Goings on around here...

   
     Well, it's been a while since my last post. We've been busy here; even when nothing special is going on, it's busy here! Things are going great though. Ace is growing and getting more fun by the day. He smiles and grunts and frantically moves his arms when I talk to him, all of which indicate that this newborn stage is soon to be in the past (yeah). Cooper is learning more words and imitating more actions, which keeps things interesting around here.
    Cooper's vocabulary now includes:
         Mama, Dada, Girl, GG, Papa (which he says with somewhat of an italian accent..really), Tea, and most recently Popsey (he's really cute when he says this). He also can say Mere Mere, but only when he feels like it. It makes us wonder how many words he really knows but isn't sharing with us.
     We've also hooked and locked all of the gates in the yard now, because Cooper can climb the fences and open the gates. In addition, we've had to bolt lock the front and side doors because he can turn knobs now to open the doors. When he figures out the bolt locks I'm going to be in trouble!
     Speaking of in trouble, Coop has managed to continue to show some terrible two tendencies. I've had to step up my disciplining game lately to help curb some behaviors before they get out of control. As I've said before I'm not the best disciplinarian, but for his safety and my sanity I've tried to do a little better at that job. Sometimes I know that he's testing me because when I tell him not to do something he says 'Mama' to get my attention and then, when I'm looking, does it again. At that point I am forced to spank him...this can be tricky when I'm holding Ace. But even though he's a little stinker sometimes, he's still a good boy overall.

Cooper likes to help bake..and eat the final product

     Cooper is definitely a man's man. He loves Dada, Papa John and Popsey and anything that he can do with them. His little face just lights up when he's around them and he looks forward to working with them...especially when it involves some kind of machinery (worries me a little). I'm so thankful to have great men in our lives who are good role models for him to look up to.

 Popsey's shoulders, a good way to travel

Did I mention he likes to imitate? 

     Ace is sleeping more too. For Mother's Day he only woke up once, and Cooper slept all night in his own bed. Woo hoo! Ace is an aggressive little guy already, it seems. He has a hard time relaxing and seems to be as stiff as a board when you pick him up and hold him often times. He won't be soothed until he's ready to calm down..interesting. When he gets hungry he doesn't give you much warning, just goes from happy to screaming. Then as soon as he eats he's a happy boy again. He smiles a lot and loves laying on his back looking around with big eyes! Cooper likes to sit beside him and watch him and talk to him too. This makes me so happy. I can't wait until they can play together; I think they're going to be good buddies.

"Are you talking to me?"

     Gus Gus is doing good and growing fast. I think he's doubled in size since we've gotten him. Cooper still is a little hesitant to be alone with him, but when people come visit he's quick to claim Gus as his dog.

     Surprise!!! We have two kittens. We found out that Ursula had kittens and they've been quietly living under the little shed beside our house. We haven't been able to touch them or anything (yet) but we watch them play through Cooper's bedroom window. It also seems that Little Girl is expecting. We're excited to see her little kittens when they arrive. Guess what everyone is getting for their birthday this year?
                              (Pictures to come when we can get close enough to take one)
 
     Chicken update: they are doing great and laying some nice eggs. We've started to sell the eggs to a couple of families at our church. One special chicken..who will remain anonymous (because we don't know which chicken it is) has laid two double yolker eggs!

     Now we can pause for a moment of silence to honor Pepe...who passed away while the boys and I were at Mom and Dad's. He liked to jump on the yard fence and crow but one day he got down on the wrong side of the fence and Gus thought he was a toy. We will miss you Pepe (well, Dom might not). As for Gus, this was his Ooops moment, not to be repeated.

     My next couple of posts will be looking back a couple of weeks to some play dates we had and a visit we made to GG and Papa John's. I just wanted to get some updates posted first.