In September we took a fun weekend trip to Seattle. It was my birthday present from Lane--he had arranged for everything: hotels, babysitting, attending the temple, Mariner's game (I got to choose 6 others to join us), massages, the zoo and whatever else I wanted to do. I had my friends Laurel, Ranzy and Jacqueline, and Lane's buddies Tony, Randy and Andrew. It was an awesome weekend and the most fun we've had at a game!
Lane booked some nicer hotels that included Jacuzzis in the room. Kobe loved the bubbles!
This is Julius. He is about a year younger than Kobe; which is funny because they're about the same size! He is one of the happiest little guys around. We enjoy having him come hang out with us.
Watching Faith's soccer game
We started some projects that weren't really on our list for another few years, and it all started with me buying this duvet cover at Costco one day. Then we had to paint to match it better, and get new furniture, and then we had to do some nice shelving in our bedroom. I think it'll stop there for now. I haven't taken a recent picture with the rest of our matching furniture yet.
Kobe's favorite thing to do is line up his cars. He lines them up EVERYWHERE. I find cars on chairs, tables, couches, in drawers, window sills, counters, my bed, on the toilet, on the tub, on the fireplace, on the floor, along the rug, etc.
He also loves his books. He has destroyed a few because he flips through them so much. I have a feeling we'll go through a lot of them in his day.
Halloween was fun up and coming this year. My friend, Shannon, from work moved back to town so we've been able to get together with our kids, Ranzy and Laurel a few times. We carved pumpkins, decorated Halloween cookies, and then Ranzy and I dressed up together because we had to work Halloween night. There's a movie out called, "Annabelle," about a scary doll...so we dressed up as scary dolls that were inspired by her.
Kobe was the cutest little monkey. He got to do some trick-or-treating with Daddy and his cousins. Lane said that Kobe would kind of follow the pack, knock on the doors, and then try to walk into every door that opened.
At age 1 and half, especially being the first child, sharing is quite the learning process. Kobe hangs out with a lot of different kids and does ok, but he does really well with Taterbug. They've become pretty good friends. They chase each other around, copy each other, share their toys (for the most part), laugh and talk together. It's so fun watching them together. Playing is a natural thing when they're together.
Both Kobe and Tate LOVE choo-choos. They will play with them for hours.
Snow's a-comin' so we got Kobe his first snow bibs and boots. Pretty stinking cute watching him try to move in them!
He had his first trip to the dentist. Lane's cousin, Beth works at Wenatchee Pediatric Dentistry so we got to have her clean his teeth. He made the Cavity Free Tree wall.
Heather and I like to hang out and eat. That's all there is to it. She loves to cook and bake and I love watching, hanging out and eating what she cooks! :)
Lane played in another 3-on-3 basketball tournament in town. They got second place.
As comes with the age, Kobe loves getting into e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Everything must come off the shelf, out of the bucket, out of the drawer, out of the hamper, out of the basket, off the counter. This makes for a lot of picking up for me. So now I have two kids to pick up after. I keep telling myself to just go a week without picking up one thing from either of them... but my anxiety gets the best of me and I just can't do it. **Lane does help out with a lot. I can't completely discredit him.**
He still loves going into bathrooms and exploring the toilets and cupboards, so we did what we could to temporarily avoid those messes.
He's tall enough to switch lights on and off now, and if he's not tall enough, he empties out and grabs buckets, baskets, Tupperware or boxes, flips them upside down and stands on them so he can make it happen. What a little problem solver.
Kobe is officially in nursery. Good timing because I got called to be Primary Pianist again, and Lane is tied up with Young Men's...and he reached a point at about 16 months where he wouldn't sit still or quiet. He's been doing pretty well in there. The last few times, dropping him off, he started crying and didn't want me to leave, but Nana is in there so sometimes Papa goes in to help out and so Kobe quickly gets distracted.
He likes following me around when it's just us at home, and he gets distracted with the mirrors. He loves talking to himself and kissing himself in the mirror.
I sure do love this kid.
Since I don't update my blog on the monthly now, my posts are lengthy and pretty much all about the little mister. I already feel sorry for the next (middle) child because I don't see myself doing updates as often, but we'll see. As far as this one goes though...
My little talker jabbers all day. He has his own language, sounding much like Chinese. He must know what he's saying because he'll ask a question, I'll say, "what," and he'll repeat exactly what he said. Every once in a while among his sentences, we'll hear actual English words.These are the ones recognizable to us, and ones he uses on a regular basis:
Car(s)
Kah kah = truck/ cracker
Co-co = motorcycle
Bah = ball
Ba ba
No
Dada
Mama
Bye Bye
Ello = hello (often times with a phone or other object by his ear)
Uh-oh
Shss = shoes
choo choo (with a crinkled nose)
Jss = juice
Mmmm
Lah-lo or Ah-ler = water
Pez = please WANT HIM TO ACTUALLY USE!!
Baby
Hi
Pee yew
Nana-Banana
Ella, Nana, Papa, Oma, Pop (Epop), Kah-co (Paco), Tate, Rah-see (Ranzy)
nuk nuk = knock knock
Kuh-min = come in (whenever he hears a knock/doorbell)
More
Go
Bem bem = bum bum
Peppy = puppy
Teh-tu = thank you
Ah-duh = all done
Luh-loo = love you
chss = cheese
nigh nigh = night night
Kuh Kuh = fire truck
ray = red
Puh-puh = apple
Moo (cow)
Potty
Biber = diaper
His vocabulary is widely increasing so he is getting easier to communicate with; however, he does a lot of "eh-eh-eh" rather than using "please" or "up" or "help"...words he's capable of saying, or telling me what he wants, so we both get frustrated. He knows what he wants, he just can't always figure out how to communicate it to me. I am so impressed with how much he is learning though. He is starting to put two words together, like "come in," "dada shoes," "love you," "dada/mama byebye." He knows where his belly button is and loves showing it off. When you ask where his nose is, he wrinkles it or picks it, his eyes, he blinks them, his mouth, he opens and points, his bumbum, he pats, his ears, he grabs. He is logical in a sense...he problem solves.
My back is 90% fused, and I got the go-ahead from my surgeon to get pregnant again. The idea of having another baby push on my back, and being in the hospital again makes me cringe, but I figure I'll always be in pain, we really want another little one, and Kobe is ready for a sibling. PLUS! Britt just had a baby boy so we need to keep 'em close! His name is Blaine Howard Cooper, born on November 6th. I can't wait to meet him in a couple weeks!!! He's beautiful.
Britt and Mike named him after our grandpa, Blaine Warr. What a neat way to remember him. He was such a good man and I miss him so much.
