Oh, what a night!

I hate to start out with such a cliche, but have you ever just had one of those days.

Cooper and I got home late from work. Well, he was at daycare, but you know why he was late there. I went upstairs to change and unwind for a minute. J had started dinner and wanted to marinate the chicken like his mom. Go J.

Before I could go back downstairs, I heard the two of them in Cooper's room. On my way that direction, I hear a crash. Cooper had pulled down the shelf over his changing table. J had managed to scoop naked Cooper up from the table right before it hit. So now he is naked and crying because he is scared. I try to take him from J, but J informs me that Cooper has raw chicken juice on him. I decide not to ask ... not yet anyway, and take Cooper to the tub.

I am progressing nicely removing any chicken residue from his hair, hands, etc. J went downstairs to clean up the chicken mess, which happened because the store-brand ziploc (for marinating) did not have a complete seal on the bottom. Chicken slid out on top of slightly underfoot Cooper, and all down the front of J.

Well back to the tub. One of Cooper's latest bath tricks is to hide behind the shower curtain, then cackle hysterically. We were having a fun little game, until he got quiet. Yes, you guessed it. He pooped in the tub ... and I don't mean a little bit. Now, I need to call J for help. In the process of the cleanup, the toilet stops up.

Are you laughing yet?

Okay, toilet unstopped. Naked toddler standing on the rug. Clean the tub. Put naked toddler back in the tub for second bath. J rehangs the shelf over Cooper's table, and changes his chicken covered clothes. We put pjs on the big guy. I read him a story. J finishes cooking dinner.

I am exhausted. And hoping for less laughs tomorrow night. I do have to say that I am surprised how easily both of us handled the mishaps. I started laughing (internally) almost immediately. Didn't want to do it on the outside until I could judge how J was doing. Guess you could say that we are all growing in one way or another.

Beetles and toads ... all boy.

Nature boy was so excited about all the creatures he saw over the weekend. This was his first beetle. He thought it was hilarious when the beetle got stuck on his back. We did flip him back over so he could scurry away.

Cooper wasn't quite as enthralled with the toad, but I did catch a sly smile when he tried to jump out of K's hand. He did try to catch this awful looking worm thing. I am not looking forward to this part of being a mom to a little boy. My MIL said to just wait until I am driving down the road, and a frog hops in the seat next to me. I think I will be careful checking Cooper's pockets from now on.

I didn't have my camera when the lizard ran by him later in the day.

Pool fun

I am working on my photo technique, so humor me with all the photos. I know it's hard to see his face in all the photos, but I love the smiles that sneak through. I am pretty impressed with the pictures with the water splashing.

He became obsessed with grandpa's new fishing net. I don't think he meant to "catch" himself, but he was very happy with the outcome.

Road Trip

Cooper had a great time in the car on the way to the granparents. He entertained himself by making noises with his snack cup after finishing off his black beans and veggies. Yes, I know a strange snack, but he likes it.

I couldn't resist the picture of his foot. He was resting it on his stuffed monkey, and looked so relaxed.

In the last shot, he was fighting sleep so hard. He did end up falling asleep. Two streets away from the final stop. Then he was the energizer bunny for hours after we got there.

A great start to the weekend.

My Favorite Face Photo

This week iHeart Faces is doing something special. They are asking everyone to enter their very best face photo to be considered for entry in the Blurb Photo Book Contest.

This was taken just two weeks ago. I love it so much that I have it as my desktop. I cropped it down to just his face, but seeing the goat makes his expression so much better.


I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

Visit iHeart Faces for more!

Busy afternoon

He is trying to get the Big Wheel figured out. He can't quite reach the pedals, but he can scoot himself around.

Cooper loves the new game of matching the animals to his book. The tiger and the fish were his favorite tonight.

The Best Mother's Day Present

I had a wonderful second Mother's Day. I got lots of sloppy kisses and big hugs from Cooper. He is specializing in an enormous open mouth kiss these days. I got spoiled with flowers, a new picture frame and a pedicure.

Cooper shared his love with Grammy.

Maymont - 1st Field Trip

All I can say is that the daycare teachers are very brave to take three classes of toddlers on a field trip. We went to Maymont to visit the Children's Farm. Poppa and Grammy came to Richmond to join us on this adventure. You may notice a pattern with the pictures, only the backside of Cooper. He was so excited to see the animals, so not so many pics of his face. He was squealing with delight. Some of his favorites were the pigs, goats, chickens and sheep.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. Who knows what he was looking at? Just glad that the goat wasn't offended that Cooper didn't paying attention to him.

He was so excited to feed the goat. He had a hard time holding onto the food, but did eventually get a little into the goat's mouth.

I included this one for one reason. See how I am holding onto the back of his overalls. This was a pattern for the day ... me running to keep up with him. Poor Poppa needed a nap after this adventure. Cooper ran everywhere. Most of the time with me holding my breath. For those of you who have not been to Maymont, it is either uphill or downhill. He ran all the way down ... on asphalt. I kept thinking we would need a return trip to the ED if he kept this up.

The morning ended with a picnic lunch. Almond butter sandwich, cantalope and grapes. A big hit all around. Yes, that's the forehead booboo from earlier in the week.

The final event at Maymont was a new booboo. While holding my hand and walking on flat ground, he tripped and skinned his knee. I made him promise no more accidents until after Mother's Day. After all this excitement, he took a 3.5 hour nap. It was a great day!!

After the incident

I just realized that I did have a picture from after the ED visit. Hard to tell anything was wrong with him here. He was opening a belated Easter basket from Grammy. A shovel, a rake, bubbles, and a camo basket makes everything all better.

I thought for a minute, "Why didn't I get a picture of his chin?" Then I thought, "Who would really want to see that?" Sometimes it is a good thing for everyone else to not have a picture. :)

Eventful week

Lots of excitement this week, and being it was just the two of us, I didn't get as many pictures as normal. On Sunday afternoon, Cooper was playing in his sandbox. I was flipping over his sand toys when I noticed a spiderweb on the bottom of one of the toys. Richmond is known for its spiders, but this is not one I wanted to see ... a black widow with babies. So, spiders eliminated and Cooper continues to play. Now, one more thing I have to worry about when he goes outside.

Oh, and we have the grandparents on stand-by to come help because Cooper has a knack for getting sick when John goes out of town. A variety of bugs are going around daycare, so I thought it was only a matter of time.

A little later on, we go inside to eat dinner. Cooper refused the spaghetti sauce I slaved over made for him, so I made an alternate meal. He has not had peanut butter yet due the scare we had when he was almost five months old. Briefly, he had an significant allergic reaction (hives all over his face and body) late one night. We never did find out what caused it, even after multiple allergy tests. So, I thought I would start him off on almond butter rather than peanut butter.

I smeared a little on a very small piece of bread ... and stood by with an epi-pen. And watched him beg for more. He loved it, and no reaction. So I proceed with giving him a couple more pieces on his plate. Seconds later, he is now choking because he put all the bread in his mouth at once. Good thing I paid attention during all those CPR/Rescue Breathing classes. And never thought I would need to use it on my own child. Luckily, I only needed the finger sweep portion.

We did survive the rest of the night, and Monday went by uneventful. Cooper loves to be helpful, and decided his new duty is the trash. I don't think he knows this was full of his dirty diapers.

So then we get to Tuesday. Bath night. All is going well until he decides to reach for the handheld sprayer, and conks his forehead on the faucet. I think I was more traumatized then he was. I did sneak in his room to get a picture of the band-aid. What a sweet face.

We survived Wednesday unscathed. Thursday was not so lucky. I was walking down to daycare to pick him up when I get a phone call that he had taken a tumble. Evidently, he only knows one speed ... fast running (more to come about that later). When they came in to the classroom from outside, he ran right into the chair and split open his chin. It was a slow night in the ED, so after a little DermaBond (fancy glue rather than stiches) we were on our way home to see the visiting grandparents. I haven't managed to get a picture of the chin yet.

Friday deserves it's own post, so that will come next.