PP in Da Potty

Cooper's New Year's resolution is to be potty trained in 2010!!!!!!! Cooper has decided it's time. After a little setback a couple months ago when Mom thought we'd give it a whirl and let the lid of Coop's little potty slam shut on Coop's bum (Rookie Mom Mistake #7,056), he really wanted nothing to do with the whole pp-in-da-potty thing. But 2 days ago Dad thought he'd bring up the subject and Coop was all for it. Ohhhhhhh do we ever have a long way to go (patience, patience). The best part so far is how extremely excited and proud Coop is when we do the Hip-Hip-Hooray-4-PP-In-Da-potty dance. The look on Coop's proud face is priceless. No poops (just peeps) but I'm sure I'll be blogging all about Coop's first poop-in-da-potty as soon as it happens. And won't he be oh so proud someday that once again Mom has chosen to write all about it on the www?

Here's to a fabulous 2010! Happy New Year to all and to all a good peep!

UPDATE: The eagle has landed! Coopy Poopy'd in da potty for the first time on 12/31/09 at 5:47pm.

Ho Ho Ho!

Coop is having a blast with his Grandpa Toby and Oma Lis. He LOVES having so many playmates around the house to play with and teach him new things. He's even getting to test his baking skills. This is something he really hasn't experienced thanks to his Mom's lack of skills in the kitchen. It looks as though Coop and I can learn the joy of baking together. Oma Lis has taught us how to make linzer cookies and Christmas Stollen. Y.U.M.M.Y!!!!! New Holiday traditions.............

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family. Wishing we could partake in some holiday cheer with you all!!!

Smoky Mountain Christmas

Now that Dad is home and taking time off until NEXT YEAR, the Holidays are officially on! We decided to hit Dollywood. And at nighttime no less! Wow, we were livin'. Especially since we don't get out much at night. It was definitely a big deal. Coop got to stay up late, skipped his evening bath and had his very first hot chocolate. Now if that isn't livin', I don't know what is. Dollywood really does it up right for the Holidays. The park truly is amazing. Mark and I really had no interest in ever checking it out, but we're soooo happy we did this past fall. So much so that we bought a season's pass and have really put it to good use. It's a low-key, family friendly place full of Tennessee traditions and hillbilly happiness. I'm not so sure we'd dig it as much without having a little man to enjoy it with, but we are definitely DW converts.

We took a ride on The Dollywood Express ChooChoooooooo which was incredible. It's a real steam engine that made Cooper go bananas because he really digs trains these days. The train ride took us through the park and the surrounding hills while playing Christmas music. It felt like we were taking a ride on the Polar Express.

After the train ride we walked around the park to check out all the lights, fed the ducks and then Coop drove the mini cars which is his favorite ride. We ended the evening with DW's parade of lights. It was truly a fun night. I think I must have told Mark twenty times on the way home how much fun I had. Either we need to get out more, or it truly was a fun filled evening. Perhaps a combination of both, but a fun evening no matter how you slice it.

Here are some pics to prove it. Camera phone + nighttime + lots of movement = not the greatest pics in the world.........................

Parade of Lights

(Coop's not ashamed to wear Mom's pink scarf)

Dad and Coop

Is that who I think it is?????

Why yes. It is indeed..

The Meaning of Christmas

Dear Cooper,

In the spirit of the Holidays, I thought I’d take this opportunity to teach you one of the true meanings of Christmas. Well, not really because I think you might be a little young to fully understand the TRUE meaning but this is a close second. What I’m talking about here kiddo is ALMOND ROCA aka. Chocolate-Covered-Buttery-Sugary-Nut-Covered-Christmas-Miracle-That-Truly-Signifies-The-Love-Of-The-Birth-Of-Our-Sweet-Baby-Jesus! To simplify things, we’ll refer to it as Almond Roca.

You will learn over time that your Mother isn’t a very good cook but there is one thing I CAN make and it’s this thing called Roca that I speak of. Now this skill didn’t come about overnight. I learned from the best; your Great Grandmother Ruth. Your Grandma Linda and Grandpa Pat made sure her Roca making skills were appreciated and valued. Great Grandma Ruth was a Master Roca Maker (baker, or whatever you call a candy creator). I have so many fond memories of learning her craft over the holidays. She was my Mr. Miyagi, my Sensei if you will. She would stand over our shoulders as we stirred and instruct us on the proper techniques. ‘Stir, stir, stir, faster, faster, faster, figure eights, you must do figure eights, don’t stop…..are you going to let a little blister of hot molten butter stop you!?!’ She might not have been quite as brutal as I describe, but we knew Roca making was serious business. One mistake and the whole batch could go terribly, terribly wrong. There’s nothing worse than a ruined batch. It could darn near ruin Christmas if you allowed it to.

So Coop, I guarantee that you too will have the opportunity to carry on this family holiday tradition. Whether you chose to carry on the making part of the tradition is up to you, but I’m quite certain you’ll want to carry on the eating part of the tradition. In order to carry on the eating part, you’ll probably want to learn the making part (the two kind of go hand in hand). Someday you might ask: ‘Mom, why do we only make Almond Roca during the holidays? We should celebrate and enjoy the love of buttery-sugary-chocolatey goodness all year long.’ My answer to you will simply be: Yes Coop, my wise little buddy, you are absolutely correct but life is all about making sacrifices.

I hope you learn to love Almond Roca as much as the rest of your family and ancestors before you have. May your love of Almond Roca and the many other holiday traditions that come with it continue to blossom and flourish.

Love,
Mom

Grandpa Pat and I creating another Christmas Miracle

December '08

One of the many stages in the process

Voila! Ahhhh, Christmas can go on.

Skype ya Later

We love Skype! Thank goodness for computers. It has allowed us to stay in touch with Dad while he's in Seattle for what will be 2 weeks. We have a set date every morning before Mark heads off to class. Coop recognizes the catchy little ditty that plays when Skype rings on the computer. He runs right over and knows he gets to "see" Daddy. What a great way to fill Dad in on our day and blow him kisses. Here are some pics of our conversation from this morning. Coop is showing his Dad his new hat and mittens (which by the way, he now refuses to take off). I guess I should be glad that I have to fight him to take them off rather than struggle with him to put them on.

Mark using the cool animation feature to show Coop his 'Birbie'

(I think he's almost as excited to see the birdie as he is to see Dad)

Birbie......I mean DADDY!!!!!

Up close and personal

Hey Mom, could you give us a moment alone Paaaleeeeeassse?!?

Dad laughing at Coop attempting to take a swig of his drink with his mittens on.

Skype ya later Dad!

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See how easy this is Grandma and Grandpa? (hint, hint). I think you'd like this better than windows messenger. Shall we set a date?

Have a Nice Trip

Cooper's 2nd Thanksgiving was mellow and relaxing. It was just the 5 of us (doggies included in the count--of course) and one tasty turkey. We enjoyed the weekend eating, spending time together, decorating the house for Christmas and being thankful for our little man Cooper.

Cooper is quite the traveler these days. He LOVES going on "trips". The travel bug started about the time I went on my trip to Puerto Rico. I get the feeling Dad and Coop must have discussed the fact that Mom was on a trip. Most of his travels consist of a trip around the couch, but he's beginning to branch out a bit. There's no need to apply for a passport or visa just yet as I don't think the couch has any special entry requirements to speak of.

Dad left on a trip of his own yesterday. He'll be in Seattle for the next 2 weeks. This video is for you Dad. We hope this helps fill your day with a little bit of the Coopster. We love you!!

Turkeys

What better time than the day before Thanksgiving to introduce you to Coop's Tu-EEEEs? He is cuckoo over these little guys. I must admit, I'm rather fond of them as well. Those of you who know me well are probably quite surprised that I would speak so fondly of anything pecky with feathers, but how can you not be excited about Turkeys running around in your yard? Coop L.O.V.E, loves birds. Period. That in itself warrants a post of its own because of the irony. Obviously, it skips a generation.

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On a side note, I just googled "gaggle of turkeys" to find the term for group of turkeys, and the answer is: Rafter. Huh, who knew? There you have it. Now you're in the know.

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Anywhoo, this "rafter of turkeys" roams throughout our neighborhood. I use the term neighborhood loosely because we don't have all that many neighbors close by. Therefore, the Turkeys really do feel like our neighbors and are a part of the 'hood. Truly, we see the turkeys more than most of our neighbors of the human variety.


Best of all, they entertain Cooper. If Coop is whiny and upset, we often pull the Turkey Card. All we have to do is ask, "Coop where are your Turkeys?"...."should we go find your Turkeys?" and he stops in his tracks, quits crying and runs for the front window to find them. As we drive down our driveway and road, Coop is always looking for his 'Tu--EEEs'. He even knows the sections where they like to hang out and calls for them at that time. Yes, it's true.....our kid is AMAZING :).


It's really cool when they grace us with their presence while we're in the front yard. Coop sees them and starts squealing like a giddy school girl. He loves them so. We've watched the little babies grow and now they're in the gangly teenager phase. Before you know it, they'll be graduating, running off to college and then getting married. I just hope their parents don't expect us to buy them a graduation gift :). Awkward.


I love that 'Tu-EEE' is part of Coop's growing vocabulary. It makes me smile. Not many toddlers say turkey on a daily basis (unless they've mastered the lyrics to Old MacDonald). Yet another memory that we will cherish and smile about forever. Here are some pics that really aren't that great. Funny, turkeys don't seem to like to pose for photo ops. And I never seem to have the camera handy when they're around.

From our front porch

Look closely to see turkey under the branches

Front yard

Now onto the lesson of explaining to Cooper about tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal. Thankfully, I don't think we'll have to broach the subject just yet. And for that, I am very THANKFUL.........

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us and our friendly neighbors!!!!