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Dear Cooper,

Last Tuesday, you turned thirty five months old. I can’t believe that my little baby will be three years old in one short month!

You are growing up more and more every day. You have even started using the potty like a big boy. I think I can thank peer pressure for that, though, as several of your classmates at school are potty trained. After about two weeks at school, I picked you up one day and Ms. Emily said you asked to go on the potty and were successful. A month later and you have only had two accidents. You still can’t stay dry overnight, but that will come in time.

As a reward for being such a big boy, we took you to see Thomas the Train. I actually had the tickets for quite a while, but the timing couldn’t have been any better. We decided to keep it a surprise and boy were you surprised. It was so much fun seeing the joy in your face.

You have also learned how to pedal your tricycle. It seems like your brain is in overdrive these days. You ask questions continuously. Why? Why? Why? It is the most annoying thing in the world. Your Daddy likes to think it is an inadvertent reaction (or tic) to anything we say. “Hey Cooper, do you need to go potty?” “Why?” “Hey Cooper, do you want to go to the park?” “Why?”

Daddy has started his marathon training and you love to go watch Daddy run. On Saturday mornings we get up and eat breakfast in the car on the way to watch Daddy run at Old Settlers Park. There is a playground and you like to play while he listens to the training sessions. You enjoyed cheering Daddy on as he ran the Silicon Labs Austin Marathon Relay. “Go, Daddy, Go!”

I know I say this all the time, but you are such a good boy. We’ve got some more fun things planned and I can’t wait to see the joy in your face for years to come. You are the light of my life!

Love,

Mommy

So, last weekend we told Cooper we had a surprise for him.  He kept asking what it was, but we told him that he needed to be a good boy and he would see soon enough.  We went out to eat for lunch on Saturday like we always do and then we told him that we were going to be in the car for a while, so it would be ok if he wanted to take a quick nap.  Luckily, he fell asleep and woke up just as we were pulling in to the parking lot.  He could tell there was something going on, but couldn’t quite figure it out.  We walked in to the Burnet Community Center and it was full of Thomas toys and souvenirs.  He enjoyed walking around and playing with all the trains, but he kept asking for his surprise, so we finally told him: he was going to ride on Thomas!  I don’t think he quite understood until we walked outside and he saw the train tracks.  A short while later, there was an announcement that Thomas was about to pull in to the station.  Jeff put Cooper up on his shoulders so he could see Thomas.  The look on his face when he finally saw was absolutely priceless!

    

He had such a great time riding on Thomas with all of his friends.  He had a huge smile on his face the entire time, even when getting his picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt.  On the way home he kept asking if we were going to ride Thomas again tomorrow.  I told him that Thomas could only be here for a short time and that he had to go back to the Island of Sodor to help all of his engine friends.

    

I think I had just as much fun as Cooper did, but my fun was all in seeing the joy in Cooper’s face.  Click here for more fun pics of our Day Out with Thomas!

1) huh?
2) why?
3) what?
4) why?
5) what’s that?
6) where we goin’?
7) why?
8 ) what are you doin’?
9) huh?
10) why?
11) what?
12) what’s that?
13) huh?
14) why?
15) what we got?
16) what?
17) why?
18) where is it?
19) huh?
20) why?

Does it ever end?

Finally, after almost a year, our little tricycle motor is working properly!

He go so excited that he could use the pedals that he would stomp is feet and laugh like a crazy person.

Cooper, your Mommy and Daddy are super proud of you!

Dear Cooper,

On September 20, you turned 34 months old. Mommy’s been pretty busy this month and has not had much time for fun pictures. I hope that things will start to level off a bit and we can have some fun.

You started back to school this month. You were so excited to start but it took you a while to understand that you would be in a different class with a different teacher and new friends. You wanted to be in Ms. Faith’s class again, but this year you are in Ms. Emily’s class. You are adjusting very well and are making new friends.

I especially like the fact that you won’t take a nap at school because you are not tired, yet. That means you will take a good nap when you get home, which means extra time for Mommy. You come home singing new songs and talking about all the things you enjoy at school. I love watching you learn.

We have been stopping by our new house after school to see the progress the builder has made. So far, we still don’t have a foundation, but it should be poured any day now.

Mama Choo-Choo came for a short visit and the next weekend we travelled to Houston to visit Mama and Papa Mery and Uncle Robert, Aunt Becky and Baby Jaxon. You were so excited to see your cousin, Jaxon. The first thing you asked when you saw him was if you could hold him. You were so sweet to him; you couldn’t keep your hands off of him. You even helped Mommy feed him a bottle.

You’ve been a really good kid, lately. Keep it up!

Love,

Mommy

Dear Cooper,

On August 20, you turned 33 months old.

You are not my little baby any more. You have officially transformed into an adorable little boy. You have thinned out quite a bit in the last few months, no more pudgy baby belly.

Back in July, Uncle Robert and Aunt Becky came to visit with your cousin, Jaxon. You were very interested in him, but were afraid to get too close. Mommy got a taste of what it would be like to have two kids. You were jealous at first, but you quickly adjusted.

You are developing quite the mechanical mind. You love to ‘fix’ your toys, especially the ones with wheels.

I’m trying to limit your TV time, so while I work out, I’m trying to get you to play in your room. Although you usually end up in the living room, you have also spent some time playing in your closet, where you found your nap mat from school. I still let you watch your ‘bideos’ while I shower, and one time I came out to check on you when I was done and found you like this.

You have been all about the hand gestures, lately. Your Daddy has taught you how to head bang to music. We’ll be riding in the car with the radio on and I’ll look back at you in the mirror and see you with your eyes closed, hand in the air, shaking your head up and down. You don’t always get the right fingers up, but it’s still really cute. You can also get your guns up: Go Tech!

This summer has been incredibly hot. We’ll hit a record number of days with highs over 100 degrees in just a week or so. It finally rained and you were so intrigued by it that you pulled a chair over to the back door and just watched it for the longest time.

The last two months have been full of transition for you and I’m sorry to say, it’s not over yet. Our house sold after just three and a half weeks on the market, which means we had to move into an apartment until our new house is built.

Mama and Papa Choo-Choo came to help keep you occupied during the move. The first day went really smooth, but Mommy got heat exhaustion on Saturday, so our friends came to help us move the last odds and ends on Sunday. Thanks Danny, Jenny, Katie and Juan! You got to spend some time playing with Karizma while Katie and Juan were helping. (Some more cute pics of Cooper and Karizma here, here and here.)

You did really well during the actual move, but the days following have been a roller coaster ride. Some days are really good, some really bad. On the bad days, it seems like you don’t know what you want. For example, you want to eat, but when I fix you something, you don’t want it, so I put it away and you cry because you really did want it. At your first swimming lesson after the move, you sat on the side of the pool and cried for most of the lesson because you didn’t want to do what the rest of the class was doing.

The good days far outweigh the bad ones, though. Your Daddy and I feel very blessed to have such a good kid.

We love you very much!

Mommy