Christmas preparations

A visit to Santa, of course:

Enjoying the candy cane Santa give us:

Sweeping the kitchen (wearing Daddy's shoes. on the wrong feet.), so that we come home to a clean house. That's my boy!

Packing:

Ready to hit the road, in the new forward-facing car seat!

That toddlin' town!

Last weekend, we hit Chicago to visit our good friends the Nugents.

Joe, Mary, John, and Timmy, relaxing after a hard day.

With two boys in the house, NugentLand has fabulous toys:

And we got to eat our favorite Giordano's pizza!

Daddy being silly:

Being silly with Daddy:

The airplane ride home -- all tuckered out after a long fun weekend of playing hard!

A weekend of firsts

First time waiting with Daddy in a bus shelter in the airport parking lot:

First ride on a bus! A blue bus!

First close-up look at an airplane:

First ride on an airplane:


Staying in a hotel. Not a first, but check out all the awesome toys: a telephone, a remote, a book (thank you Gideons), and a keyboard! So many buttons to push!

Stayed tuned to find out where we went and why!

Holiday preparations

In the 10 years we've been married, we've never had a Christmas tree. This year, we actually have a wreath on our door (because Alan's mom brought it for us!), and then I recently dug out Cooper's Fisher Price nativity scene to round out our holiday decor.
Cooper and I visited a Festival of the Nativity -- a church that has over a gazillion nativity scenes on display. And thankfully, they had a kids' table so Cooper could play with something. This is a Veggie Tales nativity set.

Baker's president hosted a holiday reception for faculty, staff, and families. Cooper really loved the M&Ms, but also was quite tempted by the pretty candles outside.

And in another holiday tradition, I forced us all to get dressed up for family pictures.

With Chef Paul, our kitchen helper:

Too cool:

This particular look was at the nighttime Christmas parade in town. He was a big hit!

Pushing his kitchen down down the hallway. My mom should be so proud -- maybe Cooper will be a street hot dog vendor when he grows up!

Ever wondered what's inside your dryer?

Twinkle Twinkle

Again with no pants. This is becoming a trend...

And with very little sense of pitch. That's my boy!

The Artist (pronounced ar-TEEST, for effect)

Using markers properly inside a big cardboard box:

Let's hope Cooper doesn't someday become a hugely famous artist. I'll be lambasted for using rubbing alcohol to get rid of one of his earliest works:

Working when the mood strikes, even if you don't have pants on.

And in a different medium, my old camera bit the dust and became Cooper's camera.

I'm sure that picture would have turned out beautifully.
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And I came across a really old disposable camera that said it needed to be used before Nov. 08 (that's now). So I sent it to daycare with Cooper.

I haven't scanned any of the pictures that came back, but I have some lovely shots of several kids' thumbs. And one beauty looking straight up Cooper's nose.

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It was actually a fun little project. One that I might replicate every six months or so, just for fun!

The Thanksgiving Day edition

A fun new game: Oh no! We've lost Cooper's hand!!

Hurray! There it is!!

Grown-up cereal (Raisin Bran) with milk for breakfast.

Trying out a bubble bath. In this photo, he's actually saying "No bubbles." Oops. Too late for that.

Another fun game: Fingers in Ears. When he first did this, I would move my mouth like I was talking but with no sound, as if Cooper's fingers in his ears muted all sound. So now Cooper sticks his fingers in his ears and then moves his own mouth up and down with no sound. It's odd, I know, but really quite cute.

And finally, nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" like riding on a giant tortoise.

Baker athletics

Cooper first met Wowzer (Baker's wildcat mascot) back in August at a back-to-school event. He was none too thrilled and cried when Wowzer touched *my* hand. But slowly, throughout football season, he's become more and more enamored with Wowzer. We always have to find him and wave. And we played peek-a-boo from a distance. And then check this out:

Cooper gave Wowzer five!

And then he spent the rest of the football picking up trash and throwing it away.

The next time we saw Wowzer, Cooper was brave enough to move in for a hug.

And just after Alan snapped this picture, Cooper gave the sweetest smile! He loves Wowzer now!


We all went to the Baker U Ultimate Frisbee tournament one Saturday. Alan actually played (on their *varsity* team -- he's quite the big shot!), and Cooper and I just cheered the team on.

Until Cooper found this billboard with a picture of Wowzer.

This is him kissing Wowzer.


And finally, a basketball game. (Playing peek-a-boo, of course.)

We were sitting on the sidelines because painted on the wall above us was a picture of Wowzer.

Apple Orchard