20 Months

Dear Cooper,

You are 20 months old, and it’s been a while before I have written down what you’ve been up to.  I can’t believe that in just 4 months, you will be 2 years old!  But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves….

You have had a few rough months.  You have been sick with something or another, and teething, for basically the past 6 months.  First, it was ear infection after ear infection.  We finally got rid of those with your tubes, but then you caught a nasty upper respiratory virus, followed by RSV, followed by pneumonia.  Poor buddy!!  During those months, you were a lot to handle.  Pretty grumpy most of the time.  Who can blame you?  But, thankfully, you seem to be well for now, and we have started to see the happy little boy that you were before all of these sickies.  We knew he was in there!

Since you got your tubes, you have started talking so much!!  You went from 4-5 words about 2 months ago, to so many words, I can’t even count!  You say new words every day, and it’s so fun to watch you learn to communicate.  You have started saying “hi” and I’m pretty sure it is the cutest thing ever.  Let’s see, some of your favorite words are: no, uh-oh, Zo(For both of the dogs), mah(more), nigh-nigh, hot, and bubboos(bubbles).  Instead of saying “yes”, you laugh, which we find so funny!  You say “no” all the time, but you don’t necessarily always mean it.  When you say “hot”, you flap your arms like a bird.  You say “brrr” for cold and you clench your fists and shake your arms like you’re cold :)

You know how to sign several words.  When you sign “please”, you not only rub your own chest, you also reach over to whoever you are asking, and you rub their chest, too!  Haha!  You also sign “more” all the time.

For some reason, you love Taylor Swift.  If you are whining in the car, I can turn her music on, and you are so happy!  You always clap when she finishes a song :)

You can tell us the sounds that a horse, dog, cow, cat, pig, rooster, and sheep make.  You love animals!  Especially dogs and horses (which you call “neighs”).  Luckily our neighborhood is surrounded by lots of pastures, and you get to see horses and cows almost every day.  If we drive by and there aren’t any, you frantically say “mah!” and are very disappointed.

You are very loving, and will almost always give us a hug or kiss when we ask for one.  You also love to blow kisses.  When we say “I love you”, you blow a kiss to us, or you put your hand on your chin.

You are obsessed with the vacuum, wearing our shoes, Cap’n Crunch, and the dogs.  You love to help us to household chores like laundry, sweeping, and cleaning anything with a rag.  In fact, if you spill something, you will go to the kitchen, pull a towel off of the counter, and wipe it up.  Crazy!  You also love to help me cook, and often throw a fit if I won’t hold you while I’m cooking.

If I ask you where your piggies are, you point to your toes :)  You love to show us your belly, and if you show us yours, you go around and pull everyone else’s shirt up so we can see theirs.  Haha.

You are quite familiar with time outs.  You usually are in time out at least once a day.  Usually for hitting, throwing, or biting.  This weekend, you had your first time out for telling us no.

You love having company.  You get so excited when any of our friends visit.  You always think they are there to play with you, and you have no problem getting all up in their business.  Our builder (of the house we live in now) even came over one day, and you would not leave him alone.  You even cried when he left!  Hahaha!

You love love love your Grandma, Poppa (who you now call Boppa), and your Uncle Tyler.  You get so excited to see them.  Sometimes we FaceTime with Grandma and Boppa, and you incessantly blow kisses the whole time, it is so funny!

I am amazed at how much you pick up from our every day routines.  The other morning, I was putting mousse in my hand, and you started rubbing your hands in your hair, and flipping your head upside down, just like I do when I use mousse!  It is astonishing to me that you are able to mimic that.  You also mimic everything I do with all of my makeup and my curling irons!  I think your dad would rather you not mimic those things :)

You are a sweet, sweet boy, Cooper.  Your dad and I tell you every day how lucky we are to have you in our lives.  We love you so much!