Cooper's Favorites

      Cooper is getting to the age where he has favorite things. I say that, but really he's had favorite things for a while now. We've discovered that he is a pretty particular little boy...particular about how he looks, where his plate and fork are on the table, which shoes and jacket he wears, which things go into bed with him, which TV shows he likes to watch, etc. Oh my, as I write this I am just flashing forward to the future and to what all of this particular-ness (sounds better than pickiness) might lead to! At least at this point it seems that he will be a well dressed and neat young man.

     I know what you're thinking...what does he have to be particular about? And what are his favorites? Well, let's end the suspense and fill you in!

     First of all, Cooper's favorite friend is his horsey. Yes, we are very creative around here with names, can't you tell? This may explain why the second baby doesn't have a name yet.. I promise we won't name him baby or boy, though Guy did cross my mind! Back to Cooper and horsey. He loves having him with him when he goes to sleep (though it's not a requirement), along with Pluto the dog, and his pillow. Every night we put him in bed, give him his friends and then say goodnight and he's off to dreamland.

Horsey and pillow

      While we are talking about animals, Cooper's favorite outside friend is Little Girl (again, what a creative name). Cooper now refers to all cats as "girl". We got her when she was just a wee kitten and they have grown together over the past many months. They have a love-hate relationship, with Cooper sometimes loving on her and sometimes not so much. He loves to pick her up and carry her to me, or pick her up and move her out of the way. She is so sweet to tolerate this, and usually they wind up playing chase and hide and seek in the yard. I think it makes her feel good to know that she could jump out and ambush him at any time...just in case he gets too far out of line one day.

Coop and Little Girl

"That looks good Little Girl, let me have a taste."

     Outside Cooper likes to explore and play, and one of his favorite things to do is feed the horses. We feed them cubes or horse treats, and so far we haven't lost any fingers. This horse is Little Blondie (ok I'm starting to get embarrassed about the name -- but Dalton named this one).

     Back in the house Cooper loves helping me around the house. Two chores are his favorite...laundry and unloading the dishwasher. When it comes to laundry, his expertise is cleaning out the dryer lint screen. This has resulted in myself developing an obsession with keeping that thing clean. Nothing worse than walking back there and seeing Cooper with a handful of lint! He also helps me move clothes from the washer to dryer..which comes in handy now that my belly has grown.

"Mom, there is lint on this. Not acceptable!" 

     When I say Cooper likes to unload the dishwasher, I'm not joking. I really do let him help me. So far we've only lost one plate, and it was chipped anyway, so I think we're doing pretty good. He gets the dishes out and hands them to me to put away. We also practice our counting, so it's a learning experience. Don't worry, I don't let him handle any knives, those are off limits.

     Onto the clothing portion of Cooper's favorites. Side note - sorry this is such a long post...told you he had a lot of favorites! He really likes to wear his cap when he goes anywhere. The one in this picture is a new one from Justin and Kallie, but he also has a Bass Pro Shop one that you've probably seen in other posts. Sometimes when we get out of the car somewhere and he doesn't have his cap, he puts his hand on his hat and says 'uh oh'!

     When it comes to shoes, Cooper prefers boots. He'll wear tennis shoes, but he likes his boots the best. I think he likes the clomping sound that he can make stomping around in them.

     And what is a boy without his accessories? Cooper has two that he really likes to wear...a belt and a tape measure. Mom and Dad got him the belt...it's pretty snazzy, and he loves to wear it so much that we hide it so that he doesn't find it and come bug us to put it on him around the house. The tape measure obsession started with playing with Papa John's tape measure. So, he got one for Christmas and loves wearing it on his pants. It's so cute!

Couldn't resist this pic b/c he looks like he's on the runway

     Now that it's winter we have to wear jackets (well this winter we occasionally wear jackets). He has some cute options, but lately he prefers one particular one...and it's not a jacket that goes with just anything. It's a hand-me-down from Pearson, Cooper's cousin. It's a furry brown jacket with black pictures of deer on it. It's very warm and super cute with jeans, but unfortunately Cooper also wants to wear it with his white tennis shoes and wind pants. I tried to talk him out of wearing it the other day when he was dressed in cute athletic attire, but he insisted and so wore the furry coat with this sporty wear. Luckily we were only heading to Walmart.

     I guess that wraps up the picture portion of Cooper's favorites. Now I have to add a couple of quirky behaviors he has because I'll want to remember them when he's grown.

      His current favorite word it seems is 'uh oh'. He goes around the house looking for things that are out of place and says uh oh until we fix them...like a cord that isn't plugged in, a piece of trash that missed the trash can, etc. When we change his diaper and he sees the dirty one, it's 'uh oh' until we put it into the trash. This saying also applies to any beeps he hears around the house...microwave, oven, phone. He likes us to attend to things in a timely manner. And when we are in the car (going a short distance) and I don't buckle him in all the way, it's 'uh oh' time. He's just looking out for us I guess, keeping us on our game and safe. And then last, but not least, when he does something wrong and we aren't in the room he comes to find us and says 'uh oh' so we can go fix whatever it is that he's messed up. At least he's honest about it!

     Another quirky thing is the way he eats. He likes to have his plate an fork right in front of him, and when we pray he wants his fork sitting on his plate, not beside it. We have to wait for him to arrange things sometimes.

     I'm sure there are other things that make Cooper the lovable, unique individual that he is, but my brain has run out of them, and I'm sure you are tired of reading at this point. I'm sure I'll have more to share at a later date. I have to note that I'm not particular enough about most things, to the frustration of my mom and others, so Cooper must have gotten some of this from Dalton. However, even Dalton is not that particular.

     One thing that he did get from his dad and mom is his love for the camera. It's a little embarrassing, but whenever I need a picture of him all I have to do is get out the camera and he starts posing. Or, when I get him dressed and say, let me see how you look, he turns, smiles and does his best model pose!! And then there are the times when I want to take a picture of him in action...if he sees the camera it's all over because he starts posing and moving my direction. Very interesting.....

     Bottom line...he is an awesome little boy who brings joy and laughter to our lives every single day! Thank you Lord for blessing us with him. We can't wait to see what the next little guy is like....I'm guessing total opposite because we are used to this one!!

" Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!" Psalm 127:3-5