Great Smoky Mountain Saturday

Mark had to work yesterday in observance of Junior Ranger Day so Coop and I decided we'd head to the Park to see what it was all about. Mark and the crew had their engine and gear set up so that visitors (mostly Junior Rangers) could check it all out. Cooper thought it was pretty cool and helped Dad show off his stuff. We decided Cooper is still a bit too young to fully start achieving Junior Ranger status but we had fun enjoying some of the activities and most of all enjoyed watching all THE KIDS. There isn't a lot smiling going on in these pics....I promise he had fun. He was mostly in awe and soaking it all in. There was smiling involved as well (just not for the camera---typical these days).

Making an animal track bandanna.

Watching the big kids play Frisbee.


Check out my Dad's cool engine.

Hey, are those more kids I see?

Coop had fun and we had fun watching him. We've been trying to recap our days as part of our dinner time conversation. We asked him if he went to Dad's work today. He answered 'Yaaaaaaa'. We then asked him what he saw (thinking he'd say Dadeeee truck) but he answered 'kids fribee'. I guess that shows what the highlight of his day truly was. The kid loves kids. Hopefully he'll be that excited about his little brother.

Mr. Sensitive

Cooper is such a sensitive little guy. For example, if he's watching a show or if we're reading a book and the characters are sad, scared or distressed, he gets worried. "Oh No, Saaaaaaadddd". We have to reassure him that everything is going to be okay and show him when the character is once again smiling. He then gets a happy look and can carry on with his day.

He's also very concerned if Mark or I cough or sneeze. "OK Mommee" "OK Daddeee". But he says it more as a statement rather than a question. Letting us know that we are in fact okay.

Thanks for looking out of us Coop! 'Preciate ya.

Cooper's 2nd Year

You had to know this was coming :)....Another photo montage to celebrate year #2!

Two!!!

Dear Cooper,

Well Coop, you did it. You've managed to put up with your Mom and Dad for two years now. Yesterday we celebrated one of the best days of our lives; the day you came into the world and changed our lives forever. We are so thankful for every lit bit of you that makes you who you are. You truly are one in a million. Here's a little run down on what we did to celebrate your special day........

We started the day off with a yummy breakfast and then headed out for a Dollywood Adventure.

We rode the race cars

Fed the Ducks
Waited for the Train

Checked out the Train.
You LOVE the train and have been on it many times before but now you've decided the whistle is WAAAAAAYYY too loud. We quickly discovered that you no longer like loud things and did NOT want to take a ride despite your love of everything trains. No problemo. We admired lovingly from afar.

Dad gave you his Hotwheels from when he was a little boy. That was a big hit! FYI~we looked on the back of some of the cars and they were made in 1969! That didn't make your Dad feel old at all. Not one bit.

Hotwheels!!!!!

You wanted to make sure Targhee knew how very special your cars were. Targ felt a little slighted since your Dad has never given him any of his childhood toys. Sorry Targ, Dad didn't save any old tennis balls or Frisbees from when when he was a little guy.

Your Mom did her very best to make you a Pablo cake.

You even recognized that it was Pablo!!

You wanted to make sure your Dad knew that the eye was the best part.

Mmmmm. Cake!

All in all, it was a pretty fabulous day. You were spoiled by all of your family members with some pretty cool gifts. Lots of cars, books, trains and clothes.
What else does a little boy need?

Thanks for making the last 2 years so incredible and for giving us a great excuse to celebrate Cooper.

Love,

Mom and Dad

A Walk in the Woods

Tonight was the perfect evening to take a walk in the woods before dinner. A great way to celebrate Dad being home with us for another weekend. Yipee!!!!!!

I love spring, cool evenings and spending time together as a family. A perfect Friday night!

Our Dear Friend, Pablo

It’s been a long time coming but I finally decided it was time to introduce the world to Cooper’s love of The Backyardigans. This relationship started well over a year ago and it continues to blossom and flourish more and more every day. Many people may see The Backyardigans as simply a cute little animated cartoon on Nickelodeon, but to Cooper it is a way of life. The characters on the show (especially Pablo) are his buddies. To say Cooper loves this show would be a HUGE understatement.

It all began when we found a Backyardigans book at a garage sale. The book was colorful, nice and big and had some cute little characters in it. I had NO IDEA what would soon develop because of this book. We were clueless at the time that The Backyardigans was actually a cartoon. The book quickly became Cooper’s favorite. Then one day, after hundreds and hundreds of times reading the beloved book, we stumbled across the TV show. Well, the rest is history. The love affair had officially taken the next step. Let’s just say the book was kind of like a series of innocent little dates and the cartoon consummated the relationship.

Am I worried that Cooper is obsessed with a TV show? Well, no. That would be a little hypocritical of me considering I am and always have been an avid TV viewer. In fact, some would argue (mainly Mark) that I have horrible taste in television viewing. The difference here is that the Backyardigans is actually a really great show. It teaches Cooper about having a vivid imagination, working together and building friendships. Each episode has an amazingly creative story line as the characters head from their backyards into an imaginative adventure. Each adventure is set to a different genre of music and choreographed with cute dance numbers. Singing and dancing to catchy little ditties. What more could one ask for? No wonder I love this show (almost) as much as Cooper.

Last Christmas, I searched and searched for a Pablo doll for Cooper and our neighbors were nice enough to give Cooper one of their son’s Tyrone dolls that he no longer played with. We also have quite a collection of Backyardigans books now. We figured that when we think that Cooper has had enough TV time, we could convince him to read some of his books instead. That doesn’t always work but we do realize that when enough is enough, the TV goes off. I won’t lie though… Pablo, Uniqua, Tyrone, Austin and Tasha have given us plenty of shower time, cleaning time and time to do stuff that Cooper doesn’t always allow us to do. And for that I am eternally grateful. I just know that if I ever were to run into the show’s creator, Janice Burgess, I would give her a big ole slobbery kiss.

Here’s a key that I want to remember as I look back fondly at Cooper’s very first favorite TV show:
Pablo = Pawbo
Tyrone=Rone
Tasha=NaNa (like Sha-Na-Na without the Sha)
Austin=Aaaah’in (kind of in a Utah accent)
Uniqua=Can’t quite make out how he pronounces her name just yet. I can’t really fault him though as I have a hard time pronouncing her name.

“Mo Pablo” Translation: I want to watch more Backyardigans

“Raa Moos” Translation: I specifically want to watch the Surfing Episode with Rad Moves. His favorite.

“Che Meeee......Raa Moos” Translation: Check me, I got the rad moves as he breaks out in a little dance. This can be done anywhere and at anytime he feels the need to dance.

“Mo Cowns” Translation: I want to watch Best Clowns in Town Episode.

Total Episodes that we currently have recorded on our DVR: 27. No, Cooper doesn’t watch all 27 in one sitting. But he probably would if he could :).

Honestly Mom, enough with the camera already. Can't Pablo, Tyrone and I have a little swing time? Alone! Sans Camera.

Click HERE if you have hankering to check out some rad moves. How can you not want to dance after watching this? So cute.

Cuckoo goes to the Zoo

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Yesterday was Cooper's very first visit to the zoo. We were lucky enough to have Dad home for the weekend so we decided to it was the perfect day for a zoo outing. Cooper loved it all but the highlights were the elephants, rhinos, monkeys and WALKING. We brought the stroller but Coop preferred to walk on his own to check things out. We asked him what he saw at the zoo and he keeps reminding us he walked.

Us: Coop, what did you see at the zoo today?
Coop: Walk!!!!!
Us: Yep, you walked.

I guess we could have taken him to the mall for the same result but I think the zoo might have been a little cooler :).