The Smitty Gritty: 11/01/2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

We Can Play in the Leaves!

Coop has been singing autumn songs like Yo Gabba Gabba's "It is Fall (We Can Play in the Leaves)" and children's songs from church like "Leaves are Falling All Around," and "It's Autumn Time" for several months now. It finally turned cold enough to have the leaves fall. Our backyard was covered with leaves from the big oak trees we have. Sunday afternoon while I was napping, Cooper and Daddy raked piles of leaves to play in. Nathan was kind to think of taking a great picture for the blog.

It's been a BEAUTIFUL, long autumn here in Charlotte, with many sunny days and temperatures in the 60s and 70s for quite some time. Today, the last day of November, it was still 55 degrees. We sure have enjoyed the Southern autumn. Makes up for all those HOT, HUMID days of summer. Cooper loves playing outside no matter what the weather is like, though.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Outer Banks, NC

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Nathan's family on the Outer Banks of NC. We had a bountiful thanksgiving feast at Aunt Faye's house. Coop thought it was YUMMY and ate about as much as I did! He also loved playing with all the toys that Faye has for Cooper's second cousin, who is about 6 weeks younger than Coop, while Mom and Dad visited with family members we see about once a year.

Friday we spent some time in Beaufort on the waterfront. Had a nice lunch at Finz. Nothing like yummy seafood, out on the warm, sunny patio the day after Thanksgiving!

While we were eating a boat with some rowers started to pass us by in the water. At first we couldn't figure out what it was.

But as the boat got closer, we could see it was Santa arriving by boat! That was fun to see.

We wanted Coop to see Santa, and sit on his lap, but the line was too long before we had to get going. I'm sure we'll have another chance soon, so Cooper can tell Santa what he wants for Christmas.

Cooper loved walking along the waterfront and seeing all the "BEEG boats!"

One of his favorite parts of the day was running up and down the ramp (or bridge as he called it) to the docks.

Cheese, Mom!

That afternoon we were able to go visit Grandma BB, who is recovering well from her battle with cancer for the last 6 months. We sure enjoyed our visit!!! Cooper loved playing with the toys at her house, too.

Oh, I have to share. On the way out to the car, his curiosity got the better of him, and he grabbed a spiky, green plant. Nate ended up pulling three long cactus needles out of Coop's palm. He learned his lesson--cactus hurts! He was fine a few minutes later.

Saturday morning while Dad and Poppy went fishing, Cooper and I went to a local park/playground. We had loads of fun playing on the slides, swings, and dropping bark through holes on the park benches.

There were lots of little kids at the park too, and Cooper made a little friend named Mason. Seems he's always the younger one when we play with kids at the park. He seemed to enjoy being the big kid for once.

Saturday afternoon we went for a walk on the beach. Coop loved playing in the sand for a few minutes.

We were supposed to see the Christmas parade, but long story short, we only saw about half of it, and missed Poppy and the other Shriner members in their boats. But we were able to spend time with Poppy afterward. Here's Coop dressed up in Poppy's hat and coat.

Coop got to take a ride in the go-cart-like boats while they loaded them on the trailer. He LOVED it.

Another thing Cooper and Poppy spent a lot of time doing is playing outside, and Poppy taking Cooper for rides on the golf cart. Well, probably most of the time Cooper was climbing onto the golf cart, putting in the key, climbing on the seat, pretending to drive for like 5 seconds, then climbing off the seat, taking the key out, climbing off the golf cart, turning around and repeating the whole thing. Nate and his Dad both said Coop must have done that little ritual 50 times in a row without even pausing. What a kid! He LOVES that golf cart, and that Poppy lets him play on it, and takes him for rides.

The other person missing from any pictures I took is MeMaw (Michelle). She always seems to somehow evade any pictures. MeMaw and Poppy were sure nice to let us stay with them, give us their own room to sleep in, take care of us, and spend time with us. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving with them and our other family. Hope to see them again soon!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

"Pooper mate noises"

Have to get this recorded. First, Cooper calls himself "Pooper." It's been fun to listen to his language skills develop, especially all the different things he's called himself. First was Pootah, then Toopah, and now Pooper. Getting closer.

For the last few days Coop has been VERY interested in seeing what kinds of noises he can make. That was part of my recent blog with him making drums out of the kitchen bowls. He's been tapping on everything in sight, screaming at various decibels, throwing things from various heights and distances, and such. It's been amusing to watch his little experiments with sound. If he hears something in the distance or in the background, he'll stop and either identify the sound, or ask what it is. Yesterday his favorite sounds seemed to be at the playground. The first was me tapping my ring on the metal bars, making a "ding, ding, ding" sound, according to Cooper. He was fascinated by it. Second was when he was running around one of the big metal poles of the slide with his hands wrapped around it, making a squeaking sound from his sweaty hands sliding on the pole. He did that for several minutes, which is a lot for a 2-year old attention span. I just watched him as he gleefully ran around the pole at different speeds to see what would happen, all on his own. No encouragement or ideas from me. I love watching his little brain work and learn.

The other thing I want to record is his new nickname: Fukushima, or Fuki for short. Fukushima is the nuclear plant in Japan that had a meltdown after the tsunami earlier this year. Fukushima in our house is the 2-year old that has meltdowns several times a day, timed mostly near mealtimes and sleep times. Grammie can attest to the meltdown of this afternoon that was occurring when she called me, and ensued nearly the entire time we were on the phone. Ah, my little Fuki. So if years from now we're still calling him that, it's been documented where it came from.

Mom's Baking Sidekick

After a morning full of errands, taking a nap, going to the playground, to the car wash (Cooper's first time, and he can't stop talking about it), and cleaning house, Cooper and I made sugar cookies yesterday afternoon...FINALLY. I'd original planned on these being Halloween cookies. Since Thanksgiving can still have orange frosting and sprinkles (Ok, minus the black bats, but who's counting?), and the pumpkin cookie cutter is harvest-like, I figured I'd better get them done before the week is through.

Coop thought the frosting was just divine.

Had enough sugar yet?

Oh boy...the sugar was already kicking in. He wouldn't even hold still long enough to snap a picture.

I had fun with my little baking assistant who was insistent that he had his OWN spatula, and chose the one from the bar-b-q tools (to the right of him). He also insisted on his own mixing bowl, which he wanted to fill to the brim with marshmallows. I only let him cover the bottom. He must have ate about a half cup of frosting, and about 50 mini-marshmallows before we were through. The actual cookies though, totally not interested in eating them. Just wanted to decorate.

It was a fun Saturday, just the two of us.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Playing Drums & Singing

Never a dull moment with Cooper. He was using his imagination last night as we were cleaning up dinner. Had to snag the camera and catch it on video for ya'll.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Jumping for Joy

Today for the first time since having knee surgery, a year ago this month, I was able to do jumping jacks and other pliometric moves during my exercise workout. YAY, YAY, YAY, YAY, YAY!!! Even a week ago I tried to do jumping jacks and found myself still favoring my other leg, which consequently was getting tired very quickly.
So during this month of being thankful, I'm thankful that I can jump again with no pain. :o)

Monday, November 7, 2011

No Thanks, Mom.

Conversations with Cooper lately:

#1 - No Thanks, Mom:

Lately I've been trying to teach Cooper to use good manners words like please, thank you, you're welcome, bless you, excuse me, etc. He does really well except when he angry or frustrated. I often find myself telling him that yelling, "Nooooo!" is not an acceptable response. It's ok to feel frustrated or angry, but you don't need to be mean. Just say, "No thanks."

So today I asked Cooper to help me pick up his toys before lunch. His response..."No thanks, Mom."

#2 - What did you learn in nursery?

Yesterday after church I asked Cooper, "What did you learn in nursery today?"

His response: Bubbles?

Yeah, I know you played bubbles. But what did you learn about?

His response: Puzzles?

Time to have some more Family Home Evenings devoted to gospel topics, not just fun activities.

Today I got to stay home from work with Cooper. Not just for fun, but because he was sick. No matter. Besides asking for the occasional extra "hold yous" as he calls them, running a fever, and having a runny nose, you'd hardly know he is sick. I'd love to have on a regular day the energy he has being sick. To expend some of that energy and get him ready for a nap, we had a picnic lunch on our backyard lawn. It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fall in the South. Makes up for the humid summers. Here's Coop trying to smile at our picnic, despite the sun in his eyes.

This afternoon Cooper was busy playing "bEEg chucks" (big trucks). He refused to turn around for a picture, but here he is riding his truck-train.

A better picture of the train. His playing is getting very detailed. I love watching him.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Play Time

We visit a nearby playground at least once a week. Last week Cooper was singing as he was swinging. His song of choice was "Oh What do You do in the Summertime?" a childrens' song from church. Here he is singing it. The video is crummy, but wanted to catch the song.

Editing to add the words to the song...realizing that not everyone knows it, or will be able to tell what he's saying.

Oh What do You do in the Summertime?
Oh what do you do in the summertime
when all the world is green?
Do you swim in a pool
to keep yourself cool,
or swing in a tree up high?
Is that what you do?
So do I!

Last week when cleaning house, I came across one of Cooper's "trains." He makes these trains out of his cars and such. Decided to capture it on camera before tossing the toys in the basket.

Halloween 2011 - Preschool Fall Fair

Super Cooper made a second appearance Saturday at his preschool's fall fair.

They had lots of arts and crafts. My favorite was the room with small pumpkins all over the floors and tables, set up as the "pumpkin patch," where the kids picked out their own pumpkin to decorate.

Cooper's favorite was the "firetruck train" giving free rides to all the kids.

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to thank Aunt Denise for making Cooper's adorable costume. What you couldn't see under that awesome cape, that we received LOTS of compliments on, was the cute little belt with a belt buckle matching the cape, and the bottom of the red long john pajamas that were underneath it all...

It was a very happy Halloween for the "Super Family."

Halloween 2011 - Trunk-or-Treat

We had a lot of fun for Halloween. The festivities started with our ward trunk-or-treat Friday night. Of course after being warm all week, Friday turned crazy cold. The whole night's activities were outside, so we were pretty chilly by the time the trunk-or-treat started. Coop was warm in his cape though.

Nate had fun decorating the back of the car.

With the help of a few story books, we had been practicing how to say "Trick or treat," and that he'd get candy just for asking. Coop seemed to know just what to do.

Superman and Super Cooper

Wonder Woman and Super Cooper

Super Cooper thought the candy was just super too. He wouldn't let go of this dum-dum lollipop the whole night. I finally had to pry it out of his hands to go to bed.

And thus the sugar-enduced coma began.