Snapshots: Two and a half

Someone is celebrating his half birthday today!

I realized earlier this month that I haven't updated on Mr. Cooper in awhile, but thought I would just push the post off until today, his half birthday! My biggest hope is that as we get closer to 3 we will leave the sassiness and inability to reason that is the Terrible Twos far, far behind. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I really don't remember the last time I updated, and I count on this blog for our family yearbook that I put together in December (great Christmas presents for the grandparents!) so I'm just going to try and update everything since his birthday!

You now sleep in the toddler bed, because you were a monkey climbing out of the crib and it just wasn't safe. However, 80 percent of the time, you want to sleep on the end that doesn't have the little half rail, and end up falling out of bed. Whoops. Silly boy.
Since you have all this unrestricted movement, you aren't near as good of a sleeper as you used to be. Most nights, you won't go to bed until around 10 p.m. You typically get up between 6:30 and 7 during the week, but sometimes we get lucky and you'll go until 8 on the weekends.
Naps are a struggle. You are just so busy and hate to think you may be missing out on something (But you do just fine at daycare.)

You have a mind of your own and once you make it up, there's no changing it. Cooper's way or the highway! If you don't like the shirt I've picked for you or something, all is wrong in your world! Just last week, one of your chairs blew into the pasture, and you would.not.sit.down.to.eat until your daddy went and retrieved it.
Your eating is different every day. It's hilarious though, most of the time if you see a McDonalds or Burger King, you start yelling. FRIES! CHICKEN! Haha.
Most mornings, you have your milk and yogurt (AKA sauce) before going to daycare. Sometimes you steal some of daddy's sandwich. Then you also eat at Mrs. Robin's!
In addition to pizza, spaghetti and noodles, you really love Mexican. Since they are pretty easy going restaurants and have chips, that's where we go 80 percent of the time that we go out to eat as a family, because you can be an embarrassing little man. You also love to eat the salsa with a spoon.

You LOVE chocolate milk, but only demand it at our house. You have a little system: You have to get the spoon. Mommy pours the milk. You "do it" by getting the Nesquik and putting in the cup. You need AT LEAST two dips, sometimes three. Then we stir. Then you lick the spoon. Then you MUST take a drink before we put the lid on. Whew. Lemme tell you, sometimes its like watching paint dry.
I'd say you are about 70 percent potty trained. We need to be better about having you wear the big boy underwear at home.
Your Grandma and Paw Paw got you a pedal tractor for Christmas but you have had trouble peddling. Well, you still aren't a pro, but are catching on!

You are a total daddy's boy. Sometimes I'll say "I love Cooper!" and you reply "I love Daddy!" Ugh. I'm pretty sure you do it just to annoy me, so I'm trying not to let it bother me.

You repeat TV/commercials at time and it's so cute. At the end of Eggland's Best commercials, you always say "It's EB!" We watch Wheel of Fortune every night, and you always tell Vanna "Bye Bye" at the end. We may rewind a few times to keep hearing you say it.
You are OBSESSED with your scabs, bruises, etc. You skinned your knee earlier this week and kept saying "Ouchie. Boo Boo" until we kissed it and got a band aid. Which you ripped off within 30 minutes. Yikes.
Whenever you see my workout mat or weights you say "Mommy. Work out?" It's cute. You are my little trainer.

You love the water. I have to be careful about saying that I'm about to take a bath or shower, or you run in and hijack it. Not only are you starting to get too old for this, you ALWAYS pee the minute you get in, and that's just gross.

You are now obsessed with tractors and automobiles. While driving you'll be like "Car. Truck. Truck. Car. Big Truck!"
In April, you stayed with your grandparents for a week while mommy & daddy went to Auntie Bella's wedding in California. You did great!
You absolutely love Mickey Mouse and usually watch at least one episode a day. You also like Ice Age movies, Curious George and Cars.
You absolutely love to be outside. You get mad when we make you come in. You like blowing bubbles, playing in the water, swinging, playing with your big toys and all of it.
You really, really lover your Coco dog! You like to take her "toast" (really just bread) as a treat.

You have figured out how to open the door. Which is scary. One day we had a family nap and woke up to you ringing the doorbell. We are installing a hotel-type lock ASAP.
You are my little monkey man and will climb ANYTHING. I see several trips to the ER in our future :/

You are OBSESSED with pow-pows (guns) as well. Most kids hate loud noises but you absolutely love it.
You call yourself "Pooper." It's adorable. I know you can say your "C's" because you enunciate very well when you say Coco. The other day I was calling you Coopy and you said "No, my name is Pooper." Ha!

Before bed pretty much every night, I sing "spider song" (The Itsy Bitsy Spider) and "Twinkle Star."
Remember how I said you are mean to me? I try to kiss you at night and you put up your hand and say "no tisses." If I do sneak one, you usually wipe it away. But when I leave you at daycare in the morning, we blow kisses, then rub our bellies and say "Yummy Tummy."
When it comes to food, etc. you hate messes. But it's so funny. If one of us makes a mess, you'll say "Mommy messy," like we are in trouble. But if you do, you'll say "Pooper messy" like it's the neatest thing ever.
You like helping me rinse the dishes. You still aren't the greatest and often have trouble stacking, but it makes you feel so important.
Like most boys, you like playing with balls. Kicking, throwing, etc. You call most of them basketballs though.

One of our biggest complaints is your thumb sucking. You do it mostly in the car or if you are bored/mad. As if that wasn't bad enough, you have now begun sucking your thumb and sticking your pointer finger up your nose. GROSS! Miss Robin has you wear a sock over your hand at nap and says you ask for it, but you moan and wail if we try to put it on you!
You like to have suckers. You also like jello, pudding and oatmeal cream pies. You have a sweet tooth, just like your momma, but are still a little shrimp (I think you've only gained 2 lbs. in the past six months) because you are so active.

You are starting to get a memory and it blows.my.mind.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot (so there may be updates) but I could probably go on & on & on. Just know that this is a very frustrating age, especially because I don't have a lot of patience. But it's so fun, because we really are beginning to see your little personality develop and it's so sweet.