September 2007 Update

We had our Monihan Beach trip the first week of September and then the rest of the month was just to recover :-) Cooper has taken to being my little helper. His favorite thing is to climb up to the top of the stairs and yell, "Come on Bear!!" One day I was in the kitchen and they were out on the patio playing. Cooper came running in and grabbed my hand. I was in the middle of cooking but went with it. Got to the patio and there was Bear laying upside down on this bike/walker. Just hanging out with his feet up in the air enjoying the view. Without Coop poor Bear might have been there for a while before I realized he wasn't running in and out of the apartment!

They are both in a huge train phase right now. They will take the whole ride to the gym going, "Chuga chuga, chuga, choooo choooo!" Both of them doing the hand motions. We have 4 trains but they only want the one that the other has. Makes for some creative distractions when I need to get the trains away from them.

Coop loves to tell you he is stuck. If you put him in the car seat and he doesn't want to go he starts saying, "stuck" over and over and trying to wiggle out. As soon as we get home he stops at the door and sticks his foot out saying, "Shoe, shoe, shoe." I take the shoes off he starts in on the, "Toes, toes, toes." Which means socks in Cooper world. Everything is in threes! Actuallyhe just keeps saying it until he gets what he wants. Coop is doing all of his puzzles like a champ. Every time I buy one he puts all the pieces in looks at me as if I'm insulting him by not making it more challenging and then he takes the pieces to bed to play with. I have a bug bucket of puzzle pieces that he loves to play pretend with.

One day the three of us were on the recliner. Bear was nursing and Coop likes to sit on the arm and watch a show. We were watching Go Diego Go. They told the kids to get up and wiggle wiggle wiggle with them. Cooper got up on the recliner over a sleeping Sully and stuck his butt out and started to wiggle. He turned and shot me this grin I just thought it was the funniest thing. He is starting to interact now with the tv instead of just staring at it blankly. The other fun thing was getting some Backyardigan stickers from Miss Emily. We had stickers everywhere they just had a ball. I think I finally have found them all but there are still a few in the bathtub.

Bear is starting to teethe again and he loves to teethe on sticks. I have a thing full of theething type toys but he just throws them down when I try to get him to use them. He runs out the door and starts yelling, "Stick!" in case you weren't sure what he was playing with. He can point out birds and he likes to point at things and say, "What's that?" On the 19th I saw him start dancing for the first time.

Sleep continues to be a challenge. I'm learning to let go of what I think it should be and to work with what I have. There seems to be a routine of taking naps on the couch emerging but they last for 2-3 hours so I'm thinking I may just go with it.

Remember When

Remember when you were this flexible?

Corolla/Nags Head Vacation 2007

Our first Monihan beach trip to Corolla NC! (Maybe our last??) It was a gorgeous house with lots of room and right on the beach. The weather was gorgeous and we saw lots of dolphins and Shannon and Bob got to fly their kite. We also had our LobsterFest which was absolutely scrumptious!

On the flip side I got sick the day we got there with a fever and stomach issue. The boys then got sick and decided they would scream and scream and scream. Did I mention the screaming? Jim got sick, then Grandpa Gene got sick and then baby Lauren got sick. We're talking fevers, diarrhea and vomiting sick. Not so much fun for everyone. Did I mention the weather was great? We did get to spend a lot of time on the beach with the boys. Coop refused to touch the sand with his feet for the first few days. Once he got over that he was off and being Mr. Destructor. He just wanted to trample on other children's sand castles! Bear on the other hand felt like the ocean was his bath tub and if you turned your back he was running towards the water. Jim and I spent a lot of time in the water with them and they took lots of long naps on the beach. I don't think there is anything more peaceful than watching your children and husband sleeping on the beach while listening to the waves and enjoying the sun. It may not have been the perfect trip but man I will cherish the time we had on the beach forever.

Kitty Hawk 2007

After our trip to NOVA we got back to an e-mail from my Aunt/Cousin Sheryl inviting us for a few days to the beach. After our trip I was pretty exhausted and we had a Monihan beach trip coming up in a few more weeks so I wasn't sure if I could handle another trip. But I kept hearing this voice saying we needed to go on the trip. So on the 19th of August we made the trek to Nags Head.

It ended up being a total blast. As is typical we sort of exploded in Sheryl and Bill's condo. The place looks nice and clean and then we arrive. We got in late and Coop refused to sleep in the pack-n-play because he could see me and Bear in the sofa bed. He hadn't napped the entire trip so I thought he had to be exhausted but he was gearing up and ready to wake all the neighbors up. So I brought him into the bed with us and the two of them slept like angels. Me on the other hand not so good. The second night Cooper still wasn't used to having no crib and literally fell off the bed right on his head. Poor guy.

The trip was amazing. Sheryl and I headed to the beach the first day not knowing what to expect. Coop REFUSED to touch the sand with his feet. He spent the whole day in the chair it was comical. Bear on the other hand took off for the water and had a blast playing in the surf. The second day Coop started off in the chair and by the end of the day he suddenly realized he had a lot of beach to explore and he took off down the beach with Sheryl in tow. We also got to spend time in the water with both the boys which was a lot of fun.

I bought a tent on sale at CVS that poor Bill got suckered into putting up. I'm talking he had to go to the hardware store buy special pipe to hold the string and borrow hammers and neighbors even came over to help us out. I felt so bad. But we had an awesome tent that the boys could play under.

A large family came down to the beach obviously having had a few drinks. Sully just walked right into their circle and just made himself at home. Coop not wanting to be left out joined them and we got to laugh as they went from lap to lap. Sheryl and Bill went for a walk and Coop was having some sort of allergic reaction to a dog he had been petting. I needed to wash him off but couldn't do it with both Coop and Sully. You know I was desperate as I turn to these two drunk men and ask them to babysit Bear for me. I got Coop taken care of but will never in a million years forget watching these two grown men trying to balance their beers while chasing Bear around the beach. They were trying to stop him from going into the water and he just kept running in circles around them. I saw the moment they just looked at each other and gave up. They each grabbed one of his hands and let him play in the surf.

It was an amazingly fun trip and I had a really nice time with hanging out with Sheryl. Thanks Bee's for inviting us!!