Easter Bunnies and Soccer Balls

3 years and 3 months...man the time is going by quickly. Or as I say, "I'm just a little bit big." March and April brought a visit from Gigi and Bubba, Mimi and Papaw, the Easter Bunny, and some warm weather that was a big relief after a cold winter.


Mimi and Papaw were in town to help us celebrate Easter Day. They brought warm weather with them. In contrast to the barely above freezing temperatures of last Easter, this Easter saw 80+ degrees. It was beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, aren't I Rico Suave in my seersucker suit. I will often times rest with my hands in my pockets, so striking a pose in front of the camera is nothing new to me.






Me and Mommy on Easter Day before church. Notice baby Chocolate growing in her belly. He is about 20 weeks in this picture.




Me and Dad before church. We look just a little bit alike, don't you think?


The growing Bolton family. Not too shabby.




All the pictures of the Boltons were taken before church. This one was taken after church. I think I was finished having my picture taken because this was the best view I would give the camera.


Well, this one is a little better, but note Mimi and Papaw's hands on my shoulder holding me in place.


After church, we headed to the back yard at our house to see if the Easter Bunny left us any eggs. Sure enough he did! He wasn't a very sneaky hider though, as I found them all pretty fast.




We finished off our Easter morning with a cookout on the back porch. It was a really nice day.


Some other cute pictures during Mimi and Papaw's visit. We had such great weather, it was hard to stay indoors.






The 80+ degree weather continued the whole time Mimi and Papaw were in town, so knowing how much I LOVE the beach, they googled a beach in Boston, and we headed there to spend some quality time in the sand.


Making sandcastles with Papaw.


Playing bury the cars with Mimi.


Where are they? I had to donate a few cars to the beach since I couldn't remember where I buried them.


Since I'm such a big boy now, I'm ready for my first sports team. I am officially a soccer star. Okay, well really, I play 3 year old soccer for the YMCA. Our first two games were rained out, so this past Saturday was my first game. I was super excited before we got there. Once all the kids showed up, my face kind of looked like this and I needed a lot of encouragement. Once I let go of Mommy and Daddys hands, I participated, but frequently had this look on my face.




There were 11 kids on my team and we are the Green Team, also known as the Green Beans. My coach Matt is in the black pants. We spent the first 30 minutes doing drills - kicking goals, passing, dribbling. Then the next 30 minutes were spent in a scrimmage game.


I'm a really good dribbler. My kicks need a little work and a little strength, but not too bad for a starter.




Huddle up!




In deep discussion with coach Matt.


Watch out - I might be smiling!


Yes, this is an in game snapshot. I am the only player who actually has the ball and cares where it is. Most everyone just kind of moved to where the ball was, if they even did that, but I really tried to get in there and get the ball. And guess what?!? I even scored a goal!!! They didn't really keep score, but Mommy thinks it was about 4-3 Green Team. Wahoo!


This is another in game shot. Again, not too many people care where the ball was, but I look like I'm about ready to cry, not sure why. Maybe it's because I don't have the ball. So overall, not too bad of a first game. I need some encouragement to get out there and play, but when I play, I do a great job. I even cried when they took me out, which I'll just have to get used to since we have 11 on our team and they only play 5 at a time. Stay tuned for future soccer updates. We celebrated our first game with a trip to IHOP.


Baby Chocolate is doing well too. Mommy is about 18 weeks in this picture, but is about 24 weeks now. He's very wiggly, though I'm not sure if he's wigglier than me. Mommy's weight is up 14 pounds now and the morning sickness she had with me has been long gone for some time now. Things are right on track and nicely boring. They've started work on his room too, which used to be my playroom. Papaw took the wood panelling off the walls, so now Mommy and Daddy are trying to see if the holes every 6 inches where the panelling was nailed into the plaster walls can be repaired. We're also getting new windows in that room. Chocolate sure will love his sock monkey theme room.

Mommy also turned the big 3-0 this month. Since Mimi and Papaw were in town, she and Daddy took a date night to a fancy restaurant. On her actual birthday, she spent the morning at a spa followed by an afternoon shopping trip with Mimi and Papaw. It was a pretty good day!


We love spring. The tulips are in bloom and we've had some good weather. See you next month!

Birthdays, Bicycles, and Brothers!!!

Hello all - I've been a little bit of a slacker on the blog front lately, but it seems life has been super busy since I've turned three. I'm a mister know-it-all, or at least I want to know it all. My life is now filled with one hundred questions a minute, as I seek to know everything about everything. My favorite questions: Where does x, y, and z fruit/vegetable come from? Where does Mommy, Daddy, Gigi, Mimi, everyone I ever met in my entire life work? Where does x, y, and z animal sleep? What does x, y, and z animal eat? You get the picture. After I get the answers to my questions, I usually say "oooh, I didn't know that." I'm a smart cookie too because I remember the answer to the question, but I'm always coming up with a new topic to ask about. I'm also getting really good at my letters and recognizing a few words. My Nana and Papa in Kentucky sent me a package of presents. The address on the box said to "Copper Bolton." I, without any mention from Mom and Dad, noticed that my name was spelled wrong (it's 'posed to have two O's and not two PP's). I then called them up and demanded a new box with my name spelled right.


This picture is old but I hadn't posted it yet and it's cute. Mommy and Daddy's friend from medical school whose name is Jeff came up to stay with us while he was interviewing for a fellowship. I am very concrete about things and apply the rules as I know them. For example, my daddy has yellow hair. I have yellow hair. Mommy has brown hair. Therefore, boys have yellow hair and only girls can have brown hair. You get the idea? Well, I also know that my daddy's name is Jeff and this man's name was Jeff. Therefore, this Jeff must also too be my daddy. I told everyone I knew that my other daddy was coming to visit. Ooops. Once this was explained, I was just happy to have two Jeffs in my house.


Our February and March haven't been to bad weather-wise and I've managed to make it to the playground a few times. Don't let this cardinal bird hat fool you - Mommy has me completely brainwashed. I know my favorite team is the blue team and that's the team that always wins. I'll occasionally yell go Blue (sometimes unprompted) and go Cats.




Fun with popcorn.


I don't have a million friends, but I do have some here in Boston, and it seems like they all had birthdays in March. These little guys are twins Brynn and Ben and I helped them celebrate their first birthday.


My buddy neighbor Rowan celebrated his fourth birthday at the YMCA and I really enjoyed this "jumpy place." The only jumpy placed I'd known before this one was Mommy and Daddy's bed. I'm a great jumper!


Wee!!!! More fun at the jumpy place! We had one other birthday party in March and one more that we missed. Wow!


We also discovered that I'm old enough to enjoy Chuck E Cheese. I think I've been three times in the past two months and I totally love it. I love putting the tokens in, riding the games, and getting the tickets. I like putting my tickets in the counting maching at the end and winning silly prizes like suckers, straws, plastic bugs, etc. Mommy and Daddy actually enjoy Chuck E Cheese too. Here I am actually beating Daddy at air hockey.


Yummy pizza!


I'll bonk those guys!


Getting ready for the Kentucky Derby!!!


The highlight of my month was a trip to Mimi and Papaw's house in Kentucky. I went to Kentucky in October, but hadn't been to Madisonville since December 2008. I was super pumped about the airplane trip. For this trip it was just me and Mommy. I was pretty good once I got on the airplane but not so good in the airports while I was waiting for the plane to get there. Even though I hadn't seen my Papaw since July, I kept saying "Papaw's gonna be so happy to see me," and when I saw him in the airport, I just took off running to him just like I'd seen him yesterday. Mimi and Papaw know how to treat a boy - they got me a new tricycle. I was in heaven.


Their yard is a little hilly so I needed an occasional push, but I pretty quickly got the hang of the whole peddling thing.


This tricycle was complete with streamers and a little ding-dong (you know a bell).


Go Coopy Go!


The weather wasn't too beautiful, so I didn't get to ride my bike all the time, so I spent other time coloring and playing with Mimi, Papaw, and Uncle Taylor. We invented games called the Laughing Game, the Tackle Game, etc. I bossed them around nonstop and told them what to play and where - and they loved it.


I went to work at Papaw's office. I banged on his computer and told him I was checking my email. I went to school with Mim. I'm not sure if being a lawyer or a teacher is in my future though. I told Mommy the other day that I wanted to work in a hospital when I got big. When Mommy asked what I wanted to do, I said "You fix babies and I want to fix bones." Who knows where I got this idea but we'll see if orthopedics is in my future. That other Jeff must have been giving me some ideas.


We've had a few very spring-like days in March lately, so Johanna took me and my buddy Kaya to the beach one afternoon. I love the beach! It was about 70 degrees that day but the water was probably 40. I loved it, and no my toes did not turn black and fall off.


And in other news, I found out that I was right (which is all I really care about these days). I'm having a brother! I'm still calling him Chocolate for the time being. I think I'm excited about having a brother. I don't know. I know that he will have yellow hair just like me because he is a boy (the concrete thinking again). Hair aside, he looked very healthy on his ultrasound and I look forward to meeting him (or maybe not) in August!

Family Resemblance?

Most of you know that I'm going to be a big brother in August! Yay! Just thought I'd post early US pictures and see if you think me and my brother/sister look alike. I'm pretty convinced it's a boy and I want to name him Chocolate.


Baby #2 at 11 weeks and 2 days in profile


Me at 11 weeks and 1 day in profile and flipped upside down so we're facing the same direction

Do we look alike? Will this be a boy or girl? Will he have blonde curly hair like me? I can hardly wait - well until he's here, then I'll probably want him to go away.