Month #1

Look who's one month old today!!!

Happy Labor Day!

Love,

Coop 'n Cruz

Just Pics. Just Because

Cuteness in Black & White.

Life is a Highway

Life IS a Highway and Coop wants to ride it all night long. Cooper LOVES, Loves. LOOOOVES the movie Cars. He has several of the car characters (mainly as a replacement when we thought we had lost his beloved Race Car) and he likes to reenact some of the scenes as he watches the movie. His favorite character is definitely Mack. He's a BiiiGGG truck so it was love at first sight. Mack is his buddy and was his "big brother" gift from my Mom and Dad while they were here. Cooper sleeps with Mack every night.

Because of this Mack love, he also loves Rascal Flatts. They sing the song that is played in the movie when Mack hits the Highway with Lightning McQueen. Cooper often DEMANDS that we sing Life is a Highway for him. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing at that particular moment. You just better SING it or you have some serious explaining to do.

Today Cooper started singing the song to himself. Phew...maybe his love for singing the song will take some of the heat off of us. We purchased the song on iTunes and now it's often played on a constant shuffle. I've never really been a Rascal Flatts fan, but if they make the kid this happy then consider me a fan. Although you might want to check back with me in a couple of days........

Life is a Highway from A Mendonca on Vimeo.

Singing with Rascal Flatts from A Mendonca on Vimeo.

The Dragon

We made it out of the house again yesterday! I promise that I'm not going to start blogging about every venture we make out of the house because that could get really, really boring. This venture was worth mentioning. We decided it would be fun to go see Dad on his fire. It was the perfect setting. Right off the main road so I knew we could pull up and wouldn't have to hike in to take a look. The fire is right off what is known as "The Dragon". Yes, we checked out the fire on The Dragon (has a nice ring to it doesn't it?).

The Dragon (hwy 129) is kind of like the Autobahn of the Smokies. The section we were on is known as the Tail of the Dragon. I just knew Cooper would be all over it because we have done the scenic drive before and it's all about Bikes, Bikes, Bikes. Firetrucks and Motorcycles all in one place. It was the perfect combo for Cooper. We hung out at an overlook where people could look, enjoy the view and ask questions about the fire. There was a Fire Information & Education Specialist there to educate visitors about the fire. And a State Trooper on a Motorcycle!!!! He was sooo nice to Cooper and gave him a special badge and coloring book of Tenny C. Bear (ha, ha).

The day wasn't quite as exciting for Cruz. He stayed in the car (air conditioning stayed on in case you were worried about that) and slept. He was able to "meet" several of Mark's coworkers while remaining in the car and acting newborn-like. And Cooper was able to ham it up and get some extra attention without people oohhing and ahhing over his baby brother.

Cooper was also able to meet our good friend Matt for the first time who is here from Florida helping out on the fire. It was fun to get to introduce our kiddos to a dear friend from back in our Pre-Marriage, Pre-Park Service, Pre-Kiddo days. Unfortunately, Cooper had turned into Grumpy McGrumpy Pants at that point. Sensory overload. Oh well, I'm sure he seemed like the typical toddler to Uncle Matt.

The Fire is still burning and it's supposed to be hot, hot, hot the next couple of days. The Good news is that Mother Nature is doing her best to keep things burning. The Bad news is that Mother Nature is also doing her best to keep Mark burning. Damn Her! At least she chose such a beautiful spot to do her work. I guess I have to give her kudos for that.

Fire, Fire on the Mountain.

(Grateful Dead lyrics reference)

View from the other side.

Checking out all the bikes driving by. Notice Cooper had to bring his bike.

Checking out the Map. Cooper helping the Education Specialist educate.

View of The Dragon (and a few bikes)

Since we didn't manage to take a picture of Cruz here's a shot of what he looked like most of the time. Yaaaawwwwwwnnn!

Title

Time to update the title of our blog. It's no longer all about Cooper as there's a new Sheriff (equal billing) in town. I must give a shout out to Joanne who is probably unaware that she inspired the new title. She made a comment asking how Cruz 'n Coop were doing and I just liked how it looked. I also like the "play on words" with Cruz'n (like Cruisin') but thought I should reverse it and add Coop first since he came first. Is it crazy that I would even put so much thought into our new title? Of course it's crazy!!!!

We're getting some mixed signals on Little C's name. Mostly just silence when someone asks what his name is, but sometimes we get an "interesting" or at the pediatrician's office they asked if that was his last name. I'm sure Cruz will have issues with his name (don't we all) but we like it and it fits him. So there.

Our first comment about Little C's (I use this because I still haven't figured out how to do a possessive on his name yet--suggestions?) name was one of the nurses at the hospital. She asked what Cooper's name was when she met him and said "boy, you guys must really like cars.....you have a Mini Cooper and now a PT Cruiser"......Hadn't thought of that one and I PROMISE that wasn't the inspiration on either kiddos name.

When Cruz asks us what is up with his name we will explain to him that it's Portuguese and we wanted to give him a name that honored his heritage. His Great Grandpa and Grandma on his Dad's side of the family are from Portugal and we took a lot of time to come up with his name. We will then explain to him that he is NOT named after a funny looking car.

Mommy Milestone

It had to be documented....today was my first attempt at leaving the house with both boys all by myself. Sure we've been to the doctors office, but I had Mark as my Wingman. Those of you who are professional Moms of more than one, may think that this isn't a big deal. But to me, it was HUGE. I hope to look back on this one day and laugh at the thought that I felt compelled to blog about it.

We didn't exactly go on a major excursion. Just to the post office. Cooper was in charge of holding all the stuff we had to mail and I was in charge of not forgetting Cruz in the house before we left or leaving him in the post office by mistake. Both of us took our jobs very seriously. Cooper insisted on bringing a few extra toys than normal (maybe because it had been so long since we'd left the house?) and he decided he needed to wear his back pack too. The only reason I even bring this little tidbit up is that it caused a little more effort to put the back pack on before we left the house and take the back pack off before we got in the car seat. I was hoping Cooper would forget about the backpack once we got to the post office, but NO. He remembered and insisted the backpack be worn. Juggling packages to be mailed, dressing toddlers in their backpack and deciding which kid to take out of the car first is something I guess I'll have to get used to. It's all very terrifying to me at this point.

An added bonus to our journey is that the post office is right next to the Fire Station and just as we were leaving, the Fire Truck was pulling in. Perfect timing. We were able to watch the Fire Truck back into the station and watch the crew do whatever it is that they do when the return from being called out. Cooper was in awe and Cruz slept. Two happy boys on our first outing together. Next up: the grocery store. I think I might put this one off a little while longer. Baby steps my friends. Baby steps.

1st Bath

Cruz FINALLY had his first bath. The sponge baths (thanks to his umbilical cord stump) just weren't cutting it any more. Our baby boy is now a clean boy!!! I was anxious to give Cruz his first bath and was feeling bummed Mark had to miss it. I thought I'd have my other little man help me mark this special occasion. I got all set up and ready to go and asked Cooper if he wanted to help me bathe his brother. I thought he'd be all over it and had this fantasy of Cooper and I bathing his brother for the first time together--Ah, how precious--NOT. Here's how it played out:

ME: Hey Cooper, do you want to help Mom give Cruz a bath?
Cooper: No, I busy.
Cruz: Just do it woman. Forget about the other kid. This kid needs to be washed.

What's that you say? I couldn't quite hear you. I have bubbles in my ear.

Ahhhhh, that's what I'm talkin' about.