Steve & Jenny

Posting the pic of the fake aspen tree made me miss real aspen trees and everything else Colorado. booo. So for today's flashback I dug out a few pics of Coop and I on one of our Colorado trips. This was the summer of 2000. We started out at my Grandparents' cabin in the Pike's Peak area, then took a mini-trip to the San Juan Mountains. We drove Engineer Pass outside of Lake City, CO.

It was a beautiful area, becoming my favorite part of Colorado. And yes, the gravel road in the picture is the road we were driving on. Don't worry, it gets worse.

The wildflowers were amazing, so Coop hopped out of the car for a photo. Ricola...

Here we have Snow White making the climb up one of the switch backs. It was SO BEAUTIFUL out there!

Beautiful, and a bit scary as we had to do 3-point turns around some of the corners. Without guard rails. Or a shoulder.

This was from my vantage point in the passenger seat. At least I was uphill on this part of the switchback. geeze.

Way to go, Snow White! You made it to the top of the pass! You're halfway through this adventure...now we just have to get back down.
Oh how I miss Colorado! And Snow White!

Things are just plowing right along up here in WI these days. Coop has been getting home later from work in the recent weeks. He's typically here before Ava goes to bed, but arrives late enough to make the evening super compressed. It's amazing what a difference 45 minutes or an hour can make in an evening at home. But he still gets some good play time in with Ava, runs her bath, and even gets a chance or two to change a diaper for Owen. : ) I am amazed at what this man accomplishes on any given day. He's got umpteen million things waiting for his attention at work, and comes home to more craziness! I agree that the idea of a "super mom" is a myth, but Steve is for sure a super dad.
So the kiddos and I keep somewhat busy during the days. We have CBS on Wednesday mornings, MOPS every other Thursday, a play group on Friday mornings, and try to run errands on Tuesday mornings. Seems to be the trend that on Monday mornings we hang around the house, picking stuff up from the weekend and tackling laundry. Though that went out the window this week...I totally blew it off thanks to my sister's recommendation that I check out a certain blog. I got to reading during their Monday naps and couldn't quit! Just another one of my "mother-of'-the-year" moves! But the weeks and days have a nice rhythm to them, and we keep ourselves on the go.
Owen is growing like crazy. Well, I know that he is eating like crazy. That little guy takes a full meal every 2 hours, sometimes straight on through the night. Bummer. So I'm guessing it's a growth spurt. Last night I saw the light at the end of the growth-spurt tunnel when he only got up to eat twice. Yippee! He is also making the cutest little noises these days. He's been a very social baby all along, talking, laughing, cooing and flirting with anyone who will make eye contact with him (including dolls and pictures). But starting yesterday he's added a new form of communication to his repertoire. He's makes this hooting/cooing/singing sound when he's relieved. So if he's fussing and I pick him up, he starts to tell me all about his troubles through this little repetitive hooting. It's so cute!! I'm in love with that noise already! He loves being carried around like a little koala baby. In all truthfulness, when I pick him up he will reach his little 3-month-old arm around my neck and nuzzle into my shoulder. Once that is accomplished, he lifts up his head to take up his lookout post over my shoulder as I move through the house. He's so snuggly--very different from 3-month-old Ava. Ava wanted to face out and see the world and not be bothered with snuggles. It wasn't until she was much older (almost a toddler) before she got into the joy of nuzzling. Here's a pic of O-boy's cuteness. Cute little toes and fingers and smile and mohawk. He used to gag himself when chewing on his fingers, but in recent weeks has imporved his technique and enjoys eating his hands almost gag-free.

Ava is a big girl nowadays. She is two and a half, you know. She'll tell me, "I can do this because I'm a big girl." She eats her veggies and washes her hands and takes good rest time naps bc that's what big girls do and that's what big girls need in order to grow strong and have fun at Tumble Buddies. Tumble Buddies is the gymnastics "class" she attends on Saturday mornings with Steve. Sometimes Owen and I tag along, but it's mostly a daddy-daughter thing. Often times around the house, I think that she is a very grown-up, sophisticated girl. Just today she sat next to Owen, who was in his bouncy seat, and entertained him with books and toys and songs while I did the dishes. So in these times, she seems very old. But when we are out places, like CBS or Tumble Buddies, she seems so tiny! So little and defenseless and impressed by the other kids around her.
On Tuesday we went up to the preschool she'll (hopefully) be able to attend next fall to turn in her registration. It's crazy to think she's off to preschool! When Steve was signing the forms the night before, he said that he didn't want her to go off to school! But it is still 8 months away, and it's only for 2 hours, 2 days a week. I think she'll love it. : )
After getting the registration turned in at 8am on Tuesday, we loaded up and went to downtown Milwaukee to check out the Children's Museum. It was a great place! Ava really loved it! They had a little town set up with a grocery story, post office, car repair shop, etc. She rang up groceries, delivered mail, checked the oil of a car, and operated a large overhead crane. She's driving a car through at the bank window to make a deposit.

There was also a "backyard" area for kids 3 and under. She LOVED it. We spent the most time in this section. I liked it because it was contained and mellow and not crowded and I could sit on a bench by the exit gate and feed Owen while she busied herself with the exhibits. She's at such a fun age for making discoveries and exploring! After his meal, Owen enjoyed riding around in the baby carrier. sleeping.

Here's Ava in the "backyard" exibit by a fake aspen tree. Oh to be under some real aspen trees in Colorado by a stream in the summer with a good book. sigh.

There was also a Performance Arts section. I think I liked this part more than Ava. After almost 3 hours of exploring, we stopped to eat our picnic lunch and then head back home.
In other news, for the first time ever in my life, a girl scout knocked on my front door and asked if I would like to buy some cookies. Yes. Yes, I would. We never had any girl scouts knock on our door in Kirkwood, and I was always bummed when I would see girl scout cookies appear in the teacher's lounge or the office. I had missed my chance to order! So I was super-duper excited about this visiter! A couple days later, another girl scout made an appearance on our front step! whoo-hoo! We are living the high life!! And yes, I ordered another round of cookies from that one!
So we are still enjoying the area and the neighbors and the community around us. Just last evening a neighbor stopped by on her way home from work to bring a gift for Owen, a big sister gift for Ava, and an invitation to their super bowl party. She apologized for the gift coming "so late," but I was just amazed that she would come by at all! It's a fun environment. And it reminds me that I should not blow off the laundry, bc in this neighborhood we have a lot of drop ins.
Here are a couple of random pics from the last week or so.
This morning Ava got a hold of some mascara and proceeded to doll herself up.

When I said Cooper was a superdad, I wasn't kidding. Look at him go.

And yes, it is still snowing. But I won't post another picture of the snow--we all know what it looks like at this point. I truly am loving the white stuff--makes for a much prettier winter than I'm used to experiencing! And this morning, the news advised us that there was a "freezing fog" covering the viewing area. What the heck?