Birds and Bees and Giraffes Making Babies

Yesterday we took a family outing to the zoo.  It was a beautiful day, and since we got there early, we were able to enjoy it before it got too crowded.  The new giraffe exhibit had just opened, and the butterfly garden (my favorite) had just re-opened.  I was so excited about the butterflies, so we went there first, and then we made our way over to the giraffes.  One giraffe was obviously "interested" in another giraffe, and the zookeeper told us the female giraffe was, ah-hem, ready to procreate and the male giraffe would not stop following her until he had, well, you know... She would move from tree to tree eating, and he stayed right behind her.  Every now and then he would nuzzle his head against hers, and much of the time he was unable to keep his intentions under wrap ;). The female was definitely flirting and teasing but was making him work for what he wanted.  Each time he got too close, she would scurry off, and each time she scurried off, he went scurrying behind her!  

We had bought a ticket to feed the giraffes, but the zookeeper told us she was afraid we wouldn't get to because if the lady didn't want to come over to us, then her gentleman wasn't coming either.  Luckily, there was another giraffe, and she so graciously came over for us to feed.  Also, luckily, we were done with the feeding before the other two "did the deed" with us there!

We were given 4 pieces of food to feed the giraffe.  Karl was holding Cooper and taking one piece of food at a time from me to feed her.  Coop watched intently, and when he saw one piece left in my hand, he grabbed it and fed it to her just like Karl did.  He held it out perfectly and didn't flinch when she took it from him.  Quite a fearless boy!

After our giraffe feeding, we made our way over to see the tiger, lions, and other predators.  Who would have known that out of everything, Cooper would love the bobcat the most?!  He ran up and down the glass with this bobcat for awhile, laughing hysterically the whole time.  If someone else came to admire the bobcat, Coop had no problem pushing them out of his way.  Finally, we ended up having to carry him away from his new friend!

After lunch, we ventured over to the lorikeets because that is Karl's favorite and not something I take Cooper to see when it's just the two of us.  That many birds in a closed space flying all around and landing on you... not my cup of tea!  However, the boys love it!

We had taken Coop to the zoo for his first birthday.  That was his first visit.  I had a little flashback while we were with the birds...

August 2011

April 2012

He's getting big so fast!  After the lorikeets and a little more exploring, I was ready to go, and it was nap time for Little Man, but since Karl is the adventurous one out of the two of us, he talked me into taking Cooper to the splash pad.  It was so pretty outside, and Cooper was hot, so I quickly agreed.  Wow, am I glad we did!  Cooper loved it more than I have ever seen him love anything (other than lawn equipment).  He was a hoot!!  We had no bathing suit or towel.  We decided we could use his Polo shirt as a towel though. :)  Once we got him stripped down to just shorts and diaper, he took off to the water.  Well, as soon as he got there, the water went down.  And he stood there very confused.  But then the water shot up all around him!  And he stood there very confused...and a little frightened!  After several seconds of standing like a statue, he turned towards us and ran!  These three pictures are my favorite sequence of pictures ever, especially that face in the last one!

Karl took him off to the side, and he loved watching the other children get wet and run around.  Karl kept nudging him and saying, "Get in the water!"  Each time, Cooper would giggle but grab tighter to Karl's shirt.  You could tell he wanted to go but was nervous.  Finally Karl took him over and got him a little wet, and Cooper loved it, but still clung on to Daddy!

But then he got brave and let go of Karl and went and stood on the edge and watched.

Within seconds, he was running towards the water laughing all the way!

He made the sweetest belly laugh the whole time!  He even would run to the water and put just his face in.  He was so happy!!  At one point, he stopped playing and ran over to us and started telling us about something.  He was really rambling and pointing his finger at us.  We have no idea what that was about, but it was hilarious.  After he was done, he ran back to play some more!

I love our quality time we have together as a family, and there is nothing I would rather do than spend time with these two!

Snack Attack

Back in December, Cooper learned that the pantry is like a food toy box.  He could reach the bottom shelf, where the junk food is, and grab what he wanted.  We learned that it's best to keep the pantry door shut when we can't give Coop 100% of our attention!  One afternoon as I was getting dinner ready, I heard some rummaging in the pantry, and I peeked inside to find this...

Busted!

Cooper's interest in the pantry has been a win/win for all though.  He gets to pick out his snacks, and he eats what he picks out.  This has improved Cooper's eating a lot and has made getting him to eat so much easier.  He definitely likes to have some charge over things and knows what he wants!  I've found that if it's his idea (or he thinks it is), then he is much more cooperative.  However, that's the same philosophy I use in my marriage. ;) It must be a man thing! 

Speaking of snacks and eating, Cooper discovered popsicles recently.  It was a love-at-first-bite thing for sure.  Now he is constantly asking for popsicles or ice cream.  I love the way he says both of these words, but I can't figure out how to type them the way he says them.  He gets very excited about both of these things though, so needless to say, our freezer has quite the variety now!  Last week when he got up from his nap, I gave him a popsicle, and we sat on the deck while he ate it.  He looked so big to me and so relaxed!

From that day on, he has requested a popsicle every day after nap.  The other day I gave him a popsicle, threw the wrapper away, and walked into the living room to join him.  This is what I saw...

 And it cracked me up!  

*Pun intended!!*

Boo-Boos and Band Aids

We have experienced our first set of skinned knees.  And our second.  And our third.  As the weather warmed in March, we traded our pants for shorts, and we invested in a couple pairs of new shoes, which of course, I bought a little big so that we could get plenty of wear out of them.  Between the bare legs and our shoes being a bit too big and running being our favorite thing to do, Little Man has met with the pavement a few times in the past month.  The first time was the saddest because he kept trying to rub the hurt off them, which made them hurt worse and was just so pitiful.  The worst time thus far was when he already had both knees skinned up and he took off down the sidewalk like a loose canon because he spotted a "moa" (aka mower) being used a few doors down.  He re-skinned the already skinned knees.  Ouch!  Since then he has done better about letting them heal before skinning them again.  Now every time he falls, he immediately looks at his knees, even if he didn't hit them.  He also loves to check on them randomly throughout the day, whimper as he looks at me so I'll kiss them, and then carry on with his other activities.  I love that he thinks Mommy can make them better!  He's also discovered Band Aids.  We've been going through a lot of those in the past two months.  I had a little pre-skin cancer spot on my back.  After two biopsies and a little surgery, it is finally gone.  However, it still requires a bandage until it's fully healed, so I keep a box on my nightstand, and my sweet husband replaces my bandage at night.  Coop thinks these things are pretty cool.  We did put Band Aids on his knees after his worst fall because they were bleeding, but typically we don't because he pulls them right off.  However, he knows what they're for, and he loves to get the bandages off my nightstand and try to put them on his knees, even when they are boo-boo free.  After many minutes and a lot of effort, he can get one on, and then he wants another.  And another.  I have a feeling it's time for us to invest some money in Band-Aid stock!

Easter 2012

This Easter might have been my favorite one yet.  We had had such a wonderful week preparing for this special day, and all our fun crafts added so much joy to the day.  However, our activities were not yet complete.  It was time to celebrate with old traditions and the start of new ones!

Activity Easter Basket:

Little Man was pretty excited about his basket.  He immediately ran over, grabbed a coconut cream egg out and started trying to eat it, wrapper and all!  When I opened his Reese Pieces carrot, he dropped that egg like it was garbage and started dancing!  Apparently sugar kicks in fast!  He really wasn't interested in the other stuff in his basket after he tasted the Reese Pieces.  Those were a new favorite!

Activity Breakfast:

I wanted to have a special Easter breakfast-something unique that we could enjoy each year on this holiday.  So after spending way too much time on Pinterest that week, I had settled on Resurrection Rolls (and scrambled eggs-gotta have eggs on Easter in honor of spring!).  I loved that each ingredient represented something in explaining what Easter is truly about.  Cooper is obviously too young to understand, but I think this will be a good tool in helping him grasp the basics of this story in a few years.  I have to admit, I was pretty excited when I pulled these yummy things out of the oven and the inside was empty!  Pretty cool!  And I was excited to find that they tasted like cinnamon rolls...very easy-to-make cinnamon rolls, nonetheless!

Activity Easter Egg Hunt:

After enjoying our morning, eating lunch, and taking naps, it was time for this great tradition!  Who doesn't love an egg hunt?!  As it turns out, maybe we should have practiced technique beforehand.  

This was how Little Man did it.  He would NOT put an egg in his basket, and he would NOT pick up another egg until he had eaten the jellybean out of the first one.  He had his own system for sure.  However, he loved those jellybeans!  I'm very glad I only put one in each egg because he might have ended up with a major tummy ache if I had put more!  

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the hunt and from the day as a whole:

Activity Easter Dinner:
We had a delicious, traditional Easter dinner as we watched the end of the Masters, another favorite tradition.  We had ham (my first time to do a ham), macaroni au gratin (fancy mac and cheese recipe), green beans, and fresh rolls (also my first time to do).  We finished it off with our sugar cookies and bunny pops.

 What a day!  What a wonderful, special, remarkable day!

Springing into Easter Fun!

We had a wonderful Easter week, and we were so busy having fun and celebrating this special holiday and wonderful time of the year that blogging about it took a backseat.  Then we spent the next week being so busy cleaning up and recuperating from all the celebrating that blogging took another backseat. 

So... 

Happy (late) Easter!

Before I get into Easter though, I have a little background confession.  Sometimes I really miss teaching.  A LOT.  I am very, very grateful that I get to stay home and spend my days with my little boy; however, sometimes I yearn to be back in my classroom.  I miss having twenty five years old sitting in a circle around me soaking up new stuff and thirsting for more.  I miss the satisfaction of teaching and the evidence of learning.  I miss the girls I taught with.  I miss the structure and routine of a school day.  I miss being showered every day and dressed in nice, clean clothes.  I miss feeling competent.  Some mornings when Coop and I stand at the front door and wave as the school bus drives by, I want to run out and jump on board.  I had a great job.  

However, no amount of reminiscing could ever make me want to give up my current great job.  I might spend most days un-showered, dressed in "workout" clothes, feeling like the most incompetent mother in the whole entire world, and running around senselessly trying to find a missing (but beloved) sippy cup, but this is the job of a lifetime.  And when I get that teaching itch, as I recently did before Easter, I have my little boy to humor me as I get it out of my system.  

Back to Easter week...

I had the teaching itch.  Bad.  So I decided that every day that week, Coop and I would do some type of activity in honor of Easter or spring.  We would make all kinds of crafts and do all this great fun stuff.  I was so excited!  I should have blogged about this before I started attempting each thing so all the mothers who read this could politely say, "Have you lost your mind???"  or "Isn't your son 1 1/2 and incapable of sitting still?" or "You should rename your blog 'Two Fools and a Baby.'" (Sorry, Karl, to throw you under the bus with me on that one.)  Honestly, we did have fun though.  Each thing turned out crazy and messy, but it all led to a special, wonderful Easter.

Activity Bunny Pops:

We took these ingredients...

and turned them into these...

Cute, huh?! And pretty easy too!  Cooper helped me use the bunny cutter to punch out a couple ears from the marshmallows, but then all he wanted to do was eat the jellybeans.  As it turns out, the boy loves some jellybeans!  Although our activity this day was supposed to be "Bunny Pops," I guess it really was "Practice Eating Jellybeans Without Choking." He also helped me by taking all the ribbons off the lollipop sticks after I tied them on.  Yes, this activity ended up being completed by myself while Cooper napped.  Nonetheless, we had fun punching out 4 ears together! :)

Activity Finger Painting:

When Cooper and I did handprint art at Christmas, it was super easy and not messy.  However, much has changed in a few months with this rambunctious boy!  I printed off two large Easter eggs for Coop to finger paint.   He wasn't really into the rub-the-paint-around-on-the-paper type of finger painting as much as he enjoyed the slap-the-paint-really-hard-so-it-splatters type.  I cleaned paint off the blinds, windows, wall, floor, light fixture, table, and chairs after we were done.  His eggs were colorful though!  I had also printed a plain Easter egg, and I gave him a paintbrush and yellow paint for that.  He really enjoyed using the paintbrush, and surprisingly enough, he did better with the paintbrush than his hands.  We turned the yellow egg into a chick with handprint wings and feet.  Despite the messiness, this was our favorite activity.  Coop loved "painting," and I loved his artwork!  (no pictures during the activity...for obvious reasons)

Activity Dying Easter Eggs:

Karl was home for this special activity.  As a little girl I LOVED dying eggs.  I think I might have to give him a couple more years before he gets into this though.  When we had gone to the store to get all our craft stuff earlier that week, I didn't check the eggs I was buying.  I always check the eggs.  When I got the eggs out of the refrigerator later that week to boil them, I opened them to find that 5 were majorly cracked and broken.  I'm not sure if they were that way at the store or if Little Man stepped on them in the cart or if I wasn't gentle in putting them in the car or what.  That left us with only 7 to dye; however, that ended up being fine because Coop enjoyed throwing the eggs into the cups, and was bored with the whole thing after throwing the first few in.  While we waited for them to change colors, Karl and Coop wondered off and played.  Neither of them was interested in dying eggs with me!  I got tickled when we took them out of the cups though because Cooper was used to playing with plastic eggs and kept trying to squeeze the dyed eggs to open them like he does the plastic ones!  He started getting frustrated quickly when they wouldn't open, so we wrapped this activity up fast!

Activity Sugar Cookies:

I gave Karl a list to choose from for our Easter dessert.  Coconut cream pie, coconut cupcakes or cake, or sugar cookies.  He surprised me by choosing sugar cookies.  I didn't have any Easter or spring cookie cutters, so we made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and got one shaped like a bunny (also used for the bunny pop ears) and one shaped like an egg.  I baked and started icing the cookies during Coop's nap, and then Karl and I finished icing them that night.  I don't normally like to make any type of rolled cookie because I'm not good at getting the dough even with a rolling pin, but these ended up being so good!  On Easter, I piped little whipped cream tails on the bunnies.  Cooper's role for this activity: taste tester!  

(Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie recipe from allrecipes.com-cookies and icing both had almond extract, which gave them a different taste than typical sugar cookies, and the cream cheese in the cookies made them soft and chewy)

All these fun activities led us up to Easter morning, but that special day deserves a post to itself!  Stay tuned!

What's Mine is Yours

While at my grandmother's house, I found my old tea table and chairs from my bedroom when I was a little girl.  My other grandmother had bought them for me when my brother was born.  I remember going to the store with her and finding them.  It was my "big sister" present, and I really don't think she could have gotten me something more special.  Countless hours were spent at this table doing crafts, hosting tea parties with both friends and dolls, reading books, playing games, and being a little girl.  Out of everything in my room from when I was little, it was this set that meant the most to me.  As I grew up, I outgrew (both physically and mentally) the tea table and chairs.  When we sold our house, they got sent to my grandmother's basement.  

Now that I have a little one, it was time to bring them home again.

After spending at least the last decade in her basement, to simply say they were disgusting is an understatement.  They were covered in mold and a fungus was growing on the bottom of one of the chairs.  This is in addition to the years of wear they showed from my loving use.  They were scuffed up, stained, chipped, and even cracked.  

They were not beyond hope though!  I have never done a "painting project" before because I am not artistic.  I am crafty with things that include paper and glue (thanks to being a kindergarten teacher), but major projects do not typically call my name.  And this was, for me, a major project.

 So, I started with something I'm good at: Cleaning.  I got out a bucket, a sponge, a jug of Clorox, and the hose.  I gave it two bleach baths.  Next came the first of four trips to Home Depot.  I picked out my paint and materials.  After roughing up the surface with something (I don't remember the name) that took off the shine and made the surface not-as-smooth, it was painting time!  I sprayed the chairs and legs of the table a creamy white color, rather than the bright white they had been.  It took 5-6 coats for me to be satisfied.  I painted the top of the table with chalkboard paint so that Coop and I could draw pictures right on it.  That took 4-5 coats.  The whole thing took a whole week.  It would have taken a normal person maybe 3 days, and that would mostly be because of the wait time between the coatings of chalkboard paint.  Nevertheless, it's done, and I have great expectations for its future.

 I did it for myself just as much as for my little boy.  I did it for the projects we will complete at it and the games we will play on it.  I did it because it was special to me, and although I highly doubt it will ever be special to him, I do hope the memories will be.  And maybe, maybe, one day a little girl will be added to our family, and she and I will have tea parties at it.

Little Man took an immediate liking to it and has spent more time at it already than I thought he would.  He even christened the chalkboard top by drawing on it with his crayons! :)

To Grandmother's House We Go (Went)!

A couple weekends ago, we went to visit my extended family in Georgia.  It was a short trip, but we packed a lot of sweet memories into it.  

We used little Paxton as our excuse to go this time.  Sweet P is one now, and it was time to celebrate that big milestone!  

Stephanie did an absolutely amazing job with everything-invitations, decorations, food, favors, etc.  She did a vintage newspaper boy theme, and it was truly one of the cutest themes I've ever seen.  The invitation looked like the front of a newspaper and the headline was "From Baby to Big Boy" with a picture of Paxton as both a newborn and now a "big boy" (since he's the baby of the family, I refuse to call him 'big'!) in black and white.  The food was delicious and went along with the theme.  She served hamburger sliders, turkey sandwiches with grape tomatoes and pickles attached on top with a toothpick, caprese salad on skewers, mac and cheese in little cups, chips in muffin cup liners, fun candy (Peeps, Hershey kisses, rock candy, Bazooka gum, Pixi sticks, etc.), cake pops, cupcakes, and cake.  The best part was the punch.  It was the BEST punch I've ever tasted, and it was nonalcoholic too, so children of all ages got to enjoy!  I haven't gotten the recipe from her yet, but I remember her saying it had blue Kool-Aid and Bacardi pina colada frozen mix in it, as well some other stuff.  It was refreshing and just flat-out yummy!  To make it even cuter, she served it in mason jars.  It was her attention to detail that really made the whole party incredible.  For the favors, she had brown paper lunch sacks with the number one cut out of newspaper glued on the front.  We got to fill our bags with all the fun candy she had.  Everything was precious and fitting to the theme.  The pictures don't do it justice!

While at the party, I gave Coop a Peep thinking he would love it.  He threw me for a major curve ball though.  The kid walked around for a long time just holding it in his mouth.  He wouldn't take a bite of it, chew on it, or even take it out of his mouth!  Finally, he took a bite and decided he didn't like it after all, so he handed the soggy, gooey mess back to me!

The weather was beautiful the whole weekend, and we spent a lot of time outside during our visit.  Cooper is happiest when he's outside, and I think warm sunshine brings a happy smile to everyone's face!

Cooper enjoyed running wild and free, watering his GG-Mama's flowers, trying to push over her trees, and relaxing.  Funny story about the trees...  During our last visit Karl and Stephanie's husband were looking at some dead trees in my grandmother's yard.  Karl pushed on one to see if it gave at all.  Cooper saw this and has since pushed on every tree he sees.  I wish pictures included sound because he grunts really hard when he pushes on the trees like he's really trying hard.  It is really funny!  My little muscle man!

On Sunday morning we ventured over to a neighbor's land to see his beautiful daffodil garden.  He has quite a show in the spring, and this allowed me to get some beautiful spring time pictures of my growing boy!

 I wanted a picture of my grandmother, Cooper, and me in this beautiful garden.  Cooper would not look at the camera...

...and the more we tried, the more he resisted!

I have always loved visiting my grandmother's house.  As I took Cooper on "adventures" around her house and through her yard, I was flooded with precious memories from my childhood.  I remembered what it felt like to run wild and free down her long driveway, to climb and hide behind her trees, to sit on the porch drinking a gingerale, to water and admire her flowers, to spend time with family, to eat way too much sugar, and to, well, just be a kid.  As I looked at my little boy and my cousin's little boys playing in the driveway and our husbands "playing" (cutting down the dead trees--but you should have seen the joy in their eyes as they started up those chainsaws!) in the woods, my soul was filled with the same joy as it was then.  I could feel the same excitement and freedom I felt then, and each time I looked at Cooper and saw his little eyes twinkling with delight, I'm pretty sure he felt it too.