One Month Already

It is so hard to believe that our Ryder is already one month old. He is getting bigger all the time- it's sure bittersweet how fast they grow. He isn't quite smiling yet, but on occasion seems pretty close.

A few Ryderisms:

He is really quite strong and tries hard to hold his head, his build in general is pretty solid.

He makes the cutest sound either before or after he sneezes, sounds almost like he's saying "ooh."

His hair seems to want to stick up on top and I like to try and comb it into a sort of fin :) Most days I end up deciding it looks too girly though.

He is so deliciously cuddly- I have to force myself to lie him down when he's asleep because he is just so fun to hold and snuggle (such is the joy of a baby) :)

He searches for my thumb to hold onto while he's nursing- I love this little attachment.

Reading Coop's Brother of Jared book to him while holding the baby... me and my boys :)

Cooperisms

Though he has gone through some definite behavior ups and downs since his little brother entered the picture, Cooper is really getting fun right now too. The things he enjoys, comes up with, and mimmicks keep us smiling! Just thought I would share a few...

Sometimes for some reason he calls us by our first names. The other day when he was out and about with Stephen, he was calling me Sky. Stephen corrected him by saying something along the line of, "Mommy is Mommy and I am Daddy." Coop responded with, "You're not Daddy, you're Babe." (Babe is what Stephen and I often call each other as a pet name!)

This past week, Stephen had some mechanical issues on his pressure washer and opted to try and fix it himself at home. Whilehe was working, he explained to Cooper that he was "fixing his machine." Later that day, Cooper was playing with the hose extensions on the vacuum and when I asked him what he was up to, he said he was "fixin' his machine." :)

Just about the only times Cooper will sit to watch TV is for one of the Living Scriptures Animated Stories. He loves them! (And Stephen and I now have a good handful of them memorized ;) His latest fav is The Brother of Jared- that's the one he's watching in the pic above, while looking at a book of kids posing as Book of Mormon characters. He also loves Samuel the Lamanite and Alma the Younger.

Cooper has become a good helper for Stephen when he's doing chores and when he goes out flying. Often the two of them will be at the back of our property and Stephen will send Coop to get something in the house. He'll come to the back porch, knock on the glass door and tell me very clearly what Dad needs. "Need a ziploc" or "Need grocery sack" or "Where's black scoop" :)

Awhile ago Cooper saw a fishing pole in a store and really wanted it but "Daddy said No." Stephen told him that might be something Santa could bring. So, he's been saying that "Santa bring fishing pole." He was wishing for it again the other morning and I told him to ask Dad if he could create something that would work like a fishing pole. Stephen rocks when it comes to this kind of thing... He used an old arrow shaft, some black string and the hook from a hanger to create Cooper's new favorite toy :) He loves this thing and hooks just about anything he possibly can onto it!

Earlier today Cooper was on the counter with me as I was rifling through my recipe box. He grabbed a few empty cards and looked close at them. He got excited and said he needed to go outside to his play car. I got his shoes on and he rushed out excitedly, saying that he needed to "deposit these checks in my account." He often rides with Stephen through the bank drive through and somehow the recipe cards made him think of it I guess. So I was the bank while he gave me the "checks". He even asked for suckers :) We sure love our little dudes...

Life with Two, so far

I've been wanting to update our blog for quite awhile, but somehow whenever I sit down at the computer, my previously asleep newborn wakes up or my otherwise content toddler needs my attention... and they are more important. :) We are adjusting to life with two little one's and loving it. I am loving having a baby again and trying to soak it up knowing that this is it. Despite those times that will eventually be old hat but are overwhelming for now, I feel overall that life is so, so good. We are so very blessed, not with monetary things, but with the joy and gift of raising a family. The moments of everyday are miraculous and priceless... Here's just some recent pics of baby Ryder and our family.

We got to spend this last weekend visiting my parents and got some fun pics there. Cooper was frothing at the bit to go to Grammie and Papa's- he's been asking for a long time now. He got in several motorbike and backhoe rides and loved the change of toys :)