Our little man is vivacious, energetic, goofy, funny, and full of life. He makes us laugh every single day. Jeremy and I looked at each other the other day and laughed about how boring life would be without him :)
Cooper,
So much growing, learning, and changing takes place between age 1 and 2 that it's unbelievable to think back to where you were at one year ago. You bring so much joy to our lives. We love you to pieces and love being your parents. Here's what you've been up to lately...
Likes: You still love being outside. Now that we have a 'real' winter for you, you enjoy playing in the snow, shoveling with dad, making snowballs, getting sled rides, and creating a snowman. In the house, being in just your diaper is a favorite of yours! You love animals, especially horses and puppies. You know lots of animal sounds now, and are proud to go through the whole list. (Based on one of your favorite books, you think bunnies say, "Boo!"). Trucks and cars outnumber all other toys in our house, and you love pushing them around, loading them up in bins, and organizing them into straight rows. When we get in the car, you notice all the big trucks like snowplows, semis, and tractors. You love Manny from the movie Ice Age, Flo from the Progressive Insurance commercials, and Wheel of Fortune. You don't watch a lot of TV, but when you do, your favorite shows are Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Books still trump TV for you--Mom and Dad have so many of your books memorized now that we could read them without looking at a single word. And you make sure we don't skip any pages! You like when we talk about the pictures, and you are starting to ask more questions about the illustrations (which is very exciting for your teacher mommy!!).
Big helper: You are a big helper. If you spill something, you go over to the towel drawer, grab a towel, and wipe up the mess. You love washing dishes. You put your dirty dishes in the sink, hold the dustpan when we sweep, hold the vacuum cord, put your milk back in the fridge, and you LOVE LOVE LOVE to help with cooking and baking (sometimes you get really cranky when we don't let you help).
Dislikes: You don't like when we change up your routine, sleeping away from home, staying in a shopping cart for more then ten minutes, being told that you can't help with something, or having a time-out.
Food and Stuff: You will try almost anything, especially if you see mommy or daddy eating it. Your favorite foods include all fruits (especially berries) and most vegetables (thank goodness!!), cheese quesadillas, fruit snacks, chips, ketchup and all other 'dips', and juice. You don't really like lettuce or hamburger... but there isn't too much else!
Words: Your language skills have really taken off in the last month. Since 18 months, when you only had about a dozen words consistently, we've now lost count! It's exciting to hear you spitting out new words each day! I love when you ask, "What's that?" or "Where ____ go?" We also like how you're starting to copy random words, and you try repeating lots of words now (as long as you're in a good mood). You clearly understand what we're saying, and you are good at following directions (usually).
Growing: You weigh nearly 30 pounds (75 %ile), are close to 36" inches tall (89 %ile), and your head is 50.4 cm (80 %ile). You definitely look big for a just-turned-two-year-old. You wear size 4 diapers, size 6 shoes, and 24 mo/2T clothes fit you pretty well. Lots of pants are too big in the waist, but 18 mo. pants are too short! You sleep pretty well each night--about 11 hours--and you still are obsessed with your Nuk to sleep in your crib. You take one afternoon nap for about 2 hours. The pediatrician calculates your BMI now, which we find a little weird, but yours is 16 (44%ile). Yep, you got your daddy's metabolism from what we can tell. You are only waiting for your two-year molars... you've been doing lots of chewing on your fingers, so maybe they're on their way.
Odds 'n' Ends: You appreciate routine, and life is always easier when we keep things predictable for you. You are a VERY good big brother--you love giving kisses to Izzy, patting her on the back to burp her, or rubbing her head when she's sad. You take a while to warm up in new places, but if there are other kids there, it doesn't take long. About two months ago, we turned your carseat around to forward-facing, you and love your new view. Your light-up tennis shoes are the highlight of your morning. You are very good at using your fork and spoon, and you drink well from a regular cup now. Spills are pretty rare. We love watching you play and solve problems. We can see your wheels spinning as you try to 'fix' things or figure out how they work. You have a weird new interest in baby toys, probably because we have a baby in the house now ;) You have been 'playing games' at bedtime lately, but you soon realized it was no fun to cry in your crib, or get scolded for throwing out your blankets and Nuk. You are a real character, and you have found ways to make us laugh. You're our little comedian!
We can't wait to see what your third year has in store for us!!
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| Talk about goofy... you knew you looked crazy and you thought it was hilarious! |
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| Rearranging the pots and pans |
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| Goofy! |
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| Helping with some frosting |
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| Helping with the dishes |
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| Loving Izzy |
On the afternoon of your birthday, I took this little video of a typical conversation with you. It's a little long for our usual blog clips, but I just had to record your two-year-old thoughts. A conversation with a two-year-old goes in many, many directions! Pictures just don't tell the whole story of YOU...
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| Enjoying a birthday cupcake on your REAL birthday afternoon |
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| And, you're two, not four. We'll have to work on that. |
Your aunts, uncles, and grandparents were here to help us celebrate, and you were spoiled with gifts... books, an airplane, an airport, a ticking potato, clothes, an easel, a bball hoop, more trucks, a picnic table!! They sure know you!!
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| Shooting hoops with Uncle Adam |
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| A racecar cake from mom |
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| Happy 2nd Birthday, Cooper! We love you! |
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