Gorilla Mountain

Ok, so I have not blogged forever. Then I couldn’t update my blog since I was so far behind, it seemed insurmountable. Then I finally decided that I will just start now and if I have a chance to update the summer and fall, I will and if not-oh well.

So Fall has been full of fun. Cooper is getting so big, says all sorts of funny things and is a total crack up. He has this play set (Gorilla Mountain) that he requires everyone to play with him daily for a minimum of three hours. His people all have fun names-Sharky, Patch and Kip and they love to FIGHT. I always ask why they can’t play nice, but apparently that is not possible. He has another play set at Nana’s house and there his big burly men are named Cassie and Shawna in honor of the directors of his school.

Here is Cooper playing Gorilla Mountain with his cousin Holden.

Thanksgiving 2010

We have had a fun time at Nana's house for Thanksgiving and Cooper has forsaken me completely for his favorite person Nana (aka Daphne to his Scooby-Doo). She let him sled all the way down the hill and she said he squealed like a little girl. I missed it since I was napping. I have been pretty out of it for a few days with a horrible cold and killer sore throat. I hate to be sick on the holidays.

Scooby-Doo Where are You?

Cooper decided he wanted to be Scooby-Doo for Halloween. This was after an overnight trip to Nana’s house (his first!) when I had to go to St. Anthony for work. Apparently he watched a lot of Scooby-Doo and has a new fascination for him.

We had so many activities planned for Halloween. The Thursday before Halloween, Cooper picked out a pirate pattern for his pumpkin and I spent the next three and a half hours carving it for him while he kept trying to help and grab my sharp knives. He tried to help by cleaning out the pumpkin, but it grossed him out too much. For someone who likes to touch his own poo, the kid is meticulous about having his hands clean (poo excluded!).

We went to my work and trick-or-treated on Friday and then Saturday we did the Boo at the Zoo (us and 5,000 of our closest friends) and Brandon and I dressed up as Shaggy and Velma to accessorize Cooper. Later we went to the Philharmonster concert put on by the Boise Philharmonic. It was fun, but Cooper got scared from the scary music and we had to leave early. He was the only kid out of a 100 to freak out over the music, but I think it is a sign of his immense intelligence that he recognized it as scary music.

Cooper also got a Happy Meal in between all of our Saturday Halloween events and when I ask him later what the highlight of his day was, the Happy Meal was it. I guess we don’t really have to try that hard to entertain him.

Nana came up on Halloween and by then we were all too wore out to go trick-or-treating, so we handed out candy instead. Cooper dressed up as a dragon and roared at all the kids that came to visit. Then he would throw himself on the floor and cry when they left (he wanted them all to stay and play).

My hunka hunka boys
Velma and Scooby and the pretty fall colors
The Philharmonsters play room before the concert
And I just had to throw this in to see how much Cooper has grown from last year!

Pumpkin Patch

Cooper's first pony ride!
~Cooper's big chair~
The Corn Box was a big hit!
My sweet baby boy!
Here is another fun fall activity, we went to the Farmstead pumpkin patch and Cooper had a blast. We had to go super early to avoid the crowds, but it was worth it.

Cooper Drives A TOO TOO TAIN

Here is the train video. Cooper loves to watch himself driving the train:

Hagerman Fossil Days!

These were also over Memorial Weekend (we were kinda busy, or just camera happy. I don't know which). Here is Cooper's first carousel ride, he loved it but he had to keep switching rides to try them all out.

Cooper LOVED the train ride. We were a little nervous he would freak out, but he loved it.

Here he is signing 'More, More!!' as soon as it stopped.

Alligators?! Ummm, maybe.

We went to Miracle Hot Springs to see the alligators over Memorial Weekend. They really weren't very exciting. There is two in the picture if you can see them (kind of like Where's Waldo). I am not sure if Cooper saw them at all, but he loves to talk about the monkeys sitting in the tree and the alligator that came a long and.... (cue Cooper screeching SNAP! and snapping his arms as an alligator jaw.)

This weekend we have been so bored becasue it won't stop RAINING! Where is our summer? Cooper says the funniest things though. Yesterday we were doing our letter flash cards and we got to the C one that has a Cat on it and I asked, "What does a cat start with?" Cooper gave me a funny look and said, "A kitten." Well duh....

Then we were driving and when we went past a McDonalds Cooper asked me, "What's that?" When I told him, he started to sign, "E-I-E-I-O!"

Memorial Day and ROCKS!

Cooper got to go to Almo and he helped decorate graves. I use 'help' loosely unless by helping you mean stealing flowers, throwing rocks (sometimes off graves), and pile-driving Morgan's new puppy. If that is helpful, then yes, Cooper helped a ton:)

Myrna, Bob and Gloria. We had a mini-fam reunion at the cemetery. It was fun to see everyone and Tony Silva was great to try and catch Cooper a lizard (no luck, those speedy little devils).

Here is me and my little terror. I don't know how he held still this long for a picture. Since he has been in the sun a couple of days his hair is super light. I think I will have a tough time ever keeping him in this summer (maybe my house will stay cleaner??)

After the cemetery we picnicked at the City of Rocks. Cooper loved the BIG, BIG, BIG ROCKS and had so much fun feeding his sandwich to the chipmunks (aka 'Munks!') and running all over the rocks. No fear that kid. Not like his ole' ma.

I remember when I was a kid and Gloria would tell us the story of the Twin Sisters and the two Indian sisters fighting over the same handsome Indian brave until they tore him limb from limb and they cried and cried until they turned themselves into stone and he turned into a tree below the rocks. I remember Mistie and I would get so sad (or maybe it was just me because I was always a wimp). My mom also liked the game (insert super scary voice here): "I'm not your mom I am a witch." And she also liked to tell us to look for the lost Indian 'Rock' whenever we saw the road signs that say: 'Watch for Rock.' I can't remember if Rock was going to get us if we were bad, but probably.

*SIGH* You really can tell kids anything... ohh, I can't wait for that!!!! It reminds me of the Great Jack Handey's Deep Thoughts (here are some of my favorite of the kid tormenting variety):

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh no," I said, "Disneyland burned down."He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.

And another of my favorites:

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is, "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is, "Probably because of something you did."

P.S. Mommy, I love your stories. And you can scare me anytime and I will love it. And you can tell me anything and I will believe it (still!) because you are my beautiful, wonderful mama.

Toni Rocks! Happy Graduation!

Tetherball Toughies

Cooper and Holden got to hang out a couple of weeks ago at his Grandma Cindy's house. Cooper was much nicer to his little cousin this time (less hitting and pushing). The talked animals and balls and played some tetherball. It was super cute.

Feeding the Giraffe

Cooper went to the zoo today with his friend Robbie. They got to feed the giraffe which freaked Cooper out just a bit. But he was still really excited about it. He has been coaxing all week to go see all the animals.

He was funny at the zoo, he had to wave to all the animals and tell them hi and bye and try to hug and kiss them. We were outside the other day and when I told him it was time to come in he had to say bye to the trees and then give them a long distance hug and kiss. Kid loves nature, what can I say.

He also knows all his animals, I got him some bathtub paint and the other day I asked him what he wanted me to draw, "A bear!" So after I drew it I asked him if he liked the bear, "It's a bison," he said. Yeah, I guess it did look more like a bison.

An oldie

So I just found this video, I think it was around last Oct/Nov. so Cooper would have aroun 14-15 months. He was so smart! And don't mind my messy house, I moved. ha ha...Now I have a new messy house.

Cold Camping

We went camping with Jamie and Ryan and Jerica and Justin last Saturday thinking that we would be ok to sleep in the Jeep. WRONGO! It was freezing cold and my teeth are still chattering. Here is how Emma, Cooper and Rylee like to camp anyway (watching Madagascar). Umm, yeah. So glad we drive up to the mountains so Coop can experience nature at its finest. And yes, that is a bottle. Cooper plans on having it until he is three. I hope you don't have a problem with that.

On another note, I know what Cooper dreams of...monkeys. He kicked around the other morning and shouted out, "Monkeys!" in his sleep. I tell you the kid likes him some monkeys. And since you are wondering, how on earth did she hear that? That is because Cooper still sleeps with us and plans to until he is at least four. Or maybe we can time that move with the bottle elimination. ha ha.

Cooper Spies his Easter Basket

Easter was Here

Cooper had such a fun Easter and his Nana and Papa came to visit. He loved this Donald Duck in a bunny suit-he screams when you pick him up by the ears.

Here is his first moment of excitement when he spied the fabulous play center Nana bought him.
And here he is exploring it.
And here is Papa looking grumpy and telling us how he will fall off his playset and get hurt and how he really shouldn't be playing outside anyway (it is way too cold he said).

Ode to Cooper at 20 Months

Your awesomeness knows no bounds. Even as you dig in my plant (and deposit dirt on my floor), or throw yourself down and spin and kick (when I tell you no, or even just try to help you do something), or even when you are really mad and take a run and bite my thigh leaving a nasty red mark that will last a week. No, you are still beyond awesome. Your laugh is infectious. My ability to recognize what you are doing before you do it (by the giggle of your laugh and the gait of your step-you will be throwing something down the stairs...soon) is uncanny. I love your ability to name animals. Not just a few. You know lions, tigers, bears, elephants, hippos, penguins, lizards, etc. etc. whales (specifically orcas, they are the best whale...), dolphins, jellyfish (thank you spongebob), toucans, parrots (yes, you know the difference), monkeys and gorillas, and of course all the regular everyday ones plus all the various sounds that they make. I love that your favorite toy is a book, and I try to keep you well supplied, even as you rip apart the pages. And ROCKS. I love it when you categorize them by size (big and little). I love that you LOVE Madagascar. Even though I, like you, can recite most of that movie by heart. I am even starting to love Dora. It makes me feel just a little smarter when I know the answers (yes, they are easy, but everyone loves to be right sometimes). I love it when you hiss like a cat (we have been practicing that practical skill) and I love it when I ask you how old you are and you say six. Even though we have talked about this (several times) and you aren't even two. I love it when you screetch 'Brandon', just like I do. Basically, I love you. You are amazing and you are my best friend. Thank you for being you little guy. You Rock.

Monkeys!

For my birthday Nana came up and we went to the zoo. Cooper loved it. He ran the whole way and loved looking at all the animals. I could really see how big he is getting when he got on the little tiger. This thing is our main growth chart.
Cooper LOVED the monkeys! We had to go back twice to see them and when I askd him days later what he liked at the zoo he kept saying, "MONKEYS!"
Cooper was so happy his Nana and Papa came up. I told him they were coming for a couple of days so he woke up asking for his Nana and Papa.
My favorite part of the whole adventure was Cooper and the fake penguins. He wasn't that impressed with the real ones. But we had to hang out with the fake ones for quite awhile, just you know, talking about whatever penguins talk about (fish maybe?)
When I told Cooper we had to leave the penguins he had to kiss all of them goodbye (and there were a lot!).
Then he had to make the loop and kiss them all goodbye one more time. It was cute except I had to wonder how many germs were touching his lips. Oh well, it definately wasn't the grossest thing that got close to his mouth that week.

Daddy's Little Helper

I haven't posted forever, but I just found this from when we were moving and Cooper and Patrick helped Brandon put the table together. Cooper was a big help until he got a little too frisky with the little wrench and started to put dents in the table.

My Little Cookie Monster

We are finally feeling settled enough to hang out and bake some cookies! This has been such a pain-I never want to move again! For the first full week we did nothing but paint (6am to 6pm everyday). Thank goodness my saint of a mother came up and painted our whole house. I was just slave driver and kept making her and Brandon paint the walls over and over (we had a little problem with our color not matching...ughhh, and we had some truly horrid colors picked out. Double ugh....) It was so sad after Cooper's Nana left, he really thought that she came with the house since she was here when we moved in so he spent days after she left wandering around shouting for Nana!

Anyway, the place is starting to feel like home and look a heck of a lot better too. And Brandon is so wonderful, he has been busy tiling and remodeling things. Thanks goodness for his killer crafty skills.

Cooper didn't want to let go of that cookie. He kept slobbering on it and I had to promise that we would give it back in just a few minutes.

This was Cooper's highlight today. He has been super crabby because his eye-teeth are coming in. Last week he also had an ear infection and screamed all night for two nights.

Cooper likes the new house. So far he has avoided serious harm, but it isn't for lack of trying. We coached him about going down the stairs on his bum (but when I wasn't looking he would go on his belly-so much faster you know). He even told Chloe, "No Coco, sit bum bum" when she tried to walk down the stairs. But alas, that was short lived, he was hanging out at the top of the stairs and tripped and rolled all the way down. Of course, I was at the bottom and got watch a streak or green roll down the stairs. So we decided to get back out the gate. Then yesterday he pulled down a propped up door that Brandon had off as he remodeled the bathroom. Luckily it didn't hit him, but geez, this kid is killing me in this place.

We've Been Missing!

So I haven't posted in a long time. But I have a good excuse! We got our house sold so we have been busy packing everything, gathering all of our loan documents (what a pain!!) and most important...shopping for the new house!! Brandon and I are getting a couple of leather chairs for the family room and there was a super cute little chair that was perfect for Cooper but it was $150 dollars, so I was sad because that is just way, way too much for a baby chair. So then we went back to the store a couple of days later and they marked down the chair to $29! So here is Coop big pimpin' in his leather chair.

Christmas Pics

We had such a great Christmas and got to stay in Burley for over a week. It was really hard to come back to work after that long and I miss my Momma taking such good care of me! It was so nice of them to let us stay since we come with a wild child and bad dogs!

Kenze came over one day so we could see Brynn. She is getting so big and is still the cutest little thing ever. I wanted to trade babies again:)
Here's our Hodge Herd
We went to Mitch and Shari's for Christmas Eve. Cooper loved the guitar and really wanted to help Mitch play.
Here is the big guy opening up a present. We had to practice Hanukkah and open a present a day to keep Cooper entertained. So he really didn't have too much to open by Christmas, but he still enjoyed ripping into the paper.