And we're back

I got a reminder the other day that I've been neglecting the blog. I figure I'll get back on the horse starting now.

The new house is great, but feeling a little like a money pit. Our old place had really past the money pit stage quite a few years ago, and I guess I had forgotten what it is like to not even want to make a to-do list, because that list is so long you don't want to face it. But it is OK. We won't go broke. We have a plan, I swear. It just feels like a lot.

Cooper is thriving in his new school and his teachers seem to really enjoy his company. He doesn't apparently participate very actively in most things, which doesn't surprise me, but he loves to talk about all the things they do at school so I'm sure he'll figure it out when he's ready. He does some cool drawings, so that's a start.

They had a firefighter visit the school last week and Cooper was really impressed. We talked about the firefighter all the way home, about how he had a truck with a bucket that collected rain (I don't think this was actually the case) and a cool hat (probably true) and a special jacket (totally true) and he put out fires. And then we talked about it all again, maybe three or four iterations. After all that, I asked Cooper if he wanted to be a firefighter. He pondered and then said, "When I get to be big, like really really big, after I grow up to be super bigger taller than Daddy, I think I want to be a super tall Mommy."

Nothing makes me happier than to envision an adult version of Cooper as a "mommy," truly. I picture him as a tall thin handsome young man holding an adorable blond baby. Sounds utterly perfect to me. I figure it is like when he's a daddy, except maybe he's wearing an apron or something (in his mind).

Grant's vocabulary is probably off the charts by now, or at least I've lost count of what he can say. He's also starting to say some words in Spanish, because his new daycare is "Spanish immersion" which basically means the staff all speak Spanish to the kids. He's getting good at "adios!" as an alternative to "bye bye." He's getting good at stringing his words together in meaningful ways, like "More chips please" and so forth.

It is totally worth mentioning that right now, Grant's favorite words are "No!" and "Mine!" This was never the case with Cooper. I don't actually recall him ever learning the word "mine" in the stereotypical way that toddlers use it. And Cooper was never a "No!" kinda kid. He just cried instead (ugh). So that's pretty interesting to me.

Speaking of the kids, Grant is waking up from his nap. Adios!