For the record books

Notes for myself:
1. Myles is almost 9 months - he LOVES to touch faces... especially scratchy ones like unshaved men.
2. I told the boys the other day that the trees had buds on them. Wyatt asked when the leaves would come out. Henry answered, "When Jesus is ready, he will dump the leaf container in heaven and then there will be leaves on the trees." I have no idea where he came up with that one, but it was super cute.
3. Wyatt is, a lot of times, not Wyatt. He is a policeman, Superman, fireman, baby elephant, frog, you name it... When we say, "Wyatt, do not stand on the couch." He says, "It's not Wyatt, it's the baby elephant standing on the couch." -- "Fine, Baby Elephant, don't stand on the couch." Then he'll get down. Funny. Henry never did stuff like this.
4. The boys play guns/fights/cops ALL*THE*TIME -- they love to hit, bump, run into, push over, "pretend" fight, shoot at each other, fight with sticks in the woods, climb up the playset in all the wrong directions, tackle, wrestle, act like they are cars running into each other on the road, ANYTHING physical. I want to remind myself of this so when I'm older, I can encourage other young women who have little boys when they get discouraged. SELF-CONTROL is a biblical concept we talk about hourly in this house.
5. Henry was eating cheerios the other day with frozen blueberries. He said to Jonathan, "Why do my cheerios float and my blueberries sink to the bottom?" I said b/c the blueberries were heavier... WRONG said my educator husband. He said the blueberries are more massive which is different than weight... I guess I wasn't listening in 10th grade science class with Mr. Rich.
6. We watched Despicable Me the other night with the boys. When Mr. Gru wanted to be the greatest in the world by catching the moon, Henry turned to us and said, "He's wrong. Only Jesus can be the greatest in the world."

We've been contemplating...

... getting them bunk beds. Their plan is for Henry to sleep on top and for Wyatt to sleep on bottom. Umm, we're not so sure Henry is a good candidate for the top bunk. Even with a railing, he is a pretty aggressive sleeper. If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you'll know this is only one of many positions we've found him in while sleeping. (Btw, pardon the girly bedsheets... I'm in b/t washes!)

a reflection...

The other day I was telling Henry for the 3rd time to get his shoes on for school. As he walked out to the entry way to finally obey, he took time to stop at the white board and draw this picture. I was changing Myles' diaper and was about to turn around and say it for the fourth time, but I saw what he was doing. So, of course, I asked... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? "This is what you look like right now and I don't like it when your face looks like this." Really? I said, "And why do you think my face looks like that?" He said, "You're not smiling. I don't like it when you don't smile." I said, "Henry, I love you. When you don't obey the first time, my face will get serious and you will hear my voice change. If you don't want to see that happen, then you should obey the first time." *sigh* I guess no mother wants to see their kid draw a picture of them looking like this... at the same time, this is real life and we are certainly not always smiling when we discipline. There is a place for a firm but gentle instruction. I find in parenting you go through seasons/phases, ups/downs, cycles, call it what you will. Even though Henry is past 5, in the past month we have been paying a visit back to obeying the first time, cheerfully, without excuses, without questioning, etc. I was impressed by his drawing abilities... even the eyebrows... hmm, do I need to wax? I hope they don't go that far around my eyes!! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

You know the Cooper roots are Irish. They are barrel makers. In fact, Jonathan's great-grandparents came over to America from Ireland. So, we like to have fun with it. Last night, the leprechaun left green muffins in our shoes. Of course, that was after they took some gold from the pot. And, I now have a picture of all three boys in those green overalls. They were Jonathan's when he was little!

*A true Irishmen... red headed and all*

G&G Cooper are back... well sort of!

Jonathan's parents arrived home from their 2 months in Florida a little over a week ago. They stopped by on the way home since they were on I-75N. We were so excited to see them! Mom did not want to go home so we were able to convince them to stay for 3 nights!! It was great! However, they were only home for about 10 days before they headed to Italy which is where they currently are vacationing. We look forward to seeing them again at the end of the month! Wyatt and Henry loved playing "octopus" with Grandpa and Grandma and Myles got some good red-headed bonding time! :)

Don't Ask Don't Tell - Volume 16

Met up with this guy the other day in the kitchen...

Memorable Things Kids Say - Volume 18

A conversation b/t me and Wyatt while I'm at the kitchen sink and he is in the front of the house where I can't see him... or hear him.

--MOM: Wyatt, what are you doing?

--WYATT: Just nofing. 

-- MOM: Wyatt, I asked you what you are doing.

--WYATT: I said, just nofing.

--MOM: You must be doing something. What are you doing?

--WYATT: Just nofing.

  

--MOM: What?

--WYATT: I said, 'just nofing' to myself. I not talking to you Mom. 

I could tell we weren't going to get anywhere. But it warranted a check. He was poking holes into all of my TP rolls that I had just brought home from Kroger. This a typical conversation with Wyatt when he's up to no good. Just wanted to document it.... Maybe I should start a label for "Memorable Things Kids Say" AND "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" all mixed together.

Smiles with Myles - Volume 8

We are so thankful to report that Myles passed his full hearing test today! We woke him up early (actually, he woke up early on his own... we thought he had game-day jitters!) and I sat in the back with him on the way to Children's. He was so sleepy so I, of course, was doing any silly antic that a mom will do for their child. We really needed to keep him awake. The first two tests the audiologist can do while he is awake, and the final test (which was the ABR) she has to do once he enters a deep sleep. I was unaware that he was having two other tests before the ABR. I guess I need to start asking more questions. He never even fussed once. She said he was the easiest and fastest test she has done in the past 3 months. It can take up to 2 hours to complete, but we were in and out in about 40 minutes. We are so thankful!!