A boy and his buttons

Only a year and a half old and he already wants to be in charge of the remote control.  

The grasshoppers have landed

Due to conditions being 'just right' this season, about 5 billion grasshoppers have decended onto Billings. While some people are afraid of spiders, snakes, or sharks or heights, I have a minor phobia of grasshoppers. (Millers too, but I think their season is over) I blame it on the last heavy infestation about 20 years ago, when I vividly remember running through a field screaming, with grasshoppers everywhere, and one jumped into my mouth, and I guess you just don't recover from something like that. I think they are the most disgusting bugs, and they jump at you, and I'm not a screamer, but a grasshopper coming at me will have me shrieking like a little girl.   I worry about the day a year or two down the road when Cooper comes to show me something in his closed fist and a grasshopper jumps out at me. To prevent that from happening, Cooper will have rules. Along with "say please", "don't hit" and "share toys", he will also learn "don't bring mommy bugs!"

Road Trip

Travis and I went to Denver this last weekend, leaving behind Cooper, who stayed with Grandma & Grandpa.  (Something told me he wouldn't appreciate the 8 hour drive each way)  It was good to get back home to him, but we had a nice time and knew he was in great hands!  We absolutely had to find a Bass Pro shop for Travis while we were there and I was not going to leave Denver without finding a Krispy Kreme donut shop, and based on that our trip was a success!   

It was crazy to see green on our drive, instead of scorched brown weeds.  We ran into a heavy storm, with enough hail that it looked like it had snowed.  

And how did we spend our adult time?  

At the zoo...

Look at this face...

Time for a little grooming.


Oh, monkeys!  In the background :)

Baby Toys

We got a lot of use out of the ExerSaucer when Cooper was a baby; it kept him contained, upright, and entertained.  We gave up on it when he figured out that if he leaned over far enough, he could slide right out.  It's still out though, blocking off a little gap to a no-Cooper zone, and he's recently figured out how to climb in and out of it.  It's funny to see his long legs all scrunched up in the bottom.    

Fair time fun

We went to the fair last week when it was in town. We mostly go for the gross unhealthy fair food :) but also like to walk around and people watch and see the sights. I wanted to take Cooper down the big slide, but was too cheap to buy all the tickets that it would have taken, so we hit the exotic animal petting zoo instead. That didn't last too long, as Cooper wanted down to crawl around, and even though I'm a long ways away from being a germa-phobe or clean freak, there is no way that could be even close to sanitary!





If I were going to adopt an animal from the petting zoo, Scottish Highland cattle would have been my pick, they are so adorable!

No rest...

I was talking to my friend a few days ago about kids sleeping in the same bed as their parents.  I was wondering how on earth you can sleep with your child and still get any rest yourself, with a tiny thrashing body in the same bed.  From what I've seen of Cooper when he sleeps, he covers every single inch of his crib throughout the course of the night.  Watching him go during the day, I'd think he'd just crash at night, but even in sleep, he is rarely still.  

Almost There

The end is in sight; I gave notice at my part time job, and I have only a few days left. Now that it's already into August, I have a lot to do to enjoy the summer that I missed out on! I tried to stick it out at the airport out of a pretty significant feeling of guilt and obligation, but finally admitted that it wasn't worth it, and it was just too much! I really do like the work, I think it's pretty fun, but I have to say, I'm pretty giddy just thinking of actually having time to myself again! Working only my normal Monday - Friday job is going to feel like a vacation. Maybe a demented idea of vacation, but still!

Stubborn One

Today when I arrived at my mom's to pick up Cooper from his day at daycare, he was busy outside playing, along with a couple other kids.  When the dad of one of the other kids arrived, his little boy stopped what he was doing and ran into his arms!  Oh, how sweet!  Now, with that picture in your mind, lets skip ahead not more than one minute, with Cooper in my arms, only he didn't run there, I had to pluck him away from what he was playing with, and he twisted and contorted with all his might to try and get back to playing, all the while emitting a horrible shriek.  Not so sweet!