Clever Cooper and Active Alfonso

     I just wanted to share a few of the cute and clever things Cooper is doing these days. Really they are imitations of what he sees us doing, but it's just so neat/cute to see him picking up on things.

     He's at the age of testing the waters to see what he can get away with and what he really isn't allowed to do. At first I would say no many many times and then give him a little pat on the rump. (Discipline isn't my strong suit I've discovered). I'm learning though that firm is better when it comes to discipline because it lessens the number of times he tries something. One thing he was getting bad about was running away when it was time to change his diaper. I decided to use the 'One, Two, Three...' spank method (so technical). It didn't take long before he was running to me at 1 or 2...woo hoo! Now, though, he thinks it is a game of sorts, especially when he's in his high chair. It's really funny so Dalton and I have to work hard not to laugh when he's imitating the counting. It goes like this:
     Cooper will start to rise up and turn in his seat.
     We'll say "Cooper, sit down"
     He looks at us and holds one finger up and starts counting "One, Two.."
     After two he turns around and sits down as fast as he can and grins at us
It's really so cute... you'd laugh too.

     Coop also likes playing in drawers and cabinets (pulling things out of them). We have a couple that are safe for him to get into and one has paper plates and bowls. Usually he gets a bowl and then asks me to get him a cooking spoon so he can pretend to cook too. He's now starting to pretend he eats it after Dalton and I pretend, so that's a neat thing. Yesterday he was playing in that drawer and got out paper plates. When I looked around to see what he was doing I saw that he'd set the table with the paper plates, and then put one of his snack crackers on each plate. It was so neat to see him doing 'big boy' things like that, instead of ripping the plates up or something. He's always been a big helper...he loves unloading the dishwasher with me...so maybe he'll help set the table in years to come. : )

Cooper with his table setting

     Saturday I introduced him to Play Doh. I put him in his high chair and gave him the play doh and a couple of toys. He did really well with it..no eating attempts, and it kept him busy for a little while. Yeah, a new activity for winter days!! This isn't very exciting but I had a couple of pics so I had to mention it.

     On to Alfonso. Who is Alfonso? Well, let me tell you. The other night Dalton had a dream...he doesn't remember his dreams very often, so when he does I like to hear about them. He said that he dreamed I'd had the baby. The baby and I were in bed when Dalton got to see him, and he said that the baby had the biggest nose he'd ever seen; and apparently he wasn't very good looking. He just looked at the baby and then at me and said 'that's him huh?'. After the shock of the big nose, he asked what the name was and I told him it was Alfonso. I'm thinking we channeled Gonzo when thinking of a name for our baby. So, now I've taken to calling the little guy Alfonso, or Alfie for short. It's kinda nice to have something to call him. Dalton refuses to call him that. I think he's afraid the name might grow on me and I'll want to call him that for real. Silly Dalton...though it isn't that bad. I also looked up the meaning and found that it means Noble and Ready...I'm just saying. Anyway so bottom line is that Alfonso is quite the active little guy. I can't wait to meet him in the 'real world' and see what his nose looks like!!

"Rejoice in the Lord! Again I say Rejoice!" Philippians 4: 4