Getting Bigger Every Day

We got the great "chair" from Debbie and Lou, and it certainly keeps Cooper occupied.  It is called the 'Bumbo', and it allows kids who have mastered holding their head steady to sit unassisted.  He had a ball.

Yes people, he was watching and smiling at Elmo!

We bought this great video monitor to keep in the apartment, and brought the other one up to the lake house. It is VERY cool to watch him while he settles down for the night, and he is just so cute. Considered taking it back due to the price tag, but couldn't bring ourselves to do it! The camera is (for now) on the crib, the big screen monitor is in the bedroom, and the handheld is in the living room.

Maria took Cooper out to an event on Friday on the Upper Eastside, and decided to walk home since the weather was so perfect. No problem, right? Wrong. Cooper was napping, and Maria didn't even think about the sun - poor kid had sunburn cheeks and chin! Luckily, he has skin like her, so the redness subsided very quickly. Won't make that mistake again! LoL The diaper bag is now supplied with all sorts of baby sunblock!

Hanging around the apartment. 


One more thing:

COOPER HAS BEEN SLEEPING 

10-11 HOURS AT NIGHT!

Catching Up!

Wow, so easy to get behind with this blog stuff!  Been very busy......  

We opened the lake house last week, and it was great having Kim, Michele, Van, and Sarah there to help us tackle all the projects on our list.  It is never all work and no play - so a game of golf, Hellava Good, beer, and a roaring fire rounded out the weekend very nicely.  

THANKS GUYS!

Andrea competed in the Boston Marathon on the 20th, and ran it in a very respectable 4:02! The marathon route is really just one direction, and unfortunately the winds coming from the East made it more difficult than it would normally be.  We kept tabs on her progress by hitting 'refresh' a million times on the website in NYC, and we know Julie ran around equally as much to make sure Andrea had her needed and well-deserved support.  We forgot to ask them for a pic for the blog.  Oh well.

Monday night was Cooper's first night sleeping in his own room.  We took the Port-a-Crib up to the lake to stay, so he was all set to fly solo.  Cooper?  HE was a champ!  Us?  Less so! (we checked on him a grand total of 14 times)

We booked Cooper's baptism for June 7th.

Maria's birthday was on April 23rd, and what she really wanted was a LOW KEY evening.  She spent the day with her friend Emilia and her son Douglas - 9 months old, so adorable, and such a bruiser! That night we had dinner at Kion, an interesting place in the East Village that serves a mix of Japanese/Peruvian/tapas.  After dinner we headed to a movie entitled 'My Last Five Girlfriends' at the Tribeca Film Festival.  Because it is Tribeca, audience members included the director, writer, and a bunch of cast members.  We happened to be sitting across the aisle from the bunch, and it was very cool to watch the actors watch themselves on screen.  Great evening!

This past weekend?  Back up to the house.  Bought a jogging stroller to keep up there for walks around the lake and various other adventures.  GORGEOUS WEATHER.  Can't wait for the guys to put the dock in and get the boat out of storage. 

That is about it.... Whew!  All caught up! 

Chip Off The Block

Beautiful weather over the weekend, and Lori was jones'ing to get on her Harley and take it for a long-awaited spin around the lake.  

Apparently the apple does not fall far from the tree!  

Maria's friend Trish gave Cooper a few Harley Davidson t-shirts, and he will definitely wear them with pride!

Thankfully they don't make sidecars that can hold a carseat......

Toys And More

Cooper hit another milestone this past week. He really is starting to grab and grasp his toys - not just bat at the ones hanging down from the activity mat. Greater hand-eye coordination. Of course, he has everything going straight into his mouth. And his fists are definitely his favorite.

Can you say, "overstimulation"?

Cooper also has graduated from taking baths in the sink to now being in his bathtub in the bathroom. Surprisingly, he loves the water!

Went up another diaper size! Now in Size 2.

Cooper has rolls! Big boy.

Cute picture.

Donofrio's Egg Hunt

An experience.
That is the only way you can describe an Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the Donofrio's. The tradition is 25 years old, and has become quite an event. Back in the day it was held the Saturday before Palm Sunday. But now? Since all the "kids" have gotten older it was no longer a challenge to hunt for eggs on a Spring afternoon.....


So the hunt is held on Good Friday. At night. In the dark. Everyone is armed with their collection bags and flashlights.





All the "kids" (who have their own kids now!) are categorized as searchers, and all of us co-habitaters have our own quest for golden eggs.





Hundreds of eggs are hidden, and certain ones have a poker chip inside - redeemable for a gift from the prize table.





There were a million of us!
We picked a great prize - a beach bag filled with anything we would ever need while enjoying the sun and surf.

Cooper looked cute in his jeans, sneakers, and Ed Hardy t-shirt.

Love this picture.....

Three Musketeers

Nope, no Easter bonnets for this crew......

Twins Invade NYC

Liza had some friends staying in the city for a few days, and they all had plans to get the gaggle of kids together on Friday.  Much easier for Liza to drive in and stay overnight on Thursday, rather than get the boys up/out and going north on the Parkway so early in the AM.  

The twins had a great time "playing" a little Rock Band (and generally attempting to destroy the apartment in 3 minutes) before retiring to Cooper's room and sacking out on the trundle bed for the night.  

The plan was set to meet Elise/Jonathan (with 6 month old Jensen) and April/Sid (with 4 year old girls Blake and Ella) at the Central Park Zoo in the morning.  Both sets of twins were a little disappointed bec they expected to see all the characters from the movie 'Madagascar'. Hell, we are lucky we have polar bears and sea lions living in the middle of Manhattan, but the kids didn't see it that way!  

Hanging out on a spider web over at the Children's Zoo

Cooper was an angel all day..... Albeit a sleeping and out-of-it angel.

Of course, he woke up to eat.

And they lived happily ever after. 

Mormons Strike Again

Someone is going to Hell, but it ain't us.
Unbelievable. UnF'ingBelievable.

Apparently there is a storm brewing, and it is being conjured up by the National Organization for Marriage. This organization, which is a front for the Mormon Church, is warning of a "gathering storm" of gay rights. They say they are forming a "rainbow coalition of people of every creed and color who are coming together in love" - they have a rainbow coalition. A rainbow coalition. Way to co-opt your enemy's language!



Currently, this ad is set to run 8 times per day in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and California.

Here is a response to NOM's empty and deliberately vague rhetoric:



Because sometimes life works out so perfectly....
The audition tapes have been found and posted on YouTube for all to see. Real talent here. Their community theaters would be oh so proud. Would love to know how much they were each paid for this career-killing spot. Maybe the abortion issue or the women in the military debate will be resurected so they can come out of banishment to be in the spotlight for another ad or two.



What would be even more perfect?
A remix of NOM's ad and the auditions. Set to 'It's Raining Men'.
A girl can dream.....

Cooper's First Pub Crawl

Today started out pretty innocently, but didn't stay that way for long.  We went to church in the morning - wanted to speak to the pastor about what Lori needs to do to join this congregation and also would like to get Cooper's baptism on the calendar at some point soon. 

Lori had to leave the service early to meet up with Van.... They had a huge list of open houses on the Upper Eastside that they needed to check out.  Yup, and Maria stayed at church with Cooper. The kicker? It wasn't a normal service!  Palm Sunday, communion, Easter show, and then all the normal stuff on top.  Oy vey. 

Maria and Cooper walked through the park, met up with Sarah, and they walked for a while before finding a good place with an available four-top (with room to park a stroller) where we could get a glass of wine and a bite to eat. This was our only intention for the day.  

Maria and Van were the Bad Idea Bears, and decided it was a PERFECT day for Cooper to go on his first pub crawl.  Pub crawl.  And we are not even going to talk about this past Friday night, and the 5 bottles of wine the four of us went through!  We were up until 2am. Scandalous. 

Anyway, after leaving Uva and buying Mega Million (ya gotta be in it to win it) tickets, we got the great idea to call Elaine.  She valiantly got her shoes on and joined us at Johnny Foxes. Yay!  We love Elaine! Wine and fried food. Breakfast of champions. 

Next stop?  Headed to Ship Of Fools for more drinks and even more fried food. Elaine bailed after a few minutes bec her dogs were sending her text messages that said they needed treats right away. Posthaste.

Lots and lots of drinking from bottles happened throughout the day.

How cute is he???

Belated Baby Shower

Baby shower!  Noreen planned on hosting a baby shower, but with Cooper's early arrival - a traditional party was not in the cards. So Randi got everyone's schedule in sync, and we headed to Oradell this past Sunday.

Noreen's house is gorgeous, food was amazing, the cute waiter kept drinks flowing, and a good time was had by all!  Everyone was just so generous, and Cooper has months of 'high fashion' ahead of him!  

Thanks to Gina, Cooper is outfitted for home and away games for the Yankees. There were LOTS of "boos" from the Mets fans in the room! We think Cooper didn't want to deal with the masses, so he just zoned out and slept all afternoon instead. 

Mel And Cooper

Mel came in to town last weekend, and had an unbelievably full schedule seeing friends and family. Don't know how she managed to squeeze everyone in! She needs to come back again, and SOON! We are so happy she got to spend some time with her godson.

Cooper was in a much better mood than the night before - he wasn't himself and really very cranky. He just needed a full night of sleep to snap out of it.

Love how Mel and Cooper are looking into each other's eyes.

AND MEL GOT A LITTLE ACTION WHILE ON THIS COAST.