See That Speck?

I didn't think he'd do it. When I challenged Cooper to run across a very long field at the park and then back he took off so fast I didn't even get a chance to set my watch. By the time I got my camera out he was headed back. He's so fast. I can't believe it. Am I allowed to say I hope he runs track?

Hard Headed

Stub-born! Lives here!
I believe that Cooper cried hysterically -- like the kind that you worry your neighbors can hear -- for approximately 40 minutes tonight over story time. He was upset because I picked Mason's room for story time. This just put him over the edge.

Against my better judgement I still let the turkey have a story -- one on one -- in his own room. But I'm glad I did. We read that Sesame Street classic, The Monster At The End of This Book. If you're familiar it's page after page of Grover pleading with the reader not to turn the pages of the book because, well the title says it all, there is a monster at the end. Cooper was so frightened that when I told him to turn the page at one point he literally said, "I don't want to turn the page, I'll get in trouble."

Then he asked me to read it, again. As a test I gave in (I wanted to see if it would have the same impact/thrill). About two pages in he panicked and grabbed the book and held the pages shut to prevent me from turning any more pages.

PS -- I can hear Mason softly humming the Star Wars score.

Pal Around

In my most recent post I showed you pictures of various sprouts in my yard. I neglected the cutest sprout of all. This little guy pals around with me and squats next to each plant/pot to sniff the flowers and eye up the growth as my apprentice gardener.

I'm dying for him to tell me what he thinks it feels like to walk barefoot in the grass or if the water from the hose is cold enough. He enjoys these outdoor pleasures so much. Both Cooper and Mason have taken to pinching off leaves from the herb trough and eating the nips of green essence. After biting a bit of Thyme Cooper exclaimed, "It tastes like pizza."

Not Dead, Yet

A few scenes from our great outdoors. Listed in the following order...

MOST PROLIFIC

NEWEST MEMBER

MOST LIKELY TO DISAPPOINT
I have high hopes for these... as they were this gorgeous last year (August 2007).

MOST TENTATIVE

THE VOLUNTEERS (I didn't plant them, did you?)

PLANTED THEM JUST BECAUSE MY GRANDMA DOES

MOST PATHETIC

SOCIAL CLIMBER

MOST ANTICIPATED

DWD: Water Fountains at Westlands

My kids had a DWD -- Day With Dad -- while I crafted the morning away. DWD Adventures are always wet and wild, and today they were particularly so. The boys met up with a few friends (also having a DWD) at one of our favorite parks. What happened at the park generally stays at the park, so I can't even tell you what they did. But it looks like they had a good time.

Contained, Again

Different day. Different kid. Same trick.


Imagine my hard-headed surprise to find Cooper in the LEGO box?!?!?

Also, I find it necessary to note that we are on Summer Schedule. That is to say, nothing is on schedule. I feel like our hasty pace of leisurely living is leaving no time for the business of life. Let's take yesterday for example:

1. My grandparents showed up unexpectedly from Texas en route to Idaho. Yes, that's right... just showed up on the doorstep. I was overjoyed to see them and frantically started pouring lemonade, shoving toys and clean (but unfolded) laundry under the sofa, and checking the toilet seat for toilet-training dribbles. In all the mess and crazy joy of having them over I forgot to take a picture!

2. Tried a new recipe. In all my research and planning for the recipe I plumb forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer. So, 15 minutes before I was to begin assembly I realized I was working with a 2 pound block of ice.

3. Following dinner we opted for a quick walk around the block. This was actually an opportunity to let Coop practice riding his bike. (Also, he's obsessed with "going around the block" since the race car trip.) At the 1/3 way mark we ran into neighbors/friends. Of course I just had to stop and chat. Then at the 1/2 way mark we ran into more neighbors/friends who were going around the block with their 4yol daughter in one of those battery-operated Jeeps. They decided to take a new route to follow us and at the 3/4 way mark we ran into more neighbors whose 5yol daughter decided she needed to be driving her battery-operated Jeep, too. So, now we're having a full on block party in the street with two neighbor girls in their respective Jeeps and Coop on his bike. As I watched Cooper coyly chase -- and then get chased -- by these girls I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh, he is a heartbreaker." This went on well past bedtime.

And so you see, I just can't get with the program.

Contain Yourself

Let this be a lesson to me, actually I think this might have already been a lesson that I boldly ignored muttering things like, "It's an anomaly."
I think we spent about $25 on this box of LEGO blocks. Well, Mason likes the box. He just sits in it. Then sits it in some more. Happy to just keep on sitting.
If you think Mason just likes boxes, think again. We have an old fax machine (I know, what is that anyway??!?!) and it has a long wire thingy meant to catch the papers as they print. He likes to straddle that and sit on that. I don't know what that means exactly. Perhaps this is just the beginning of a behavior known in most corporate offices as, "that weird guy that keeps photocopying his butt."
One place he will not sit is the toilet. I've begun asking him if he'd like to go -- forgive the baby talk -- potty. He always says that he would. But when we sit him on the toilet he wants off faster than his little cheeks touch porcelain. He will, however, belly up to the bowl and pretend he's peeing standing up. He'll do that for hours, fully clothed of course.
In other container news, the boys smashed two or three terra cotta pots on the patio today. I'm not sure how many pots actually met their demise at the hands of my fine, well-behaved boys but there was A-LOT of shards. So, I'm leaning toward three. Think I'll replace them with plastic, if I replace them at all. I'm getting so anxious for next year (and having a raised garden bed) I could really care less about the containers.