Cooper

Cooper is now 26 months old! Where did the time go? He is definitely our 2 year old toddler and keeps us on our toes!

- He is an EXTREMELY active little boy. He can climb pretty much anything he wants - including cabinets. He is smart too and finds anything he can stand on to make it a little easier. I watched him the other day stack a few things on top of each other, stand on them and reach for the ceiling fan. I know that it's only a matter of time before he masters that one. He jumps off all sorts of things. Boxes, the couch, bed. At the playgrounds he has absolutely no.fear.at.all. He would jump off an edge 5 feet from the ground without even thinking about it. He goes down the slides without a problem and climbs up all kinds of things. He loves to jump and never walks. We have people ask us "does he ever walk?" haha I'm here to tell you...NOPE! We are still working on "walk your feet." It's really funny to watch him try to walk because his little arms are swinging as if he's running and he's bouncing on his toes as he walks! haha but he's trying. He has mastered a full on spin and has almost smashed his face into the TV stand.
- His tantrums are definitely interesting. He tends to claw his face, smash his head and bit himself during his tantrums. He also will body slam into the ground. It's pretty scary and it's hard to watch. We have tried to even hold him during a tantrum and have been bit in return...and clawed at. It's a work in progress and has improved...a little.
- he is talking a LOT more. He knows all sorts of animal sounds: dog, cat, horse, cow, fish (he makes a cute fish face), bird, elephant, lion, bear, dinosaur, monkey, snack, bee, duck. Those are the only ones that come to mind. He is starting to say sentences but I'm pretty sure only Brady and I can understand him. He adds "danana" to the end of a LOT words such as "motadanana" for motorcycle. haha It's mostly words with more than 2 syllables. But he's learning.
- He is a picky eater. He used to eat everything and it's frustrating that he will not even try the food we give him...even though he's had it and liked it before. But he does like peaches, bananas, yogurt, applesauce, waffles, toast, crackers, quesadillas, hot dogs, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, blueberries, pancakes, pizza (sometimes), jelly sandwiches (he doesn't eat the peanut butter side of the bread). Those are the main things I can think of. He only drinks water and milk. We have stayed away from the juice and he has never had a glass of pop. I'm sure he's had a sip from some extended family but we haven't given him any. He also had his first popsicle yesterday. Of course he LOVED it! He loves cookies but we don't like to give him any. You may think it's a little stingy not to give him many yummy treats but he is so stubborn that trying to reason him with 1 just doesn't happen and it has almost always turned into a huge tantrum where he starts to hurt himself. It's just not worth the fight. And not to mention that he hates brushing his teeth so the less sugar the better!
- he loves movies and TV. Yikes. We started a bad thing with the television. His favorite movies are Cars, Toy Story, Tangled, Robots, The Lion King, Madagascar 2, and Monsters, Inc,. He also LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Doc McStuffins isn't too bad either. haha Really. we've started a bad habit over here. When American Idol is over we are canceling our cable.
- He is starting to want to wear certain clothes. He gets excited to put a special shirt on that has boats or robots on it. He also REALLY likes his Superman pajamas. haha He runs around saying "supa ooper!" (super cooper) with his arms out to the side. It's really cute!
- he doesn't need a safety bar up on his bed. He has fallen off once and hasn't done it since. He sleeps really good in the middle of his bed or up against the wall.
- He's starting to get REALLY snuggly with me. he wants me to "lay down" all the time with him in bed. It's actually a little out of control and I'm having to say no now :( It makes me super sad because that's the one thing I can do as his mother. SNUGGLE! But he won't sleep and will just play anymore and he throws huge tantrums now about it. Ya...the tantrums are bad.
- He loves to play in the bathtub. He will lay down on his back, stomach and roll around! It's fun and creates a big mess but oh well. At least he likes it and will take a bath. Him and Crew take baths together now and they both have so much fun splashing and playing in the bubbles.
- He is a big help with Crew. He likes to "help peas" (help please) with everything. Changing his diaper, getting him dressed, holding him, feeding him, putting him to bed. Anything. He wants to help. It's cute and he's learning a lot. Yesterday we went to a friends house who have a little girl. He picked up her baby doll, held the baby up to his shoulder and started to pat it's back. he looked at me and said "sad" then started to say "shhh. okay. okay." Meaning "Shhh it's okay. it's okay." Of course he chucked it to the floor right after but he does have a mothering side to him. He'll be a good dad someday.
- He is wearing 2-3T clothes and size 7 shoes. He likes to wear hats and sunglasses.

So that's a lot but there's our Cooper right now! He is so funny and also so very frustrating at this stage. It's a love/hate stage right now but I try to enjoy all the funny, sweet moments we have together. They are very few but they are there. We love him so much and can't imagine our home without him!