Slither, Hop, Crawl...

This little guy (no, not the alligator -- the boy) had a birthday earlier this month.  Here are the pics of our big three year old celebrating his big day.  We had such a great time and I think the reptiles were a hit.  All the kids were great - and so brave!  Quite impressive considering most of them were only two or three years old!

Getting in the reptile spirit before the party.

 Thanks Mimi and Nana and Poppa for making some awesome food for the party.  I didn't get a good picture, but Mimi and Poppa made a snake and turtles made out of cheese and veggies!

Swamp juice

 

Cooper was so brave!  He also did a little strut back to his seat each time he finished helping.  It. was. hysterical.

A blurry picture of the strut.  Oh I wish I had had my video out!

Fozen... again

Ella and I have watched tons of different great videos of friends and cousins singing songs from Frozen.  She begged me to make a video of her and "post it so everyone can see."  So, here we are :)

This is what happens when you have an older sister

And, yes, pants are entirely optional in our house.

Happy Birthday to You...

And today he is THREE.  (And, yes, this is how three-year-olds smile on command).

Of course, it's another snow day.  In this never-ending-eternal-frozen-tundra we find ourselves in.

But at least we're all snuggled inside.

Oh Cooper, where to begin.

Here's a little bit about you at THREE:

You didn't sleep alone as a baby, and three years later you still don't.  Try whatever method you want, but this little guy needs a warm body to sleep.  And, no way, no how, can Daddy put you to sleep.  You scream, cry, sob and tell Daddy to leave, leave, leave.  And mommy has to lay with you and sing to you and finally you fall asleep.

For a few hours.

And then, in the middle of the night, I hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet making their way into our bedroom, and you pull yourself up onto our bed and snuggle right back to sleep.  You also sleep like a heat-seeking missile.  You plaster yourself right against me.  We now have a king bed (yay!) but to no avail.  I move you to the middle, and, sound asleep, your entire body - womp! - slams right back into me.  And if I turn away, your large noggin is like a bowling ball in my back.

But yes, part of me loves it.  And your daddy gets up bright and early, followed shortly by your sister, and you and I will sleep as long as we are able.  I swear, if the other two occupants of the house were quieter (or I didn't have to get up for work) we would sleep until noon.  Sometimes you even pull the pillow over your head in an effort to drown out the noise.

You are only periodically Cooper.  The other times you alternate between Martin and Chris - the Kratt brothers from Wild Kratts.  You are obsessed.  And you are serious about being in character.  You have seen every episode ten million times and that's still not enough.  You can tell us countless obscure facts about all sorts of animals.  (Did you know the Basilisk is a lizard that walks on water?  It's true.  Cooper - and Ella - can tell you all about it).  Here he is:

And here are Martin and Chris with the Basilisk:

But I digress.

You are determined, sweet, strong-willed, and you are pretty sure that you always know best.  Any rules put forth by an authority figure (including your parents) are mere suggestions.  Some days it's funny -- many days it's not.  As I've said to some other people, you are hysterical in small doses.  I have no doubt that one day you will be the life of the party.  But you always find your sweet side.  Tantrums are intense, but short lived (nothing like your sister at this age!).   

And, you have already snuggled yourself up in our bed, waiting for mommy to join you.  Bad habit, I know, but it won't last forever.  Going to take advantage of it while I can.  We love you to pieces Cooper!!

Bambino!

Here he is!  I thought the ultrasound was really amazing - we looked at everything!  Hands, heart, brain, kidneys, legs, stomach - and sweet little face!  I don't remember my other ultrasounds being quite like that.  Probably because I am an old momma.  Isn't technology amazing?

For the handful who did not see it on Facebook...

And...I know I'm biased, but Cooper is pretty gosh darn cute, huh?

Birthday Snow

I have very strong feelings about the cold.  I tell my kids not to use the word "hate," but that's pretty much how I feel about the cold.  I think the word hate might be permissible when discussing a weather condition that makes me feel like my body is caving in on itself.

Yes, I am a bit dramatic. 

I ask Brian on a daily basis if we can move back to Hawaii.  He tells me he would most likely have to quit his job and work in surf shop and I won't be able to buy any more clothes for the kids.  But what do they really need in Hawaii anyway?  It's sounding pretty good right about now.

However, I do have to admit that snow makes for some purty pictures.