He will play with anything

Cooper loves to play with the toilet and paper towel rolls. He begs for them before I throw them away. They do keep him busy for some time running around the house yelling into them and swinging them around. Just amazes me most days how entertained he is by all the small things in life. It is awesome how they love to explore their world.

Elno Shos

Cooper LOVES LOVES LOVES Elmo. He hears his little song and will come running from the other room to dance to it. We have an Elmo video where he sings La La La La Elmo's Song. Well this video is Cooper's rendition of that song. Instead of Elmo it is Elno and Song is replaced by Shos. But I promise you it is what he is saying and his little voice is so darn cute saying it. He will dance around the house all day singing na na na Elno Shos.

Following in Daddy's....shoes?

Cooper thinks it is so much fun to go into our bedroom and find our shoes to put on. He sticks his little feet into them and tries to walk around the house. Well he found Rob's work shoes the other day and just thought it was the greatest thing to walk around in them. He was walking around the room saying "Daddy's Shoes". It was very cute, though he kept falling over because of the weight of the shoes.

Another first for Cooper

We have been holding off on Peanut butter because of all the stuff we hear about allergies. But today I finally gave in and made Cooper a PB&J for lunch. I had a homemade peanut butter and sugar free jelly so I was hoping he would have a good reaction to it...well he loved it. I cut his sandwich into a butterfly shape with a cookie cutter I had and it was the perfect size for him to hold and eat. A little fruit made his meal complete and he ate his whole lunch. Another food checked off the list that he can eat. I don't think I will give them to him too often but a treat now and then will be a perfect lunch.

4 month check up

Caddie went to the doctor yesterday for her 4 month check up. She is weighing in at 11lbs 14oz and is 24 inches long. She is only in the 5% for her age but the doctor does not seem to be concerned. She is so strong and has great motor skills for her age so the doctor is super please with how well she is doing. She was amazed that Caddie is sleeping so well and said to hold off on cereal unless she stops sleeping so well. We were planning on beginning rice cereal about the same time we did with Cooper which was around 5 months. She is doing so well though and is just a joy.

We love to read

I just had to include this one...he is holding her hand
Just reading away to her

relaxing with his book

So excited to read to Caddie

Cooper would look through his books all day long. In fact it surprises me that he has favorite books that he will bring to me over and over again. There are about 5 books that he will sit through the entire book and point things out. His favorite books right now to just sit by himself and flip through are any of his Elmo books. Just this week he will say "na-na-na Elmo Song". So anytime he can sit down and point out all the Elmo's in a book he loves to do it. He has in the last couple of days wanted to read to Caddie. He will sit next to her and just jabber through his books and look over to her like she can understand him. It is very cute.

So if you want any ideas for Christmas (hint hint hint) books are a great choice, because mommy is getting tired of the same stories over and over again :)

Caddie 4 months

Taking a nap
Such a happy girl

Laughing at her brother

4 months feet

Caddie is 4 months old now and I cannot believe how quickly this time has gone by. She is such a sweet little girl and just loves to smile and giggle. This last month brought on so many firsts. She can now roll completely over and has begun to roll over multiple times to get from one place to another. She found her feet this month and just lays on her back and rocks back and forth.

She is such a happy baby and has really adjusted well to her brother always wanting to be around her. She seems to always be on alert as to where he is.

She is still sleeping like a pro and I have been able to line up one of her naps with Cooper's nap so I am getting a few hours a day to myself. She has been a pro at going down each night by 7 or 7:30p and she has been consistent at getting up between 6 and 7a. She is no longer sleeping on her back because we cannot keep her on her back. She is always rolling over to her stomach and sleeps just fine that way.

Rob and I get smiles from her all the time and she is so content being held so that she can look around at everything. We have FINALLY got past her "fussy" times every day. We no longer have to worry about meltdowns happening at dinner. She can be calmed down very quickly so we are able to stay out with her for longer periods of time.

We can't believe how much she has grown in the last 4 months and how blessed we are with another happy and content baby. She is such a joy to the both of us. Cooper just adores her and is always checking on his sissy. Our family is so complete with her!

Cooper at play

With his attention span at about 5 minutes max it has become a challenge to keep him busy all day. So we resort to odd things to keep him busy. We had a big box delivered to the house this week so we decided to make it into a car for him to play with.

Another one of his favorite things to do is to take his snacks and put it into his cars and push it around. He will put it in any of his toys that have a an opening. It also makes for a fun game for me too, I never know where I am going to find little pieces of cereal or fruit.

Other fun activies include pushing toys, baskets, or anything he can get to move around the house. He loves the remote but cannot be fooled by a fake one that will do nothing to the TV. He loves to stack things in the kitchen while I am cooking lunch or dinner. He LOVES his books and will sit for a long time and just flip through them and "read" out loud. His blocks are still a favorite toy. We have just began to get into coloring and he likes our daily projects.

His newest thing has been "helping" to pick up his toys every night before he goes to bed. But his idea of this is putting all the toys away then dumping them back out. So we continue to work on it each night :)

More fun in the bath for Caddie

Caddie is just loving her baths so much. This video just shows a little bit of her kicking and smiling at herself in the mirror. I can't believe how big she is!

Caddie's First Playdate

We do so much to get Cooper out and around other children that we sometimes don't focus on Caddie and how interactive she is getting with people. So I decided to start a play date for babies through our playgroup here in Orlando. Today Danielle came over with her 2 month old Miya. Caddie and Miya had a blast hanging out on the blanket together. Danielle and I also enjoyed ourselves by having adult conversation! It was cute to see how well Miya and Caddie interacted and even Cooper was well behaved!

We can't wait to invite a few more Mom's and babies over and get Caddie her own group of friends!

Bath and Bed Time

Kicking away

Cuddled in my towel

Caddie has been really into her baths for the last couple of weeks. I normally give her a bath up on the counter so Cooper can splash and play in the tub at the same time. She likes to look in the mirror and laugh at the "baby" looking back at her! She gets so excited and will stretch out in the tub!

We have really got this nightly routine down...FINALLY! Cooper has dinner then we all head into the bathroom for baths. I fill up Caddies tub then fill up the tub for Cooper. He splashes around while I give Caddie her bath. Once she is done I wash him down. Then it is a book with his milk, brush his teeth, and then off to bed for Mr. Cooper. From there Caddie and I get a little bit to hang out, then she gets her bottle and it is off to bed for her for the night. Overall this 2 hour process is very busy but once we are done then I can get a few things done around the house and relax :)

I have found my toes

Caddie just in the last couple of days has really began to notice her feet. She holds them up and sometimes will get both in her hands. She is always looking at them too. I got a few pictures of her today doing it. As you will see she is multi talented by holding her one foot and sucking on her other hand! :)

I just feel like she is getting so big and beginning to do new things every day. She has a lot of competition with her brother!

My new game

Cooper finds it fun to put all of his toys inside a basket then to dump them out all over the floor. This gets repeated multiple times a day. If he is not dumping them out then he is pushing his toys around the house in the basket. I am not sure why the basket when he has bins of toys all over his room, but he loves this new game!

Beginning Potty Training

I have been able to tell when Cooper goes to the bathroom for the last couple of months and he is understanding when I tell him it is time to change his diaper. Though I don't think he is ready to be fully potty trained yet, I thought it would not be a bad idea for him to get use to the idea of sitting on the potty. So just whenever I have a few extra minutes we sit him on the potty and wait! Nothing has happened so far but this morning I think we made a connection. He woke up and I changed him then sat him down and he walked right into the bathroom and pulled out his potty. He brought it into the living room and wanted to sit on it. So I took off his diaper and sat him on it for about 15 minutes he just sat there watching his morning show and drinking his sippy of milk. About 2 hours later he went and sat on it himself and when I went over to take off his diaper he had just gone poop. So I am not sure how much of it he is totally understanding but I think we are off to a good start. I don't think I will begin to press till he gets to 2, but if something should happen on a few of these test runs we are just ahead of the game :)

Amaya Papaya

It has been so HOT down here already this summer. Most days it is 95-97 with a heat index taking it well over 112. With it being this hot it is hard to do things with the kids outside because they get overheated so fast. So I have been on a hunt for things to do inside and out of the sun. We go to story time at the library on Thursday which is a fun day! A few weeks ago I found a place called Amaya Papaya which is an indoor play area. They have different stations that the kids can play in and with it being inside I don't have to worry about Caddie or Cooper over heating!

We went for our first visit today and both kids loved it. There was a small area with mats and infant toys that Caddie hung out in. They had a wall that was a mirror that she had a blast watching herself in. Cooper hung out mainly at the train table and at the station that looked like a car. They also had a dress up station, a indoor sandbox, a station that had a kitchen and backyard setting that they could play in. He loved being able to run around with all the kids and the parents were able to sit and just let them play! I didn't feel like I had to be right next to him because I could see the entire room!

The owners were so nice and they had their 3 year old daughter Amaya there playing with all the kids too. We have 3 passes so we will for sure be going back 2 more times this summer for the kids to have a fun play day out!

Caddie loves to cuddle

Our little one just loves to cuddle! She is so happy when you have her wrapped in a blanket and is holding her. In fact she has been getting out of her swaddle at night and cuddles up with the blanket. Today I put her into the pack and play for a nap and I looked over and she had moved to the other side of the pack and play and had got the sling and was cuddled up with it. I think she will be our child to have a blankie or a lovey that she will carry around with her all the time.

Helping Mom in the kitchen

Dinner time is always the hardest time of day. Caddie begins to get fussy and Cooper is winding down from the day. It has become a juggling act some nights to get dinner made both fed and put to sleep. I have come up with a few ideas that have saved me from both of them screaming at me for an hour.

As long as I give Cooper something to play with in the kitchen he is fine. The only problem with that is he feels like he needs to play right at my feet. This just adds another element of difficulty to making dinner :)

Caddie on the other hand as long as she can see what is going on she is fine. I have been putting her in the bumbo seat and having her in the kitchen with me and she loves it. She is able to watch me and I can talk to her. She thinks this is the greatest thing ever.

I hope soon they can play with each other and I can make dinner and get the kitchen cleaned :)

Eating like a BIG boy

Within the last week Cooper has been boycotting his high chair and opting to sit at the table. Really if I would let him have his way he would walk around with a bowl and his food, but that is NOT going to happen. So I have begun to let him sit in the chair part of his high chair and pushed it up to the table so he could feel like he was eating with me. He loved it and I just had to share this video of him!

Pot Dance

I sometimes wonder what is going through Cooper's head when he does things. This was one of those times. Rob was cooking and was letting him play with a pot and a spatula and the next thing I know I looked over and he was standing in it dancing. He looked like he was having a good time, but what was he thinking? :)

Caddie Rolling Over

A few days ago our little girl finally made it from her back to her belly. She has been working so hard at this. Now we cannot keep her in one place. She is rolling over off her blanket and across the room. She just loves to look around so she will not stay on her back for very long. She is very content going from belly to back and then from her back to her belly. She is just so strong I know we don't have too much longer till she is all over the place.

On...Off...On...Off

Cooper for the last couple of months has been all about switches and lights that go on and off. But in the last couple of weeks with his climbing abilities getting better and better he has now been able to find ways to turn lights on and off himself. We are still working on him saying on and off, which I can get him to say sometimes! This just adds to his obsession with the dryer and fridge light!

Cooper Colors

I have been trying for weeks to get Cooper to just sit and color. Most of the time I get everything out and Cooper then throws it all over the living room and then I pick it all up and put it away. Yesterday after story time we got our coloring sheet like we do every week. I put it in the diaper bag and we went home. Cooper had got up from his nap and was just playing with a few things when I went to go change Caddie. When I got back he had gone into the closet got the crayons out, found his sheet in the diaper bag, and was sitting coloring. That was not even the best part. He continued to color for almost 15 mins. I was SHOCKED! So I had to get a picture of it to prove to Rob that it really did happen :)

Caddie Anne 15 Weeks

Caddie turned 15 weeks today. Wow has the time flown by. She is such a great baby. She sleeps 10 hours a night which is our biggest joy! She is also so strong and is working very hard at rolling over and moving around. She can get herself out of a swaddle and about 180 degrees in her bed each night. She is also about 96% from rolling over from her back. If that darn arm would stay out of the way she would have it! She is such a sweet little girl and is always smiling at Rob and I. Her little voice just melts Rob whenever he hears it. She has the biggest blue eyes like her brother and they are always on a lookout for him :) Her ability to hold her head up and her control over her body is amazing. She just sits in her jump-a-roo like a champ.

She has a very laid back personality like her father, but so did Coop at this age so only time will tell :) She still hates her car seat but her crying the entire ride is no longer happening. She has found her fingers which has been a huge blessing considering she will not take a paci. Overall she has found her spot in our family and is becoming more and more of a joy each day!

Story Time Fun

What does this do?
Now this is fun

Try it...you'll love it

Still holding on to my crackers

Right in the front showing everyone how its done

We have been going to story time every Thursday since we first moved here. Cooper loves it and I have really enjoyed getting to know some of the other moms in the area. Today Cooper discovered the water fountain and thought it was a fun game. A few of his friends decided to join him as well!

It has been great for Cooper to be around the other children and he has learned so many new songs and stories.

Hanging at the beach

We have not had a chance to get over to the beach since we moved to Orlando, so yesterday Rob and I decided it was time to take the drive over. We are only about an hour away from the space coast so it wasn't a bad drive, though not the 5 minute walk we use to have :)

Cooper loved every minute of it. There were really high waves so Rob worked really hard to keep him under control. He has no fear at all when it comes to the water he just dives right in. He was loving the waves hitting him and knocking him over. He loved going under!

Caddie took a quick nap under the umbrella, though it was just a tad too warm for her yet. The sand was so hot that it was making the blanket hot and she was all red. We only stayed out for about 30 minutes and then got them both back inside. We are excited to make the trip over to the gulf which will be more along the lines of what we are used to.

Tumble Class

Today was Cooper's first day at tumble class. It is a class that is offered through our YMCA and meets once a week. Cooper had a great time and was nonstop the entire class. The instructor was very nice and explained to all the parents that this class is really not structured just a chance for her to see where they are at. She was very impressed with Cooper jumping on the trampoline because he was jumping with both legs together and she said that is rare for children his age. So maybe we have a little athlete on our hands!

I wanted this just to be an activity that Coop and I did together but Caddie had other plans. She had a huge blowout diaper in the daycare and I had to go get her cleaned up and changed, then just kept her with me! It wasn't too bad she spent some of the time laying on a mat while I did a few activities with Cooper so hopefully next week she will stay in daycare and I can spend this time with just Cooper!

I was so amazed at how much he understood and how well he followed directions that she gave him. He loved the tunnel and running around with the other kids! It was a small group of only 6 so it was easy for them all to run around and not run into each other. Enjoy the pictures and video of his day!