This is the first night Jasper's ever asked to sleep with Cooper.


Dressed for the day. I asked Cooper what he needed to put on before going outside, and he said, "shoes!!" So, here he is...

Soccer!!

And, I stumbled upon it and wondered if it might be a match for Cooper. It's advertised as an adaptive soccer program, but the age range is 5-19, so I thought it might be something Cooper wasn't ready for yet. But hey, it's free, so off we went...
Cooper LOVED it! He talked about it the whole way there:
"Cooper play soccer. Like big boys!"
"And Barney and Wiggles play soccer, too!"
"No, probably not," I say.
"Oh darn..." (My new favorite Cooper phrase.)

We get there, and there are our friends Amy and Max. Let me just say, here, that Cooper talks about these two more than anyone else in our lives (sorry grandparents..). I know he likes Max, but frankly, I think he's in love with Amy- in fact, as we left, he had to hold her hand (nevermind the water bottle.."Move that!" he declared.) And then when I tried to hold his other hand he says, "No, just one" [hand].
Finally, at the car, he tried to talk us into a trade: he'd go home w/Amy and he'd volunteer his spot at our house for Max. The only way we got him out of Max's carseat was to promise a pizza date with them next week.







But, back to soccer...he had a blast- his buddy, Lucy, is terrific, and he still hasn't taken off his soccer dress--- I mean shirt (somehow we wound up with a youth large.)
So, there's this program: Top Soccer http://whatcomsoccer.com/Youth%20Information/TOPSoccer%20flyer%202010.pdf


Hurray! (and thanks to Amy for actually bringing her camera

Love My Sink...

So, there are a few reasons that the sink is one of my favorite parts of our new addition:
1.It's huge and deep, so you can fill it full of dishes and it looks like your kitchen is totally free of dirty dishes from across the room.
2. It's brown- the color of coffee, compost, and most other grubby things, which means I rarely have to scrub it.
3. But maybe the best reason is that it's the perfect playpen for Ian- who has to have the water running at all times when he's in the bath.

 

Language

So, generally, I feel so pleased with Coop's language. He's made big changes this year and is SO much more successfully communicating without help. This weekend, we went to a big bird sanctuary (we really mostly saw ducks..) for the day. The kids LOVED it! Of particular interest, of course, was throwing birdseed for the ducks. Cooper asked me for more, and knew exactly what he intended with his request. What stood out to me when I watched this video was how much effort it really took him to get what was in his head out...I always tell people that what Cooper is able to say far less than he truly understands- which, in itself, is a substantial part of his challenge. I feel like that's SO evident here!

A Visit from the Koontz Family

We always love it when our friends from Olympia come to visit. I think we’ve spent the majority of the last ten New Years together.

 

 

Here are our kiddos together: Trouble, huh?? I think it’s the only time they all stood still at once.

 

We had a great New Year’s Day hike with the kids, including a stop at our little cooperative school, just in time to see the goats being milked.

 

I love the look on Graham’s Face here….

Christmas Eve

Okay, so I've had enough comments about my slacker blogging, sorry about that. I really did leave the camera in San Diego when we left town, but that explains nothing about November and December.

So, in the next few days, I'll try to update gradually.

Here are the boys setting out food for the reindeer and cookies for Santa (and a beer- bet you can guess who suggested that!) The thing to pay attention to is Ian's cheeks in every picture. He was mooching the reindeer food the entire time!

 
 
 
 

Halloween and other fall shots

Fall beach day.

Ian was determined to stay out in the rain. And it was a DOWNPOUR! There he is: happily soaked.


"Rock Guys" Cooper's favorite part of our visit to the University for Speech Therapy


My GapBaby photoshoot. (kidding, kidding)

Cooper spent this whole walk directing Dad and Diane on exactly how to walk.


It's been quite a month: I was recruited by our school district to take a 1/2 time reading specialist position about a month ago, and, while we hadn't planned for me to work this year, the job was one I couldn't turn down. It's every afternoon for 4 hours. Cooper's in school at that time, and Ian's generally asleep, so I still get mornings with the boys. In that next week, we found some really fabulous childcare, bought a second car (yes, a minivan), and shifted into a different mode. It's been a good change. I like what I'm doing, the boys are happy, and it seems like a job I could do part time for a lot of years.

Our remodel is officially done. I put in the last paint and shelving today, and it is SUCH a relief to get it done. (Pictures below)

Ian is too funny for words- he spends all day toddling around from one place to another, carrying random objects, and holding them out to you, with a loud declaration of, "DA!" He has figured out all kinds of funny noises he can make with his tongue, and has started dancing- which just looks like walking really fast in place.

Cooper's really having a good fall. His language, which has always been my biggest worry (after the chronic hair pulling..) is really growing this year. Lots and lots of 3 and 4 word sentences that I think most people can understand without help. My recent favorites:" Awwww, whats'a'matter baby?" and "Cooper NEED gum!"-the second is particularly funny because I've never heard him say he needs anything before! He's taking a gymnastics class in town, which makes me happy for so many reasons:
1. It's drop off, and I can actually drop him off. The teacher loves him, and doesn't see any need for him to have extra supervision.
2. His gross motor skills are really benefiting. He is walking a few steps on a balance beam, and working on summersaults and rolls. It's a bit of a dilemma because we dropped physical therapy a year ago, as we didn't see the progress we were hoping for. So now we've picked up gymnastics, and I'd like to have him go more than once a week, but that feels cost-prohibitive. Ironically, a gymnastics class is 1/10th the cost of each physical therapy session, but insurance isn't interested in covering it. Sigh. I'm on the hunt for a good grant.
3. Okay, this is terrible, but it's true: he's not the highest impact kid in the class. Everytime this happens I breathe this sigh of relief. It makes me so happy to see him participating in so many activities successfully.

The bits that stick out are all new.