Sayings of Cooper...

On Monday, I took Cooper and Miles to the Y to work out. In the time it took to get from the front seat of the van to Miles' seat, I lost my keys. I looked in all the normal places, and they were just gone. Cooper noticed me stressing about the keys, and he asked me what was wrong. I explained that I misplaced my keys and that I was trying to find them. Coop said, "It's okay Mommy. You can do it! You can find your keys!" He seems to be such a words of encouragement guy.


Monday night we went to a book club/pool party at the Evans' house. I told Cooper about the party in the morning, and all day he said, "Is it time to go to Ms. Rachel's house? I'm so excited about seeing my friends. I really want to see my friends, Mommy. Is it time to go to Ms. Rachel's house?"


Yesterday morning, Cooper was getting dressed and he wanted to put some new underwear on. Normally I don't change his undies the morning after a bath, so I told him he didn't need new undies. He said, "But Mom, I need new underwear! My old underwear are stinky!" Uh oh...


We went to Springfield tonight on a whim. (We're so crazy, I know...) When we told Cooper we were driving to Springfield, he said, "I'm so glad we're going to Springfield." He was a delight to be with on the trip!

On the way to Lisa's house yesterday, we were listening to the radio. I looked back, and Cooper was moving his hand over his stomach area - playing the guitar. He said, "Mom - you should play the guitar, too!" So we played together. He started saying things like, "Oh yeah, Baby!" and "Rock out!" and "I'm jammin'!"


Just so Miles gets a bit of the spotlight, he sang a full song this morning with the sound "ba." I could definately tell he was singing, not just talking, but the way his voice moved up and down. It was very sweet.

Old videos - okay, not that old, but by a few weeks anyway

After Jaime!

Before Jaime...

Our Little Gardener

The veggies are growing Cooper is on the prowl. Last summer one of our favorite evening activities was picking vegetables (especially tomatoes and cucumbers). The plants are getting big and we've just started harvesting. In this year's garden, we have blackberries, strawberries, various tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and radishes.

Over lunch today, Cooper and I went out and found a big zucchini that we've been overlooking. Here he is with his pride and joy...

Early mornings

As the sun comes up earlier and earlier, it seems the boys' internal clocks are also making adjustments. I got up early this morning to continue some work projects (more on that in a minute), and found Cooper up at 5:45. While we did send him back to bed, that only lasted about 10 minutes. So, we had an early breakfast and spent some father-son time together. While I do wish he would sleep longer, I love the morning with Cooper. He is generally in a great mood and loves to cuddle up.

We continue to search for the balance of work and family. I have a large account in Canada in negotiation so it is all consuming. It seems I could spend every waking hour of the day on work and not be finished. We are making progress, but I know the time spent on work is difficult on the family. Despite the long work hours, we have had great family time in the evenings. Whether it be in the pool, in the garden, or playing 'tackle' in the house, we've had a great time.

Speaking to the title of this post, I hear Miles...

Conference Week

Nate had a conference in FL this past Sunday through Wednesday. The boys and I have had a good* time while Nate has been out, but I am amazed at what happens when Nate is away... (* good = character building.)

We had a bout with the stomach flu on Saturday night before Nate left. Luckily, Nate was still at home to catch the first round of throw up (literally), and the bug lasted less than 12 hours! (Praise the Lord!!)

Cooper got a huge splinter in his hand that he won't let me get near. When I first found it, I asked him if he would let me try to get it out with tweezers. He said, "NO!!" I said, "Okay, we won't try right now." That let to a 10 minute tantrum about not wanting me to get it out. I said I wasn't going to try...I'm so confused. His fit made me want to try because hey - if he's having a fit, I might-as-well get the splinter out, right? Um - no. I couldn't get near his hand. As I type this, it is red and puffy. We're going to wait for Daddy to get home to take a look...

On Monday night, we managed to water the flowers out front right before bed time. I have to admit my fuse was really short that night - I was ready for some alone time. Watering the front maxed me out, so when I went out the back door to turn on the water for the veggie garden, I told Cooper to sit right where he was. I took Miles with me. When I approached the door, I saw Cooper smiling out at me, and the door was locked. I panicked. "Cooper, UNLOCK THE DOOR!" Coop - "What?" Me - "UNLOCK THE DOOR!!" Coop - "I don't know how!" After trying to explain it several times while holding the 25 pound child, I decided to check to see if our hidden key was in its place. So I left the deck, set Miles down. Miles: "Whhhaaaaaaa!!!" I fought the fence to get the gate unlocked. Picked up the crying child. Went to look for the key in the hiding spot. The key is there! My heart slowed down a little bit...but I wasn't 100% sure what this key would unlock. So, back through the gate, set Miles down. Miles: "Whhhaaaaaaa!!!" Fought to get the gate shut and locked. Picked Miles back up. Up on the deck. The key didn't work. So, down off the deck. Set Miles down. Miles: "Whhhaaaaaaa!!!" Fought the fence to get the gate unlocked. Picked up the crying child. Walk through the gate. Set Miles down. Miles: "Whhhaaaaaaa!!!" Fought to get the gate shut and locked. Opened the garage door with the code. Opened the kitchen door with the key. Found Cooper. Relief. We need some serious rules around door locking.

Cooper noticed a couple of cuts on my legs and asked how I hurt my legs. I told him I cut myself shaving. "Girls save their legs and boys shave their faces." Cooper: "I'm going to shave my face! And I'm going to have whiskers!" Me: "You're right! Someday you'll get to shave and you will have whiskers." Cooper: "Can I shave now?" Me: "Well, I think it is going to be several years before you shave. But that is a conversation you can have with Daddy when he gets home. " Cooper: "Okay. I'll have a conversation with Daddy. Can I have the conversation with you?" Me: "Sure. We can have the conversation." Cooper: "Well, we need to wait for Daddy." Me: "Okay. So you want to have the conversation with Daddy?" Cooper: "No! I want to have it with you!" Me: (Very confused) "Okay. Let's have the conversation." Cooper: (Very upset) "No! We need to wait for Daddy!" Me: (Light bulb) "So you want to wait for Daddy to be here to have a conversation with me about shaving?" Cooper: (Satisfied) "Yep!" Conversation Over.

Bed times have been interesting. Cooper seems to get up more after bed when Nate is gone. I think his sensitive little spirit is checking on me because he knows he is the man of the house. Or he knows I'm a sucker. One or the other. So last night, he got up several times. 1. "Mom, I need some warm water! I don't want ice water tonight. It's so cold!" Pour out the water; fill with room temperature water. 2. "Humphrey needs some ice water!" No he doesn't - go to bed. 3. "Mommy, I have to go potty!" Too much room temperature water. Now go to bed. 4. "Mommy, I can't find my room!" What? 5. I'm in bed at this point. I see my door open and a little head pop through. "Mommy?" I gave him the "come here" signal with my hand. His face lit up and he galloped over to my bed. So cute. He crawled in bed with me and we snuggled for a while. That was the ticket - he went straight to sleep.

Since Nate has been gone, Miles learned how to make the repeated grunting sound to tell me what he wants. I will say it is better than screaming, so that is good. He has also starting pointing his whole arm at what he wants. So yesterday at his afternoon nap, he was having a really, really hard time falling asleep. I went in to try to rock him, and he started pointing his arm and grunting at the door. It's amazing what these little ones can communicate!