Life's Helmet

Monday, February 1, 2016

Year 2

Dear Cooley,

We blinked and all of a sudden you were 2 years old! It's amazing how fast a perfect little baby can turn into a perfect little toddler. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing our "secret" baby home to our temporary home in Ireland.

Cooley, you are by far our most independent child. You prefer to do most things by yourself and are often found in another room playing on your own. You are extremely particular and require that things be done a certain way or else you will throw a fit. In the last several months you began going into our cabinets to grab water flavoring to have us put in your water. If we tried to offer you water without flavoring or if you didn't like the way we did it, you would refuse it and push it away.

You often roll in your shoulder and pull away when someone wants to hold you or do something that you don't like. You have also become an expert at making a grossed out face and saying "eww" when you think something is gross. This face always makes us laugh which usually results in you doing it even more.

You are a big time Daddy's boy and always prefer Dad over Mom. Just the other night, Mom asked if you wanted her to put you to bed. You walked over to her as if you wanted to be held and simply grabbed your blanket off her should and walked over to Dad. This drives Mom crazy which probably just makes you want to do it more.

Cooley, you LOVE your brother and sister and are always excited to see them. You especially enjoy playing veterinarian, doctor, and dress-up with them. You particularly love Milo and are always walking around saying his name "Miyo." Since it's just the two of you at home during the day, you spend your days playing cars, trains, and tractors together. In the past Milo has had a tendency to beat up on you quite a bit. However, you have recently begun to fight back resulting in him crying just about as much as you do.

You are a total animal lover and always gravitate towards animals figurines when you see them at home or in stores. Consequently, we made you an animal cake for your birthday - complete with little party hats on all of the animals. Needless to say, you were pretty excited when you saw your cake for the first time.

Additional Things You Like:

Your favorite words are "Poopy" (pronounced "Poop-e" - usually used when teasing your Dad), "Blanket," "Thank you," and "Drink."
You love wearing hats and will often pick them out yourself. You have become particularly fond of a maroon LA hat. Flip flops have also become your favorite shoes causing you to get upset if we try to put any other type of shoe on you.
You enjoy playing in the yard with Maeli & Milo and spend most of your time outdoors riding your plasma car, pushing tractors down the driveway, and collecting rocks/nuts that you find in the yard.
You enjoy drawing and have been caught drawing on the walls/furniture on several occasions. When you and Milo were both attending nursery, you would often come home with more complete coloring pages than your brother.