Rest Area

The synopsis of our family road trip would not be complete without mentioning our frequent stops at Rest Areas. I was actually amazed (okay shocked) at how clean and quite pleasant the ones we stopped at were. In the past I have avoided Rest Areas on road trips (call me a Rest Area snob) but I am now a convert. They are the perfect place to let a toddler run around and NEWS FLASH: There are TONS Of biiiiiig truuuucks that stop at Rest Areas too (a bonus for Coop). The biiiiiiiig truuuuucks even have their own parking section (in case you weren't in the know) which Cooper thought was way cool. Of course we sought out the biiiiig truuuuuck area to park just to spice things up a bit.


Since I already mentioned what a super traveler Coop was thanks to biiiiig truuuucks and now Rest Areas, I should also give a shout out to the little bambino in my belly. He was also an excellent traveler even though he now feels it necessary to constantly hang out on top of my bladder. Hence the REAL reason why I am now a Rest Area convert (truth be told).

Corn

Announcing the arrival of yet another biiiiig truuuuuck.


Ants!!

Hey, another biiiiig truuuuck!

Michigan Part 4 Fire Station

Coop is one lucky kiddo!! He had the pleasure of visiting a REAL fire station during our visit to Michigan. One of Mark's old friends ~~old in the sense that they go waaaaaay back, not old in the sense that he's the same age as Mark :)~~ is a lieutenant at a station close to where Grandma Mickey lives. He invited us to stop by and check things out. Mark hadn't seen him in years so it was great that they were able to visit while Coop took over the station. We told Cooper we were going to a REAL fire station and he was sooooo excited. Cooper even brought his own fire truck for this special expedition.

NOTE: Fire trucks are now referred to as 'fire truuuuucks' and are no longer 'why-whys'. Sadly I kind of miss hearing 'why-why'. Another sign that our baby boy is growing up.

One might think that Cooper has seen and explored his fair share of fire trucks due to his Dad's profession, but Mark's fire trucks are a little different and not the typical fire truck that a kid relates to from books and tv. Cooper does refer to his Dad's engines as fire trucks but he really got that this was a 'Fire Truck Station'.

We couldn't have timed the visit any better. We were able to visit and explore for quite awhile and then they got a CALL. Cooper was able to see them suit up and roll out. Sirens, lights and all. We explained to him that the Fire Truck was going on a call and we might have to leave before they come back. Well, the call ended up being a quickie and the 'fire truck came back'.

Was this a big deal? To Cooper, it most certainly was. He waited, and waited and then the 'fire truck came back'. That's all he can talk about. Even a week after the visit, anytime we bring up that he went to the 'Fire Truck Station', he has to throw in the fact that the 'fire truck came back'. He even shared that little tidbit with our neighbor. They asked if he had fun on his trip and Coop told him that 'fire truck came back'. It obviously made quite an impression on the kid.

Little Fire Truck checking out Big Fire Truck

Captain Cuckoo

Little Boy, Big Station. Patiently waiting......

Still waiting.......

Fire Truck came back!!!!!!!!

Michigan Part 3 The Zoo

Next up on our Michigan Adventure, The Zoo!! Battle Creek (yes, Grandma lives in Kellogg Country) has an amazing zoo. We had a blast. Coop got to ride a little choo choo, visit the petting zoo and we even ventured off to Africa. Our African Safari was definitely the highlight. We took a zebra painted tram ride and within 4 minutes, it truly did feel like we were in Africa. This section of the zoo was created to resemble Zuri National Park amongst a small African village. The best part is the animals were allowed to roam (cage free) in a savanna-like setting. We were able to walk along several trails that had raised platforms overlooking the savanna which put you within eye level of the giraffes. We even got to give them some snacks. Coop loved it.

Giant Dinosaur
Coop discovering the giant Dinosaur


Zuri National Park, Coop admiring the sweet ride.
Enjoying the beautiful savanna.


Snack time!



Hey, Man....you got anymore? Help a brotha out!!!

Michigan Part 2 Cuckoo's Daddy

We're a week late but I wanted to take the time to share some pics from Father's Day 2010. While Grandma Mickey was at church last Sunday morning, we decided to celebrate Father's Day with yummy coffee and skateboarding. Yes, skateboarding. Isn't that what every pregnant lady wants to be doing? But it's not all about me now is it? Sunday was ALL about Dad!!!!! As it should be.

Still got it?

Once again, Cautious Coop. I think I'll just slide down.

A Thug's Life


Huggin' it out on a board. Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!!!!

We're so happy that we were able to celebrate Dad's special day with him. Little did we know at the time, that a week later he'd be heading to Colorado (bummer). What was supposed to be a whole month off turned into 2 weeks thanks to a fire. I won't lie that I was a little more than disappointed but had to remind myself that I married a firefighter. The only stipulation I made with Mark before he left is that he come home safely. Otherwise, I'll be really pissed.

Last night, Mark's boss called to check in with him before he left to make sure I had his phone number in case there was anything I needed while Mark was gone. He made sure that I knew to call him if I needed anything at all (which was really nice). I was still pouting and told him that he better google Lamaze and clean out the back of his car in case he needed to take me to the hospital. His response, "Oh, I better trim my fingernails"......ha, ha. We'll see who the funny one is when my water breaks all over your nice clean car. Kidding of course. I just had to let it be known that I was NOT happy about Mark leaving. My pregnancy hormones are getting the best of me. I truly don't think I have anything to worry about and it's nice to know that I have someone to call if need be.

With that said, here's wishing Cooper's favorite Daddy a belated Happy Father's Day.

Stay Safe.

We LOVE YOU!!!

Hi Michigan, Me Cuckoo

We made it! We survived another fun-filled, family vacation. Cooper was a total trooper and did awesome in the car as we traveled from TN-KY-IN-OH and finally MI. We were expecting the very worst as it had been quite awhile since we traveled that long in the car. The last time we drove to Michigan, Cooper was about 7 months old and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, so we braced ourselves for more of the same. We even caved and purchased a portable DVD player but were reluctant to use it in fear that he would expect to watch it EVERY TIME we traveled in the car and that just wouldn’t fly. We decided to keep it as our ace in the hole in the event of a major meltdown. Luckily, we didn’t use it at all on our way there and didn’t break it out until we were about 2 ½ hours away from home on the way back. Cooper allowed us to travel home in one day. Our trip home ended up being over 12 hours thanks to major road construction. We have since removed the DVD player from our car and Coop hasn’t asked to watch it yet (knock on wood). I’m thinking this may be Coop’s way of setting us up to think all road trips are this smooth. But soon we will have the newborn dynamic to contend with as well. I think it will probably be quite awhile before we attempt another road trip.

We split the trip on the way there into 2 days: Day 1---6hrs and Day 2---4hrs. Cooper really didn’t sleep much in the car so by the time we decided to stop for the night, Cooper was overly tired and ready to partaay. We made the mistake of telling Coop that he was going to sleep in a big boy bed in the hotel and he translated that to mean jumping on the bed and the walls and doing everything BUT sleep. Oh well, I’d take a toddler hopped up on adrenaline over a toddler screaming in the car for 6hrs any day.

One of the main reasons our DVD player wasn’t necessary is because of the invention of Semi Trucks. Cooper no doubt pointed out every Biiiiiig Truuuuuuck (said in a deep roaring voice) along the way. In case you weren’t aware, there are a Gazillion trucks on the highway. Never in my life have I ever been so thrilled to follow and study the details of a semi truck. We even noticed some of the very same semi trucks on our journey home. You know you’ve paid a little too much attention to detail when you notice the exact same truck 5 days later on the road. I can’t wait for the day when Cooper flashes the international symbol for HONK-YOUR-HORN to all the truck drivers along the way. I wonder if truck drivers even honk on command these days? I didn’t dare try it as we were probably already creeping the drivers out a bit with our stares and pointing each time we passed them.

But enough with all this truck talk. This is all about our time with Grandma Mickey, Mark’s Aunt and Uncles, cousins and Grandma’s kitties. Cooper had a blast with Grandma and we kept him busy, busy, busy. He got to meet lots of second cousins (somehow I didn’t manage to get any pictures of all the cute kids together).

Before I move on to some of our pics, I just had to share the cutest thing Coop now does when we introduce him to anyone.

Mom or Dad: “Cooper, this is your cousin Nicole. Can you say hello?”
Cooper: “Hi Cold, Me Cuckoo.”

It’s very important to let it be known that you’re a little Cuckoo when introducing yourself don’t you think? Sorry Coop, I think your nickname is here to stay. Someday we’ll have to explain to you that it was all your doing and had nothing to do with your Mom and Dad.

Michigan Bound

Who's ready for a road trip? We are! We're off to Michigan tomorrow to visit Grandma Mickey and some of Mark's Aunts and Uncles. We figured this will probably be the last time we'll be able to make a long 10 hour trek for awhile so we thought we'd give it a shot. Here's hoping that our journey is smooth and enjoyable. Hey Coop, long car rides are really, really fun!

FYI~ we plan on turning our water off before we leave so that we don't reenact what happened last summer. Lesson learned.

Rain

Playing in the rain is FUN!!!!!

Call off the search

In case you were on the edge of your seats as to how we resolved our little Race Car conundrum, I thought I'd give you some closure so that you could move on with your lives. I was going to type up a little something before I went to bed last night but I was too tired. Well, it's a good thing I waited, because everything changed this morning.

On Wednesday, Cooper immediately realized his beloved Race Car wasn't in is crib. I could hear through the monitor, Oh No Race Car Go???? I retrieved him from his crib and explained that I don't know where Race Car is but we will buy him a new one after we went to the doctor. He seemed okay with that. I let him pick the one he wanted and he chose Lightning McQueen. Good choice Coop, that will be an easy one to replace in the event that we (Mom) loses it.

Actually, it was pretty anti-climactic. Cooper accepted his new Race Car with open arms and had moved on. He referred to his new Race Car as "nother one Race Car". Problem solved.

Fast Forward to first thing this morning....I had my back to Cooper as I was pouring him something to drink and he said "look Mommy, found Race Car". I thought ya, ya...I know you have a new Race Car that you have played with non stop for the past 3 days. But no, he meant he found Marlboro Man Race Car. It's a Christmas Miracle!!!! (Yes, I know it's June).

So now Ladies and Gents, we have a Showdown; Old vs. New, Hotwheels vs. Disney, Lightning McQueen vs. Marlboro Man, 1978 vs. 2010. Who will prevail? Only time with tell. Maybe they'll be the new Dynamic Duo on the Case De Cooper Super Speedway. Perhaps they'll "draft" off of one another. (Draft is a term I had to look up on Nascar's online Glossary of terms---yes, I take the documentation of my child's daily events VERY seriously).

Welcome home Marlboro Man!!!!!!!!!!

My sincerest apologies go out to Andrew (Weds. Night's employee at Subway). I'm so sorry I doubted your integrity. I truly thought you blew me off and didn't take our Hotwheel Emergency seriously. Being the crazy obsessed Mother that I am, I may have stopped by Subway on our way home from the Grocery story last night to see if they truly were on the hunt. The girl on shift knew exactly what I was talking about. She informed me that Sweet Andrew posted a note in the back with our phone number. She said the Red and White Hotwheel Car right????? I think Andrew must have warned them all that Mrs. Crazy Pants (myself) might be coming.

Lesson learned: Perhaps I was a little more heart broken about losing Marlboro Man than Cooper was.

30 weeks

Yesterday Coop and I ventured to Knoxville for my 30 week doc appointment. It was pretty routine but MAN the waterworks started flowing. I'm now visiting every 2 weeks and since Mark is out of town, Cooper had the pleasure of joining me. Lucky kid.

Cooper was quietly sitting in a nearby chair reading a book while the doctor was measuring my belly. This was a feat in itself because he's rarely sitting still when I visit the doctor’s office. When the doctor placed the heart monitor on my belly and we heard the little guy's heart go a thumpin' Cooper lit up with excitement. The Doc was so sweet and asked if he wanted to hear his brother's heart beat. Cooper leaped out of his chair and ran over to assist her. She picked him up and helped him place the monitor on my belly. She told him he could do it by himself. Oh Man, did he think that was cool. When he heard the heartbeat again, she asked if he could hear his brother and he answered TRAIN!!!!

Do I think Cooper had a clue that he was listening to his brother? Probably not. But he did realize something was going on. Well, I pretty much lost it. Not because my son thought I had a locomotive in my belly (yes, I'm that big) but because of his excitement. For me, I saw a connection and the realization that soon Cooper's world will be changed forever.

Are we going to let Cooper name his brother Thomas, Gordon, James or Percy (Thomas the Train reference in case you are confused). Most likely NO. I do hope that Coop loves his brother as much as he loves his trains.

Cooper, I promise your days of having to stand in a bathroom stall with your Mother while she pees in a cup are coming to a close. Man, he's a trooper. Talk about confusing your kid while you're trying to potty train. No Cooper, we don't need a cup when we go potty....Mommy is just giving a little something special to her doctor.

Karma?

Is it Karma? Did I jinx myself? Cooper's beloved Race Car is MIA. Yes, the very Race Car I just dedicated an entire post to. I feel HORRIBLE. Cooper went to grab his collection of things he likes to sleep with tonight and was searching and searching for his Race Car. This is the first night he has not slept with it since April 18th (his birthday). Luckily I was able to distract him with something else but I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to divert him.

I just tore the house apart trying to find it and no such luck. Then I remembered that we went to Subway after Coop’s haircut. Rookie Mom mistake #6,571: I let him bring the car into a public place (and out of the house for that matter). He was racing it around the chip shelf while I let him chose which bag of chips he wanted. I’m pretty sure he left it there.

I just called Subway and played the frantic Mom whose kid left his Hotwheel behind and had them look for it for me. The kid that I spoke with (9pm night shift) didn’t offer to look. I had to ask him to. Couldn’t he tell this was a HOTWHEEL EMERGENCY?!? The Hotwheel in question is probably old enough to be his Father!!!! I made the kid take down my number and call me if it happens to turn up. I imagined him holding the receiver on the counter while he pretended to look and then pretended to write down my number. Can you tell I’m a little pessimistic about it actually showing up? I hope Coop’s dear friend made its way into someone else’s loving care and that they appreciate Mr. Race Car as much as Coop does (did).

Now I must prepare myself for what I’m going to say when he asks for it tomorrow.
Option 1- Tell him Race Car is off at Talladega Raceway finally pursuing his dream of becoming a contender and making left hand turns forever.
Option 2-Search on eBay for a Marlboro Hotwheel from 1978. That should be a breeze to find (HA!). Piece of cake.
Option 3-Explain to him that we lost Mr. Race Car (don’t tell him where or we’ll never be able to walk into a Subway without searching for it) and take him to buy a replacement. Never mind that he has a plethora of cars already.

Answer: I’m pretty sure we’ll be going with Option 3. We’ll just have to see if he can find a suitable replacement.

Farewell Mr. Race Car…..We will miss you and you’ll forever be in our hearts.

And remember kids, just say no to smoking.

Hair

I'm not sure if there's a limit to how much one can blog/post about their kid's hair, but I'm going to say that there is not. I just had to capture Coop's salon adventure today because it just melted my heart how cute and well behaved he was. Coop's hair was getting rather helmety so I figured it was time to get a cut. Coop's do is still coming into it's own and not sure how it wants to grow. In the meantime we're just trying to work with what his Mama (and Daddy) gave him.

I asked him this morning if he wanted to get his haircut and he answered YAAAAAAA! Either the kid was channeling his inner Steel Magnolia moment or he has no clue what getting a haircut really means. Either way, he was excited. We waited for a few minutes and read hair magazines to keep us busy. Coop requested a Jeep magazine remembering we read one last weekend while we waited for an oil change. Funny that the salon didn't have any Jeep magazines....we had to settle on Haircut Glamour Magazines and looked for Jeeps amongst the pages.

He sat in the chair all by himself and wore a special BLUE cape that he thought was sooooo cool. He held his head still and did exactly what the stylist told him. Can you tell I'm a proud mama? The most precious part was any time a clump of hair fell within his reach, he would pick it up very delicately and hand it to the stylist like he was giving her a single rose. She was so cute and would thank him each time like it was the best gift anyone had ever given her.

Here are some before and after pics.

This morning's before shot.....................

And after...........................................

Race Car

Ladies and Gents, I'd like to introduce you to some of Coop's cars. These are just of few of many in his collection. Some of the cars pictured below are part of Mark's childhood collection that were given to Coop for his birthday. At first glance, one might refer to ALL of these as race cars. But that is not the case at all. There is only ONE true Race Car (staged at the front of the pack). The others are just cars to Cooper. He sleeps with his Race Car and if there is ever a need for speed on his race track, not just any old car will do. He must have his RACE CAR to race with.

I checked out the date printed on the undercarriage (do you like how I threw in a little car lingo?) of the vehicle. It was made in 1978. We are in SERIOUS trouble if we ever lose this beloved Race Car. As you can see by it's sponsor, I think it would be quite difficult to replace. Not exactly what you'd call a PC sponsor for a children's toy.