Kissing Cousins

Hey everybody!  It's me again with a monthly post a little earlier than usual.  So much has happened in the short time since the last blog (plus Mommy and Daddy got a new camera) that I couldn't wait to share it with you all.  I'm twenty-six months old now, as of yesterday.  Everyday I come up with a new expression that makes people laugh.  Just yesterday it was "Uh oh spaghetti o's."  (Check out my curls!!!)

Mardi Gras came and went.  While there were no fancy parades up this way, a little cheer from Jane and Mary Thomas Kute made its way to my house...beads and Moon Pies, can't beat that!  (Excuse my hat hair.)

The big snow finally melted, we had a couple of sixty degree days, and then this...  the snow returned.

I made some pretty cool snow angels though.

The snow came back just in time to greet the North Carolina Boltons.  There was this much snow the last time they were here too.  Gigi and Bubba brought Aunt Lauren and Cousin Samantha here to visit.  It was Samantha's first plane ride, and only the second time I had ever met her.

Samantha is 14 months old.  We were best buddies immediately.

I gave her all the hugs and kisses she could handle, and then a few extras.  

I've got her in a love stranglehold.

She liked playing with my old toys.

I couldn't just let her hang around the house.  No, I had to show her the town.  Our first stop was the indoor play place.  We could run around and blow off steam.  I showed her the ropes.

We played all sorts of fun games back at home too like ring around the roseys (or ashes ashes all fall down as I call it) and flying on Gigi and Bubba's feet!

Our next stop was a trip downtown.  We walked around and explored little Italy and Quincy's Market.

I even found Cooper Street on the way.  The sidewalks in little Italy are very small and sometimes Bubba would venture out into the street to walk.  Being the enforcer of the rules, I informed him every time he stepped into the street, "Bubba, sidewalk please.  Sidewalk please.  Watch out!"

We stopped in a little pizza place for lunch.  Yummy!

I was pretty good about sharing most things with Samantha, but there were a few things a wouldn't share:  my baby doll and my Mommy's lap.  

Samantha is still a baby and she has a lot to learn.  I have a lot to teach, starting with my killer dance moves!  One night we had a naked baby dancing party.  I was a crazy animal.

Look at me go.

While Samantha doesn't have moves like I do yet, I did manage to teach her how to play Ring Around the Rosey.  With her, it was easy: I just pulled her around in circles, pulled her down on the ground, and yanked her back up at the appropriate times.

More kissing cousins.

I am using my imagination more and more.  In fact, I have a little imaginary dog that I carry in my pocket.  Here, I'm imagining that Mommy and Lauren are boats and I'm the captain.  Weeee!

Samantha enjoyed the big car I got for Christmas.  Our house makes a circle, so it was fun to push her around.

We even got to ride in it together.

Hey!  What is she doing in here?  "Cooper's turn.  Mantha get out!"

One last baby dance party before it was time to say goodbye.

And one last turn on the sit and spin...not really designed for two babies at once.

Six days after the foot of snow fell, sixty degree weather returned again, so we went outside with just our light jackets.  I pulled out my old lawnmower from last summer and showed Samantha how to run up and down the sidewalks,

Chasing Mommy and running over her toes.

With nice weather and someone else to hold the camera, we could finally get a decent picture of the three of us.  Cheese!

With built in babysitters, Mommy and Daddy had a chance to get much needed haircuts.  Don't they look pretty?

The whole Bolton clan, minus Mommy of course.  Somebody's gotta take the picture.

Gigi, Bubba, Lauren, and Samantha went back on the airplane "up a sky" to North Carolina.  I miss them a lot and hope they come back soon.  

As for the weather, two days after the sixty degree loveliness, two more inches of snow fell.  Boston is crazy!

Video Extravaganza

The North Carolina Bolton clan made a visit up to us in Boston this weekend.  Cooper was in show off mode and there were several "dance parties" throughout the weekend.  This is Cooper at his finest, and yes, he is always this silly and always this wiggly.  :) 

Cooper and his favorite animals

Baa baa black sheep, Cooper style

Ring around the rosey with Samantha

Diapers are for babies!

After you turn two, I'm not sure if you're supposed to keep counting how old you are in months, or if you're just two. Whatever the case may be, I'm two (or twenty-five months to be exact). You'll have to forgive a lot of the pictures. Our camera died, so most of these were taken with Mommy's iPhone. Thank goodness for that. In the past few months, I've really become a talker, but I just keep getting better at it. I ask lots of questions - Why? What it is? What it name? Where'd it go? What doing? I'm starting to use some pronouns correctly - most importantly the "my, me, and mines." I'm also very much into sound effects - boom, crash, boing, bonk, plop, vroom, woo-ooh (imagine sirens), etc.



The end of January and beginning of February was still filled with feet of snow and feet of icicles. Daddy had the shovel permanently glued to his hands. Look at the cool icicle he pulled off the side of our house! This is nothing compared to the ice that the people in Kentucky had! Mimi and Papaw lost all their power for almost two weeks and evacuated to Lexington to Aunt Nancy's house. Everyone is still cleaning up the mess, but they're back home now.


Yawn! Don't worry. This whole post won't be filled with how cold Boston is or how much snow we have. February has only been filled with an inch or two of snow here or there. Just last week, all the snow melted and I could see the grass again. I'd forgotten about grass.


It's still awful cold all the time and we're going a little stir crazy, with no end to the winter in sight, so we've resorted to lots of interesting ways to pass the time.


Like making messes with cream cheese.


Practicing for the Derby. We did find this great spot near our house that is an indoor play area. They have lots of riding cars, climbing things, pushing things, balls, blocks, trains, you name it. It has been a great place to blow off steam.


My first roller coaster ride. Weeee!

And now time for some embarassing pictures...


A couple of weeks ago, I decided I wanted to poop in the potty. I had been pee-peeing on and off, but not consistently for the last few months. Mommy likes to give me my privacy while I'm going, but she snuck in one day and caught be in action - bent over, hands on floor. Because I started pooping in the potty and I was doing a pretty good job with my pee-pees at Johanna's and Mommy's houses, they decided it was time for big boy underwear. I've been in underwear for almost two weeks straight with less than a handful of accidents. I'm one of those weird kids who loves to poop in the potty, and even more, I love to go to use public restrooms. I pee peed twice in church the other day, once at Home Depot, and three times at the restaurant when we went out for Valentines Day. I even told Mommy my full name was Cooper Good Boy. Everyone is so proud of me! If you ask me who wears diapers, I say "Babies. Cooper big boy."


This month, Mommy has been taking me to Johanna's house on the way to work. I help her get ready in the morning. If I'm good, she lets me wear lipstick (chapstick) and I pucker up.


Our Valentines Day this year was pretty low key. We took our first big trip out of the house with underwear on. We went to Target and walked around. Then we had a fancy lunch.


I gave Daddy big kisses.


Mommy and I topped off our lunch with a special Valentines ice cream treat.


Mmmmm....


Some other ways to pass the cold days... catching a few cartoons with Mommy


Building blocks with Daddy


Seeing what fun stuff Daddy has hiding in his pockets


Dancing in the playroom



The other day, it was warm enough to go outside and drive my big car. Most of the time I just push it around.


I had a dance party with Baby, Elmo, Ernie, and Green Monster.


And I take naps at the Home Depot. Mommy and Daddy worked hard this month on stripping the wallpaper off the kitchen, sanding the walls and cabinets, and painting both the walls and cabinets. Everything looks much better and I'll post pictures later. Mommy and Daddy are thinking about having a tile floor put in, and this was the tile I chose. On another note, Mommy got a job for next year. She'll be working in the NICU at Children's as a hospitalist 14 days per month, not too bad, huh? She's not sure what she'll end up doing with the rest of her life, but at least she's got next year figured out.

We hope you all are staying warm! Take care and hopefully Mommy and Daddy will have a new camera soon! Any suggestions on a kind to get?