Cooper Update

I think it’s about time for a Cooper update. I feel like I haven’t done one in forever. Forgive me if this is long (update: it is). There’s just so much I don’t want to forget and it’s been too long since I’ve written anything down.      

Age: 26.5 months :)

Remember his puppy dog from his monthly pics?

I don’t know if it’s all children at this age, but Cooper is absolutely hilarious right now. He has us laughing all the time. He also knows what will make us laugh, and he will do those things all the time. Sometimes, it’s not even things that are meant to be funny, but they are funny just because he is so little, and the way his mind works just really makes us laugh. He is such a little person now.

He talks all.the.time. He repeats every single thing we say. We definitely have to watch our language now. Ahem.

We are getting to where we can take him pretty much anywhere with us. Some kids I’m sure have always been like that. Not Cooper. Outside of infancy, he hasn’t behaved in public. It was mostly (I think) that he has a very hard time sitting still, and he is so curious about everything, as I’m sure most kids are. And he lacked the self control to listen and obey us. I’m telling you, after he was 1, we just didn’t take him anywhere. The boy wasn’t even allowed to go to the grocery store. But he is doing much better now. We have bravely taken him with us to run errands for the past several months, and he has done great. Actually, when I go with him (other than the grocery store) I can let him walk next to me instead of riding in the cart and he obeys rather well. This is shocking, people. Shocking. It makes me kind of giddy :) Restaurants, we are still working on. He can be decent for a short period of time. I’m happy with that right now.

He is the sweetest boy. Ever. (not that I’m biased at all) He LOVES to give kisses and hugs (“tisses and huds”). Sometimes in inappropriate situations (hugging and kissing the bread man at the grocery store?) but I find it sweet and heartwarming. All I want for him is to grow up to be kind and loving, nothing else really matters to me, so this makes me so proud of him. He says “Hi” to everyone he sees. He has never met a stranger. He loves animals. Loves, loves animals. He searches daily for the rabbit (“habbit”) in our backyard, and when we go on walks, he asks to pet every dog he sees (“pease dod?”) Each time we go to the grocery store, he asks to see the fish (“fissies”).

He loves to dance, and has just recently stopped being as shy about dancing in front of people. We were watching So You Think You Can Dance last night, and he was mimicking some of the moves. Talk about adorable. He has a signature “head bob” and always smiles at us so big when he’s doing it. He has a book called Giraffes Can’t Dance, and they talk about doing the cha cha in it, and every time we get to that part, Cooper hops up and dances :)

I am always amazed at how much he knows. It’s like he’s been a sponge for 2 years, soaking everything in, and now that he’s able to verbalize it, things just pour out. I handed Lee a platter that was shaped like an owl yesterday. Cooper only saw it from the bottom, and he said “owl”. What?! Similar things happen at least once a day, and Lee and I have just gotten to where we just look at each other and smile. We used to exclaim “oh my gosh, did you hear him say such-and-such?!”

He loves to clean up (“meam up”). He puts my clothes and shoes away all the time. He knows to put dirty clothes in the hamper. He finds trash and takes it straight to the trash can. He still loves to vacuum, and now when he’s using his play vacuum, he will pick everything up off the floor to get under it. Sometimes I’ll go into our bedroom, and all the clothes have been put up on the chair or dresser, and all of our extra pillows are up on the bed. I know he’s been cleaning :) He also loves to clean solid surfaces with a spray bottle and towel. He will ask for is “pay bodda”, sometimes even begging with tears! He is pretty messy with it though, hence the tears because we don’t often let him do it. Mean parents.

He is still obsessed with, we’ll just say lawn care. It’s all encompassing. Lawn mower, leaf blower, weed eater, and hose. He can’t get enough of any of it. He has a play mower and blower. They are the first thing he gets in the morning. He will have the mower out, and then say “blower next” and go get his leaf blower, and vice versa. It’s so funny. If one of these is running anywhere remotely close, he hears it and demands to see it. I was getting gas, and mean were mowing across 5 lanes of traffic and Cooper was straining out of his carseat in the closed car to see it! Silly boy.

I feel like I’m gushing with happiness over him lately, because he is just so fun right now. Lee and I smile at each other about 1,000 times a day over things that Cooper does. After an entire year of the terrible twos (I guess that’s what it was), which was basically Cooper being pissed and screaming all day every day during his entire second year of life (from age 1-2) I feel like I can finally breathe and enjoy my happy child. Haha.

Other random things:

He can get into and out of his carseat. He loves to buckle himself in(“buckuh in”), and then “jump” out, as he says.

He can climb up and into his highchair also.

He will put on shoes (his or ours) and say “bye bye”. When we ask where he’s going, he says “poppa’s” or “friends”.

Speaking of shoes, he is obsessed with crocs. He wears his every day, and calls all shoes crocs.

He enjoys going on stroller rides again, and will request to go on them. He rides for about half of the walk, and then asks to get out and walk, which he is allowed to do as long as he obeys us. He knows that when you get to the end of a street to stop and look for cars. Not that he actually understands the look for cars part, I don’t think.

He loves music and requests cd’s in the car. Currently he asks for a Keith Urban cd in my car. (He says no until I get to that one, he doesn’t request by name J )

He now drinks out of regular cups (“dada tup”) instead of sippies. He is really good at it.

Every time I ask if he wants yogurt he says “hair” (“huh”) and mimics rubbing yogurt in his hair because he did that once and got in trouble and thinks it’s funny. (see also: he never gets yogurt anymore)

He has started calling Zoe “ZoebaBY” with a New York accent and it is hilarious.

He loves books and puzzles.

He uses the potty a few times a day, but I don’t think he ready for the real deal yet.

He will not go to sleep for us without us laying on his floor with him. He’s about to get the bedtime smackdown next week. I’m dreading it. Sleep training, no matter how you choose to do it, gets so much worse the older they get.

When we go upstairs for something, he goes slow, and will say “Pooper tumming”.

He can go into the pantry, get a box of crackers or whatever, get a bowl, and pour himself a snack. Seriously?!

Okay, that is way too much enough for now. Cooper is awesome right now and this is my favorite age ever ever!