Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine came to Baldwin City back in June. Cooper doesn't really know who Thomas is, but it was a big deal here in town, so we decided to go check it out.

This is Thomas himself. You could pay eleventy-five dollars to ride on (with? in?) Thomas, but we opted to just sit on him for a photo.

There were model train sets:

A bubble machine:

A petting zoo, which as far as I can tell has nothing to do with Thomas:

And Cooper's favorite attraction, a giant Thomas balloon in the gift shop:

Fun with....

Couch cushions:

Daddy's shoes:

Peaches:

Three generations:

How to use a spoon:

Method one:

Stick (wrong) end of spoon in food.

Insert in mouth.

Method two:

Pick up food with hands (somewhat difficult to do when it's applesauce).

Place on spoon.

Insert in mouth.

Tomorrow (Monday) morning, I'm leaving for a four-day legal writing conference in Indianapolis. Without Cooper and Alan. The conference will be fun, but it will also be the first time I've been away from Cooper for longer than a business day. I cried when I made the plane reservations two months ago. I cried today when I was packing. It could be a rough week on Mama. I'm sure Cooper and Daddy will have a ball here eating berries and jumping on the couch.

And so this blog post is more self-indulgent than the rest. It's cute videos and pictures so I can log in from Indy and watch my boy in action.

First, how Cooper will most likely spend his evenings with Daddy:

Looking for his favorite playmate:

This is Cooper saying "please" (and the hand across the chest is sign language for please). I'm telling you -- it's so sweet that once he starts this, I almost always give in. In this video, for instance, you'll notice he's playing with the cast iron fireplace log holder standing right next to the sharp brick hearth. I lose all Mommy-sense when he's so cute and polite!

And finally, two of my favorite recent pictures:

Hallmark and Donuts

When my mom came up for a visit, we toured the Hallmark Cards visitors' center in Kansas City. We watched a machine make bows (or flowers, as Cooper calls them).

And got to hold hands with Maxine.

Sometime last month was National Donut Day. (I didn't make it up, I swear. I read it on the internet, so it must be true.) I thought the occasion called for a family photo:

And an assortment of donuts for Cooper to choose from. He picked the creme-filled-chocolate-frosted one. A good choice, I think.

And this is him eating goldfish crackers after he rejected the donuts.

Do you hear that? It's the sound of my donut-loving heart breaking.

We visited a nature center in Lawrence that had this viewing station for lots of bird feeders. And if you pushed the buttons where Cooper is standing, you could hear lots of different bird calls. Cooper's bird noises all sound the same ("teet teet"), but he loved standing here to watch and listen.

Who knew he was talented enough to blow up a balloon poodle?

We've started coloring a bit. Unfortunately Cooper likes to eat crayons still, so we mostly give him plastic pens. But these fancy crayons are designed especially for little toddler hands. He used them appropriately for a bit, then pitched them over the side of the high chair. They make a much cooler sound than regular crayons when you drop them!

Masterpiece:

Cooper and Parker ready for a trip to the pool:

Cooling off over the air conditioning vent at the end of a long, hot day:

U-Pick Strawberries

The boy loves his berries.

Things to do in hotels

Play with the mini-fridge:

Spend two hours in the basement (the real basement with boxes of paperwork, old mop buckets, and spare plumbing parts) waiting for a tornado to pass.

Open:

Shut:

Sleep:

Alan always says he wants to put masking tape around Cooper when he's sleeping so it looks like a chalk outline. I vetoed the idea. But if he ever was going to do it, this is perfect pose:

More hotel swimming

Our version of water basketball:

With Daddy and Grandma Carol:

First swimming escapades

Things started off poorly when Cooper realized that I had accidentally purchased pink Little Mermaid swim diapers instead of blue Elmo ones.

He recovered and seemed to enjoy the Denver hotel swimming pools.

I'm not precisely sure what this face means, but I love it!

Things we liked on our trip to Denver

Big fish in the aquarium in a mall along the way:

Cozy napping seat:

Roadside parks:

Flowers in the Denver Botanic Gardens

And here's a video of a little game we like to call "Oh, Cooper!"

Now might be a good time to talk about why we named him something that rhymes with Pooper. Or super-duper paratrooper party-pooper pooper scooper. Oh, well. Could be worse.