At two, my little man is quite the little man. He picks up on everything and loves to copy Karl and me. His most recent fascination is keys. He sneaks my keys out of my purse when he can. He hits everyone's pocket to see if he hears a jingle. If he does, he quickly confiscates their keys. He loves to sit in the car, put the keys in the ignition, and pretend to drive. He turns on the blinkers and windshield wipers, honks the horn, fiddles with the radio, puts on his seatbelt, and now can even open and close the garage door. (My dad's jeep is his favorite. I think it's because he keeps snacks in there.)
Anywhere we go in public, he insists on carrying the keys. Not for the obvious reason though. Did you know that keys make awesome pretend chainsaws?! You can pretend to chainsaw the grocery cart making really loud, "ZZZZZZZZZZZZ" noises and everyone will look!
That's another thing about this little boy--he has got an imagination! I love watching him use popsicle sticks, broom handles, and rulers as chainsaws. I also love when he uses flat rectangular objects as pretend phones. He loves to play, and he can turn any object into whatever he needs it to be, including play dough as a band aid. His little shins are always bruised and scabbed, but that's part of being a boy. He is happiest outside running free. If he's inside, he still runs free, usually chasing poor Sadie through the house trying to get her to chase him. Coop loves to be chased, and he loves that dog. His first sentence (other than, "I pooped") was, "Saaaee, cuh!" (Sadie come!)
While he is still a man of few words, his speech is starting to pick up some. He can name tools without a problem, but he also frequently says family members' names ("Mommy"-not Mama anymore, "Daddy," "Saaee," "Papa," "Pappy," "NeeNee," "Nana," "Nih-Nih"), please, thank you, more, all done, ball, hat, car, truck, animal noises (our favorites are when he does a rooster and a turkey), potty, candy, juice, cracker, no, and the list goes on! He used to say "no" by pushing his tongue out instead of pushing the tip to the roof of his mouth for the /n/ sound. We loved that, but now he says it like a pro and shakes his head to give it its full effect. I guess practice does make perfect! He uses two and three word sentences like, "Daddy work." (that's his answer when I ask him where Daddy is) and "Mommy got it." Even though he doesn't say much, we can normally figure out what he wants by his hand gestures and how animated he gets. My favorite is when he hears something unusual or something happens that excites him, he puts his hand over his mouth and usually says, "Wooh!" I love that!
He loves to share and makes sure you have something similar to him at all times. If he plays with his weedeater, he gives you the chainsaw. If he has a hammer, you have a hammer. If he is using his potty, he wants you sitting on the toilet too. If he gets candy, you have to have some too before he'll take a bite of his. This is how our daily popsicle date came to be. At some point every afternoon, Cooper wants a popsicle. He gets so excited about his popsicles that he'll start dancing while he waits for you to get it open. It is truly hilarious, and we have named this the "Popsicle Dance" (not the most creative, but if you say, "Do the popsicle dance," he'll immediately start doing it!). However, he won't touch that popsicle until I have one too. Then we take our popsicles to the screened in porch and sit there and eat them. We normally trade a few bites into them and then trade again a few more times before they're all gone. This is my favorite time each day. I love how important it is to him that things are fair and that everyone enjoys what he's enjoying. I love the heart of this little boy.
He's also very responsible and tidy. If he spills something, he wants to clean it up. If his toys are all out, he'll pick them up and put them where they go. He takes care of his stuff, and it amazes me that at two years old, he already shows such appreciation and respect.
That doesn't mean we don't have our moments. This kid can be majorly strong willed and stubborn (I don't know where he gets that from!). He is very selective with his hearing and does a great job tuning me out sometimes. We're becoming familiar with time out, and Karl's mom passed on her spanking spoon, which I have proudly and conveniently displayed on the kitchen counter. It only took one time for Cooper to learn about the spanking spoon. The other day when he was acting up, I picked it up, and he shaped up in record time! Every now and then he experiments with the terrible twos, but thankfully he ops for the terrific twos for the most part (for now at least).
He is a very happy boy. He is my best little buddy, and I am constantly overwhelmed by how much I love him. He amazes me daily, and I am so proud of him. He is so kind and loving. He is helpful and independent. He is full of energy and laughter. I know he will make people's lives better throughout his life. He certainly has made mine better.
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