Dishwasher

 Yep, we got a NEW dishwasher. The old original one died on us. So here you go. No buttons for Cooper to press. Pretty spiffy..

Green Stools

Probably not all that exciting to anyone else, but I'm pretty excited. We got some bar stools for our kitchen counter. I always wanted an island kitchen counter to sit at. I didn't have that growing up. And I always thought that would be fun. So I think I probably picked the brightest bar stools I could find.. Lime Green. I'm sure most of you will say, "that is soo Deb". Ha! I try to get away from the bright colors.. but lets face it. I just can't because I just love them. So when you come over and see our place.. we like COLOR.. bright ones.. : ) 

FYI.. those of you that are into furniture, famous designers, etc. You may recognize these stools. They are based on stool made by Tolix. Love, love, love the real ones! I had seen them on various decorating blogs that I follow. The originals are galvanized metal. But now they come in a variety of bright candy-like colors.  But the real ones were far out of our budget. Luckily they have some awesome reproductions of various modern furniture pieces on Overstock. That's where I found these. At a great price too. These are available in quite a few colors. (Also bought the Eames-like eiffel chairs on Overstock too).

M, O, & I

Strange title to a post huh? Well Cooper is making progress on talking more or I should say communicating more verbally. Just since moving in to our new house.. he starting calling for Joe and I... Ma ma and Da ya. Constantly. Calling for Grandma and his Aunt Kari. And more and more he is very receptive to mimicing sounds. And anything to do with the alphabet.

A few weeks ago I bought him a learning DVD.. that goes through the alphabet, and works on various Phonics, etc. He was totally glued to it one night, watching it before bed. Out of the blue, he said "M".. out of the whole alphabet and clear as a bell he said the letter "M". So random. Joe and I were just watching a Cardinals game and Cooper was sitting in his sofa, with his mini tv. Joe and I looked at each other and laughed because it was soo random.

He had already said "O" and "I" occasionally. So now anywhere we go, he finds those letters and says them out loud. M, O and I.

I think a normal kid would learn the obvious ones first... A  B  C. But not my child, he likes the letter "M". HA!

I think he may know the alphabet before he can actually talk.

Anyone else have sons or know of boys who starting talking later? Like at 2 and half.. or later. 

 I've heard its common for boys to start a little later. He really wants to talk and tries very hard to communicate what he wants. The bad thing is we seem to usually know what he is saying.. when he isn't saying any words. Not sure that is helping much : ) 

King Tut - 27 Months

We joked that Cooper is King Tut. Or 'King of the House' and well... he kinda is. HA! Joe even admits its too.

But I thought I would give a recap of Cooper at 27 months.

*He moved into a new house. And did amazing at adjusting to the new surroundings, bedroom, high ceilings, etc. And not having Grandma around 24/7.

*He started saying Ma Ma.. et um.. and Da Yaa... constantly. Actually calling for us. He also started calling both Grandmas... Naa Naa.. And trying to call Aunt Kari.. Ee Eee. (or Ree Ree.. as she requested as her nickname).

*He recognized the letter "I" and says it. And the letter "O".

*He is crawling up stairs well. To get to his new bedroom.

*He still runs like crazy. And does his 'skip hop &  jump' like crazy. And little skip thing he does that we nicknamed.

*Still loves fruit.

*Is getting better at trying other new foods. Usually takes a few tries.

*Loves to point at all of our new ceilings fans. And requests we turn them on.

*And likes to use the remote in his room to turn the light and ceiling fan on.

*The three of us like to cuddle and pretend snore as part of his bedtime routine. 

*Loves cats - particularly my hello kitty key chain for my car keys and a lanyard that hangs in my car.. and a little cat stuffed animal that use to be mine. He meows a lot. And meows everytime he sees any of those things.

*Even though he don't live at Grandma's house. He knows how to get there. Everytime we drive by her street.. all 3 possible streets to turn on.. he says "Naa Naa"... everytime!!! I haven't quite figured out how he knows that. Very observant.

*He really grew a lot this month!!! He seems soo BIG.  Currently wearing 3T & 4T in some brands. 

Gotta Love the Weather

Its mid-August and we have been having some unusually AMAZING weather here in St. Louis. A nice change from the 100+ temperatures we had for probably a month straight. This weekend it was in the low 80s, so we played outside a lot. And Cooper did a little bit of everything. The water table, mowed the grass and pushed his car around. It was a fun weekend!

 

Oh and we did have a BIG moment. It only took Cooper the ENTIRE summer to decide and wear his flip flops. He has a bit of a shoe phobia and will only wear like one pair.. and cries and screams at another other pair you try to put on. But now that summer is almost over he decided to wear his sandals.. and of course they are a tiny bit too small... HA! But they sure look cute. Much better than playing in your swim suit with socks and shoes on.

Diana's 70th Surprise!

Diana was so surprised she was trying to adjust her glasses. Just couldn't believe her eyes. HA!

Seriously I think we got her pretty good. It was just a small family party with a few of her close friends.

Kerrie & Diana

Robbie, Diana, and 

Joe, Diana & Robbie

Kathy (Diana's sister) & Bday Girl

Ryan & Kari

Betsy & Diana

Uncle Charlie

The Kids

Cooper

 

Centerpiece decoration for table. 

 

Necklaces for the guest.

 

My little helper while making the decorations.

 

New Blinds

 BEFORE

Kitchen windows with no window coverings. We loved the view, but not so great for privacy.

 AFTER

We got some wood blinds. We really like the way it looks. Defintely with help in the afternoon when the sun 'beats' on this side of the house. We sure had some 'sticker' shock after buying these. Window coverings are such a racket. Seriously.

Bedtime 'New Style'

Well since the Olympics have been one we decided to have Cooper watch his bedtime movie on the mini dvd player we use for road trips. That way we could still watch the Olympics. Actually its working out perfect!! And he doesn't seem to mind not getting the big screen. Who knows this might be our new routine. 

Joe working hard and Cooper enjoying his snack and movie.