Questions...

I can't even accurately describe the stage that Cooper is in right now. I swear, though, 90% of the sentences that come out of his mouth are QUESTIONS. I wish I could remember all of them, because most of them, are hilarious. For example:

I was pulling sheets out of the dryer the other night, and he asked whose they were. When I told him they were mine, he asked matter-of-factly, "Oh, did you pee in your bed Mom?"

During recent stormy weather he had A LOT of questions about the "TOMATO/CORNDO/TORNADO" like "Is it going to hurt us?" "Why are we going to the basement?" "What about that girl on her porch....is the tomato going to get HER?" "Do storms hurt us?"

Last night when I told him it was time for bed, he said, "Why is it still light?" (Nice try Cooper!)

His most recent ear infection is being treated with a strong antibiotic that he says doesn't taste good. So every time I get the dose out, he asks, "Can I just take a LITTLE?"

When getting ready for the bathtub, he frequently asked, "Can I sit by the water?" (Instead of his brother.)

Almost every morning, we watch the weather because Cooper is very curious about what it will be like outside and always uses this to decide what to wear, asking things like, "Is it nice out?" "Is it warm out?" "Is it going to rain?" And his most recent, "Is it windy today Mom?"

All these questions have been wearing me out lately. Some days I just declare, "NO MORE QUESTIONS!"

Poop...everywhere!

Carver has pooped in the tub a few times, the last few weeks. I haven't figured out why all of a sudden he's doing it. Anyway. Wednesday night the boys were in the tub, and I was cleaning up the kitchen. All of sudden, Cooper yells, "THERE'S POOP IN THE TUB!" When I got in there, I saw a "floaty", but it wasn't poop. I just scooped it out and moved on.

A short time later, again, Cooper yelled, "THERE'S POOP IN THE TUB!" This time, I will admit, I ignored because of the previous false alarm. I don't know how long I ignored him, but pretty soon he was standing next to me in the kitchen, dripping wet, and said, "MOM, CARVER POOPED IN THE TUB AND NOW HE'S THROWING IT OUT!!" (I decided to take this seriously.)

Sure enough, I got to the bathroom and there on the rug, was a turd. Inside the tub was an excited 1 yr old, "fishing" for turds....luckily, most of them got away. I cleaned up the rug (luckily it was a hard piece), wrapped Cooper up in a towel (I knew he wouldn't get back in even after I removed the poop.), and started letting the water out, all the while, telling Carver to stop trying to catch the poop. When most of the water (and poop) were out, I started running new water, just enough to scrub Carver down and rinse him clean. I got him out and dried him off.

(Keep in mind, I RARELY let my non-potty trained children run around naked...for certain reasons!) I let Carver down...naked. He ran away giggling. I started cleaning up the bathroom mess, like all nights, with a few extra steps because of the poop episode. Just when I think the excitement for the night is over, Cooper screams "MOOOOOOOM, HE POOOOOPED OOOON MYYYY CAAARRRPEEEET!!"

I run into their bedroom to find TWO piles of DIARRHEA on the floor, and remains running down Carver's leg. ("Is this really happening?" may have been running through my head at this point!"

I grabbed the wipes and A DIAPER. Cleaned the pooping kid first, and got a diaper on him as fast as possible. I then cleaned the carpet, scrubbing first with wipes, then the clorox! There was so much extra clean-up that night that Carver didn't even get into jammies for quite a while later. But don't worry, he had a diaper on!!

Boogie!

Last night I laid in bed with Cooper and he started flingy his arm around 'whisper yelling', "BOOGIE, BOOGIE, BOOGIE". So I grabbed his finger, took the booger, and flung it on the floor. Just as I did, he said, "Mooooooooom!"
"What?" I asked.
"I WANTED that boogie."
"Why? What were you going to do with it?"

"EAT IT!"

This week: Curious George is a smarty pants!

I really shouldn't be surprised about what comes out of Cooper's mouth these days, but I just can't get over how smart and curious that boy is. This week, some hilarious scenes have played out at our house...all while Cooper has had ear infection, and I swear, is hearing less than normal.

Monday night, THE ONLY night I really want to watch something (Dancing With the Stars) on TV, Cooper turned the TV on to Clifford. I said, "Honey, switch it to mommy's show." (He knew what that meant.) "No, I wanna watch Clifford." "Cooper, you can watch your shows in the morning. Right now, turn it to Dancing, please." After arguing several times from across the room, Cooper finally said, "Mom, go take a shower." (So he could watch his show, of course.) Turd!

Tuesday evening we were standing in the drive-way when Cooper heard a motorcycle. As it drove by, he exclaimed, "That motorcycle just scared the crap out of me!" (Oops, I'll take the credit for that one. He has repeated it once since....hopefully never again, though!)

Wednesday morning, I need to leave town early, so I had packed the boys' clothes in the bag, and decided I would take them to daycare in their jammies. After explaining that to Cooper (I don't think he heard me because of his ear ache), he proceeded to strip naked and walk into the bathroom. I said, "COOPER, I said you can get dressed at Jolene's!" (Loudly, because I wanted him to hear me, not because I was upset.) In the meantime, he got up on the toilet, released some morning gas, and said "MOM, I JUST NEED TO GET THIS PEE OUT!" ...Believe me, I could NOT stop laughing....and he was SO serious!

Thursday morning, the boys got up extra early, so I decided we would walk to daycare. I piled them in the wagon, with cups and cold cereal, and we headed out for about a mile walk. A block or so from Jolene's, I could see a dead squirrel up ahead. There was no way I could change our route, so I just walked as far away from it as possible, trying to avoid an explanation (for which, I had none). Sure enough, Cooper pipes up, "Mom, what's the squirrlo doin?" "I don't know Coop. Don't look at it. It's gross." Then, as he stares, investigating, "COOP, I SAID DON'T LOOK AT IT." (Thinking maybe he didn't hear me again, because of the ear ache.) As we got past it, a truck went by us, and Coop said, "Mom, did that truck run him over?" "I don't know buddy." (Trying to end the conversation...) When we got to daycare, Cooper told his friend Cale about the "squirrlo" and said, "He better get back up in the tree!" Jolene and I just laughed!

Grandpa & Grandma E

The boys have the special privilege of being a part of Solomon's Grandpa & Grandma E's lives when they live in Oelwein during the warm months of the year. They are such a blessing to our family, and we are so thankful they live close and welcome us often! Last night the boys and I went there for supper and a few hours to play. It was hot, and it's always hard to keep little boys clean when sand and water are involved! That's ok...they're boys!

They enjoyed eating, golfing, playing ball, riding in the "cars", and "swimming". Cooper loves to golf a certain hole at the mini golf course, and Carver has figured out where the balls go too!

Carver: The Squirrel Hunter

I watched from a distance the other night as Carver followed this squirrel two backyards away.

I then realized the neighbors were also watching, but couldn't see me.

Just when they were about to rescue the abandoned child, I came into their view. I just hollered, "He's just squirrel hunting". They laughed and continued watching him chase squirrels and me chase him.

Jammie Day

Sunday was our first real warm night (while I was still protesting the air conditioner), so the boys both got to wear new jammies: Cooper's-a shorts/tshirt set with a fish on them & Carver's-a thin long underwear sport's themed set.

Monday morning they both woke up at 8:15, so we rushed out in jammies, and turns out Jolene allowed a "Jammie Day". Cooper was elated!

Get em' outside & Let em' loose!

Last weekend, we went to Gpa Tom & Gma Teresa's house for the weekend. Friday night we got there in time for a four-wheeler ride, chicken and mashed potatoes for supper, and baths.

Saturday morning, Cooper woke up with an ear ache, so Gma rode along with us to the Osage clinic where it was confirmed that he had ear infection. Cooper was such a big boy telling the doctor he was three and we were there because, "my ears hurt". (Of course, he got to wear his jammies for the entire adventure!)

We stopped in Riceville to "help" the Gma Evelyn moving crew unload and start getting her settled in her new house in Riceville. After pizza for lunch, Gma Teresa took the boys home to nap.

After a short trip to bent-n-dent, we came home to ride four-wheeler, dig in the dirt, throw rocks in the quarry, and play on the playground. The boys were in heaven (as was mommy, getting to put her feet up all weekend while Gpa & Gma did all the work!).

Carver would rather throw rocks than balls these days!

He enjoyed throwing rocks in the quarry too, with Gma.

Cooper was helping dig in Gma's garden using her new kids' garden tools.

I couldn't resist posting this dramatic picture. (Someone got told 'no'!) HAHA:)