Sorry, BUTT we have been busy!

As the title states, "Sorry, BUTT we have been busy!" We had high hopes to post an update weeks ago, but it has been, well, busy! Where did February go? More importantly, who is going to burn this photo of Cooper and me? If I were Cooper, I would try to eat this picture as fast as possible.

Daddy went on his annual snowmobiling trip with 7 others to northern MN. While he was away, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the cities. We had lots of fun weekend plans and one of the highlights was meeting our friends, Meggen, Lauren and Abby at the Children's Museum. The first stop was to a toddler area; this was a great place to run up and down ramps, go down slides and pretend to ice fish.

We tried and tried, but couldn't get the walleye to come out of the plexi-glass fishing hole. Cooper and I made a great team. I am sure we will be great ice fishermen someday.

The Children's Museum has a new Lego exhibit. This area was a major zoo and we didn't spend a lot of time in it. I was more determined to put the Lego's back in the containers vs. playing with them. I think I have some of my Mom's OCD in me.

My favorite exhibit at the Children's Museum was the "places in our neighborhood" area. I was fascinated by the city bus and wanted to sit on the seat as a passenger and I loved having turns being the bus driver. Mommy is glad I didn't have a meltdown when it was time to leave.

This picture could be titled, "HANDS OFF!" I was happily pushing my grocery cart in the pretend grocery store when other toddlers decided it was their turn. I took my cart duties very seriously and was careful not to nail anyone. I do "OK" with sharing and often will state the expectation aloud, "WAIT MY TURN." This is something I am capable of doing for approx. 10 seconds. The Children's Museum was a fun place to go. It was crazy busy but we had fun with Meggen, Lauren and Abby.

As most grandmas do, our grandma spoils us with yummy treats, baked goods and virtually anything that my parents view as off-limits. Grandma had lots of wonderful Valentine's treats for us when we visited her for the weekend. She takes pride in knowing she is the one who gives her grandchildren their first sucker, first sip of Diet Coke, first taste of coffee, etc... My parents have learned to turn their heads and let it go.

As expected, Cooper LOVED his cherry flavored, Mickey Mouse sucker. Mommy let him indulge for a few minutes but then took his sucker away in fear of what it could do to his hair and his digestive system.

The day after Matt and Jill's reception (pictures below), we had a MAJOR snowstorm. Luckily, we didn't have to travel anywhere for the reception since it was near our house. Many of the wedding guests had terrible roads to travel back home on. Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, Kyra and Bennett were one of five flights that made it out of MPLS, all other flights were cancelled. Daddy's new truck got stuck in our own driveway so he had to park in our neighbor's driveway. I attempted to help shovel the driveway and decided it would be more fun to shovel snow into my pick-up truck. This stuff sure was heavy and I'm glad I am only 2 years old, otherwise I am sure I would have been stuck with this job.

Potty Training Update: Some of you problem cringe hearing about potty and poop, but it is part of our everyday life. One of the many bribes my parents have made included letting me have "mixer time" if I pooped in the toilet. For 3 days, I decided it would be cool to poop in the potty. I loved playing with Mommy's mixer and she even ran out to Toys R Us to buy me my own mixer and coffee pot. Both of the toys actually work! Sadly, I am back to being inconsistent, so the toys are taken away from me (sniff, sniff) when I don' t use the potty. When my parents plop me in my underwear, I don't have any accidents. I think they have me figured out.

As I mentioned above, Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, Kyra and Bennett flew from Georgia "back home" for Uncle Matt and Auntie Jill's wedding reception. We were so glad we were able to visit and play with them all weekend!

Papa and Grandma Sharon gave Cooper and I this bouncy house for Christmas. I can't remember if I have posted pictures of it yet. We set it up in our basement (it is an outdoor toy) so it officially looks like a carnival/circus in our home. Bennett, Kyra and I had fun bouncing together and fortunately, no one got hurt!!

As usual, it is near impossible to get the four of us to smile and look at the camera at the same time. Grammy was hoping for an updated photo for her office. I think we will be emailing cousin Kristin some photos for her to photo-shop :)

The most exciting event in the past several weeks was the big wedding reception. As you know, Matt and Jill's wedding was in Jamaica. The reception was a lot of fun; over 200 guests came and for the entertainment, they hired dueling pianists from Madison. The entertainment did not start until 9:00, so Cooper and I missed out on that part. We were picked up by our babysitter before 7:00 as we were already exhausted from the busy day.

I am sure if you saw the front of us, you would see two screaming boys and two parents who were smiling knowing we were getting picked up.

Auntie Erin, Kyra and Mommy posed for a photo together. Black and white must have been the color theme for the night! The girls spoiled themselves earlier in the day with mani/pedi's. Mommy wishes Erin and Kyra were closer so they could do this monthly.

Since Bennett is a year older than me, he got to stay up and dance away the night (well, for a few hours or so). My parents look forward to the day when I can actually stay awake and be manageable beyond 8:00 p.m.

The beautiful bride, Auntie Jill, wore her gorgeous wedding dress and had fun dancing the night away with family and friends

Apparently, Daddy and his brothers were re-living Jamaica by drinking from their vacation mugs, dancing, and having a "grand ole time."

The night was growing longer and Daddy was about pickled. From the looks of it, I definitely missed out on some fun and good entertainment.

Valentine's Day~ The last time we posted, it was the day before Valentine's Day. In preschool, I made this beautiful heart shaped finger painting for my parents. They absolutely love it and Mommy plans to scrapbook it. I love to paint and I bring home a painting of some sort every week from school.

Cooper and I are not only spoiled by love, but we are spoiled by gifts from loved ones. We received lots of candy, treats, books, and toys from grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins and our parents. For Valentine's Day, Mommy and Daddy found us shirts that say, "Loads of Love." They thought these were perfect for us.


We met up with Laurie Jo, Lily, Lucy, and Laura, Ethan and Spencer at the library. It was nice of Laurie Jo to take a picture of the three of us... that rarely happens since Mommy is the paparazzi in the family. We attempt to go to the library a few times a month for storytime. I am starting to sing and participate more in class. I am still very shy around others but seem to be branching out more.
Cooper and I made Daddy a Valentine's Day gift... a handprint page that he can put in his office or in our scrapbooks. My hand left the page as I insisted on moving my fingers all about. Mommy says that is OK since it goes to show how wiggly I was at 2.

Other news: A lot of exciting developments have been made lately with Cooper. He is saying, "Ma, ma, ma, ma" and he waves "bye bye" now. He talks a ton (baby talk) but understands basic instructions. Cooper is able to do "so big" and he shakes his head yes and no when we say the words and bob our heads. He claps his hands when we do Patty Cake or when we just say, "YEAH!" Cooper gets around in his walker, by scooting and pivoting on his tummy or his bum. He can rock on all 4's but hasn't officially crawled yet. He loves to stand and can let go and stand for a good 5 seconds. Maybe he will walk before he crawls!?!?

I also have a lot of new commands. For example, tonight while Dady was reading my bedtime story, he wanted to discuss what was on each page. I finally said, "Just read it!" I am becoming a bit more demanding as I know what I want. I asked my parents to read the "audience" book which is a Marley story we read at night. Mommy couldn't believe her ears... a 2 year old that says, "audience." They sometimes wonder what planet I came from. My new word play is to add "sters" to the end of words. Grandpa has become "Grandpsters" and Cooper is "Coopsters." When Mommy drove threw a flock of birds on the road I exclaimed, "Watch out birdsters." You get the idea. It has made for some good laughs in our famsters (family).

Grandma Carla, Mommy's Mom, broke her ankle in two spots this week. The parking lot at her work became a skating rink and Grandma apparently forgot to bring her skates to work. Since she is a lawyer, her partners joke that she might sue for worker's compensation and never return. Of course this is not going to happen and she will bounce back in a few months... good news is that it was her left ankle (she can drive with her right once she gets off of her "goofy med.'s). Grandma had immediate surgery and has plates, pins, and screws in her ankle, OUCH! She will forever have to show ID when going through airport security checkpoints. We love you Grandma and hope you heal quickly!

Well, that is about it. We hope you enjoyed reading our latest update. We are sorry it has been longer than usual. Stay tuned....