Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter! We returned from Florida on Friday afternoon and had an amazing vacation! Our extensive photo album will be uploaded and added to the blog within a week, I promise! About a month ago, Cooper and I went to a local portrait studio for pic's with a real bunny. Mommy was worried Cooper was going to try to eat the poor rascal and she worried that I wouldn't smile. The experience was better than she anticipated and as you can see, I smiled throughout.

We both loved the bunny. I was very gentle with him and Cooper was his usual, bruiser self. He needed a lot of help from Mommy patting the bunny gently. He also attempted to eat the bunny bedding inside of the basket....ewwww!

Cooper refused nap that morning so he was not his happy self. We were relieved he didn't have a meltdown during the photo shoot but had hoped he would have smiled a tiny bit. The first photo in the blog is the only one he had a real smile for. Oh well, the joys of photo taking in our household!

Cooper needed a tiny break from picture taking, so the lady put a cute little chair on the table for me to sit and pose on. I was a very cooperative boy and had a lot of smiles. The photographer kept saying, "DON'T YOU SMILE!!!!" which of course was very clever (reverse psychology always seems to work!) Mommy has since tried to use this saying but I have caught on and am quite tired of hearing it.

Mommy and Daddy love the photo above. They think I look so big and so silly and happy in it. It made them a bit sad as they looked at the pictures~ their little boy is growing up so quickly!

Easter morning.... Mommy forgot to put me in my bunny jammies, so oops, I guess monster jammies are in this year's Easter pic's. This fuzzy bunny was in Mommy and Heather's classroom this month but she brought it home just in time for Easter. I thought he was the actual Easter bunny and toted him around all day. I noticed he nibbled on the carrot snack that I left out last night. I decided to try to get him to take a few more bites but didn't have any luck with that.

The Easter bunny was oh so good to me this year. I received a Radio Flyer wheelbarrow with a John Deere t-shirt, candy, sidewalk chalk and a pinwheel inside. I can't wait to help Daddy with jobs outside with my wheelbarrow!

Cooper received a tiger blow-up pool for this summer, a pinwheel, puffs, a John Deere t-shirt, and a John Deere vibrating corn teether (this is AWESOME for any parents with a teething child!)

Of course we can't forget the true meaning of Easter, so we headed to church. I was confused to why I didn't have Sunday School and had to sit through the 1 hour and 15 minute service. We all survived and Mommy quickly snapped a photo of us boys (minus my hat... I wanted "cool hair" today). After church, we went to a nice Easter buffet with our old neighbors, Dan and Nancy. We overindulged and then took naps this afternoon. When we woke up, that little rascal (bunny) left eggs in our yard. I love that guy!

That silly bunny had jelly beans, chocolate eggs, and my favorite, gum eggs hidden all over the yard. Cooper helped me find the eggs too.

Since I insisted on toting my bunny all day, I decided he needed to go potty outside. I set him in the rock garden, where I often see Liberty doing her business. My parents thought this was quite clever of me. He never had an accident in our house all day which means he is a perfect pet!

Cooper didn't realize that the treats were INSIDE of the egg. He was perfectly content just nibbling away on the plastic.

Cooper found an egg in our planter and then decided to eat the dirt around it. We didn't get a close up of this one, but you might be able to see some remnants in the last photo in the blog. Mmmm.... dirt!?!?

I insisted on bringing the wheelbarrow to our garden for some unknown reason. I had a good stash of eggs and was ready to bring my loot inside. Thank you to our family who also sent books, candy, swimsuits, Easter DVD's, and money for Easter gifts. We are very lucky and spoiled boys!

Before we headed in on this beautiful day, Cooper had a quick ride in the swing. This is his favorite outdoor activity and suddenly, it has become mine too. I am becoming a bit more possessive with MY toys and find anything that Cooper is doing really interesting and a must for me too. We are happy for today's weather, fun events, and Jesus' promise to us.... We also want to say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to Grandma Shirley (my great-Grandma) who turned 80 years old today! We can't wait to celebrate this summer with a family weekend at the "camp!" We will post our Florida pictures soon and will fill you in with our vacation events!

Coopster is Crawling!

Here sits the king of the steps.... Cooper. It is his new passion in life to go up the stairs at least a hundred times a day. Little does he know that Daddy is installing the dreaded baby gates as I write this blog post :) He is very proud of himself, as you can see in the above photo. He likes to clap for himself when he reaches the top and is even showing off his snaggle tooth (incisor) that popped out before his two front teeth.

We are excited for Cooper's progression from army crawling to crawling on all fours. He is very quick and he has many bruises thanks to show for this. Cooper pulls himself up on furniture, walks alongside with one or two hands, and is able to let go and stand for a short amount of time.

My little brother won' t be smiling in the morning when he realizes that the gates are installed and he is confined to one level. My parents dread the gates as they are certain they will walk into them for the next week or so.

Cooper had his 9 month doctor's appointment last week. We were expecting to see is growth chart sky rocket as usual, but he is now starting to follow a curve. Our pediatrician told us he would eventually slow with his growth and it seems he is now settling into a better pattern. We were all worried for our chunky monkey for a few months. Unfortunately, we cannot locate the stat sheet, but his weight was 21 pounds which put him in the 60% and his height was 65% for his age group. Cooper didn't need any shots for his 9 month check-up so it was a fairly easy appointment!

We asked the nurse to weigh me because I haven't been weighed since my 2 year appointment (10 months ago) My parents joke that Cooper and I weigh the same; well, it wasn't quite the same, but close! I weigh 29 pounds, just an 8 pound difference between us:)

During Mommy's spring break, we went to the cities to spend time with family. My parents brought Cooper to Kid's Hair for his first haircut. Cooper was his typical self... smiley and happy, even though kids nearby were screaming! Here is our little guy on his big day :)

Yup, Cooper is lounging in the chair. The hairdresser couldn't believe how easy going and happy he was. My parents just loved that he draped his arm over the chair and "hung out" during his haircut!!

Our little Coopster still looked like a baby when his haircut was over. Mommy was worried he would look like a little man, but he still has baby in him. My parents received a lock of hair for his scrapbook, which Mommy fully intends to scrap into his album soon!

Another stop was the MN Zoo. We love going to the zoo and look forward to the day when we get to explore the outdoor exhibits once again (come on warmer weather!) Ironically, Mommy wanted to go on the Monorail during our visit but we chose not to do this activity. The Monorail was on the news that evening because people were stuck on it for HOURS and had to be rescued by firefighters. Funny how things work out for a reason! My favorite exhibit at the zoo is the monkeys. I told my parents that the monkeys were like helicopters as they swung from tree to tree. Mommy was proud of my use of a simile to describe the monkeys. I was more brave this visit than previously.... I went inside of the tunnels where you could watch the animals from the inside of a tree trunk window. It was very cool!

Cooper's favorite exhibit is the aquariums. He stood and watched the fish for a very long time (in toddler's standards that is). He was very excited throughout our zoo trip; after almost every animal exhibit we visited, he would clap his hands and squeal with excitement. What a silly monkey!

I couldn't believe the teeth on the baby crocodile (see him through the window). I must have been curious to whether or not my teeth were pointy like his b/c Mom snapped this photo as I turned around. She thought it was cute how I was comparing my teeth to the crocodiles. I don't think mine are that gnarly.

We FINALLY visited Grandma and saw her new wheels. Grandma took a major wipeout in her work's parking lot a month and a half ago. She was bed-ridden for a few weeks and is now venturing out ~YEAH! She uses this scooter to rest her leg on as she hobbles around. Grandma has a lot of hardware in her ankle and she is healing slowly but surely. It was nice to visit with everyone and Cooper had a lot of fun on her scooter.

We were excited to see Uncle Bruce, Auntie Stefanie, Lexi and Sam's new house! They moved a few weeks ago and bought a beautiful home just a few miles away from their old house. Their new house has a swimming pool, steam room, and hot tub. We think we will be spending a lot of time there this summer! As part of my ritual, I rode Auntie's little decorative bike around the house. There is a little basket in the back of this bike where she puts dried flowers or other little decorative pieces. I like this bike because it reminds me of what is up ahead for this spring and summer.... riding my NEW bike that Jenny gave me for Christmas!

The next blog post will be full of Florida photos! We are excited to head to Captiva Island for a one week vacation. We are looking forward to the beach, pool, and sun! We will attempt to post our vacation photos soon after we return. Wish my parents good luck on the airplane :)