Just like us

Cooper is on a big toddler sized kick of being just like mom and dad. He loves to do the things that we do, even the things that we don't like to do, and sometimes he clearly doesn't understand why we are doing the things we do, but he does them anyway.

A few examples

- Cooper has figured out that I periodically pick up tiny fluffy wads of dog hair off the floor, or from beneath the couch, and throw them away in our cool hide-a-trash. He now (without any prompting or obvious reason) will occasionally go on a dog-hair cleaning binge, where he hunts around for dog hair, collects little pinches of it, opens the trash, throws the hair away, and then closes the trash. He'll often throw away three or four little wads of fur before losing interest. It is great.

- Nothing is more fun than helping put away laundry. Cooper relishes the opportunity to put away his own laundry. He loves diapers the best, but also greatly enjoys tee-shirts, pants, and socks. Sweaters confuse him and often end up with the pajamas. He waits as I fold each tiny item and then hand it to him, "Cooper's shirt!" Big smile. He responds "Booper's Tert, yeah, yeah, yeah..." as he excitedly talks to himself and runs off into the bedroom. I hear the thunk of the shirt bin being extracted. Then I hear him put it back. Then he runs back to me, "More? More?" "Here's a diaper. Put this with the diapers." "Booper's Diapah! Diapah. Yeah." Sometimes, things even make it into the right bin while still neatly folded. It is a small miracle, and extremely useful, that Cooper enjoys putting away his own laundry.

- Cooper has noticed that Matt and I almost never leave the house without a hat on. For a while, Cooper was violently anti-hat, and could not be coerced into wearing one under any circumstance. However, since the cold weather arrived, Cooper's been adamant that nobody (except the dog) is permitted to leave the house without wearing a hat. He gets to pick between his green hat or orange hat (current favorite is green, but it changes often) and then he insists that we wear one too. If we fail to put it on promptly, we get yelled at. "Mama! AAaaat! Aaatt!" as he points emphatically to the hat bin and looks deeply concerned for our safety and warmth. Yes, yes, you are right, let me find a hat....

- Guess who got a "dustbuster" for her birthday? Oh yes, the pregnant lady was getting sick of bending over to pick up dust and little dirt clods, so I bought myself a nice rechargeable mini vacuum. Only I don't ever get to use it. It is Cooper's now. He likes to vacuum under the stools in the kitchen, and behind the french door curtains. Lately, I have to wait until he is at daycare to actually use it for what it is meant for to avoid a tantrum. And he knows full well that it is not sucking up anything if it is not on, so I have to turn it on for him to make it really fun and worthwhile. Sometimes he lets me "drive" him towards the offending dirt zone, and I actually just make him do the work for me. But other times he's sure that the walls need dustbusting, and nothing I do can convince him otherwise.