Home Sweet Home

Well it's been almost a whole month since I dusted off my paws to write to you about your life.  That's because I've been so busy getting used to our new house.  That's right, we moved.  You won't remember it, but I sure will.  It's been slightly traumatic for me to lose my very first home, yours too!  But mom and dad found us a really nice house to call our new home.   Luckily it's still in the same neighborhood so I don't have to meet new dogs or trees.   But before we move, we stopped by to take one last family picture on American Royal Way, where our lives together began.

Also before we fully moved, we had a few matters to attend to.  You needed to wrap a birthday gift for Nanny Lisa for her last day watching us...at least until August.  

And then we had to take care of a few things in our yard.  Mom loves all the plants in our yard.  Mostly because the majority of them came from Grandpaw's yard.  She couldn't be okay with anything Tom, Dick, or Sally tending to his plants.  I mean, mom can grow a mean weed, but she also did a great job at growing his plants.  So, we dug them up.  I'm almost certain this is not technically something you are supposed to do.  So you and I stood on guard to make sure noone knew what was happening.  

And then sister, we were gone.  Out of there, sayonara, that's all she wrote.  

But, turns out, there was a new backyard!  It had weedless grass (for now), a fireplace, lots of plants (and even more now that Grandma and Nanny Lisa planted our old ones) and lots of dirt for you.  

 I'm learning how to lay outside by myself, just like the old days.  There is so much for you and I to do here!  Mostly, I like to lay and play, you like to eat dirt, mulch, bugs, and rocks.

 This house even came with a cat!!  False.  The previous owners didn't take their cat yet and he thought you could be his new family.  Mom and dad (and me) said no way.  But you did enjoy your time with him.

My favorite room is our new screened porch.  It's quiet, comfy, and quaint.  You love this room too.  Especially when mom leaves the back door open and you can just crawl right out there (notice I said crawl because you are not walking yet...)

The new house also has a Charlotte drawer which you love to trash.  Mom's so good to you.  You've recently upgraded to a spice drawer, even messier.  

 

 The coolest part is you have two rooms in this place.  Your big bedroom and your very own playroom!  This is a great place for you to put your new homemade table in, courtesy of Grandpa Frazier.

This new place is panning out to be okay.  I still have lots of noises to learn and boxes to unpack.   But I see why mom and dad brought us here.  I have to admit, I thought they had lost their minds when they decided to move us.  I mean, what was so wrong with our old place?  Nothing actually.  It was our first home and we will always love it and drive by it even when we are old and grey.  We will tell you stories about how we first brought you home and all the fun memories we made there.  But now, we are on to more memories.  

For example, one of my favorite first memories of you in our new home is your first word.  Sure, you say the mamamama and dadadada and yummmmm and moo like a cow and bark like a dog.  But you said a word.  A real three letter word when mom asked you the daily question of "where's Nelson?"  Where was I??  You weren't sure, so you crawled to the door and said "DOG!"  We couldn't believe it.  A word that had a meaning!  Of course it doesn't hurt that I, in fact, was your first real word.  

The memories await us here.  The boxes do too.  We are supposed to help unpack each day.  You definitely haven't been what I call a "helper".  

I love you big girl,

Love

Nelson

11 Months!

Sister, this is the last post I get to do to celebrate your MONTH birthdays.  It is simply crazy to believe that you are nearly one year old.  What a beautiful, sweet, funny, and happy baby you are.  

Some of the things you love:

• dogs
• mom
• my leash and collar
• unloading drawers
• anything you aren't supposed to have
• plastic bags
• wires
• music
• Puffs
• pbj
• grass, rocks, mulch, DIRT

Some of the things you dislike:

• flying (maybe that's just mom)
• having things taken away
• long walks in the stroller (we had this happen around 3 months...let's not repeat)
• long drives in the car (again, annoying)

You are showing us something new all the time, and we love getting to see all that you are learning.   You love to show off you "SO BIG!" and clapping to patty cake.  You're a great babbler, snorter, and tongue-clicker.  All of which are so funny to watch.  

Your love for food continues to grow.  Nanny Lisa let you have some Puffs for breakfast, and as you can see, you were delighted.  That, my friend, is the look of pure satisfaction.  I'm not sure why you don't make faces like that when you eat mom's delicious home-cooked food.  

With your love of food comes your desire to feed yourself.  You do great at this, but end up looking ridiculous.  Which I think you already know how foolish you look.  

This month you also got to visit some great people.  Great Gram and Great Aunt Cel were thrilled to have some time with you.  I think you made Aunt Cel's day by coming to visit while she recovered from surgery.  As always, you hammed it up for them all.  

Grandpa Cooper also made an appearance!  He was in town for work.  I got so excited to see him, but a little confused as to where Grammie was??  

You even got a visit from a small friend...Ms. Jodi's new puppy, Georgie.  Mom had her come over for a playdate with me, turns out, you two are more on the same level.  

Food and people are things you love, but there isn't much you love more (besides mom), than being on the go.  You love to be outside so you can put every small, choking hazard object in your mouth.  I think you also channel Grandpa Frazier by loving all the plants.  

You don't even take a binky but since you found it while unpacking a drawer you thought you'd give it a try.  

How about combining a filled drawer with being naked!  That equals one happy baby.

You may not always look too graceful at your mobility, but it gets you where you want to go.  

I wouldn't say this is something on your favorites list, but Nanny Lisa sure loves the new stroller to tote you around.  You guys get to visit all sorts of places, and this stroller sure helps out.  It's almost as if you thought you were being sneaky in such a new contraption.  

Mom also found a new toy for you.  Your very own pool table.  One of these days you will be underwhelmed by this gift, but for now, it does the trick for entertainment.  

During this month you also had a great adventure to visit Florida.  I found this to be depressing and lonely, as I had to stay home.  So, I'll let mom tell the story of this exciting time....

Love you sister,

Nelson 

The Sunshine State

For some reason, I thought it would be a great time to book a trip to go see Grammie and Grandpa Cooper...during the last month of school, our home being for sale, buying a home, and hosting Aunt Bridget's baby shower.  Why not go out of town!!  So we bought our tickets, although none for you, you're a lap baby, packed our bags, kissed our dog (after leaving very detailed notes on taking care of him), and off we went!  

We weren't sure what to bring, so we brought it all.  Good thing I didn't forget you. 

Things were really looking good!  You were a champ at the airport and LOVED the people watching.  One thing I am really unfond of is flying.  Luckily I had you to take care of so it took my mind of the scary part.  

I went and bought you all new toys, ones you had never seen so it would keep you busy on the plane.  Turns out, the stuff that's not yours was the hit.  Check out the unloading of the first aide kit...can never be too prepared.  

We got on the plane and thought you would just love to nap.  Not sure where we went wrong on our thinking.  Despite the fact you had been up for 4 hours now, you were adamant not to miss a thing, or person.  You LOVED meeting all the people.  You even got compliments from fellow flyers on how great of a baby you were!  Proud parents:)  

After our voyage, daddy left to go to work, and you and I went to go stay with Grammie.  Believe it or not, she really is your grandmother, despite the ethic-looking discrepancy.  What a view she has at her new home!  We walked the docks, met all sorts of old Floridians, and ate all our meals overlooking the water.   

"Hey mom, does our new house have this?!!"

The next day we took a trip to the beach.  Your first time seeing the ocean!  Well, technically, the Gulf.  This was a little mind-boggling to you.  So much sand to eat, so much sun to soak in, and so many leather-skinned ladies to watch.  After a few rough mouthfuls of sand and couple good tugs to remove your hat, you were beginning to settle in.  

Time to go see the water!!  You seem to love a bath!  A beach, not so much.  You looked cute, and then the water hit and you were not a fan.  

Instead, you preferred to sit in the shade and eat.  

Because your clock apparently works at rapid speed, we didn't stay at the beach long.  It was nap time and you were being so good, we didn't want to press our luck.  Well, turns out, our luck was pressed.  On the way to get you home, there was a road block because of a massive gas leak.  Since Gram lives on a peninsula, this leak was a problem.  There is only one way in to her place, and we couldn't get home!  So, in our wet suits, and no food for you, we went go lunch at the famous Frenchy's.  Good thing for the Puffs!!  Again, you loved the people watching.  We are not in Kansas anymore Dorothy.  Lunch was a hit and time to finally get  you home.  Not so fast, the gas leak got worse and we REALLY couldn't go now!  Oy.  Some vacation.  We decided to drive and form a plan.  While planning, you fell right to sleep.  New plan.  Just drive.  So that's what we did.  For an hour and a half.  

Finally, we got you back to Gram's and let you play.  Gram's house is definitely NOT fit for a mischievous baby.  Everything is glass, breakable, and neat.  Then came you.  And your favorite toy there...a potted plant.  You ate dirt.  I didn't care.  It kept you busy.  What kept me busy was the railing behind you as my heart raced the entire time you were near it.   

Grandpa Cooper came to join the party.  He was thrilled to see you, Scooby, not so much.  You were so mad you couldn't become friends with her, but she's retired in her golden years and doesn't have a lot of patience for a grabby girl.  

So far our trip was great!  Gram cooked you delicious food, the view was stunning, and you slept pretty well!  You also really enjoyed her big tub during bathtime. 

Last to join the party was dad!  He was do working and came to finish the vacation with us.  He sure went right into relaxation mode and jumped in the pool like a kid.  You got in the pool too, but I think you were tired of the sun.  Not a good thing to feel in The Sunshine State! 

To top off your firsts, you also got a first boat ride!  Grandpa Cooper has such a fancy boat.  He loved taking you out on it.  He's really proud because his motto is "I feel the need, the need for speed", which is just what you think too.  Your fuse was short, so was the boat ride, but at least you gave it a shot.   

We loved spending time with them and checking out their new place.  You trashed it and then it was time to leave.  

The trip back was another story.  We had to wake you up, that ticked you off.  We had to take a ride in the car to the airport, that ticked you off.  You had to sit in a stroller through the airport, that ticked you off.  You had to stay on the small blanket I brought because you aren't allowed to crawl on major public floors for germ purposes, that ticked you off.  Then you had to sit on an airplane without being able to crawl around or talk to other passengers, that ticked you off.  Finally, you fell asleep.  Life was good, because I HATE to fly so at least I had you to cuddle with.  Until an unruly toddler threw a tantrum and woke you up.  That ticked you AND me off because we were only halfway home!  Lots of food, walking, and attempted nursing later, we finally landed.  Dad and I both agree it will be awhile until you and a plane meet again.  

We finally got home and you were SO excited to see Nelson.  I think he enjoyed the break from you but sure was ready to get us home.  

Overall, dad and I were so proud of you on this trip.  You love being around people and meeting new faces.  You got compliments everywhere we went on how smily and friendly you are...and too many people commented on your beautiful name "just like the princess".  (you were here first!!!).  But for now, I think we will stick close to home:)

Love,

Mom