Mine

    

     When Cooper turned two we were a little worried that he wasn't talking much. By that I mean he said just a few words and those were hard to understand. Since then, we've been working with him to say more words and try to say things before grunting, even if it doesn't sound just right. He's been improving a lot. He has gained a lot of words in the last month, and now he tries to say words without our prompting. He's also repeating a lot, so we are learning what we say a lot. For example, I guess I say 'Hey' to people a lot. Now he's picked up on that and says "Hey Mama" "Hey Dada" "Hey" "Hey". This is something I didn't realize I said so much. I'm going to work on Hello more now. I think his second favorite thing to say now is 'Mow'. If we go outside and the grass is taller than a couple of inches he points to it and says "Mow, Mow" indicating that it's time to mow the grass. He also repeats a lot of phrases. I'll say "Hello sweet pea" to Cooper and he'll say it too...he sounds cuter saying it.
     One word he has learned that I'm not too enthused about is 'Mine.' If mow is his second favorite word I think Mine is first. He's learned that word and knows how to use it, unfortunately. He wants cups, snacks, toys, phones, etc. And it's all "Mine." Coincidentally or maybe not so much, this is occurring at the same time that Ace is starting to be interested in little toys. Cooper will see Ace holding something and say 'Mine.' We're working on sharing though, and so far there hasn't been too much grabbing. What will he learn next?
     We play a letter game too and Cooper has been doing great with it. He can point to letters when I ask and can even identify them by sound (point to the letter that makes the 'guu' sound for example). Sometimes we'll be talking and he'll run to the kitchen to get a letter and come back. He knows that C is for Cooper, D is for Dada, M is for Mama and A is for Ace. So cool!

     Speaking of learning, Ace has been learning a lot lately. He can pull the bouncer toy (which I may have mentioned before), hold a teether ring and even pick it up if it's laid just right on the tray. He also has starting sitting in his high chair, which is a big help for me. Now I can plop him in that with a few toys on the tray and he can sit contentedly while I clean the kitchen, or while we eat dinner. As Dalton said, "He's becoming a person and not just a baby."

If Cooper's smile looks funny it's because we now 

have to ask him to show us his teeth if we want him to smile. 

     He can also roll over from belly to back. He did it a number for times in the first few weeks of life, but then never did it again until last week. Now it's official, even though he won't roll on command yet (if ever). He also rolls onto his side from his back, so it won't be long until he's a rolly polly boy.

"Mama, I said I don't want to roll over!"

(I have a happy picture but it wouldn't upload 

so you're stuck with the grumpy one)

     Cooper is pedaling his tricycle now and can go backwards and forwards on it. It's so fun to get to see my boys learn to do new things for the first time. I'm officially into the time of Ace's life when I was working full time with Cooper. So now I get to experience some things for the first time.
     Doors have become an issue in our house because there is no door that Cooper can't enter...including the bathroom. So lock the door when you come and visit. We finally bought some door handle covers that he can't get open...unfortunately it sometimes takes me a good 5 min to get it too. I must admit I miss the stage where we didn't have to worry because he just couldn't reach things or wasn't able to open things. Now we just have to say No and teach him not to do things...so much trouble to actually have to teach him to obey ; ) Needless to say there have been a few more spankings in the house.
     One last funny thing Cooper does is imitate everything! Dalton came in from the garden the other day and had ants on his foot. He swiped at them with his hand and said 'wooshshh those ants are bad' and shook his head. Immediately Cooper bent down, brushed his foot off and said 'shhh' and shook his head. On the opposite end he'll imitate Ace for attention. If I have Ace on a blanket on his tummy trying to talk to him and get him to roll over Cooper will get down on his tummy on the blanket and roll over. What a silly boy!
   

"Hello, I'm three months old now, how old are you?"

     I'm so thankful to have two wonderful, healthy, sweet boys that love each other. It melts my heart when Cooper is looking and talking to Ace and Ace just smiles and coos at him. Seeing them get along already just blesses my heart. God has been so good to us! It's like my new favorite song says.. I have 10,000 reasons for my heart to sing and praise God.

"I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10