Remainder Of The Weekend

On Friday, Cooper's grandpa drove up to the city and picked him up since we had our party that night. Our usual "babysitters", Michael and Christina, were invited to the party - so that was poor planning on our part, huh? All good! Are you kidding? Maria's parents were so excited to spend a little quality time with Cooper. And anyway, it was his first experience taking a ride in the truck! He absolutely loved it.

Planned on picking him up for a party in the afternoon on Saturday, but that didn't seem to work out. Better for Cooper to stay healthy and not be around so many people at once. So he stayed in Jersey, and we went to Susie/Miriam's that night. Lots of fun and lots of people. We had a great time. And what time did we leave the bar? 3am? That is a pretty freakin' long 'one more - no more'! Have to get those pics from them! So love Toni and Lou. Life's a beach! And North Face puff-jackets are the "new black". Gringa called that fashion.

Home to Jersey on Sunday. Nice day. Hung out with the twins. Cooper was "corraled" so he didn't get too friendly with the Christmas tree. Lori took a nap on the sofa. Maria provided snacks and silly jokes for the three boys. A nice relaxing day. Headed to Maria's grandparent's house for Sunday Dinner around 5:30pm.

Cooper went to town at dinner! He stole all the provolone from our antipasto salad, and then proceeded to eat vegetables, baked potato, meatloaf, and bread. Maria's parents fed Cooper spaghetti on Friday night.... Need to post THOSE pics on the blog!
We played with the puzzles a bit, but Cooper gained more enjoyment in picking it up and letting all the pieces fall out. Harvard, here he comes. Hey, baby steps!

Harlem Holiday Cheer

We had our annual holiday party entitled 'Harlem Holiday Cheer' on Friday, December 11th. Such a great time! Approx 60 people were in attendance, and we had a packed house. So much fun! Too bad the holidays only swing around once a year.

Anthony and Bryan are great wingmen.

Blonds do have more fun.

Lori and the 'Over Six Feet Tall' club.

Julie commandeered the camera and the picture-taking for most of the evening. The result? Fabulous photos but NADA of Julie and Andrea. Couldn't have that! Unearthed this one! (Ah, the power of FaceBook.)

How cute are we?


Friday night. A little vodka. A little more vodka. And Tony's true intentions are revealed.

Sorry Tony! Nice try, but we don't think Mike is too into the idea. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

Great group. Great friends. Can't wait for Harlem Cheer '10!!!

Splash Time

Cooper loves the bath. His newest is slamming his hands down into the water and making huge splashes. Hopefully, this is just a phase! Too cute. Totally worth all the toweling up in the bathroom after he is tucked in bed. His standard toys include colorful fish, hippo, and (of course) a "rubber duckie". He loves the bath.

Like the new look the kid is sporting?

'Run Around' Saturday

The holiday season is absolutely upon us, and we know this due to our party schedule this past Saturday night. We successfully hit three in one evening. Pretty good stat! Very disappointed we couldn't manage Amy's soiree, but it just wasn't do'able. Maria will have to put a bottle of wine in her box at Sorenson the next time she is down there.

First stop? Chelsea.

Stuart has a great place, and it was really nice to hang out with the boys for a while. What was that dish with the bacon in it? So delicious. Great group of guys. Wish we could have stayed a longer.

Next? The Bitter End.

Maria's friend Jen invited us to the CD release party for Devlin Miles - a very talented singer/songwriter. We cab'ed it to Bleeker and met up with Jen at a table in the middle of the venue. Great music. So happy we trucked down there. Thanks so much Jen!

This is a very cool club that is characteristically typical of Greenwich Village so small and dark and rich in NYC music history. So many artists got their start here, and we thoroughly enjoyed Devlin's entire set. Even bought the CD!

Final destination?
Alan and Brian's party. Always a good time, and the guest list has been cut down over the years. There was a time when it wasn't an oddity to have 100+ people were in attendance! Great food. Lots of good friends. And everyone looked beautiful. We wanted to stay longer, but needed to get home and relieve the babysitters.

The babysitters were kids on Maria's team from Lexington. Teresa and Monique played with Cooper, ordered pizza for themselves, and hung out until we got home around 1:30am. All good! Teresa told Maria at practice the following week that the duo grabbed Dunkin Donuts after departing us, and then stayed there until 3:30am! Craziness. Maria is going to have to kill them if they do it again. And? They are both "stalkers" and read this blog religiously...... (REALLY GUYS - I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU RUN LAPS IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN) Go home! :)

Guitar Hero

Lori took out the guitar this morning, and as soon as Cooper heard her tuning it he BOOKED over to her. Giggled the whole time.

He is so interested in the strings and the music and wants to try it out himself. Maybe he will play an instrument one day. Who knows.

Apparently he thinks he has mastered the guitar. He is trying to move Lori's hand away so he can perform a solo concert.

Rice And Beans

Our earlier post reported that Cooper hasn't tried too many new things this week, but that status has changed since this morning. He went to town with his lunch. The meal? Brown rice and lentils, and Maria also added some broccoli, zucchini, and carrots. He was going at it with both hands. When all was said and done he probably ate four heaping tablespoons, and that is quite a lot for a little kid.



We also have the spoon on his tray at every meal, and with help, he is trying to feed himself with it.

Still a work in progress!

Around The House

Felt like we were constantly on the go this week with work, business meals, appointments, etc etc. We absolutely had a TGIF moment last night when we realized we had nothing on our calendar. Actually, we had wanted to go see Van's volleyball game, but Cooper made that decision for us when he was exhausted and needed to go to bed early.

So we enjoyed the Indian food Lori brought home - dal makhani, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, poori, and vegetable samosas. Shared a bottle of wine while watching some CHEESY movies on TV. Seriously cheesy - Home Alone and then Christmas With The Kranks on FX. That is how we spent our Friday night. We are pretty pitiful, huh?

We have these two big storage boxes on the shelves in the living room that contain the books and toys that Cooper plays with on a daily basis. It is easier than making these things commute from the bedroom, and also "hides" them in plain sight.

Cooper knows which box contains his books and which one shelters his toys. And he is starting to really show his preferences by digging through to find his favorite stories. Cooper can sit for an amazingly long time reading with us, and he complains when the book is finished. He is even cute when he fusses.There is now a moratorium on blueberries after Cooper broke out in a nasty diaper rash. Turns out that this type of reaction is normal, and his body may not be ready to digest a whole helping of the fruit. Not too many additional tastes this week - just swiss cheese and grilled fish. Oh, he did have a bite of vegetable samosa. (loved it)

Since the 12-month-old mark is when we can make the switch from formula to whole milk, we are starting to introduce some now. Cooper is down to 3 bottles a day (first thing in AM, before PM nap, bedtime), and we are filling them with 2/3 formula and 1/3 milk. We will keep increasing the percentage of milk until he makes the full switch over. So far so good.

Hanging out today. Most likely will get the Christmas stuff down in preparation for our party next weekend. We have THREE parties to attend tonight. So want to make them all, but will probably only get to two of them. Babysitter is coming at 6pm. And then tomorrow? Christmas tree. The finest one can purchase on all of 145th Street.

Will get a post of Stonewall Honors as soon as the pics are sent to us!

Man, Are We In Trouble

New On The Tray

Food adventures this week?

Blueberries, Nilla Wafers, squash, cheesecake, and mushrooms.
But Cooper is NOT A FAN of cottage cheese.
He wouldn't even close his mouth!

Bye Bye Arkansas

Nope, I don't want to talk about leaving!
See you VERY SOON Grandma and Grandpa.

Picture Perfect

A professional photographer came to the house on Saturday morning to take portraits of the entire family. All wore khaki pants, and either a white or black top. Can you believe we were successful in all 17 people being dressed and ready and on time? And all of us were all relatively healthy, but that status adjusted itself time and again over the course of the weekend.

We took photographs on the lower deck over-looking the water, on the stairs, in front of the fireplace, and out in the yard. Luckily the blue skies stayed with us, and we all can't wait to check out the results once we receive the book of proofs.

Three little monkeys in action.

We are all SO very jealous of Kelly's curls!

Never a dull moment.

Science Can Be Fun

After lunch on Friday we all packed up into three cars and caravan'ed over to the Mid-America Science Center. It was the PERFECT location for this crew to spend the afternoon. This place held the attention of each and every one of us. Lots of fun!

Cooper had a blast crawling around on the carpeting and pulling himself up on the mirrors. He was in heaven - this vain kid had multiple directions to check himself out.
I can't catch this floating soccer ball!

Lots of stuff to touch and explore. Cooper was enraptured with the lights and the movement and the sounds of everything.

This was a cool exhibit. Interesting to pick up bags equally 25 lbs and understand just how much Lori has lost.

These magnetic things kept Cooper busy for such a long time.
Worry not. The men are watching over us.

Kelly, Michael, Caroline, Mason, and Colton all had opportunities for their hair to stand up on end. Luke and Josh made us follow their smelly socks up through this big tunnel (miner mike sucks) maze thing. So many hands-on things to try out - really, we all had a blast.

A little quality time.

Mid-America Science Center

Lemon'y Snicket

Cooper was eyeing the lemon in his Mommy's water for the duration of the meal, so we decided to give the kid his first sour experience. We had the camera ready for what we imagined would be his scrunched up face reacting to this foreign taste.


Wow, that was new and different.

Not the poof taste I am used to.

Hmmm.....

What do I think about this?

Gotta check it out again.

Cooper vs a lemon slice. Cooper wins!