A Toddlers Mission

Two little eyes

Discovering what's new

Two little hands

Touching everything in view

A sweet little voice

Asking you why

A mischievous smile

And a whimpering cry

Two little feet

Jumping on the floor

A toddler's mission

Is to explore

I came across this 'Toddler's Mission' the other day and felt that it was a great description of my dear little boy. Sometimes Tyler and I wonder if Cohen's daily activities of: biting through dry wall, jumping off the highest part of the couch, falling off chairs onto the wooden floor, throwing the remote in the toilet, hitting the flat screen with his bat, spying on our next door neighbors, gagging himself until he throws up, and destroying our house until it is unrecognizable are 'normal toddler behaviors'. After reading this mission statement, I believe this is Cohen's mission: to make my parents not want any more children. Well...I truly hope that isn't true, but I do think Cohen is an explorer and has to be involved with everything around him. We took him to lunch at Cafe Rio on Saturday. Instead of eating his quesadilla, he chose to watch a bunch of girls talk. His head was like our Mickey Mouse Bobble Head. It bounced from one girl's comment to the next.

Even with all of his crazy toddler behavior, he still is my favorite kid in the world. He makes us laugh non-stop and love him more than we ever could've imagined. I love that he is at an age where he is trying to say new things. Some of the words he says are: ball, Nolan, Jase, Co Co, go go, pack back, Jesus, Jeter, Brock, NO, yeah, and yes. Cohen is also fluent in Chinese so if you are ever in need of a translator, please let us know! These pictures are from the cemetery this last week. Tyler's Grandpa Wayne (who Cohen is named after and looks a lot like) passed away almost two years ago. It was his birthday last Wednesday so we went to the cemetery and then Grandma Gloria took us out to eat.

Goodbye Summer...

The end of summer is always a bitter sweet time for me. I hate the fact that I have to leave my little boy as another school year begins, but I love meeting my new kids. August was especially busy for us. Between my brother's wedding, a quick trip to Park City, and getting a classroom ready, we were a busy little family. Cohen is just as fun as ever. He has learned to walk up and down the stairs (with and without a bat and ball in his hand), learned to jump off furniture, and has successfully bitten out some of our drywall. We are so glad we have our little guy to entertain us. I haven't been the best at taking pictures the last month or so. Here are a few documenting some of the things we have been up to.

Look at How You Have Grown!

I decided it was time to record Cohen's stats for the last 15 months. It is fun for me to look back and see where he was at each stage of his life. It is amazing to see how much he has grown in such a short time!

Newborn: 5-18-09
Born at 2:07 p.m.
Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
Length: 19 3/4 in.

2 Months:
Weight: 13 lbs 5 oz (84 percentile)
Height: 23 1/4 in. (62 percentile)
Head: 15 1/2 in. (34 percentile)

4 months:
Weight: 16 lbs (72 percentile)
Height: 26 in. (84 percentile)
Head: 16 1/2 in. (39 percentile)

6 months:
Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz (65 percentile)
Height: 27 1/4 (76 percentile)
Head:17 1/4 (50 percentile)

9 months:
Weight: 20 lbs (39 percentile)
Height: 28 3/4 in. (66 percentile)
Head: 17 1/2 in. (24 percentile)

12 months:
Weight: 22 lb 5 oz (43 percentile)
Height: 30 3/4 in. (81 percentile)
Head: 18 1/4 in. (50 percentile)

15 months:
Weight: 23 lb (41 percentile)
Height: 32 1/2 in. (93 percentile)
Head: 18 1/2 in. (52 percentile)

Family Pictures...

Family pictures is not something I look forward to on a regular basis, but it is something I want to have when looking back on my life. Tyler, unfortunately, has a strong dislike for pictures. I told Tyler it was time to get a "real" family picture together. To my surprise, he agreed. Cohen is at a horrible age and I luckily have a great sister that took the pictures for me. Tyler and I seem to prepare for everything we can in life. For these pictures, we of course found the perfect locations, Legends Auto in Springville and the railroad tracks in Palmyra. We drove by each location a few days ago to scope them out. I was excited to get pictures at both locations. Well as we get to Legends Auto today (which the sign said they were closed on Saturday), we found a ton on motorcycle dudes hanging out. Dang...cross that place off my list. I thought that has just been our luck this week. Fortunately, the railroad tracks were abandon and we were able to get some fun shots there. I thought the pictures turned out great. My sister has shown me some fun editing actions that I used for the pictures. Thanks Linds for taking the pictures! We love them! Here are just a few of my favorites:

Baby Contest

I entered Cohen into the annual Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Baby Contest and found out this isn't for me. Here are the top 5 reasons why I am not ready to be a stage mom.

#5 Not my kind of competition
As I walked into the Senior Citizen Center, I looked around and saw moms dolling their kids all up. I mean I definitely dressed Cohen up cute and did his hair, but I didn't bring any extra hairspray or gel to add if needed. I am used to the competition where it is okay to be dirty once you start, but this isn't how baby contests (aka Toddlers and Tiaras) go apparently.

#4 Too Stressful
Who can handle the stress of these competitions. I am told to meet my sister there at 3:15 which is 15 minutes before it starts. I get a call at 3:00 (while I am still debating on what Cohen is going to wear) from Jamie wondering where I am. I didn't know I needed to be there an additional 15 minutes early to the 3:15 time. Once I got there, I had to register Cohen. Apparently they have a line for people like me trying to fill out their registration form while in line and a line for the true stage moms who knew to pre-register. Then I had to figure out where to go first. The paper says to see the judges first, but everyone (Stage Moms) knows you head straight for the photo op. Luckily, my sister knew the ropes and took us to see the photographer.

#3 Parents
Another reason why I can't be a stage mom is because of the parents. I saw one mom practically pinching her son trying to get him to laugh for the judges. I figure if it takes abuse to get Cohen to perform, then it is not worth it.

#2 Practice
Let's be honest. What parent has the time to practice performing for judges with their kids? I know I don't. Between taking care of the house, working full-time, and chasing Cohen, I can't take on another thing. I looked around and saw several kids who knew how to work the judges and score a 10 on personality. My little man was more worried about how to make a break for the door then batting his eyes for the judges.

#1 Adorable Child DOES NOT perform under pressure
This is the number one reason why I will not be a stage mom! Cohen is so full of it and has the craziest personality. Those qualities are the only reasons why I even entered him. I thought he will be his silly self and show the sweet judges why he should win. NO WAY! Cohen wouldn't even acknowledge the two ladies. He kept running for the exit! Maybe next year he will learn to be a performer!

...World Cup...

Up until about 2 years ago, Tyler had never seen a complete soccer game. He found the sport to be boring to watch; now, his attitude has changed completely. It all started with taking him to his first BYU soccer game to watch my cousin Lauren play. After the game, he told me that was way better than he ever expected. As these last few years have gone by, we have gone to several BYU soccer games as well as watched quite a few on T.V. We can now add soccer to our list of avid sports we watch! The World Cup has been on the last two weeks and we have loved every minute of it. We tried to find Cohen a USA jersey, but they don't make them quite that small. My little brother gave Cohen an Argentina soccer jersey that we decided to have him wear during the Argentina vs. Mexico game. It looked a little bit like a dress on him, but that is okay, right? Cohen got the biggest kick out of running around in it and celebrating the goals with us! We were really disappointed when the USA lost, but hopefully they will do better the next time around.

I had to add these pictures of Cohen and Tyler's cousin Chuck. We went swimming a few weeks ago and this was Cohen's first slide experience.

Ready...Set...Go!

Ready...Set...Go! Cohen is off and there is no stopping him now! We are so proud of our little man for learning how to walk!