BIG NEWS!!!!!

Cooper pee-peed in the potty for the first time tonight!!!! We were getting ready for a bath, he came in and said, "I pee, pee", I took off the diaper, put him on the potty...and then I heard it!!!! I think I scared him when I started screaming, dancing, and singing a made-up potty song!! He kind of backed away from me and then started dancing with me! I don't have pictures because I'm here all alone this week and Cooper was trying to put his foot in the potty and trying to get in the bathtub and I couldn't get to the camera with him unsupervised~plus I have mixed feelings about posting a picture of his pee-pee in the potty. He helped me put it in the big toilet~said "bye-bye" and we flushed it!! What a BIG boy! (and yes I know that this is probably a fluke, but we celebrated just the same)!!

"Bibbit, Bibbit"

Cooper had been acting interested in going to the potty. After going to his 18 month check-up and talking with Dr. Jolly (who I love and respect a great deal), he seemed to think that we should get a potty and start the process. He thought that Cooper was ready! Well, we rushed straight to Target and bought the cutest potty they had~one that looks like a frog!! We showed it to Cooper, talked to him about pee`peeing in the potty, etc. He said "I pee~pee" several times, we would get really excited and take him to sit on the potty(pic 2), waiting (not making a sound) and wanting to hear him pee-pee in the potty. Instead, he says "bibbit, bibbit" and pushes the frog all around the bathroom(pic 1)!! We love you Dr. Jolly, but we're real around here~and I'm not so sure he's quite ready YET!!

Our Funny Little Boy

We were playing with the glow sticks Sammy gave us at his party~Cooper wanted to put them in his diaper and run around screaming "GOOOOO!"
Showing us his tongue after eating a blue "cucker"

Cooper attemted to put the glow sticks in his diaper all by himself!

Racing his cars down the ramp he got for Christmas from Santa

Playing hide and seek behind my curtains~I hope our house will withstand him in the next few years!

Cooper absolutely amazes us with some of the things he comes up with when we are playing with him! These are just a few of the moments we have been able to capture. It is so neat and so much FUN to see this little person emerging!! Until now I think we have looked at him as our little baby~now he actually is our little BOY who runs, talks, laughs, and develops a plan and carries it out during his play~AMAZING!! We are having so much FUN playing with him and watching his little personality grow and develop~MOST of the time (minus a few tantrums here and there). We are learning that those are part of the personality trying to grow and develop as well~"FUN" is not the word I would choose to describe those moments!

So CUTE...but I am partial!

This is my new favorite picture of us~and yes that is a battery powered 4-wheeler in the middle of my kitchen floor. It's cold outside and these days~we pick our battles!

Can we please go now?

"Cheese!"


posing

I bought this cute little outfit for Coop around Christmas time thinking "a snowman outfit is practical because he can wear it the rest of the winter!" That coupled with fact that I LOVED the outfit and I am on borrowed time with how long I can dress him in cute things like this prompted me to buy it! When I layed it out for church the other day Jared said, "Isn't this more of a Christmas outfit?" I quickly explained my "snowmen last through winter" theory and told him if it WAS ONLY more of a Christmas outfit~then I payed a lot of money for something that he would never get to wear! Then I asked Jared if he wanted to know how much the outfit was~he quickly agreed that Cooper could wear the snowman until winter was over and got him dressed for church!

A Visit from Grammy and PawPaw

PawPaw resting during a game of Wii bowling!
Jared was very serious about the bowling match!

PawPaw WINS!!!

Cooper getting "wa-wa" from PawPaw

Grammy and I left the boys to do a little shopping and breathe a little fresh air! When we came home, this is how we found Cooper!


My mom and dad came to visit a couple of weekends ago. It was so GREAT to see them and spend time with them! They have not been to visit since August when they came to Cooper's birthday party because 2 days after the party we all were hit with the news that my Poppa had a very aggressive form of cancer in its late stages. My mom has spent every moment with him and my Granny helping out, carrying them for treatments, feeding farm animals, etc. Basically, she has put her own life on hold for the past 6 months. My mom is okay with that because that is just the type of person she has ALWAYS been~she is extremely others-centered. BUT~she needed this trip and this time with us and little Cooper! The doctors had performed a scan to see how the treatments had worked and they were set to get the results on Monday, so my mom needed time away to take her mind off of what news they might receive. Praise God that the results were fantastic!!! ALL tumors had shrunk at least 50% in size with the ones on his lungs almost completely GONE!! Isn't God amazing! We all know that the road ahead of him is still long, but for now we are thankful and hopeful!

Silly Boys

His laughter is the sweetest sound in the world!

I'll get you, Daddy!

Tickle, Tickle

That smile melts my heart into a BIG puddle!

Cooper loves to play on our bed! I think he realizes how soft it is. Therefore, he has NO FEAR on it! He jumps, falls, rolls, stands, whatever~and yes I was taught NOT to jump on the bed~and eventually we'll teach him that~but for now we just jump right with him!

Table Manners

Yummy~Peanut Butter!

Yes~he is trying to eat it like an animal

Very creative way to eat~use you thumb as the fork!

Delicious!

We have found a new food that Cooper LOVES~peanut butter!! We knew he loved the little peanut butter and crackers, but I had never offered him peanut butter until recently! Poor thing was missing out~obviously!! Anyway, last week was ROUGH for all of us! Cooper had a fever virus from Saturday until Tuesday. The following Saturday he woke up with pink eye in one eye, but before the day was done it was in both eyes. I know you will find it hard to believe as you are looking at pictures of him, but we were having a hard time getting him to eat anything~so we tried peanut butter and it was a HUGE success ( also a HUGE mess). By this point in this parenting journey, I have had to learn that HUGE messes just come right along with it!