Rainy Days!

It's been usually rainy lately, I think we've had more rain in the last couple of weeks than we've had in the last 3 or 4 months....which is odd given that the rainy season was unseasonably dry and now we are experiencing all the rain!  In any case, we are enjoying the not as hot (although more humid) days....but not enjoying the extra mosquitos it seems to bring along with it!  Today, we headed out for some after-rain splash time.  The boys, of course, suited up in their long pants and shirts to go out and play for awhile.  You might ask why the crazy attire (it's usually just long -sleeved shirts and pants we leave by the door for days like these and the boys just go and grab the first thing that they see) or why Cooper has shorts over his sweats.....well that is an entirely different story.  Cooper has been very picky about everything lately.....from the pjs he wears at night (they have to have trains, dinosaurs, Ho, Ho, Ho, or monkeys on them for him to wear them), to the shoes he wears during the day (he particularly loves his Crocs that have a snake through them, his Scooby Do ones, or his orange ones....all of which hardly match with anything he wears!) to the napping clothes he wears in the afternoon.  On this particular day, he had sharks on his shorts....well, when I tried to take them off to put on his long pants, he threw a complete fit.  And rather than sticking to my guns (Evan was still napping and I didn't want to wake him....I always have an excuse of course!), I caved and we comprimised - he got to wear them OVER his sweats!  Disaster averted!  So with that, we waited for Evan to wake up and headed out to play.  They practiced jumping, as you can see in the first picture below (Cooper can still only get one foot off the ground at a time, but he is giving it one heck of a try!) and they had fun collecting rocks and putting down this drainage grate we have at the front of our driveway!  Then they had some fun pushing each other around in circles in the driveway in one of the strollers.  How much more fun could you have in one day!?!?  They even got a chance to pet Nadia as she headed out for her daily 5 o'clock walk!

 

One of our neighbors stopped by as he saw us playing outside to check out what could possibly be so interesting on the ground (think we have discovered some neat insect or something), but only came to find out it was just rocks that had the boys so engrossed for so long!!

Took a picture of the steam that was coming off the road after the rain!

 

Cooper washing his hands in one of the puddles after getting them all dirty while collecting small pebbles.  I showed him where to wash them off once and then it seemed like he would just go get them dirty again so he could go play in the puddles again!

 

"Look, it's Nadia"

Both boys are still a little hesitant when it comes to bigger dogs, but they love watching her and "almost" petting her

Evan taking Cooper for a "tour"

Easter art projects!

Now that Cooper can participate in all the same activities as Evan, it's been so much fun doing activities together with both of them...like coloring.  Today, we sat down and colored one of these velvet coloring pages BeBe sent us in our Easter goodies, while we had our afternoon snacks.  Cooper actually only colored for a total of about 5 minutes.... his favorite is still taking every marker and pulling and putting the cap back on....and then snacked the rest of the time (another of his favorite things to do!)  Evan actually only colored for about 15 minutes before he headed off to slide around the living room on his chair.  Cooper thought it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen!  Whatever keeps them happy! 

Sunday Fun Day = Melaka Planetarium

Melaka opened a planetarium near our house about a year ago and I'd been wanting to take Evan, but never made it.  So today, we were trying to think of something different to do and thought now that Cooper is old enough to enjoy it, we would make it a family outing.  Well, wouldn't you know it, we finally make it and the theater part is closed so only the exhibition hall was available for viewing!  It cost us $2.50 for all 4 of us to go in, so we thought even if we only make it a 30 - 45 minute outing....out of the heat....it will be well worth the cost!  And it was....the boys had a great time!  There was a large group who looked to be there on a school outing (although it is a Sunday, so who knows) and all the girls were in love with the boys....so I think the added attention made it a little more fun for them.  Evan learned about the planets and the solar system in school back in Oct/Nov last year so I think some of it actually had some meaning for him.  Of course, the best part were the couple of shuttle simulators they had to play with.  They had no clue what they were doing, but they LOVED all the buttons, joysticks and other controls!  Cooper had the best time as well....for him I think it was all the extra room he had to run around in....and he loved the simulators as well....the more buttons, the better!  And everything was going great until literally the minute we were getting ready to leave...Cooper looses his balance getting out of the simulator and face plants into one of the edges of one of the dashboards!  It was pretty dark inside so he must have missed placing his hand where he thought the edge was.  He got a nasty looking scratch from the bridge of his nose straight over his left eye, where it left a bit of a mark!  Luckily, he didn't hit it any lower or it could have been even worse!  It looked pretty bad, but he hardly even cried, so maybe it just looked worse than it actually was.....in either case, he was a tough kiddo!!  I got a picture a bit later after lunch to show his "planetarium battle wound!"  We had a great time and I will definitely take Evan back once the theater opens back up, I think he'll really enjoy it.  I'm not sure Coops will actually sit through an entire program so it may have to be an Evan and Mommy date!

That's the edge in front of Cooper that he face planted into...my poor baby!

His battle wound

After lunch, the boys also had some fun with Daddy and his helicopter. Daddy has gotten pretty close to getting each of the boys when flying it, so now the boys are terrified of it and always stay clear when he is playing with it. Well today they got brave again and had some fun....Evan would run around the living room while Cooper helped Daddy fly it and chase him around! They had the best time! And then it was nap time...yippee! They both had a fantastic nap and we finished off the day with some chicken fried rice from the club for dinner for the boys and some yummy bean and cheese burritos for Mom and Dad. Then since the boys had such a great day (listened especially well and took great naps), they were treated to a delicious ice cream of their choice from the club. What another great "Sunday Fun Day!!!"

Making sure the helicopter keeps a safe distance

Daddy's favorite toy

Don't you love E's mismatched shoes....I'm not sure why, but he has loved putting two different shoes on while he is at home!  Luckily, he hasn't wanted to go out that way!

Daddy's little co-pilot....as they are off to chase E around the living room

Surprise....E actually slowed down long enough for Mommy to get a picture (or actually it's been Mom lately....and Dad for Daddy....Andrew and I have decided he is still to little to be calling us that...I think we don't want to let go of the fact that he isn't a baby any longer....although he will always be my baby!)  

Cooper's first 2 months school report!

Since Cooper has only been going to school for a couple of months now, he wasn't issued an official progress report, so I had to be sure and post my own progress report for my precious little one!  I give him a big A+ for showing some real improvement on just wanting to go to school.  For the first month, he was a bit hesitant and cried a little when I left him (although the teacher said never more than about 5 minutes or so), and then there was a school break for a week at the same time we left for our holiday so it made it a bit tough to get back into a routine once we returned and classes resumed, but then last Thursday we had our major breakthrough....I dropped him off and not once single tear was shed!!  There was a huge pouty lip involved, but no tears!! Go Cooper!  Today was even better....I left him at the front door where I drop Evan off, he took his teacher's hand, said "bye-bye" and that was that!!  No tears, no pouty lip, nothing....I think he is officially comfortable in his new school.  You can even ask him now if he wants to go to school and he'll say "yes", when before you would get a very stern "NO" when you asked the same question.  He loves to talk about "Kaka" (who is the helper at the school...she changes all the diapers and fixes milk bottles....yes, some of these 2 and 3 year old still take bottles - it's crazy!) and how she changes his diaper when he goes (although his version sounds more like "Kaka....uhhh " which is suppose to mean "poop" or "pee" even though he can say both).  His teacher, Ms Shareen, also says he has become much more engaging with the other kids and is starting to talk alot more with them.  Although, since I've been sending him, he has also been using a lot more funky words/sounds at home....which might be his version of the Bahasa or Mandarin he is hearing at school, who knows!!  Today, as I was putting both of them down for naps, I tell Cooper to tell Evan night-night as we are leaving E's room and he does and then says "something"...one of those funky sounds.....to which Evan responds in his "Chinese speak".  Then Cooper would say something back and Evan would respond.  It continued until I told them it was time for bed and they could "talk" later!  It was hilarious....guess they are developing some language of their own to communicate with.  Great, more to hide from Mom!!!

In any case, we are very proud of our little Coop...he is such a big boy now!  He is also getting alot closer to getting potty trained.  He's pretty much doing it on his own. I was going to go ahead and try to go full force at it after our holiday, but then thought maybe I should wait since we will potentially be moving soon and that transition may be too much for him.  In previous weeks, he would go pee and sometimes poop when you told him to go on the potty but still went in his diaper alot of the time, but now in the last week or so he has actually been telling us he has to poop before he has to go.  He still tends to pee in his diaper, but he is making some real progress.  He is in pull ups during the day and I have even seen him go and pull them down and sit on the potty all by himself and go....so we may be closer to the going diaper free during the day thing than I thought!  It would be great to get this milestone out of the way before we make the move!  We'll see how it goes!

He is talking up a storm and is always mimicking his older brother....whether it's something good or bad!  You would think if you get angry at Evan for doing something he shouldn't be doing, Cooper would not want to do it....but oh no, not the case, I think it just makes him want to do it even more!  This kid loves to test his boundaries lately!! Does he really think he is exempt from the things his big brother gets in trouble for!!  And he even does it with this cheeky smile on his face....that makes it almost impossible to scold him for....almost!!

See what I mean about doing as his big brother...E was being silly and Cooper had to follow right along....

Evan's 1st Qtr 2010 Progress Report

E's teachers sent home his progress report on Friday along with work that he has completed in the first 3 months of the year....and he did GREAT!!  The progress report is produced by grading on a 1 to 5 points basis....1 being "introduction to a new activity", 3 being "shows good grasp of skill" and 5 being "shows mastery of skill".  E got many 5's, a few 4's and 3 3's.....although I am having to get back with the teacher on her grading of "Reciting nursery rhymes" in English where he received a 3 and "Reciting of nursery rhymes" in Bahasa where he got a 4!  It can't be possible that he knows nursery rhymes better in Bahasa than in English, can it?!?!?  Unless the English nursery rhymes aren't ones that we sing at home, which is also very likely!  One thing I do wish the school was better at is making us aware of what they are teaching our kids so we can better help them with things at home.  I get bits of what they are studying from Evan, but I don't ever truly find out what he has been doing or studying on a daily basis until he brings me home his work each quarter.  Up until now, it hadn't been that big of a deal, I mean the kid wasn't even 2 when he first started, but now that he is learning some "real stuff"...I feel like I should be studying more with him on specific things he is learning at school.  He is currently learning to count things up to 20, mastering writing up to 20, adding a variation of numbers (using beads) up to 20, mastering writing all his uppercase and lower case letters, and he is even learning to write words (which he currently only traces, but he is showing a lot more interest in pronouncing things out and wanting to try to read!)  I'm so very proud of this kiddo of mine and can't believe all that he is learning.  I'm so afraid he is going to be bored out of his mind once he finally starts pre-K back home, which I suppose won't be until he is 5 since his birthday isn't until September.  Keep up the great work kiddo, we couldn't be any prouder of you!! 

  

Mommy & Daddy's 5 year anniversary!

It's hard to believe it's already been 5 years that Andrew and I have been married....it's gone so quickly!!  It seems like just the other day I was living in London and only beginning to make the move back to Houston to get married.  We get married, have a precious baby boy, move to a strange country 10,000 miles away from everything and everyone we know,  and then have another precious baby boy....who is now very close to turning 2! WOW!  It's been the best 5 years of my entire life and I owe it all to my best friend...who is the most wonderful husband and the most fantastic father!  I can hardly wait to see what the next 5 years brings....not to mention the next 40....or how ever long the good Lord chooses to bless us with!! 

The beautiful flowers I got for our anniversary.....did I mention what a thoughtful and caring husband I have!!

We went out to dinner to celebrate on Friday.  We went to one of the only "fancy" places in Melaka, Olios, and had a wonderful dinner.  We shocked ourselves when we finished our hour and a half meal with a couple of glasses of wine, and realized we never once mentioned the boys!!  That has never happened before!!  Even before we go out sometimes we tell ourselves we are going to make it a point to leave them out of our conversation, but we inevitably end up talking about them the entire night....so it was good to just reminisce about old times..pre kids! 

The boys, once again, had to catch a picture with Mommy and Daddy before we headed out!  I'm sure they are wondering why it is we've been leaving them with Marte much more lately (of course, they love her so they are usually pushing us out the door to leave!)  Like I said before, I think it has finally hit us that we may be moving back soon, so we want to make the most of the help we have before we have to start paying some babysitter $10 an hour or whatever the going rate is for teenage babysitters these days!!