Happy Halloween

* HAPPY HALLOWEEN *

Big Boy, Big Food

Cooper hit the 10 month old mark this week! Craziness! Big guy.

So we decided it was high time we needed to begin to actively introduce more table food into Cooper's diet. You know, the kid's palette has got to be shaped and molded to accurately reflect his geographical circumstance. Lots of food choices in NYC - tapas, pad thai, schnitzel, curry, sushi, etc etc.
Started off pretty easy.... This lunch consisted of grilled chicken and steamed broccoli. To date he has partaken in meals which included meatballs, garlic bread, bananas, zucchini, mashed potatoes, and more. He is loving the experience of the new tastes, and also the independence of feeding himself.

Michelle And Jill In The Bronx

On Wednesday, Maria had the opportunity to interpret at the James J. Peters VA Hospital in the Bronx for a community event - with Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and a whole bunch of Yankee people making an appearance. They were promoting Welcome Back Veterans, which is a Major League Baseball charities initiative (MLB Go Beyond) for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families.

Maria arrived early to get through security and be cleared by Secret Service, but the program got a late start and really didn't begin until almost 2pm. Later on we searched the web, but alas, no photos of Maria interpreting the event could be found.

But do you see that group of people by the door? Maria is on the right, and attempting to escape before the masses leave the room. Hey, this pic is better than nothing at all!

GAP Casting Call

Ok, Ok, Ok..... Yes, we admit it. We are THOSE kind of parents. We submitted Cooper's pictures in a GAP casting call contest.

This contest works in several different parts. The first being the submission period which ended last week. From Sept 22nd - Nov 17th is the voting period for 'fan favorite', and the kids with the most votes can win trips and giftcards and all sorts of other things. After that, 20 finalists are chosen - 5 baby boys, 5 baby girls, 5 boys, and 5 girls on Dec 17th.

Now we are thinking that if ALL of our friends and family voted for each picture of Cooper, each and every day, made up alternate emails addresses and voted even more, Lori could have her staff voting, Maria could get Lexington School behind it, and and and......

There is no way we could surpass the 36,000+ votes the leading kid has right now! All good. We don't need to pad the votes to show ourselves Cooper cuteness. No worries.

So? Our point in doing this?

We just wanted to get his pictures submitted. Of course, it would be FAB if he gets picked as a finalist, but we are also realistic and know that it is a 1 in a million shot! I guess we will have one big blog entry on Dec 17th if he does!

GAP Casting Call

You can enter the ID numbers or MMMterp to view his photos.

ID: 4 4 6 4 7 4 5 4 6

ID: 9 8 6 4 7 4 8 2 2

ID: 4 5 6 4 7 4 7 9 5

ID: 6 3 6 4 7 4 4 3 5

ID: 2 7 6 4 7 1 1 5

Stonewall Honors 2009

As some may be aware, the Stonewall Community Foundation is a fantastic public charity in New York which works to promote the well-being of LGBT individuals and strengthen the LGBT community.

On Thursday, December 3rd, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Stonewall Honors 2009 will honor 40 women for their contributions to the LGBT rights movement.

So? The big news?

Lori has been selected as one of the 2009 honorees!

Lori is humbled to be recognized in such an amazing assembly of women. This acknowledgment is the biggest compliment imaginable.

For the amount of time, effort, concern, money, and heart Lori actively spends working towards equality for our community each and every day - this is a reward she has wholeheartedly earned.

You GO girl!

Brown-Eyed Boy II

Stylin'

Habitat For Humanity

Van and Lynn are awesome. The two decided to take advantage of their time off, and they flew down to Mississippi and volunteered for Habitat For Humanity for a week. The idea is something that we all have kicked around at times - but these guys did it. You rock!
Headed off to another day of hardhats and hammering.
On the roof of one of the houses on the project site.
The heat index was over 100 degrees, and Van didn't look so good at one point. (worry not, she bounced back quickly)
The work in progress.
Getting briefed on the duties du jour.

Looking good! Careful with the nail gun!

Habitat For Humanity is a not-for-profit organization that does a lot of good work for communities in the United States and all around the world. Feel free to check out their home page for more information, volunteer page to check out opportunities, or their donation page to give money to this cause.

Let's Go Giants

Good times! Georgie's friend owns a GREAT bar called Blackstone, so a group of us spent the day in Astoria rooting for the Giants (let's not talk about it) and hanging out. Cooper wore his jersey with pride, and fit in well with everyone there.

All played 'Pass The Cooper' for the greater part of the afternoon. How was Cooper? Are ya kidding? The boy loves every minute of it, and he knows our friends very well - he won't lack for attention when in their presence!

Georgie and James brought Reina and Alejandro, and Cooper FELL IN LOVE almost immediately. He was fascinated by Reina, and we think she was a tad smitten too.

Reina turned out to be quite the cougar!

Maria showed up a little late, because she interpreted the christening of her friend's twin boys. Worry not, she was properly greeted by Van/Sarah with a Stella.

So much alcohol, so little time.

Georgie missed the b'day cake.

Elvis replaced Cordoza.

All in a day's work!

Cooper was so good all day, but wanted nothing to do with his mommy's goal of him taking any sort of nap. Oh well.

Giants hat.

Giants jersey.

Like mother - like son!

We are thinking this should be the next advertising campaign for Stella Artois.

Or maybe Converse. Thoughts?

At this point? When the toys succumb to peer pressure?

It is time to go......

Billy Hahn

Maria's cousin Billy has succumbed to the wills of Bohemia, and is making a living not via paycheck - but by selling his artwork on the street. Hell, he is a young guy. Good for him! The BushwickBK blog did an article on him last week.

Billy Hahn: Art as Escape, Art as Work

So if you are ever down near Bedford Ave and North 5th.....
Feel free to make a purchase! (the kid has got to eat)

Brown-Eyed Boy

Newsworthy

Our picture was taken by a photographer at the National Dinner and printed in DC Metro Weekly this past week.

Cooper Cracking Up

Lori realized she could make recordings from her iPhone.....

Hit 'play' (more than one attempt may be needed) and take a listen.

It isn't the highest grade of technology, but it serves its purpose.

COOPER CRACKING UP

Cute, huh? The three of us were hysterical!

Closing Up The House

Yet another season has passed, and it was time to head up to the lake and close up the house. Always a depressing and daunting task! The fact that we were in the middle of a Nor'Easter and it was something like a ridiculous 34 degrees outside did not help matters at all.

Got to the house on Friday night, and Cooper sat all bundled and wrapped up near the heater in the bedroom until the temperature reached a respectable number. Thank god for flannel pajamas. The room did warm up pretty quickly, and Cooper was clueless the Arctic Circle lay right outside the bedroom door. As long as he is cosy - that is the only thing that is important.

It is always a good time when your infant requires a hat and a fleece bunting-thing when headed in to have breakfast in the morning. (look michele, he is still a poof-star fan.)

We got everything done at Highland Lake that we needed to do: took the boat to Sand Beach, took care of the jet skis, arranged for the docks to come out, drained the hot tub, bagged up all the bedding, cleaned out the fridge/freezer, winterized the motorcycle, prepared the outdoor stuff for the upcoming weather, covered up the sofas, and turned off the electricity in both houses. Whew! Wow! Did we forget anything? Hope not!

See ya Highland Lake.

We will be back in April.

Only Have Eyes For You

Yay! Great Aunt Karen finally (FINALLY) figured out the inner workings of Snapfish and sent us these pictures from the Jersey weekend. Thanks Karen!

Cooper gets so excited and starts giggling at the sight of any dog, and Shea is no exception. She is a very good dog, and causes further discussions of pet ownership in our future since Lori has always been partial to the Australian Shepherd breed. But Maria has had Lori memorize the sentence, "Our lifestyle is not conducive to an animal right now.", so who knows when Cooper will have a canine companion to call his very own. (it will be a while)

Great Grandma has such a way with Cooper..... They had a very in depth conversation about these birds and then moved on to other secrets. He was cracking up when Great Grandpa brought out the Elmo stuffed animal after dinner too.

But, of course, Cooper has special eyes for his mommy.

All Cooper, All The Time

Can we please state for the record, yet again, how extremely lucky we are to have Cooper in our lives? He is just perfect - eats well, sleeps almost 12 hours at night, smiles/laughs constantly, and is exponentially learning new skills each and every day. We can't express how happy and grateful we are for the experience.

Cooper had his 9 month old doctor's appointment last week. He is now 22lbs 4oz (73%) and 29 inches (82%) - which is interesting because the last couple of appointments have had his weight in a higher percentile than his height. Our boy is definitely in a growth spurt.

Cooper is constantly on his hands and knees now. He is SO CLOSE to crawling, but at this point takes a few inches forward before changing direction or grabbing a new toy. He also has scooting backwards down to a science. Hey, as long as he has his eye on the prize.

Hide & Seek? Nope, this is a result of his backwards crawling ability.

M-I-Z

Z-O-U

Missouri. Missouri. Missouri.

TIGERS!!!!!

Ok, this is a picture of Maria's brother Michael when he was 13 months old. Can Cooper look any more like him?

The tradition continues..... Maria has kept a diaper from each stage (N, 1, 2, 3, 4) and lines them up for a photo every time Cooper's butt kicks it up a level. He is also quite close to abandoning his size '9 months' clothing. He is getting so big so quickly. Depressing!

Memories. We used this chair regularly. We love Bumbo.

So does Cooper love Bumbo? Not so much. Don't think he understood why he was down-graded since he is a master sitter now. (you know he is thinking, "what the hell?" at this point.)