Garage

In continuation of the topic of Cautious Coop, I figured I should probably introduce you to our Garage (aka. Coop’s safety zone). We spend quite a bit of time here. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Coop is a little leery of our front yard due to an incident I mentioned back in Feb. At the time Coop seemed unscathed, but it has become quite clear that he no longer feels the need for speed (or falling out of his vehicle) thanks to Mom. He wasn’t physically harmed by the incident, but I obviously created some reservations when it comes to driving on the open road. I kind of hope this apprehension sticks with him well into his teens and early twenties. Perhaps I’m onto to something here. Make certain your child is terrified of driving and you’ll save tons on auto insurance with teen drivers.

Once again, we’re taking baby steps here. No pressure. If Coop wants to drive “Cuckoo’s Car” in the garage and ONLY the garage, then so be it. We haven’t been pushing the issue and are learning to embrace the beauty of our cool/bug free cinder block haven. The front yard is strictly used for ball throwing, dirt digging and skipping.

Our Haven

Transporting some passengers.

Working at the Car Wash

Cruisin' with Dad

Wait a minute......maybe this isn't so bad after all.

Cautious Coop

Cautious. Tentative. Watchful. Vigilant. These words describe our little man to a tee. As we get to know our little guy more and more each day, it has become pretty obvious that he probably wont be a stunt double when he grows up. Coop likes to survey the scene and play it safe most of the time.

Now that the weather is officially fabulous, we usually try to go the the park as often as we can. It's also a great way for Coop to be around other kids since he doesn't have many opportunities to do so.

It's been interesting to observe (notice I used the word observe and not compare) him around other kids as they're playing. When Cooper approaches a curb, he stops about 3 feet (no joke) back and crawls to the edge to carefully dismount to the ground. Just last week Cooper finally started climbing up the stairs of the jungle gym. Before that, he would crawl his way up the stairs as other kids/babies would zip right past him. And sliding.......sliding was only comfortable to Cooper a couple of months ago.

Oh, and the bouncy bridge.......we had a little set back on this one a couple of weeks ago. Cooper who was already cautious on the bridge as it was, was bounced off by 2 older boys that ran past him as he was ever so cautiously trying to make his way across. I refrained from being Mother Hen and yelling at the other boys because Cooper wasn't hurt. It just scared him and he immediately asked to go home. I tried my best to comfort him and told him that's what big boys do sometimes and luckily he snapped out of it so we didn't have to go home on a sad/scary note. I will mention that for many days after the incident if I asked him about the park he would say "scaawwy". Talk about a dig to the heart.

Without making a huge deal out of our park drama....I think we're making progress. We have been alternating between going to the busy park so that Cooper will get used to all sorts of situations and the elementary school playground right by our house. Usually the school playground is empty so Cooper can practice his "skills".

As I read this, it really does sound like I'm making a big deal out of such a little thing. I'll probably look back at this some day and laugh that I would devote an entire post to going to the park and how it could impact the rest Coop's. I guess this is what Moms do???? As I try to figure out what makes our little man tick, I often find little aspects that really emphasize Coop's growing personality. Some of these facets roll right past me and others I tend to dwell on.

I think I need to sit back and let our park outings revert back to being about having fun rather than a prediction of what our little man will grow up to be. Plus, you can see in the pictures below that Coop is making HUGE strides.

Slide racing with Big Mama.

Helping Big Mama and brother up.

The real racing begins.

Tie.

I can't help but think that our next little man is going to be the complete opposite. He'll probably be balls to the wall at everything and I'll be wishing that he was cautious. Better yet, I hope our boys balance each other out. Cooper will be the rational one that thinks things through and little brother will be the one to let things just happen. Maybe little brother will help me let things "just happen" too. Yet another example of how I just know our next little man is going to spice things up a bit. OK a lot.

Smokies Baseball

Take Coop out to the Ball Game....................
Last night we took Coop to his first (minor league) baseball game. He has seen plenty of little league games at our local park but we decided we'd take him to the "big" league. It was a beautiful evening and the perfect night to initiate Coop into one of summer's great pastimes.

I do have to admit that baseball was kind of a side attraction to everything else. Cooper discovered quickly that the baseball game meant freedom, running, being chased by Mom and Dad and playing on the cool playground. That's okay though, baseball has always been an added bonus to the fabulous people watching, fun company, beer sipping and beautiful evenings to me. Sometimes I have to remind myself that there's actually a game going on. Since I couldn't partake in the actual beer sipping this time, I settled on ice cream. I can't wait until I can enjoy an adult summer beverage again. Ahhhhhhhh, my mouth is watering just thinking about this. But that's not what my post is about. I digress. Enough about the beer (sniff, sniff) and back to the game.

We weren't sure if we should splurge (a whopping $9 for actual prime seating) or just do bleachers or lawn seating. We decided it might be fun for Coop to sit behind home plate. He thought that was cool for maybe 10 minutes. Lesson learned....lawn seating all the way next time.

It's amazing that most of the pictures we have are of Cooper sitting. I assure you there wasn't much of that going on. Have I stressed enough that Cooper didn't stay put? I think you get the point.

Yes, we took a pic of Coop's 1st baseball ticket stub.

Our seats that we sat in for about 10 minutes.

Coop was glad we brought his ball and mit.


Hot Dog!!!!!!

Taking another break before lap 2,567 around the stadium.

What a great night. We will definitely be back. This poor pregnant lady just needs to rest up a bit before trying to waddle after our little baseball fan again. Thank God I had Dad as my wingman.

Moth

Well, hello there Mr. Moth.....How U dooooin'?



I'm no Lepidopterist (yes, I had to look this term up) but the Moths around here amazing. I've never seen sooooo many different species. I must confess that we have collected an assortment on our front porch thanks to our porch light attracting so many throughout the night. Some manage to survive the heat, but others aren't quite as lucky. We finally had to make a doggie door/moth barrier on our screen door. Before we thought of this handy contraption, we had a neighborhood block party of moths enter our house every time we let the doggies out at night. Even if we only had the door opened for 2 seconds and timed it just right so the lights were turned off right before we opened the door to let them dogs in, the moths would infiltrate. Don't get me wrong, I think they're beautiful and all, but they're pretty annoying flying around the bedroom when you're trying to sleep.

Now if I could just train them to start making me some silk. Maybe I'll have Cooper start working on that. A fun summer project for our little Moth Whisperer.

5.17.2003

Dear Cooper,

Today is a very special day. It's your Mom and Dad's 7th Wedding Anniversary! Seven years ago today your Dad decided to make an honest woman out of me and make certain that your canine brother, Targhee was no longer illegitimate.

We were married just south of Moab, UT in a place called Needles Overlook. It's a beautiful spot that we hope to take you to someday. I promise we won't get all mushy and sentimental on you when we take you there and I just know you'll think it's cool. It might not have the same meaning to you as it does to us. You'll probably be more interested in throwing rocks and looking for lizards which is fine. Just please don't get too close to the edge and look after your little brother!

A lot has changed since that day. Back then, Targhee was our only son and a crucial member of our wedding party, Lexie was our sweet kitty that we loved (and later you loved) so much and little Kokanee wasn't even born yet. We hoped that one day we'd have a family like we do today, but never imagined it would be as spectacular as this. Just think, before you know it we'll have another little man to add to our clan. We're excited to celebrate many more anniversaries with you guys and can't wait for the adventures we'll share together as a family.

Love,
Mom and Dad





PS. You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos. These were taken on an old point-and-shoot-non digital camera. Yes son, your parents are old. Back when we were married we didn't own a digital camera and we actually had to have our photos printed at a photo lab. We did own a car though so don't start thinking that we traveled to our wedding spot in a covered wagon.

Dolly Parade

Well, it happened. We FINALLY got to see Dolly in person. In her hometown amongst the little people!!!!! It was glorious and just so happened to occur on my 37th Birthday!!! A birthday I shall never forget.........

Coop and I decided we'd hit Pigeon Forge’s annual Springtime Salute to Dolly Parade. Ohhhhhh did I miss Mark. Yes, I missed him for his company, love and devotion. But MOSTLY I missed him so that he could experience all of the wonderful sights and be part of my peanut gallery. It's kind of hard to comment and giggle about (maybe even make fun of) my surroundings with a 2yr old. His comments were directed towards TRUCKS!!! FIRETRUCKS!!!!! TRACTORS!!!! DRAGONS!!! And quite frankly he was more impressed with the busy traffic that was diverted directly behind us (even more so than the actual parade).

I decided I’d try to capture a little bit of what we saw on our blog. Someday Cooper may just get what I was chuckling to myself about. STIPULATION (before I go any further): In no way have I EVER made fun of our dear Dolly. That’s just crazy talk. She is a national treasure as far as I’m concerned. I might have even yelled (read: shrieked) “Thanks for the books Dolly!!!!!” as her float whizzed by. I couldn’t help myself and I did get a few looks.

Exhibit 1: Jon Bon Jovi. You know "that guy" that is a LOUD talker and although he is talking to the guy right next to him, he is REALLY talking to the entire crowd around him? It was so obvious that he wanted the world to hear what he had to say. I swear there's always one of these types in a crowd. Well, this guy made the comment that when he was a "little skinnier and had long hair" people always mistook him for Bon Jovi. He said someone even asked him for his autograph at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. That warrants a photograph don't you think?

Jon Bon Jovi/Lynyrd Skynyrd Fan

Exhibit 2: The poor guy to the left of Bon Jovi was stuck having to hear all of his stories. I wondered if he even knew who Bon Jovi and Lynyrd Skynyrd were. He just wanted to enjoy the parade like the rest of us and see Dolly. After Dolly's float came by, the old guy said to Bon Jovi "wow, doesn't she look AHHmazing? She looks more like she's 36!!!!!!". Did he have to chose 36 as a comparative age? Just to remind me that I am no longer 36 (sniff, sniff). Thanks Old Dude. For that you deserved to be stuck talking to Bon Jovi Man.

Old Man, Bon Jovi and his lovely wife or special lady friend.

The Dalai Lama even made an appearance.


Roller Man. He made we wonder....What would Brian Boitano do?

Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat
Here she is!!!!!!!Look closely. I was using my cell phone camera. She's there I promise.

Oh, and here's a picture of my parade/birthday date.

Cooper in awe. I'm one of those Moms. I bought my kid a leash (don't judge). This was his first time donning it and he didn't seem to mind it since he loves his back packs. I wanted to protect him from getting hit by a run away float (or the traffic that was directly behind us).
There was a rumor going around town that Miley Cyrus was going to be in the parade. Yes, that’s right folks….. MILEY FREAKIN’ CYRUS!!!!! Can you believe it? Some mothers would have avoided the parade all together (especially 37yrd old mothers) thinking that the crowds would be too crazy with MC fans. But this Mom wanted to go even more for that reason alone. I might have even waited and waited for the very last float to make sure we didn’t miss her. Can you believe that little trollop shined us!?! And on my birthday no less! That’s it. I’m done. I am no longer a MC fan. She will NEVER-EVER be on the same pedestal as Dolly. NEVER. EVER. EVER.

To sum it up, I had a fantastic birthday and enjoyed spending it with my little man. It's going to be hard to top this one!!!

PS. Perhaps calling Miley a trollop was a little harsh. I guess I let my emotions get the best of me ;)