Strawberries

Cooper and Maria went to the grocery store.

Bought all the norms like milk, juice, paper towels, and more. Cooper needed more fruit - his staples lately have been apples, pears, and grapes. There were some great looking strawberries, so they picked them up as well.

Got home and unpacked everything, and Cooper wanted some strawberries. Not a problem. Maria quartered a couple and hooked him up with a fork. He finished them and asked for more. Sure! And then he made the request yet again. Strawberries are a very healthy afternoon snack, right?

The carnage.

Cooper ate them all. HE ATE THEM ALL! In a matter of 2 hours or so, he ate 22 big strawberries. 22 of them. A short time after this he ate dinner. Thinking he is in a growth spurt, wouldn't you say?

Museum of Natural History

Maria had both boys all day on Friday, and she very ambitiously decided that a morning at the American Museum of Natural History was order. The doorman called for a car since juggling these two little monsters on the street corner wouldn't have made for an enjoyable start to this excurision.

Cooper thought the elephants were great.

So very impressed with the dinosaurs!!!! Cooper was going through his paleontothic dissertation in toddler-speak to anyone that looked his way.

Lots of fun running around in the the dim Hall of Ocean Life. He liked seeing the fish, dolphins, and sharks. Cooper also met a little girl named Lucy, and their love affair was very intense in their short time together.

It is The Circle of Life.
Cooper thought frogs were more Carter's style.
Cooper picked out these treasure to bring home.
Went through the main halls, and Cooper was great! He walked around like a big kid. We also ate lunch in the cafeteria - he ate his meal and Maria's yougurt/strawberries/granola. It is amazing to watch Cooper being so social at such a young age.

Not so many pictures inside the museum, it was definitely not in the front of Maria's mind when she was following Cooper around from exhibit to exhibit. No worries though, AMNH is only a couple of subway stops away so we will definitely be going again soon.

Years

Our Little Monster

Logan's Birthday

Cooper went to Logan's birthday party! Maria and Susie were both pregnant at the same exact time, and it just blows us all away that the kids are already 2 years old. We hear that time goes quickly, but never did we imagine it would go this quickly!

Cooper, Logan, and Roy having lunch together.
The kids all played in Logan's room.
Where did they all go?
The best part of turning two? You are basically expected to put your fingers in the cake, and your friends are invited to do the same!

Logan enjoyed the gift Cooper brought her!

FOX Nazis

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Lack'age

As one may have noticed..... There has been some serious lack'age of blog posts lately. We have just been so busy! Maria's interpreting schedule filled up quickly, and trying to juggle work with her coaching has been challenging. Lori is always busy with work, but can you guess what happens when you add in business trips, HRC commitments, and Breckenridge? Hardly any time to breathe!

Oh yeah, and COOPER! We spend every minute we can with him. He is just so great. Talking a lot. Repeating anything and everything. Still into bulldozers and backhoes, but has recently added a love of dinosaurs into the mix. Such a boy! Favorite movies right now are 'Finding Nemo' and 'Up'. Still trying to master the bicycle thing, and we are sure he will get it any day now. Thomas and all the other tank engines take up most of his playing time while in the apartment. He didn't care much for the tracks until recently, and now says 'circle circle' as he is bring us over to the floor so we can build an oval enclosure for him to sit in. How could we say no, right?

Carter is coming over during the week now since Clara is babysitting them both three days a week. Cooper is still going to daycare on Mondays, and Maria is taking off every Friday to spend time with the two. Cooper is so good with Carter, but we do have to be a bit careful since his ideas regarding boundaries are definitely that of a two year old - nonexistant. He does get credit for having all the best intentions! Lots of kisses and touches and sharing of toys. Poor Carter, although all of this "love" and "attention" will make him a stronger person and a better citizen in the future. (yes, i am sure)

We will try and keep up with the blog from this point on. Promise!

Breckenridge

Breckenridge!


More pictures soon!

Dude!

Cooper's new hat.

Top Chef

This picture is not the greatest, but had to post it anyway. Cooper had just recently woken up, so was still in 'pacifier and Blue Guy' mode. We turned the TV on, and it was tuned to Food Network from the night before. He laid on the floor and watched almost the entire show. It was Rachel Ray. Don't judge the kid.

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Vintage

Lori downloaded an app on her iPhone called Vintage Movie Maker. Lots of fun to fool around with, and Cooper cracked up when we showed him this video. Will make more!

Even More Snow

Snow? Snow? More snow? Ok.
On the road again.....
The super, porters, and doormen do a great job making sure our sidewalk is cleared right away. Love those guys!

Cheerleaders

Lexington School's 2010-11 cheerleading team.

Competition coming up in Trenton, NJ in February! Wish us luck!

Snow Trekker

The 8 inches of snow that fell on NYC on January 12th was well-received since we all heard reports about 12+ and so on. Cooper and Maria headed down to the 3rd Floor to be the first to touch all that new white stuff.


Cooper liked de'snowing the slide and the stairs of the jungle gym the most. But he also has developed quite the cold weather palette - he eats half of each snowball before he throws them!

Taking a break. Or stuck in the snow. Not sure which.

Turns out, he was stuck......

See these tracks? All, no really ALL, were made by our own Mr. Megown. He went on quite a journey, and had to snap a picture from the window in the hallway on our floor. Kid certainly gets around!

Columbus Gym

Tried out a gym class on another fine day in early January. Went to Columbus Gym on the Upper Westside, and Cooper truly enjoyed himself. Why wouldn't he? Lots of running and jumping and such.

A huge, soft "obstacle course" of sorts is set up so the kids can go over, under, through, etc etc. Cooper like the balance beam, and actually did really well on it.
He also thought doing a forward roll was way fun.
Trampoline time!

Bubbles! And then time to head for home.

Oy Vey

Carter.

Papi Chulo

As we said, there was a music component at Art Farm in the City. Cooper loved it, and loved the fact there was a guy with a guitar. He didn't sit down the entire time. And in this video? See what happens when he spies a cute girl.....

Art Farm In The City

Maria took advantage of a slow work week and went on a few adventures with Cooper. One of these excursions? Art Farm in the City. We have read about the activities, events, and classes offered at this place for a while now, and happy that we finally could experience the offerings firsthand.

What they did as a "drop in" Open House. No need to sign up for a semester - just come on in and pay per session. The term 'open house' gives the impression of checking out the facility and being a bit free. Wow, wasn't like that at all! Meaning, it was amazing! The session runs from 9:30am-12pm. How was that time broken up?

Animals: 9:30am - 10am

Art: 10am - 10:30am

Cooking: 10:30am - 11am

Music: 11am - 11:30am

Snack: 11:30am - 12pm

Sounds like total craziness, but it really wasn't. The kids loved each and every minute of the morning! And it is something that we would definitely bring Cooper to again.

Animals. The place is adorable.
He spent a lot of time with the turtles.
A blue-tongued skink!
This big aviary housed chickens, parakeets, and a few other birds.
Cooper took directions very well from this older boy.
Chinchilla. Pre-coat.
Cooper enjoyed the giant rabbits who lived in this pen.
Cooper!
He thought the little mouse was way cool.
Art. The kids were handed construction paper mittens, and they glued buttons and glitter on them. Don't have a pic since I needed to assist Cooper and also make sure that the glue didn't get all over the kids on either side of him. And that he didn't eat the glitter.
Cooking. No cookies for this crowd! What was on the menu? The kids made vegetable samosas. Rolled out the dough, and then mashed up the chickpeas with a little apple juice. Added some peas before folding it into a little pocket. Cooper loved cooking.
Music. Headed to the music room for some fun. Will upload the video!

Snack time. Raisins and goldfish crackers and apple juice.

Mechanical Marvel

Van and Sarah gave Cooper a perfect gift - a Radio Flyer tricycle. Although Cooper hasn't mastered the peddling just yet, he is constantly giving it a try. You can often hear him saying "down down" because we have been coaching him to push down on the peddles. We have all the confidence in the world that he will get it very soon.

But before the riding could ensue, assemblage was a necessity.

And guess who got that job?
Need any help?
Good job Lori!