Someone's Growing Up Too Fast

About two weeks ago, Cooper announced on a Monday morning that his tooth was loose.  Are you kidding me, he's only five.  How in the heck did this happen already.  He did admit to using his teeth to loosen his Legos.  Boys will be boys.

So, over the course of the last week, we could see his adult tooth coming in, so the serious work of getting the baby tooth out started.  See how crooked it is sitting.

We have been working with for the last several nights to get it out, and finally last night, we had success.

He actually pulled it himself. Surprise for all of us.

The toothless wonder finally was able to put his TarHeel Tooth Fairy pillow to work.  He promised me that he believed in the Tooth Fairy before bed last night.  And he was happy to get a Star Wars lanyard as his gift. Gotta love a flexible and all-knowing Tooth Fairy.

We hit another milestone

And why are these never positive?

Tonight Cooper was playing with his mini Lego figures.  He is obsessed with these things, which other than the million pieces, I love his imagination with them.  He told me he had to tell me something.  When am I going to learn to whip out the video camera when these confessions occur?

He proceeded to ask me if I remembered that little orange hook that fitted on the mini Lego's hand.  When I said I did, he then said that he no longer could play with it because it was in his tummy.

Oh, help me now. I managed to have the conversation explaining how it would come out with a straight face.  I wish I had a picture of his face.  His eyes were as big as saucers.  At least he swallowed a soft piece that was no more than 1/2 inch long.

When I asked him how and why this happened, he told me he was using a piece's of J's Camelback tubing and was trying to blow the piece out.  Well, that didn't work the way he planned.

I know you are happy there are no pictures for this one.  Wish Cooper luck the next day or so.

Growing up before you know it

It was a normal Saturday afternoon. I was doing laundry.  J was doing some random thing.  Cooper was moving from activity to activity.  He has a digital camera that he got a for Christmas a couple of years ago.  It is one of those kid's versions that has games, and he just figured this out.

In between loads of laundry, I noticed that he had gone in his room and closed the door.  When I went in, he was laying on his stomach and playing one of the games.  He looked at me so sweetly and said, "Mommy, I just need some space."

What???  What three year old says that?  Is he going on thirteen already?  I did let him have his space, but with the door open.

Spelling lessons

Cooper was so excited to be able to match the letters for the words in this set.  He is able to identify several letters without any prompting from us, and he can tell the difference between most letters and numbers.  In daycare, they are already working on adding and subtracting with their fingers.

If he keeps this up, J won't be able to help him with his homework by the time he reaches kindergarten.

Where has Humpty gone?

On the way to school this morning, Cooper looked at one of the buildings that has a retaining wall at the street level.

He said, "Eh, there's Humpty Dumpty's wall."

I replied, "It is?"

Cooper, "Where's Humpty Dumpty?"

"I don't know. Where do you think he is?"

Cooper, "Maybe home.  I miss Humpty Dumpty."

Where does he get this stuff?

At least he has an active, if not quirky imagination.

It's Never Dull

Cooper has been in the habit of reading in his bed at night with his dinosaur flashlight.  So I kept hearing the roaring of the flashlight well past 9 pm, but didn't think anything about it.

J went in to check on him before bed.  He came in our room and said "I'm going to need your help."  Cooper had taken a box of Q-tips and his overnight bag with shampoo, lotion, etc out of his chest and had them in bed with him.  Luckily, he didn't open any of the containers ... this time.  Q-tips were everywhere.

Again, it's never dull.

Fishing with Poppa

Styling in my fishing attire.

Why are you holding that thing in front of me?

Well, it must be okay if Poppa is holding it.  Thanks for the fishing lesson.

Interactive Play

Several days ago I was trying to catch up with laundry, changing sheets, etc.  So I gave Cooper the task of lining up his animals around his bed.  Yes, I sent my son off to his room to do an inane task just to keep him out of my way.

This is what I found ...

And this is what I heard ...

Cold Hot Chocolate

So, Cooper had his first taste of hot chocolate several days ago, and he loved it.  I loved how he kept saying "hot chocot mama".  On Friday, before/during our latest snow storm, I picked him up early from school so I could work from home the rest of the day.  I had to stop by the bank and I drove through McDonald's on a whim.  When he heard me order "chocolate milkshake", he immediately said "hot chocot mama?"  My response was "No, cold chocolate."

I wish you could have seen his eyes when he took the first sip.  I wasn't sure if he was getting any through the straw because the milkshake was so thick, but his eyes said it all.  His response, "Cooold chocat mama." I think he would smack his lips if he knew how.

All the way home, he alternated between calling it "cold chocot" and "cold hot chocot."

I love the "firsts."

Cooper's 1st Super Bowl Party

I just realized that I never posted Cooper's first Super Bowl pictures. 

I came home from a run, and J had the spread out on the table and Cooper chowing down.  I think he thoroughly enjoyed the food ... chips, dip and ribs.  Lots of man food.  Oh, and don't worry, the Mike's was J's.

World Nutella Day

I didn't even know there was such a thing as World Nutella Day. And it just happened to coincide with Cooper's first taste of the stuff. I have never had it, but heard several other moms talking about it so I thought we would give it a try.

Do you think he liked it?

What do you do on a snow day?

Here's what we did.

We ate mangoes because everyone needs a tropical fix on such a cold day.

 

We did a little household cleaning.  (No child labor laws were broken.  All labor was completely voluntary.)  Little did he know that J was taking down his crib while he was vacuuming.  He realized it was gone, but really didn't care.

 

Then we braved the snow ... to keep away the cabin fever.

 

AK and I were supposed to up our running yesterday, but needless to say no running group occurred.  So we snuck in a little cross-training by running Cooper up and down the street.

Then we warmed up with Cooper's first marshmallows and hot chocolate.  It was a huge hit.

 

Then he finished up the afternoon vegging on the couch.  For some reason, he wanted to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Maybe the snow was throwing him for a loop.

All the normal Saturday activities occurred for the adults ... laundry, dishes, etc.  And the day wouldn't be complete without me spending the evening working on our taxes.  Aren't snow days the best?

The words we hear

Cooper is speaking words and sentences like crazy lately ... much of which we can understand. There are still those random ones that we have no idea of what he is saying, but it keeps us guessing.

A few days ago, I was wearing my little twistie towel on my head after the shower. I went in to get Cooper dressed that morning. He patted me on the head and said "You gotta pretty hat Mama." Needless to say, it started my morning out right.

Some of his favorite sentences are "I did it" and "What happened?" We are hearing more "peez" and "thank you." He gets a kick out of saying "Bess you Mama" whenever I sneeze.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, we are hearing lots of "Cristmas tee," "Anta Claus," and "Dada put up pwetty ites."

Tonight, it wasn't a phrase or a sentence that cracked us up ... just one word. Unfortunately, he has inherited my skin and his eczema is really acting up. After J put him in the bath, he lubed him up with all the appropriate creams and lotions. One of the worst spots was his bottom, which J put Boudreaux's on, and then put him to bed. Several minutes later, he started crying. When I went in his room, he was standing there with his pants in one hand and his diaper in the other. He was crying the word "Butt." I guess his poor little bottom was hurting him so bad that he just couldn't stand it. We helped him out and he drifted right off to sleep.

J and I are happy that he is able to use his words to tell us what he needs or wants, and especially when he is able to vocalize his excitement.

What word, phrase or sentence from a loved one brings the best smile to your face?

Cooper's Name

Cooper can finally say his name. Instead of Pooper, he now says "Cooper".

Hurray for the big guy.

Cooper's Vocabulary

I am trying to keep track of all the words Cooper is saying ... or trying to say. I thought you might be impressed ... or maybe just amused.

Body Parts
Arm
Cheeks
Chin
Ear
Eyes
Hair
Leg
Mouth
Nose

Clothing

Bib

Diaper - time for them to go if he can say it.

Hat

Pants

Pocket

Shoe

Sock

Animals & Sounds

Bee

Bird

Cat - Eow

Chimpanzee - Ooh, ooh, ooh

Dog - Oof

Duck-quack

Elephant

Frog

Giraffe

Lion - Rarr

Monkey

Mouse

Snake - Sss

Tiger - Rarr

Turtle

Fish

Names

A K - Aunt Kristen

Ben

Dada

Erica

George - Curious

Georgia

Mama

Myrtle

Nana

Nanna - Dana

Nate Nate - Nathan

Papa

Pooper - Cooper

Poppa

Outside

House

Rock

Tree

Water

Inside

Balloon

Book

Broom

Bubble

Cup

House

Nite-nite (Blanket)

Paci

Pen

Spoon

Vacuum

Baby

Food & Drink

Apple

Banana

Cheese

Cracker

Ice

Juice

Milk

Nack - Snack

Hot Dog

Transportation

Bike

Boot - Boat

Car

Plane

Truck

Choo-choo

Phrases & Actions

All done

All gone

Bye

Clap

Hi

No

Uh-oh

Ben's at work.

Colors

Blue

Green

Purple

Wellow - Yellow

Wed - Red

I am sure that I have missed many words, so more to follow as I can catch them.

First corn on the cob

I cut some off the cob for him, but he was determined to eat mine. I have to say it was some of the best I have had. I grilled it with a lime tequila marinade. No butter required.

I highly recommend it, and I think you can see that Cooper agrees.

One Weekend at a Time

Well, the weekend started out interesting. I had gone out to run an errand while J kept an eye on Cooper. They were playing on the bed and J was tickling Cooper. The next thing he knew, a pea flew out of Cooper's nose. Glad to know we had the menu from school so we could confirm that the pea was from the same day's lunch.

Cooper is doing so many fun things now. I think he said his first phrase last night. We were playing patty cake, and he broke out with this all by himself ... "Roll 'em over!" with the correct hand motions.

I didn't have my camera for this one because he was in the tub. He figured out how to get on his belly and kick his feet. Boy, that kid can splash.

Yes, he is my child. He is cleaning his feet with a baby wipe.



Just kicking back on a Sunday afternoon.



Such a big guy. He loves sitting at his table ... which he picks and moves to the preferred spot of the day.

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.

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!!