Coopster

Cooper is such a little character these days! He is learning to pick up his toys and bang them around. Watching Mommy and Daddy pick them up repeatedly is too funny! He wants so badly to be up and about like Jackson. He loves to talk and babble- "dab dab dab"! Cooper has really been reaching out and touching our faces with such interest. Mouths are the most interesting feature, especially if they are eating something! He is such a happy and relaxed baby. Makes you just stop a minute and laugh along with him, life is so good!

Too Much Fun?

Jackson has been having a blast going to summer camp. When I pick him up he has miles of things to tell me ( I know that will change at around 3rd grade... ) and today sang a "bubble dum" song. Very proud of his art work too! He has been wanting me to stay more and more and gets upset when I have to go. I feel bad, but I know he is fine and having fun when I leave. I think going from staying up late, waking up late, and naps whenever has been hard to give up! He is so tired when I pick him up! Sandy said the other day that the last 10 minutes of the day he lay down on the floor and said he didn't want to play anymore. That's tired! He has told me all day today he doesn't want to go tomorrow. I'll see what he is like in the morning. Is he just tired or is just too much for a whole week? Here is what Sandy and Laurie emailed all the parents-

WE HAD A GREAT TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. EVEN THOUGH THE WE HAVE NOT SEEN MUCH OF THE SUN, WE HAD A DISCUSSION ON WHAT THE SUN IS AND WHAT IT DOES FOR OUR WORLD. ALL YOUR CHILDREN HAD SOME GREAT STORIES TO SHARE ABOUT GOING TO THE BEACH OR PLAYING OUTSIDE IN THE SUNSHINE.
TUESDAY, WE LEARNED THE COPY CAT GAME, TEAMING UP WITH A PARTNER TO PLAY A SUN BALL GAME, RACES IN THE BACK YARD, READING AND ACTING OUT [ON TOP OF SPAGHETTI}, AND GUESSING OUR MISSING FRIEND HIDDEN UNDER THE BLANKET.
TODAY WE WENT ON A WALK COUNTING RAIN PUDDLES. OUR GROUP GAMES INCLUDED MS. LAURIE SHARING WAYS TO MAKE DIFFERENT SHAPES WITH PLAYDOH WHILE ALEX SHOWED MS. SANDY AND FRIENDS ALL THE PARTS OF THE TRAIN TRACK AND HOW IT GOES TOGETHER. THIS WAS JACKSONS FAVORITE PART OF THE DAY. WE PLAYED AN ACTION BUZZER GAME, READ AND ACTED OUT WHO STOLE THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR, FIGURED OUT THERE WAS A POM POM IN THE MYSTERY BAG, AND FOR CAMERON, WE ENDED THE DAY WITH COPYCAT COPYCAT.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR CHILDREN WITH US . SEE YOU ALL IN THE MORNING.
LAURIE AND SANDY

Summer Camp

This morning I dropped off Jackson at his little summer camp. We are calling it "little house preschool" since it is being held at someone's house and not his actual preschool. I woke him up around 8, which is pretty early for him since he doesn't usually fall asleep until midnight or later. As soon as I said "it's time for preschool", he goes "I'M AWAKE". He wanted to get run downstairs and get his new airplane lunchbox, forget about breakfast or gtting dressed! He was all excited until we got to the front door of the "preschool house". Then he froze! I had to carry him in, but as soon as we saw the other kids and toys he was better. I snuck out as he was playing, but he spotted me and came running with tears- "Mommy you stay at preschool with me!!" I helped him find a garage with toy cars and he sat with Miss Sandy's ( our family friend who works at the preschool ) and played with her daughter, Brooke. I snuck out again with success. On the way home I was thinking how nice it will be to have some one on one time with Cooper, maybe catch some zzz's if he actually sleeps, or get the house cleaned up. I also thought about what a big boy my first baby is now and how proud I am of him.

Sleeeeeeeeeep!

This has been going on every night in a row for a week. Jackson will not stay in his "big boy bed". I usually end up laying in bed with him until he falls asleep. I finally give in at say midnight- he still wants to talk and wiggle. A few nights ago I woke up in his bed thinking I'd been there for an hour maybe, and went and crawled into my bed. Looked at the clock- 5:45! As soon as I pulled the covers over me- here comes Jackson crying and asking me to sleep in his bed with him. I just decided that some sleep was better than no sleep. About and hour later I hear Cooper in his room waking up hungry. I always think I might catch up on some zzz's when they are both asleep- but Cooper thinks 20 minute naps are long enough during the day. This won't last forever though- right?

No Shots!

Today was Jackson's three year well check appointment. It was nice to not be wondering if he had a mystery ear infection, like he always seemed to have from the ages of 1 to 2. He has grown 4 inches and gained three pounds. I was suprised to hear he gained any weight at all, since he hardly eats. The Dr. assured me that he is obviously eating what he needs. She was very impressed on his potty training so far. And glad to see that Jackson now and again turns into a dog ( complete with panting and crawling on exam table... ). Unfortunatly we had to get a shot, which required both the nurse and I to hold him down. He was pretty upset. A McDonalds chocolate shake did wonders!

Has anyone seen these?? It is called a Bumbo...I have got to get one! Cooper is a great workout for the biceps, but it would be great to plunk him down in one of these for a few minutes. I think he would feel like a big guy too... Surfing Ebay tonight!

The Boys

It's funny to say. Sometimes Jason or I will say something like "Are the boys asleep?" and then we'll look at each other and go "the boyssssssssss" It's like it hits us every once in awhile that we now have children. Child-ren. Plural. We are grown-ups. Will you stop by the store on your way home from work and get some milk. That kind of thing. Wonderfully scary and worth every second.


So what are "the boys" up to these days??


Jackson:

Jackson just turned three and we had a family party at my parents house ( due to a home improvement project at ours that hasn't seen much improvement ). We rented an inflatable moonwalk. Thinking about buying one after seeing how well he went to bed that night and napped the next day. Great excercise for mommy too! He had lots of fun and tried his hardest to not show it in any of my picture taking....


Jackson is going to a summer camp of sorts next week. A good friend of ours, who also works at the preschool Jackson will attend, is running it. I haven't told him just yet, because I don't quite know how to word it so that he doesn't think that he is going to preschool in the middle of summer. And I don't know how to dodge him asking me "today I'm going?" every few minutes. They get to do arts and crafts, water play, games and best of all- snacks! It will be nice to have a few hours to just hang out with Cooper and maybe *relax* when he's asleep!


Jackson and I have been going through potty training boot camp to prepare for preschool this fall, and he is so proud of himself. We are too! He seems to think that after he goes potty for that particular moment, then he gets to go. As in, "okay, now go get your shoes, lets go!". At first he got a lollipop to eat while sitting on the potty. Worked at first, before he figured out he could sit there all day and eat as many as he wanted without doing his part. The thing was he was holding it ALL day! Great I thought at first until one day I realized he hadn't gone for 5 hours... Next day we went to the dollar store to get some "potty prizes". Go potty, get a prize. As soon as we got home he was on that little potty chair peeing! That has lost it's appeal too, however he is now telling me when he needs to go. In fact he has gone by himself these past few days. So I am excited to see if all our hard work will pay off in this little summer camp. A preschool preview if you will.


Cooper:

Cooper just turned 5 months and is a happy, chubby, smiley little guy. Except when he is hungry. And that seems to still be every three hours. BUT he sleeps all through the night, so I guess it all balances out. He cut two teeth at three months which shocked mommy. They seemed to have changed thier minds and decided they would torture him for the remainder of the teething process. Which equals no naps during the day since he wakes up chewing on his fists crying. He seems to forget about it all once he sees big brother or a favorite toy ( to chew and drool on-hence the nickname puppydog ).


Cooper has made big improvements on the relux front. He still takes his medicine for acid control, and he will stay on it until we start solids. Then we will slowly experiment to see we can lower the dose and eventually stop. The catch is that Cooper still seems to have some food intolerance issues, which may make soild foods tricky. He still needs a special formula that doesn't irritate his system. We recently dicovered that corn is a big culprit. Even small amounts of corn syrup, like in liquid tylenol, really upsets him. So we are a little nervous to see what else will. Poor guy is VERY interested in food. He likes to watch us eat and today at McDonalds he was grabbing at my fries. So unfair!


Some major accomplishments: rolling over, laughing, push-ups, picking up objects, and smiling everytime mommy sings the "good morning song". I think he does that last one so I feel good about myself.

Why didn't I do this earlier?

The whole blog thing I mean? It's such a good idea!! Everyone you know can instantly see what you ( and more interestingly, your kids ) have been up to and leave messages letting you know they stopped by to say "hi". All without even having to make sure the guest bed has clean sheets!

Well, I have seriously fallen off the communication bandwith since Cooper's arrival. I was once very industrious about mailing out Jackson's latest batch of pictures to family. Calling everyone I knew to update a tooth arrival or skinned knee... Scrapbooking these events right away also ensured my title as supermom, but alas, that title is a myth!

The gifts of a second child is many, but also a humbling reminder to stop trying to be perfect, and just enjoy the moment. Whatever it may be. You've already learned from your first baby- these moments are just snaphots in time, and before you know it, memories...