Sick Day

We are having a sick day week.  Seriously, this is the flu that never ended.

This week we have done a little of this,

A little of this,

and a little of this.

In other words, we have laid on the couch, watched Cars movie about 60 times, and done a little playing.  Just enough playing that I am not to worried about him.  This kid bounces back quickly.  Has a quick puke and then back to playing.  Well, for the most part.  The puking is generally followed by up to an hour of laying around and cuddling (love) before he bounces back and plays like nothing ever happened.

It reminds me of the first time Grady had the flu.  It was a bad one.  He was 9 months and woke up in the middle of the night throwing up so hard that bile was coming out.  I called health link and they advised us to take him to the emergency room.  The flu lasted 5 days and he puked every time he ate something.  I don't regret taking him in that day.  I learned so much about what to do when your child has the flu and neither child has been sick like that again, until this week.

I actually called the doctor's office yesterday to try and get Cooper in today as he was quite lethargic through part of the afternoon yesterday.  He was barely eating and not keeping much of the fluids down.  After dealing with a less than pleasant lady who told me that they had no room for my one year old with the flu for 4 days and to call back tomorrow, I wasn't sure we were going to get in.  I asked her if she could put me on a cancellation list and ask the doctor in the morning and she very rudely told me that was not the procedure.  By this morning Cooper had held down a few sippies of watered down milk and was back to his partly regular self.  So I didn't call today.

Here is my vent about the doctor.  Why do you have a family doctor if you can't get in to see them when you really need them.  Do they only want to see the kids once a year for their well visits?  I was so frustrated.  Then this morning the doctors office called and said they were calling because I had called the day before about my son.  I thanked her for calling because I was quite worried yesterday and talked to a very pleasant lady about when I should take him in (Fever, lethargic, dehydration).  We decided to wait it out.  This whole time I thought I was talking to a different lady.  Turns out is the was the same unpleasant one from the day before.  Why didn't she handle the situation differently the day before when I was panicking and stressed?  Ok, there you have it, my vent of the day.

Back to Cooper.

If you would have asked my last week if Cooper had a blankie, I would have said no.  Ask me this week and I would have responded - heck yeah!!!!  Cooper has been hugging his sleep sacks all week.  He has been sleeping in a sleep sack since about 4 months and will be for hopefully another year.  Most people think this is crazy but it works well for us.  For the most part, if we lay the sleep sack down and open it, Cooper will walk up to it and sit down, ready to be zipped in.  This week proved that the kid loves it.  He would see it in the laundry pile (since I have been doing laundry like a crazy person) point at it and demand to have it in his arms.  He has been attached to his sleep sacks for  good portion of the week.  See pictures above.

Watching Cars movie wearing his 5th shirt of the day.  No point in putting pants on when you have to change his diaper every 10 minutes.

Today, i am home from work as Cooper is not 'daycare ready'.  We are hoping that he can make it through the day without any 'episodes'.  So far so good.  He wanted to go outside so we dragged out the stroller and walked around the block 5 times.  He happily sat there and took in the fresh morning air.  As did I. 

Today is a Nana Day for Grady so it is just Coop and I doing some cuddling, watching cars movie (as I type this), and trying to survive our 5th day of the flu.

Secretly, I plan to exercise, shower, load the van with all the baby goods for the sale tomorrow, clean the kitchen, pick up the toys, upload pictures from our camera, and do another load of laundry while Cooper sleeps.  I'll be happy if I just get the exercise and shower in. anything else is a bonus.

Salmon

Grady is a seafood lover so far...

I don't eat Seafood.  Not a new thing, just never acquired a taste for it.

Why is it that our son, the one who won't eat anything, loves salmon.  We can't get him to put fruits or vegetables in his mouth to even try, but when you tell him that salmon is for dinner and you can't get it into his mouth fast enough.

James bought some big shrimp from M&M meat the other day and threw 2 on to try them out.  He made an extra one just in case the boys liked it.  Grady started with a little bite and then shoved the whole thing in. Good thing James made two!

I like to look at this whole thing with a positive spin... maybe James will do more cooking since him and the boys seem to like seafood.  I don't eat seafood - so I don't cook it!

My boys today



Not sure if you can tell from this picture that Grady is sleeping.  The question of the week is whether or not Grady will catch the flu that Cooper did.  He isn't eating much and is having a rare afternoon nap.  Cooper napped twice today and kept the little food that he ate down.  We are supposed to be going to the zoo tomorrow with Grady's preschool class and  I we are so excited.  Only time will tell if we actually make it.  Please keep your fingers crossed for us...

Lesson I learned today.

When your child pukes several times that morning and after doing so they appear to be hungry,  do not feed them rasperries and strawberries.  Even if said 1 year old child thinks that they are super hungry and beg to go into the chair for breakfast.  Do not, I repeat, do not give them red berries. It is inevitable that child will throw up again and the vomit will be red.  Stick with crackers and clear fluids.

Purging

I am not a pack rat.  At all.  I hate clutter.  Although being in my house you would not know it as we have 'clutters' of toys everywhere.  So much so that I just can't keep them tucked away unnoticed, they sit in the family room, kitchen, basement, bedrooms, and the list goes on and on and on.

James is a huge pack rat.  He gets that from his Dad.  James likes to keep everything as he may need it someday in 10 years.  I often go through his closet and pull out clothes that a) he hasn't worn in ages or b) are ugly.  This one time I pulled out the ugliest collared Mondetta shirt.  Who wears a Mondetta shirt in 2005? My husband apparently.  So I told him that he could keep it if he wore it to work the next day.  He came from work the next day and told me we could get rid of it.  I guess his co-workers agreed with me and not him!  I will never forget that!

As everyone knows, when you have kids you accumulate lots of junk toys.  Things that your kids haven't played with in months and the moment you say you are going to sell it they scream that it is their favorite.  Looking around my house, I knew it was time to start getting rid of some of the baby stuff.  And that I did.

The above photo shows all the toys, books, and misc items I have been accumulating over the past several months.

The next photo shows bags and bags of clothes that Cooper has outgrown.  all the bags are size 18 months and smaller.  I think there were at least 6 bags in total.

It feels so good knowing that next weekend I will drop all this junk stuff off at the sale and walk away from it knowing that next to none of it will be returning.  Anything that doesn't sell will be making a trip to the goodwill donation drop box.

Getting ready for the sale was much more work than I expected it to be.  First I had to gather it, then tag and hang it, then sort it.  It sounds easy enough but when you only have an hour or two a night to yourself, it isn't exactly what I like to do with my free time.  I much prefer to watch TV and have a glass of wine.   

I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that it is done.  It may still be in the spare room until Friday, but I don't have to see it again.  So as a reward, I poured a glass of wine and turned on Dancing with the Stars.  I already know who won but I like watching it anyway.  

And as a second reward, I plan to spend every penny of my earnings shopping for myself.  Who am I kidding, I have already spent it :)

Mornings

6:00 – the alarm goes off and I jump out of bed. Seriously. There is no using snooze on my side of the bed. James rolls over and tries to pretend he didn’t hear it.


I look at the monitor to see if Cooper is up. He is rolling around. He wakes up right at 6am like clockwork. I tell James Cooper is up and he ignores me.

6:01 – I brush my teeth and hop in the shower.

6:10 – I am out of shower and 50% of the time James is still in bed watching the monitor hoping Cooper will go back to sleep.

6:11 – I kick James out of bed and tell him to get Cooper before he wakes Grady.

6:25 – I am done getting ready and come downstairs to relieve James to go up and shower.

6:26 – I cuddle on the couch with Cooper while he watches Cars and I check my email and blogs

6:40 – I start getting Cooper dressed for the day. He fights me every second.

6:45 – Either I hear Grady stomping down the stairs or I go up to get him. Lately he has been getting up on his own which is soooo much better than waking him up.

6:55 – I get Grady in his clothes. Most days he wants to wear a specific lightening McQueen shirt that I didn’t have out and ready for him so he goes back up to change shirts.

7:00 – Both boys are in their chairs with breakfast on the table, James included.

7:05 – I try to sneak out before the young one realizes I am gone. If he sees me leave he cries.

The mornings around our house are less than ideal. They are busy, stressful, and often include items that aren’t budgeted for in my list. The boys often decide mornings are a good time to poop. Thankfully, they usually wait until after I leave to do this. Cooper often wears more cereal than he eats and needs a new shirt. Sometimes Grady wears his cereal as well and he needs a new shirt. Each day has its own challenges and we get through. Often, without a smile on our face.

Another challenge is getting the kids to the day home. Grady does not like going. I don’t think it is that he doesn’t have fun there, I think it is the amount of time he spends there in a day. When I pick him up he seems happy, tells me he has had a good day, and happily tells 'A' good bye. But every single morning without fail, he whines that he doesn’t want to go.

School, on the other hand, he loves. He can’t wait to get there. He often talks about his school friends and asks when the next school day is with excitement. That tells me that it isn’t the separation part that is causing him problems. School is 2.25 hours and daycare is 9 hours. That is a huge difference.

James and I have often debated who has the harder job, him or I. Although he has to drop them off every morning and see the tears that often result… I leave my job at 4pm sharp every day. I rush my little heart out trying to pick them up as quickly as possible as I know that it is a long day to be away from home. The kids are happy to see me and are generally quiet for the whole ride home. The TV helps. Currently the movie of choice is the incredible which makes little Cooper giggle like crazy and it turns makes me smile.

Then we get home and they turn on me.

Last night, they cried for the first 20 minutes we were home. Grady cried because I bought his little friend from school a set of lightening mcqueen cars for his birthday that he wanted to keep. Cooper cried because he wanted to carried around and be touching me at all times. There is only so much I can do with 30 pounds attached to me. Supper does not make itself. I finally sat on the couch with 2 crying kids. I put a movie in for cooper and I told Grady that if he kept the toy he couldn’t go to the party. This seemed to do the trick long enough for me to get supper in the oven.

For the time being, this is our life. Our daily routine. I count down the days until the weekend where we can get up and stay in our PJs longer than 10 minutes and not rush out the door. I wish I could say that it is getting easier dragging the 2 kids out the door, but it isn’t. We hope to be making some changes to this routine soon, but in the meantime we wait and make the best of the situation.

Today was a pretty good morning overall. Although I haven’t heard how James’ morning was after I left… sometimes I prefer not to know!

My little boy is growing up

Grady got invited to a birthday party by a kid from school.  He was so proud of his invite when he showed it to me when I picked him up from Nana's.  He can't wait to get to the party.  His first party where the parent is NOT one of my friends.....   Maybe he'll even go by himself...  He has his own little friends... He is growing up so fast!

A Few Randoms....

Overall, I had a great mother's day. There were some lows. For example,  For Mother's Day, Cooper gave me the biggest tantrum I have ever seen from an 18-month old.  He literally threw himself on the ground kicking and screaming.  We couldn't pin point what the problem was.  We had just gotten home fro groceries and I was on the floor unloading.  He would throw himself at me and just flail his arms and legs around.  Then retract and do the same on the floor.  We thought he wanted milk so we gave him a sippy cup which he either threw across the room or spilled all over me.  It earned him a time out in the crib.  I tried to wait out his crying but it just kept going. I went in and he did the same thing so I put him back in the crib.  Seriously Cooper... on Mother's Day?

He eventually came out of it and we went to the park but that topped any of Grady's early tantrums.  I don't think my higher maintenance spirited child ever ended up in the crib on a time out!

Another Mother's Day surprise.

Grady fell asleep on the couch watching TV.  I was at a pedicure and I got a text from James at home with the following picture.  I don't think he has ever done that!

Today I took Grady to the dentist.  It was not his first visit but by far the worst trip.  We started going when he was just about 2 and have been going every 6 months since.  Every time we go, Grady refused to sit in the chair and the Dentist and I hold him while he quickly examines his teeth.  

The pediatric dentist we have is amazing. I can't say enough good things about him.  Even the office is phenominal.  This picture was taken in the waiting room at the Dentist.

The Thomas train set is what gets Grady to the dentist but it also led to much crying today. Maybe there is such thing as too good.

When Grady's name got called it went form good to utter disaster in a few seconds.  I got Cooper first and put him in the stroller. Well Cooper was devestated that he couldn't play with the trains and is crying like I had done something horrible other than just removing him from the play room.   I take Grady out of the play area and he immediately starts screaming that he doesn't want to go to the dentist.  Too bad buddy, you are already there.   At this point the helper is pushing my stroller with screaming Cooper towards the dentist chair.  I follow suit holding Grady in my arms and big tears coming down his face.  We could be heard from a mile away.

At this point, everyone is staring and we just keep strolling.  The dentist welcomed us with a smile.  he obvioulsy remembers us from last time :)

The good news is that Grady's teeth are great despite his less then perfect brushing and the bad news is that both kids screamed the entire visit.  At one point I had both kids sitting on me while I sat on the dentist chair glued to me crying their little hearts out.  

It was quite the experience. Note to self.  Leave Cooper at home next time.  Could have reduced the screaming and tears by 50%.

After our traumatic trip to the dentist we went for swimming lessons. Not sure if I mentioned that we are doing swimming on my day off.  Grady is in his first set of unparented lessons and Cooper is in mommy and me swim.  Both kids love the water and get better and better each week.  Not really with the swimming but with the process itself.  Grady is more willing to leave me at the start of each lessons and Cooper has even dipped his head in the water.  Willingly.  

It makes for a busy day, but moments like below are priceless.

The kids love the echo in thechange rooms.  They literally scream the whole time we are in there. They scream at each other and laugh there little faces off.  As much as it hurts my ears, it is pretty easy on the eyes :)

We ended today with a play date.  The big boys ran around the yard and played with the ladybugs in the grass.

Have I mentioned how much I like my days off?

Mother's Day

Today I am thankful to be a Mom. 

I love my littlest boy that only wants to be held by me.  His giggles make my heart melt.

Cooper

I am thankful for my oldest boy that made me Mom almost 4 years ago.  He give the best hugs and kisses.



Grady

I am thankful for my Mom. She is exactly the kind of parent I hope to be.

My gosh we look alike in this picture

Today I am celebrating being a Mom... Happy Mother's Day!

Why didn't we do this sooner?

Friday, James and I had a lunch date.


It all started a few weeks back when I found some glasses that I loved while browsing the mall at lunch. Since I hadn’t had an eye exam since before Cooper was born, I figured that I should do that. Good thing I did as it changed slightly. Good reason to get new glasses. As if I needed one…. With the eye exam checked off the list it was time to go back to buy the glasses. I wanted a second opinion so I made an appointment via outlook with my wonderful husband to help me make the decision.

That brings us to Friday.

James and I met at the glasses store and made some very important decisions. Less than 30 minutes (and 2 pairs of glasses) later and we were headed out for lunch. I was expecting a food court lunch when James suggested this cute little asian place that I had never been. I didn’t even know it existed.

A little background… James and I are in a rut right now. We don’t have any ‘alone’ time or date nights. By the time we get the kids to get at night all we want to do is veg, not leave the house. We have tried waiting until after the kids have gone to bed and ordering in and drinking wine, but the kids are going to bed later and later these days so that isn’t working either. We are desparately seeking sometime to ourselves to have adult conversation and talk about things that are hard to discuss when you have 2 boys fighting over a lightning mcqueen car. Or things you don't feel like talking about starting at 9pm.

So we sat down at a corner table in a cute little restaurant and ate lunch. I loved my chicken curry. The only thing my lunch was missing was wine. I nice glass of red wine. I digress. We had an entire hour with no interruptions to discuss adult things and catch up on what has been going on in each others lives. We talked about our plans for the weekend and started planning our next vacation. We even talked about schools for Grady and where we could see sending him. We covered all that in an hour.

I walked away from lunch feeling refreshed and reconnected. My biggest question is why didn’t we think of this sooner?

A Family Gathering

This weekend, the four of us piled in the van and headed to my brother's to meet his newest addition Tessa!  We had been looking forward to the visit for a few weeks now, the drive... not so much.

We drove the first 2 hours and all seemed well..... it was raining and cold and we weren't sure that we were going to be able to stop at the park like we promised Grady earlier in the trip.  We arrived at the park and it as only sprinkling.  We made a go of it.  James ran for cover under the play equipment and I helped cooper up the stairs countless time.  The boys could have cared less that it was raining!  We had to drag them off the playground after about 30 minutes!

I remembered from last year that eating on the go was a better idea than stopping so we headed to the A&W attached to the gas station.  We got gas, burgers, and fries.  I changed the boys into their PJs as it was now after 6pm.

Leave me alone Mom.. I'm watching TV!

When can we watch my movie?

Grady was sleeping my 8 and Cooper decided he would take the opportunity to watch his show that Grady doesn't like.  Tractor Tom.  This kid just loves it. He actually squeals with delight with the show comes on and stays quiet the whole time. If only Grady would watch it...

I took the kids to the library before we left to get some new books and movies for the rids.  Grady picked out How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  At first I was against it and thought it was silly to watch that cartoon in May.  Then I thought, if he is happy, I am happy.  Besides, who doesn't like Christmas movies.  We are watching it again at home as I type this!

Cooper fell asleep about 9:30 and the rest of the trip was quiet. Almost like date night alone in the front seat in a quiet car!  The trip was uneventful except for the last 10 minutes when we missed a turn and James (in typical ma fashion) got all worked up because we were delayed by all of 5 minutes.  Men!

We were very happy with the uneventful trip there. We weren't so lucky on the way home :(

When we arrived, it was shortly after 10 and we got to meet my newest niece.  

She smells great!

It was interesting that Cooper got very jealous if James or I held her.  One time he came up to me when I was holding her and reached up with his little arms and gently hit her.  He would kick up a stink long enough for me to put the baby down and then he would go back to play.

Grady survived the transfer and continued to sleep with out missing a beat. Cooper woke up to play with Boomer the dog and finally got into bed about 11pm. I secretly hoped for a sleep in day and they kids did not disappoint.  Cooper was up at 6:30 and Grady followed suit at 7:30.  Good start to the mini break!

I slipped out for lunch with friends which was such a nice way to spend the lunch hour.  Cooper had to nap so couldn't come but when I asked Grady if he wanted to come he told me he wanted to stay with Grandma.  Score.  Lunch all by myself!  Sara's son Aiden had just as many 'McQueen' Cars as Grady and many that grady didn't have.  When I told Grady about the cars he asked to go back to Aiden's all weekend!

I hurried back after lunch for the afternoon's activities.  The pool.  We were celebrating Madison's 7th birthday and she wanted to go swimming. It was during Cooper's nap time so James stayed behind and I took Grady.  It was a hit.  He went down the little slide and played with Madi on the floating mats.  He only got dunked once and took it really well. I did not bring my camera to the pool but did take a picture of this bathing beauty before we left.

After swimming, we headed home for the birthday party.  James, Kolby, and I headed out to grab beer and wine for the adults and missed dinner.  My brother served dinner while we were gone.  To his defence he thought we were going to the off sale down the street and we headed to the liquor store.  How were we to know we were going to have to park so far form the store and have the slowest cashier in history at Safeway while buying the buns and Clam?  Thankfully they waited for us to serve the cake!

This is what we found when we got back.



Party central! Apparently Cooper wanted nothing to do with his hat.  He didn't like them at his party so I am not surprised he wanted nothing to do with the hat!

The cake from Co-op was so yummy.  And so was the score ice cream on the side. My belly hurt from so much cake.  This was Grady face as MAdison blew out her candles.... someone is ready for his own birthday - that is for sure!  

Some one else enjoyed his cake to the fullest!

Note that Cooper is in his pajamas at supper.  He wore his PJs all day.  He didn't leave the house that day so he didn't get dressed.  We did put him in new PJs for bedtime :)

After supper uncle James suggested puddle jumping.  He lives in a brand new area and there is lots of dirt.  Throw in a lot of rain and you get lots of muddy puddles.  The kids ran off with my brothers and  I tried to give Kolby a piggy back ride.  She only had flip flops and the mud was oozing over the sides there was so much.  

See the big puddle?

I look up when I hear a splash. Grady is sitting in mud puddle. I hadn't even arrived yet given I had Kolby on my back. I am surprised we heard him over our giggling! I put her down and got Grady who immediately started crying. He was wet right down to his underwear!

These 2 were besties for the weekend. I just love how Grady interacts with Madison. They slept in the same room with G&G all weekend. Madi helped Grady get dressed if he needed it, she gave him piggy backs and the they even shared the stroller on the way to the park. It is just so sweet to see the 2 of them together. There are 3 years between them and the older they get the better they play together. I can only hope that Cooper, Taiya, and Tessa get along just as good in the years to come!

 



Cousins

My Dad and family came over for Madi's party (which I sadly have no pictures of) which resulted in a later bed time for both kids. I think they went to bed close to 9 which is unheard of at our house. We had a busy day ahead and only hoped that they would sleep in a little. Grady was with G&G upstairs and Coop was with James and I in the basement. Cooper had a rough hour between 430 and 530 but I finally got him back down. A while later I woke up to James poking me asking if the phone said the right time.... 8:24. I looked at him and asked him how I was supposed to know.

He jumped out of bed - he was late for his 8:00 breakfast meeting. Cooper slept until 830 and Grady until 8. My brother is now convinced we are lying about our early mornings as the kids slept until just about 7 all 3 mornings! I told him we are going to have to move there!

Cooper seriously couldn't get enough of Boomer.  Maybe there will be a dog in our future. The very distant future, but the future just the same.  This kid loves animals!

The kids kept both Grandma and Grandpa busy most of the weekend.  We were all exhausted when each day ended.

 We were goofing around and realized that all the 'girls' were sitting on the floor and took the opportunity to snap a photo.  At least Taiya is fully covered in this photo. I took a slough of pictures of my 3 nieces only to notice after that Taiya was not PG-13 in any of the photos.

Sunday, we packed up and headed to Carmen's for a play and some crepes whipped up by Deena.  Yummmmm.  It was so refreshing.  After a weekend of go go go I sat in the kitchen with my best friends and chatted.  Yes there were close to 10 kids running around but that didn't matter.  That is the new norm.  The visits come with rambunctious boys (and a few girls) that jump on couches and have pillow fights.  If they are happy, we are happy.

We were happy!

We finally hit the road home after a great visit.  The ride home did not go as smoothly.  It was rainy and cold meaning we spent more time in the van and less time stopping to play.  I consumed way too much water at Carmen's and had to bolt into Dairy Queen to pee seconds after the van stopped.  I have never in my adult life had to pee that bad.  I even told James that I may have to pull over.  What grown adult has to pee on the side of the road?  Me, I guess.

So I treated my self with a confetti cake blizzard for lunch.  Yup, that is me, the healthy one!  I highly recommend. 

We managed to stop in Hanna again to play.  The boys needed it after 4 hours almost straight in the car.  There was lots of fighting over movies, thirst, hunger, and boredom in the backseat.  I much preferred the night time drive on the way there. Sleeping kids are much better than fighting kids.

All in all, it was a jam packed fun filled weekend.  The kind of weekends memories are made of.  I am sure we will be talking about how much cooper loved boomer and how Grady fell in a mud puddle for years to come.  Not to mention, I don't think my brother will ever let me forget how well my kids slept at his house!

Here's to good memories!

An Early Mother's Day Surprise

Today, James got off early and picked the boys up from Daycare.  We happened to pull into the drive way at the exact same time.  I went over to car door to let Grady out and I had barely opened the door and he was yelling Happy Mother's Day with the biggest grin on his face. 

He had school today and they made Mother's Day presents.  He reached over and gave me the card shown above.  I was so happy.  It made my day.  My week.  Maybe even my month.  He was so proud. Once I got him out of the seat he reached into the front to get me my candle holder.  The smile on his face was so big.

Just when you think you are about to explode from a to do list to long, lack of sleep, and frustration, your kids do something that revives you and reminds you why you wanted to be a parent in the first place.

It doesn't matter that he was a few days early, he meant it from the bottom of his heart.  

Thank you for making my day a little brighter Grady!

Cooper - 18 months

Dear Cooper,

It has been 6 whole months since we gave an update on how much you are growing and changing so I thought it was time to change that.  Today at 18 months,

You walk and run like crazy.  I think you are mostly trying to keep up from your brother who is constantly running away from you.

You wear a size 5 diaper during the day and a size 6 nite time diaper at night.

You are bottle free!  You no longer have a bottle before bed.  Mommy misses that cuddle time but you are now letting me rock you if you happen to wake up during the night or if you are having a hard time falling asleep.  I love cuddles from you!

You are consistently sleeping through the night but we are constantly struggling with your early wakings.  It is almost always before 6.  The past few days have been better.  I am literally knocking on wood.  Disclaimer:  We went to my brother's this past weekend and Cooper slept until 7 every day.  He thinks I am lying about Cooper's early waking, but I swear I am not!  Post to follow.

You are a solid napper.  You always sleep at least 2 hours.  I would happily give up those long naps for just a little longer sleep in the morning.

You still sleep in your sleep sack. 

You cry every time we stop the car because you want to keep watching TV.  Every time.

You have started being very interested in TV. You have your favorite shows and Grady has his.   Right now, yours are Tractor Tom, Umizoomi, and Dora.  You also like Four Squares but Grady won't put up with that show for very long....

You love Cars almost as much as your brother.  While Grady prefers Lightning McQueen, you are crushing on Mator.  You point to all the cars you recognize on TV, in books, and on clothing.

You do pretty good at daycare drop offs.  Or so I've been told by Daddy.  Grady still doesn't like going, but you don't seem to mind it as much.

You have no fear at the park. You want to do whatever Grady does.  One time I was helping Grady down a slide and I turned around in time to grab your ankle as you tried to do down the slide face first!  You are a quick one!

You started swimming lessons last month and I thought you were going to love them... instead you cling to me like you are terrified.  You are great in the water before and after lessons but during you are stuck to me like white on rice.

We took a music class this winter and you loved it.  You would bop around to the music and try to sing a bit. You would anticipate some of the actions and participate in class.  Well when you weren't running around with all the other little boys in the class. 

You can say a few words.  Mama, Dada, uh-oh, bye, yeah. The rest are pretty wishy washy and even some on the list I am not sure of.  Grady was a late talker and I am expecting the same from my littlest man.  When you have an older brother who answers all the questions, why would you need to talk?

I love it when you blow kisses and give high fives.  If I ask for a kiss you put your face to my lips.  If I ask for a hug you wrap your little arms around me. Best. Feeling. Ever!  Best of all, you never refuse.  No matter how many times I ask, you always provide...

You understand so much.  You can follow simple directions like getting your shoes, or sit down.  I love how you run for your shoes when you want to go out to play!

You are still a better eater than Grady but you aren't as easy to feed as you used to be... your current favorite foods are eggs, cereal, asparagus, grapes, blueberries, and soup.  Breakfast if your worst meal of the day.  You aren't an early morning eater like your brother so you often choose to have nothing before heading to daycare....

You only eat with utensils.  You are pretty good with them for your age I think.

You play very well by yourself.  You push your cars and trucks around making car noises.  You read your books. You play with trains. You are a happy young man when your brother isn't around stealing your toys!

You just started coloring where you don't try to eat the markers.  Sometimes you try but for the most part you keep the marker on the paper.

You can crawl up on the kitchen chairs and scare the crap out of me.  You haven't fallen yet but your first fall could be right around the corner....

You love animals.  Especially dogs.  You point at one ad squeal every time you see one.

At 18 months you are a pleasure to be around.  You are always trying to keep up with the big kids and love to have other kids around.  I love your cuddles and your giggles.  I love  watching you play with your brother and trying to be just like him.  I love you because you are you.  You will always be my little baby!

Happy half birthday Cooper!!

The view from outside our window

We are most certainly a boy house.  There are cars in our yard, in our windows and all over our house.   The boys often play behind our couch and run the cars up and down the window sill.  Most times they are only in a diaper or underwear. I often wonder what the neighbours think....

I've had to remove them, well I should say Cooper, for taking the vent covers off and dropping cars down there.  That was a good reminde that we need our furnce cleaned relatively soon.  I remember the guy telling me last time he came that an adults only home needs get the furnace cleaned once every 5 years and with kids you have to bring it down to 2 years.  They must find some interesting things down the vents of houses with kids.  In our house... Cars!

Spring has sprung

Or it had.... before we went back to this crap weather.

And no - we did not do it ourselves....