Peanut Butter Balls, Milestones and Talking Back

     It's a busy time in our lives, and not just because Christmas is fast approaching. The boys are growing and changing so fast it's amazing. The best part is getting to experience it all with them, and laugh the whole way through. Cooper provides lots of entertainment, whether he means to or not, and Ace is so active that we have to really work to keep up with him. Here's a few of the milestones and funnies happening at our house.

     I'll begin this little update with a funny Cooper story: It was the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago. Dalton and I were sleeping soundly in our beds and then Cooper appeared at my side, ready to climb in. I heard that he was chewing on something and asked him what it was. "M&M, mommy," he replied. Great, I thought. Now he's not only getting up in the night, getting milk out of the fridge sometimes, but he's helping himself to snacks of the forbidden variety. I had to chuckle though and snuggled back to sleep. 

    Then the next night he was there again, with something else in his mouth. I asked what he had and he said it was a cookie….but really it was a peanut butter ball. He had left his room, opened the fridge, opened the tupperware that they were in, got one out and headed to the bed. About the time I had him in between Dalt and me, I heard Dalton roll around and say "Peanut Butter Ball." I thought to myself "Man, he sure smells well to get a whiff and identify the food," and went to sleep. The next morning Dalton informed me that I needed to wash the sheets.

 "Why?"

 "Because there is chocolate on them from the peanut butter ball." 

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night I rolled over onto a half-eaten peanut butter ball and smushed the chocolate onto the sheets…see, it's sitting right here."

Sure enough, a peanut butter ball with one bite out of it was sitting on the bedside table. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I realized that when he said "peanut butter ball" in the night, it was because he had rolled over on it and had to fish it out from under his back. I guess Cooper had gone to Dalton's side first, but then decided to come see me after planting the boobie trap. So funny and so typical Cooper!

Practicing for church with Daddy

     Milestone: Ace is standing now…I mean really standing. He just started doing it one day and has good balance now. He hasn't made a step yet, but we're hoping he does by Christmas. I'm a big fan of walking instead of crawling…less germs. He's also started clapping. We must clap a lot when he stands by himself because he spent a whole day standing by himself and clapping while he stood. He'll get himself to the upright position and then start slowly clapping for himself, grinning the entire time. I love the slow silent claps of babies when they are first learning to do it.

 As the weather has gotten cooler, Boots has become a master at getting in the house. 

And his buddy Cooper likes to have him inside…Daddy, not so much. 

Chilling with his bottle

     Cooper is learning too….to talk back. Uh oh is right. We'll tell Cooper to do something and he'll respond with "I not going to …." and just keep on trucking. Sometimes he gets the message after we correct him, other times punishment is involved. The funny part is how matter of fact he is about his statements. He's totally confident in what he says. I'm a little disturbed that he is already mastering this disobedience, but on the other hand I'm impressed at his bargaining/reasoning skills. One day, after putting him in time out, he got the timer and came to me and told me to sit down and not to get up until the timer went off, because I was in time out. He may have even pointed and shook a finger at me. Trouble!!

     Our fall garden has just about petered out. The last freeze did it in, but we were able to get a lot of broccoli. I was skeptical at first about the broccoli, mostly because I'd never grown it before, but also because it really stinks when we cooked it. However, when we ate it, it tasted delicious! It's been such nice weather outside and we've tried to make the most of it. It's hard to play outside with a crawler who likes to put everything in his mouth. But I must say he loves being outside. Ace will play and enjoy and as soon as we get to the door to go inside he starts whining and squirming because he wants to stay outside.

 It's fun to tell Cooper to eat his broccoli, and then to remind him that he picked it.

Works a little better.

 Surprise! We had a little snow, bye bye garden.

Not enough for Cooper to want to stay out and play in it. 

     We can't believe that only 7 months ago we were worried that Cooper didn't talk. Now we can't keep him from talking nonstop. He repeats things a lot and sometimes I take advantage of that and teach him silly things that irritate Dalton. I started being silly and saying 'Yo yo, what's up?' and the other day when I say 'Yo yo' Cooper finished with 'what's up' without missing a beat. Dalton rolled his eyes and told me to stop saying stuff like that.

     I think it's a sign that we go to the grocery store too much when Cooper mimics me and says "I think we have everything" or "Do we have everything we need momma?" in the store, or even at home. I guess all those years of talking to myself in the grocery store, and now to them, without thinking are rubbing off.

 Loading water to take to the kitchen

      Cooper also learned something from one of his songs. He loves to say "I have an idea!" now and really gets into it at times and says it over and over, just ask Papa. It's pretty cute to hear him say that and then tell us his idea. Another thing he learned, from Dora, is how to 'swipe, swipe, swipe.' He comes around, starts 'swiping' with his hands and saying "Swipe" and then runs away and says "You'll never find it now." Poor Ace is usually the victim of the swiping.

     Last night as we finished up bath time I let out the water and said "Say bye bye to the water." Cooper responded with "Bye, bye water, we had fun with you." I love that boy, quirky sayings and all.

    I have to take a moment and talk about how proud I am of Cooper for memorizing Bible verses. We have two memorized now and a third is on the way. His current verses are "The Lord is good to all" Psalm 145 verse 9 and "Love one another" 1 John 3:23. The best part is hearing him say the reference part. It's sweet and so cute with his little accent. Not to mention the joy of hearing my son quote scripture.

     Sleep time is getting better for Ace and Cooper. Cooper has been sleeping all night in his bed more, and Ace slept all night last night, which was so nice. I've learned that Ace needs some good waller time before he's ready to go to sleep. He doesn't like being forced to cuddle and be still. Instead, he prefers to  waller around on you until he gets tired and drifts off. And if you want to rub his belly or back in the process, he won't object. He's such a sweet but aggressive little guy; you like to have him close but are still a little tense the whole time because you don't know when he'll pull your hair, grab your nose or attack your face with his two….wait, now 3 teeth.

 What's more fun than a big box and Daddy? 

     I'm loving this life and the blessings that go along with it. Even though I'm exhausted half of the time, it's a great exhaustion and one I wouldn't trade.

Cooper took this picture…pretty good for a 2 year old.

"See, children are a heritage of the Lord." Psalm 127:3