Rodeo Time!

It's rodeo time in Houston!  The trail riders rolled into town last week & the first official rodeo day is tomorrow. Friday was "Go Texan Day" at school and Cooper was very excited to wear his boots & seat belt to school.

It might be sideways, but it is still cute.

My mom recently taught Cooper how to jump.  It's pretty cute.  I tried to get it on video, but he had something else in mind.

Cooper does cool.

A few weekends ago I went out of town for Lindsey's bachelorette party.  Jason and Cooper manned the house and spent some time Sunday playing outside.  I bought Cooper some sunglasses a few months ago because he loves to play with ours.  Sure enough, he would wear his for a total of 5.2 seconds before taking them off.  Until that Sunday.  For some reason he put the sunglasses on and wore them around for quite a while.  And made for some really funny photos.

Rodeo Time!

Saturday morning we took Cooper to the rodeo to check out the livestock show.  Reagan & Abby met us there (with their parents, of course) and we went right for the petting zoo.

Cooper hasn't been fond of animals larger than a certain teacup poodle, so we were not quite sure how he'd do.

He was a little nervous at first.  He did a lot of pointing and yelling and screaming when they came close.  Eventually, though he warmed up to them.  With some help from Reagan.

After the petting zoo, we moved over to check out some of the larger animals.

We checked out all of the learning exhibits, but Cooper seemed to really love the chickens.

We finished checking out the animals and headed over to look at any farm equipment we may want to purchase.  Cooper & Reagan were particularly fond of the tractor...although I think Scott was a little worried!

Maybe the smaller equipment would be a better choice...

We had a great time and I love the fact that Cooper warmed up to the animals.

Go Texan Day!

The Rodeo rolled into town this weekend and people across Houston kicked it off by participating in Go Texan Day!  Cooper's belt fits a little better this year and we got him all dressed up!  I think he looked pretty cute and we can't wait to take him to the Rodeo this year!



Is rodeo time yet?

Cooper's friend Jacob passed these boots on a few months ago.  We tried them on this weekend and I think they went to his head. 

After he figured out how to walk in them, he went right over to his horse and tried to climb on.  If he keeps this up, we may be in the market for a new pony this summer.

No, Lin, not a real one.  They just don't make rocking horses like they used to!

Well, that was a waste.

All of that crazy snow talk.  The stocking up (that we didn't do).  The hours and hours and hours of extended news coverage.

For what?  Nothing.  A big fat nothing.  Not a single flake of snow.  We did have a lot of ice.  I heard there were over 800 ice-related traffic accidents on Friday.  Jason and I both ended up at home doing a little work and keeping Cooper from going crazy.  At one point he was dragging his coat around trying to get one of us to take him outside.  I ended up taking him to the mail box, but it was cold!  And he was getting sick - poor kid fell down before 7am and ended up with a bump over his eye that matched the bump he came home from school with on Thursday.  Awesome.

It was kind of fun to stay home with him.  Suddenly he's showing off all kinds of new tricks!  I'm saving them for his 14 month post later this week, but stay tuned.  I realized this morning as I told the story at work for the 4th time that I am one of those moms - who brags on my kid non-stop. 

Last week we put some bubble bath in the tub and Cooper got a kick out of me giving him a beard. 

I thought he looked like Santa.

He didn't agree.

Really, I have no idea why he made that face.  He makes this face quite often:

but it is usually a happy face.  So the angry look above is very curious.  It is all Cooper, though!

Meal time

My go-to meal around the house is spaghetti.  For Cooper, that is.  If we're having something I know will be too spicy for him or I'm sure he won't eat, I'll boil some noodles and stir in a small amount of jarred pasta sauce...and viola, instant dinner happiness.  Penne happens to be my favorite shape and I ended up with a box of mini-penne whole wheat pasta.  It's perfect for Cooper since I don't have to cut the pieces and he can pick them up easily.

It just makes a really, really big mess.

Jason is attempting to help Cooper learn how to eat with a spoon.  I'd rather wait until he's like...5.  Or 15.  Why?  Because giving a 13 month old boy a spoon makes a big mess.  Case in point:

He had a good time.  Ate mashed potatoes off of the spoon like he was eating a lollipop.  And even got some up his nose.

Evenings are definitely more interesting around here.

My son, the ham

Last week after Cooper finished his nighttime milk, we sat on the sofa for a few minutes.  He was so content to just sit there and snuggle in my lap.  I couldn't see his face, but Jason said he looked so cute.  So being the first-time parents we are, he grabbed the camera to snap a photo and instead we ended up with this:

He's figured out what the camera is and when he sees the little red light, he grins like crazy.  Total ham.

Just because it is cute...

I tried taking photos of Cooper with Christmas lights and all he wanted to do was eat the lights and the cord.  Real safe, right?

I managed to get one good photo, though.

Family Photos

Last month, the three of us took some professional family photos.  I wanted some to use on our Christmas cards and I wanted newer family photos - especially since Coop would be one in a few weeks.

I found Candace through a friend and I'm really happy with what she did.  Here are a few of my favorites.

all attitude with the hand in the pocket...

You have to start sometime, right?

Saturday Cooper made his first visit to McDonald's AND had his first Happy Meal!  I'm not one of those parents who is against fast food and who swears my kid will never eat it.  If you are that parent, more power to you.  But I have to be realistic and know that sometimes we'll be visiting the drive-thru or we'll make a trip to the local play place just so Momma can keep from screaming at the top of her lungs.

This trip was to celebrate Jett's 4th Birthday.  After having just done Cooper's party, I kinda have to give Maegan props.  Instant entertainment for the kids in a weather-proof facility.  They all got a Happy Meal (their choice, with a toy)...how much easier could that be?  Plus, Jett loved it.

Cooper had the nuggets - and consumed an entire days worth of calories in one sitting - but he also tried some of Maegan's cheeseburger.  Honestly, he liked the burger better...probably because of the Quarter Pounders with Cheese that I craved like a maniac my last trimester.