AWESOME!

Awesome... the name of this week's blog post. I have a few new Cadenisms that I now say at least one hundred times a day. They include, "AWESOME," "Whoa Dude," and "Coopie, shut-up!" The last one I learned from Mason at daycare and while he gets timeouts when he says this, my Dad chose to laugh hysterically. While in Wally World (Wal-Mart) I told my parents and innocent bystanders to "shut-up" during our shopping experience. Mommy is trying to redirect with "Quiet please" so that I learn a nice way to tell others to pipe down. In the car, if my brother is crying, I just tell him to "shut up" which doesn't always work. Apparently this is not a good word to learn, so I will have to do my best to say other things, such as "Shhhhh!" Mommy loves the picture of me above as I am playing Daddy's helper in the garage. I am fascinated by the air compressor and I especially like my Black and Decker tool set. The goggles are a must, safety first!

Last weekend, we went to visit Great-Grandpa Jim (Cooper's middle name is James in honor of him). Great-Grandpa has had Alzheimer's Disease for over 10 years and he is not doing so well these days. He just likes to stare at us, so we talk to him and act like nothing is out of the norm. Papa also joined us and he wore his special Father's Day t-shirt from the grandkids. Yes, he is one of those nerds that wears their kids pictures on clothing. He loves it! We visited with everyone there and I had fun swimming in Great-Grandpa's beautiful pool outside.

There were lots of pictures taken this day by family so I decided to ham it up for the camera.

Papa, Grandma Sharon, Cooper and I attempted a photo together. Of course, I had to do something silly such as take Cooper's nuk away just to ruin the picture...."Ugh," says Mommy.

People often ask who I look like and here is some proof. I have some of my Daddy and some of my Papa. It is especially noticeable in our chins... Papa, Daddy, and I all have a dimple in the center of our chin. Mine is covered up by my slimy, spitty finger.

Papa and Grandma Sharon couldn't believe how much Cooper grew in four weeks. They have been busy the past month and haven't seen Cooper since the hospital. He of course was a pleasant little guy during the visit.

Auntie-Grandma Lynda (confusing title but this is what we call Mommy's aunt) held Cooper and gave us each a gift. Lynda and I spent lots of quality time together in Florida. She is a wonderful person.

Auntie-cousin Melissa and Camden, not to be confused with Caden, also came to see us at Great-Grandpa's house. Melissa has always been a second sister to my Mommy which is why she earns the "auntie" title in her name. After a full day of visiting, we promised we would see everyone soon, especially since things are finally calming down.

Another fun outing lately was a trip to the State Waterski Tournament. My Uncle Matt is the show director of Janesville's waterski team and he is an avid waterskiier. Daddy and I made the two hour journey to support him and his team. Daddy's extended family lives near the state tournament site, so they joined us to cheer on the teams too.

I especially loved the ski boats that flew by during the shows. I was a good little boy and was quite amused by the action.

Uncle Matt's team had some amazing acts. This pyramid is not their biggest one; they have built a five high pyramid before. Matt is the center base for the pyramid~what a stud! Out of the 15 or so teams, Uncle Matt's team took first place at the tournament and will be skiing in the National tournament in August.

Soon to be auntie Jill kept me busy with tickles and Grammy gave me lots of cuddles.

Cousin Mike, on the other hand, gave me coffee! He is the one who started me on it a year ago or so. He likes his coffee with sugar and cream, which makes it delicious in my tummy. My parents would NEVER let me drink this stuff at home. When I saw Mike at the ski show, I walked right up to him, grabbed his mug, and finished his coffee right off. Daddy couldn't believe his eyes.

I must be cheering or revving my engine (pretending to be a ski boat) with this expression.

Once we got home, we headed to the lake to do some waterskiing of our own. This was Mommy's first waterski debut this summer and she was not cleared to ski by her doctor (shhhh). We took extra precautions to make sure no one got hurt.... padded wetsuits-check!, nose tape-check!, gloves-check!, ski boom- check!, footies-check! All set to ski!

Daddy decided that since I turned two, I was now capable of skiing, well sort of. I hung onto Daddy like a little monkey and held on for dear life. I didn't cry, cheer, or make a sound for that matter. At the end of my ski run, I had the slightest smirk as everyone cheered for me.

Almost up! Good thing Daddy is so strong.

We are up and skiing! Daddy did not want to push it too much by having me stand on his skiis. Next summer I will be ready and tall enough for that.

Daddy showed us some backwards barefooting skills.... AWESOME DUDE!

Mommy gave the thumbs up after she got up footin'. She normally would do this barefoot (without the footies), but she decided to be a little cautious while going 32 mph on water.

This is Mommy's, "I know I shouldn't be doing this grin." It's a good thing that Mommy's doctor doesn't have this blog address :)

Uncle Jimmy did some barefooting and tumble turns too! All of the "old farts" (aka Daddy, Mommy and Uncle Jimmy) declared how they were too old for this stuff after a few skiing runs as their bodies began to ache. I have no idea what they are talking about... I was just getting started when they decided it was time to head in for the day.

Happy 1 month birthday Cooper! Tuesday, July 20th was his one month b-day. He is getting SO big! Just look at all of those chins. People ask who Cooper looks like, so Mommy did a bit of investigating. Here is a picture of Cooper above on his one month birthday, a picture of me below at two months, and a picture of Daddy at about three months of age. It doesn't take a true detective to see that he looks like me and Daddy! Isn't it a bit shocking!?!?!

My two month old picture... look at my crazy hair!

Daddy's baby picture, around 3 months old Mommy thinks.

Cooper, that lucky dog, went to a pool party without me. Mommy and Heather were able to switch classrooms next year and have now officially moved into their "Cadillac" classroom! It even has a gigantic storage room for all of their crap (who taught me that word...Daddy???) Since Mommy worked three days in a row this week at school, I went to Jenny's to play and stay busy. Cooper went with Mommy to school and was a "perfect angel" in Mommy's words (show off). To make matters worse, he not only had Mommy time, but he enjoyed sitting pool side at Shauna's house. What a life!

Mommy and Cooper showing off the new classroom bulletin board that "Heather's Helpers" created (aka Heather's Mom and family friend). Mommy is SO, SO thankful for the extra help they received. The room looks AWESOME (I love my new word!)

Here is "DUDE," my other favorite word, sleeping away in the classroom while Mommy scrambled to get some things done before he woke up.

One night, we met up with Wade, Doris, "Juice" (Joel), and Evan at Culver's for ice cream. Evan was one of Mommy's students a few years ago and they have kept in contact ever since. We brought Evan a b-day gift and they brought gifts for Cooper and me. Mostly I was fascinated by the Culver's front door and poor Daddy had to chase me around while everyone else visited and ate treats.

We should dub Evan the baby whisperer. Cooper has a fussy time each night from around 6:00-10:00 p.m. Some nights are better than others, but on Culvers night, he was a fussy little guy. He really liked Evan and would gaze at him and quiet down. When Cooper was passed to others, he would begin to cry again. Too bad Evan is not a few years older because he would be the perfect, little responsible babysitter.

This past weekend, we decided to head to the beach for a dip. Cooper's schedule is more predictable and we thought it would be fun to venture out. It was a perfect day for the beach.

While Cooper snoozed (he does have tropical swim trunks on), I played in the water with Daddy.

Mommy tried to mega zoom her camera to get a picture of us playing. All photos turned out blurry, but this was the best she could get.

Before we left for the rootbeer stand, I gave my brother some kisses for the camera. I give Coopie kisses throughout the day and I am being a very good brother, to my parents delight.

We look forward to a quiet week ahead and another weekend at home coming up. We are settling into a schedule these days which is great for everyone! In closing, have an AWESOME week ahead, DUDES :)

A blurry month!

As mentioned in previous blog posts, we had professional photos done when Cooper was just one week old. Cousin Kristin came to do newborn pictures, my two-year pictures, family photos, and pictures of me and Cooper together. We love the pictures and want to thank Kristin for her expertise and patience!

It's hard to believe that my little brother is nearly one month old! He will be four weeks this Sunday! Where has time gone? We ordered birth announcements and for anyone who reads this blog, you get a sneak peek of it!

While Kristin waited for my mood to improve, she took a few pictures of Liberty and surprised Mommy with them. Liberty is our 7 year old Golden Retriever who I enjoy harassing on a daily basis. Liberty is a trooper through all of the changes we have had lately. I especially enjoy bugging her during thunderstorms where we have to carry the 62 pound dog into the storage room (aka bomb shelter) for some much needed R&R. This week, she has been in her kennel a lot! We had some crazy storms yesterday and luckily we didn't have too much damage (just a few landscaping "issues").
A week ago, we said, "Goodbye" to Auntie Erin, Uncle Ben, Kyra, and Bennett. They headed back to Georgia after a two week stay. Grammy and Uncle Ben put up a new swingset for us. It only took them two days and Uncle Ben was ready to have a nervous breakdown! We admired his handiwork and Daddy was sure glad to get out of that one! Thanks guys for the fun new toy :)

Yes, I still have my dinner caked on my face... fries and mac n' cheese, my favorites, can't you tell!?!?

We hope to head to GA for Thanksgiving to visit everyone soon... we miss you guys already!

Cooper's first trek was to the cities, no surprise there. Mommy's family was thrilled to have us drive over for the day. In the excitement, Mommy only snapped one photo, oops! I guess times are changing with photo sessions!

Cousin Lexi was REALLY excited to hold Cooper. She was at Girl Scout's Camp when he was born and she was super bummed to have to wait. Lexi is a great cousin and is like a sister to us boys. Too bad she isn't a bit older b/c she would be a FUN babysitter!

After our visit, we headed to Mommy's friend, Meggen's house. It was a mini high school reunion (minus some that couldn't make it or were not pictured~ Holly). We had fun playing with all of the toys, socializing, and BBQ'ing. After a few hours, we had to make a run for it because bad weather was coming our way. We drove home late that night.

Here are the kiddos! It's weird for Mommy and friends to see each other as parents. This was before I tipped backwards on a chair and somewhat fell apart the rest of the evening.

Mommy is impressed with my patience here as I am waiting for a Popsicle. If I were at home, I would have made a huge stink and wanted it N-O-W. She is amazed by my personality switch when we are around others. I am a good boy, but lately I have been testing my parents' patience.

Lauren and Abby have a super fun bouncy horse. Mommy had one back in the day that she named "Good Ol' Boy" after the Dukes of Hazzard. This horse was similar to hers and I really got going on it. You can tell how much I worried Mommy and Marcus as both of them were on standby thanks to a crazy two year old.

We had more visitors on Sunday... Cory, Andy, Megan and Easton came for dinner and a playdate. We had fun together and enjoyed seeing them (oops, Mommy did not do well with the camera again!) Cory, Andy and kids had to make a mad dash thanks to more crazy weather that came that night!. We have had an eventful week of bad weather but luckily, nothing major has been damaged here.

So, what's up ahead? Just more settling in as we continue to get this routine thing down. My brother is awake more during the day and he has a good sleeping pattern at night. He is up every two and a half to three hours to nurse, but it is predictable. Daddy's job is to do diaper changes in the middle of the night and my job is to sleep and ignore the chaos. Cooper (I call him "Coopy") and I like to gaze at each other and I especially like putting his "Grody Butt" diapers in the garbage for Mommy. We are doing great and look forward to taking better and more pictures in the weeks ahead!