Holiday Fun!

I know it has been a long time since my last post, but things have been pretty busy at our house, and there have been several nights that I should have sit down and written a post, but I simply did not think too. Anyway, we had a great Christmas, and I'm always sad when it's over. I'm not going to give a play by play commentary on our holiday schedule, but rather jot down some of the things that stood out in my mind. First, Lena is officially walking. For the past month and a half, she has been taking steps here and there, but mainly crawling. On Christmas, of all days, she finally decided that she was finished crawling. Daddy followed her around Joanie's house during our Christmas lunch, and he said, "I think she' done with crawling" and that was that. She is so cute to watch. I don't remember Cooper looking so unsteady when he first started walking, but maybe he did. Momma commented this morning when she watched her walk across the living room for the first time that she just looked too little to be walking. It is still very new and cute, that's for sure. Boy is she into everything! I'm not sure what it is about walking that turns them into such little curious creatures, but she has been toddling around the house from one roll of toilet paper to the next cabinet that she can tear into. I knew that as soon as she was walking, it would be crazy, and it is! She just smiles and you can tell that she is just thrilled with her new skill. Christmas morning was alot of fun, of course. Cooper woke up at about 6:30, and we managed to get him to lay in our bed until about 6:45, at which point Lena woke up. I, of course, felt exhausted. I don't know what it is about Christmas morning that makes me feel like I have run a marathon in my sleep every year. I guess it is all of the excitement builds up and culminates, at least for me, to that morning with the kids. I did not feel that I slept too bad, but every time I woke up during the night, I would feel that anticipation, and boy did it wear me out! Of course, the kids loved everything that they got. Cooper's biggest reaction was the stuffed dog that I got him, Brutus. He had seen this dog in a store and fell in love with it. When he opened the box at Christmas, he kept saying "Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness" - it was great:) Since then, however, Brutus has spent most of his time just laying around the living room because Cooper is too busy carrying around the smaller beanie baby puppies that Santa brought him. He has even ditched all of the little stuffed animals that were his "babies" before the new puppies arrived at Christmas. Of course, Taggie, has stood the test of time, thank goodness. He has been playing with all of his new Christmas toys, but his absolute favorite thing to do is for you to lay on the couch or the bed with him and "pretend" with his puppies. He LOVES for you to talk for them and pretend with them. I guess this is where his 3 year old imagination is coming into play, except that the person doing the talking has to do most of the imagining, which is hard for me, becuause I have never had the best of imaginations and creativitiy. Cooper's gift opening is worth mentioning this year. It was a little nerve racking for me. His method consisted or ripping through his gifts as fast as he could so that he could decide which toy he liked the most and wanted to get out and play with. There was no time to appreciate each gift individually or reflect on who gave him the gift, just a mad dash to open the next one. John and I had to have several "talks" with him regarding his attitude during gift opening times this past week. "Attitude" is a word that reminds me alot of Cooper lately. He has a bad one, alot of times. I hope it's just a phase that he is going through, and I have been praying about it alot lately. Sometimes, he just seems unhappy, and I worry about that. He has always seemed a very happy child, and all of his yelling (mainly at Lena), attitude, and sulking is getting me down. I still think he is having a hard time sharing his world with Lena, and I try to put myself in his shoes. I feel that I try to go out of my way to give him the attention that he needs, but I'm sure that I could do better. Right now, I am just trying to make sure it doesn't generally affect my attitude, which is something new for me to be dealing with when it comes to my kids. I hope we get it all figured out soon, and please don't anybody tell me that we might not ever figure this one out:) As far as funny moments lately, I know there have been many, but a couple stick out in my mind. First, the twinkle in Lena's eye as she is discovering this great big world. We have seen alot of that lately, and it is beautiful! Something cute that just came to mind was when my family came over on Christmas eve to celebrate, Cooper would run straight up to greet the men and ask them to come to his room to see his new train (that Gammaw gave him). I thought it was funny that he was only asking the men at first. I think he finally got around to asking the women, but only after he had asked the men - lol! Finally, my favorite comment from the week was Friday night when John's family was over, and Cooper, Tristan, and Garrett were sitting at the card table eating pizza and chicken. Tristan and Garrett were drinking Mtn. Dew and Cooper told them "You can't drink Mtn. Dew if you have teeth." I heard this comment but was not paying much attention until the boys kind of laughed and said "Says who?" and Cooper said "Gammaw.", and I about hit the floor laughing. You see, I have explained to Momma that I did not want the kids to have soft drinks not only because of the caffeine, but also because they are so bad for their teeth. Well, in an effort to put off Cooper's begging for Mtn. Dew when she has one, ocassionally, at my house, she told him that she can have Mtn. Dew because she is old and doesn't have any teeth, but you can't have Mtn. Dew if you have teeth! Sounds pretty good to me, and obviously, Cooper bought it:)