thankfully it was a pencil, however I cracked up at how casual his response was.  Like it was his job.  We bought a Magic Eraser that day. 

Radio Time

Last month we made a quick trip home for the day.  Some family friends decided to host a team roping event & some of the proceeds would benefit a scholarship in my father's name.  Cooper helped Lindsey warm up the horses.  He was also just excited to be going to another "radio."  I've tried correcting him to say rodeo, but he refuses.

My sister & I spent a lot of time in that arena.  Playing in the dirt, riding horses, helping with repairs - you name it.  It was fun seeing Cooper riding around in the same place.

I'm sure this time next year he'll be doing it on his own without my sister's help. He would already if he had things his way!

Once things got started, Cooper & Haley cooled off with lemonade & a snack.

Pop Quiz

I've seen this on blogs & Kelly has done it a few times with Eileen.  I've tried asking Cooper questions before, but he hasn't really gotten the idea and most of the answers end up being something he's playing with or eating at the time.

Yesterday we walked to the park to get out of the house & I quizzed him on the way.

What is your favorite book?
-Going on a bear hunt (he just read that book earlier in the afternoon)
What is your favorite movie?
-Mater (and he'd just watched Mater's Tall Tales before our walk)
What is your favorite song?
-Jesus loves me the little children (this would be a combination of Jesus Loves Me & Jesus Loves the Little Children.  He prefers to combine them on a regular basis which makes a sing-along impossible)
What is your favorite color?
-Red like Spiderman & Lightening McQueen & Mater
What makes you happy?
-Milk
What makes mommy happy?
-Coffee
What makes daddy happy?
-Coffee too!
What makes you sad?
-Like when I cry? (this really confused him)
What are you going to be when you grow up?
-A swimming pool (we happened to pass the pool when I asked this and I couldn't get a different answer out of him)
What is your favorite thing to eat?
-Pizza and oranges

Phone...Friday 8/10

One day I'll catch up.  But for now, I won't dwell on it.

Last weekend we had a little Slip N Slide fun.

A few months ago, Cooper started to talk about seeing babies at the hospital.  We'd seen some when we visited my grandmother earlier this year.  I explained that we can go after our friends had their babies.  Since then he's been talking about babies in tummies.  I have been waiting for him to ask the random non-pregnant woman at Target, but have been lucky.  Until last week.  When he decided to ask a dad at school if he had a baby in his tummy.  I wasn't there, but I am pretty sure I felt more embarrassed than I would have if it had been a stranger at Target.  At least the odds of me seeing that person again were slim to none.  This dad...I usually see him 2-3 times a week.

Last week was a bit rough.  Cooper started waking up super early - between 5 & 6:15.  Then we had a few accidents that really threw everything off.  By Thursday, we were all tired & I had confiscated Skippyjon Jones as a result for too many accidents.  Today, we're back on track and if he has no accidents at school he'll get the Siamese-cat-who-thinks-he's-a-chiuaua back.

Phone Friday 8/3

We had a quiet week.  Really, I guess we've had a quiet few months.  Most of the time we've been either packing, unpacking, cleaning or doing yard work.  Meaning, I haven't been grabbing my camera and lately I haven't even grabbed my phone.  I'm sure things will pick up soon.  The fall is always crazy for us - lots of birthday parties, trips out of town & football games.  We're taking Cooper to a preseason Cowboys game in a few weeks, plus various other weekend activities between now & Christmas.  I keep looking at the calendar & wonder where the year has gone and get a little overwhelmed at how the rest of it will go so quickly.

One evening last week Cooper armed himself with his water gun & protected his fort.

We headed out Thursday for our drive to the mailbox.  Cooper was pleased that he was able to put is sunglasses on himself...until I realized they were upside down.