HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAR!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAR!

We had a big day for our little Sully Bear. We started the celebration a day early with Haley and Bebba with a late lunch. We kept him up a little bit later than he was used to and for the first time ever he just fell asleep in his high chair. So we softly whispered happy birthday to him with his “cake” and took some pictures to commemorate the special occasion. This morning we woke up and headed out to Chapel Hill to check out the area and see where Haley had moved to. We loved the little town of Carrboro. They have live music out every Sunday from 11-1 in front of Weaver Street Market. (It turns out I had been there back in college when I went to visit Cristina at Guilford. It was my first trip to a natural food market!) We watched a lot of people dancing to the music with and without hula hoops and having picnics really just a huge lawn full of people having a really nice time. Inside were some of the cutest shops set up sort of like the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA. Jim wanted to walk the streets of Carrboro so we started off and within a few blocks I started complaining of being hot (I was wearing all black and my feet were burning!) So we headed back, found a bench and fed the boys some lunch while listening to the music.

Haley was still shopping and buying out Target so we decided to drive around Chapel Hill a little bit and found an amphitheatre tucked away and played around there a little bit. We finally made it over to Haley’s new apartment complex and blew some bubbles while we waited and then she arrived so we got to see her nice new apartment. A nostalgic day for me as it brought me back to the days when Katie and I first moved in together. We made our way back home after purchasing some bathing suits for the boys. We got home and I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to take them swimming so we suited up and headed to the pool! It was packed with people and we were a little nervous because this was Bear’s first trip and Cooper hasn’t been a huge fan of the pool. First thing was the bathing suits with floatation devices built in were just too big! Bear was like a little turtle trying to roll around and move but not able to go anywhere. Bear took to the water with zero fear. I had to hold on to him before he went headfirst in the water. Coop got over his fear pretty quickly and then they both got in their little floats and floated for a long time while watching all the ruckus around us. Jim and I were tired so we came on home but Bear was insistent he still get to hold his raft all the way home.

The evening was hard because I knew we had to open presents and I just really missed having GiGi there. She had the innate ability to make every birthday so special and fun. Once Bear realized he could rip apart the bags he went to town pulling out all the tissue paper and of course the fighting over the toys began immediately. We bought an airplane for Bear since Coop got one on his birthday from Emily and they fight over it constantly but that didn’t matter because they both wanted this airplane too! As a matter of fact, Cooper took that airplane to bed with him.

It was a wonderful birthday celebration. Our little guy is one year old. It boggles the brain that we have another toddler now!! Happy Birthday Bear!

Bear Is Walking

Talk about a fun phase. Bear has been taking a few steps here, a few steps there but yesterday he walked halfway across the room. He just seemed to really get it. Today as we left Kid Kare we always say and wave bye to the women that work there he started doing that wave where he's really waving to himself. I'd forgotten about that but there he was waving bye.

His most favorite game at the moment is to pull all of the cubes with toys out and throw them around the living room. I've just about given up cleaning them up because as soon as I start putting them away he comes crawling right over to throw it all over the floor again. He is in that phase where he is just exploring everything. His new play area is the kitchen. He has to take everything out from underneath the stove and I find toys stashed in there all the time. Watch out for your toes, if you don't move he just opens it up right over your toes. I'll admit to a chuckle when I hear Jim yelp cause I know Bear has opened the drawer :-)

He now has his bottom two teeth. Jim had his chuckles every time I said, "If you bite me again we are done!" Should have more coming since he is ALWAYS chewing on his fingers. More than anything it's clear that Bear is ALL about some Cooper. Whenever possible he is crawling over Cooper, pulling Cooper's ears or basically just jumping on Cooper. I know when I hear Cooper cry it's because Bear has attacked. No joke I found Cooper writhing on the floor and Bear just sitting over him grinning. He must have been pulling Cooper's ears because they were beat red! Yet Coop just stays there instead of running away.

Maintenance came by to repair the screen Bear busted out of the back patio today! I'm thinking I should keep a tally of all the damage he does so later in life when he says he's an angel I can show him all the destruction he caused :-) I did cut his hair- just a little in the back. I draw the line with a baby mullet. He's got the fun mad scientist look now.

I won't even start in on his sleep habits. I've considered paying someone to come and get him to nap by himself if that gives you any indication. Other than that he is my angel who is about to turn 1!! I can't realy fathom that. He couldn't even crawl when we moved here it just doesn't seem possible. I can hear the thump thump thump on the floor- Bear is here for some attention!

Coper's Fun Phase

This is such a fun phase for Cooper. His favorite phrases are now, "What is it?" or "I love you." We get into "I love you" competitions and how many ways can we say it. Every day he just learns more and more and shows us how much he really comprehends. Today I wasn't paying attention and SpongeBob came on the tv. Just as I got up to change it Cooper came running and hid behind me from strange pirate man on the beginning of the show. He knows bad tv!

He will now do this huge head bob dancing to music. (Jim taught him that one.) When he is ready to go to sleep he just says, "nap, nap" and goes into his room and waits on us. The other day when I was dropping him off at Kid Kare they asked if I could hold him up front for a minute while they cleaned the train station up a bit. (By the way he is a train set freak! We have to get him one, he LOVES trains.) I called him back to give me a kiss so he comes back gives me a kiss and starts to run off again. They weren't done cleaning so I asked for another kiss. No joke he put his hand on his hip and waved and said, "bye"! It was so cute.

Everyone who gives us such a hard time about him eating his vegetables will get a chuckle to know that he now painstakingly picks around all his vegetables. Unless he's really hungry and then he will eat them. But if not it's wasted veggies. Coop is now over his avoidance of the camera. We went through a phase where he wouldn't look at the camera but now as you can see he says, "cheeeeeeeeeese" until you take his picture. His new favorite game is Peek A Boo. He loves to cover your eyes and say, "peek a boo", over and over and over and over and over. Or he takes the rice cooker pot throws it over his head and goes running around the apartment until he runs into a wall.

We only get temper tantrums these days if he's really tired and/or hungry. Then he likes to throw the trash can down or slam a door. His favorite thing is to wake up Bear if he's sleeping which goes over very well. He won't drink water out of his own bottles anymore it has to be my water bottle. That's all I can think of right now. Every day all day is really just fun to be a part of. There are times when I know he is talking to GiGi. He is looking above my head laughing, or just talking away and pointing. We were looking at pictures of her and he was pointing to her saying, "GiGi" and then to my picture saying, "a mommy." I'm not sure I could make it right now without these guys that is for sure.

Helpful Ain't He?

Proof of Cooper helping us carry the groceries in!

Poppi Visits

Now that Poppi is back in town he comes over for his daily Upside Down Boy visits!! The boys will run (or crawl really fast) when he comes in to get to him first.

Kids Space

This weekend we found ourselves all dressed up and nowhere to go so Jim went about looking for something to do in Raleigh with kids. Lo and behold we have a place called Kids Space where for $5 a person you can learn how fire trucks work, trains choo choo, dive for duckies, put on a play, get money from the bank and/or ATM, drive a car, and a zillion other things. The boys had an absolute blast while Jim and I got claustraphobic with all the people suddenly around us. It seemed like every kid in Raleigh as suddenly there. Cooper got a boat full of water dumped on his head by some kid. That parent had obviously been there before as he had a change of clothes for his kids. Coop didn't fare so well and went home wet. Although he was not so happy about leaving he screamed the whole way out!! Definitely a place to go to often but early before the crowds.