Cooper DID Turn 1

Five days after Guy's birthday Cooper turned one. And I felt accomplished to celebrate on time (posting is obviously another story). His present was a bust (came broken out of the box and it took a while to replace), but he got his own cake (which he hardly touched).

Coop says MaMa and Da, but the most important word in his vocabulary is "more." He wakes up saying "more" and signing eat. He tries to help himself to food in the pantry. And most days he eats more than Guy does at every meal and then some in between meals. He's "toddling" around--albeit a little awkwardly. Most of the time he's happy. But he wasn't so happy when he cut a molar about a month ago. He has 5 top teeth (including one molar) and only 2 on the bottom. He goes up an down our stairs without a problem, and I love that.

And the Winner is . . .

Dover, Delaware.

Remember when I moved to Delaware? In November of 2005? That was ages ago - and a different life (pre-marriage).

August 3 or August 10 is Rob's last day of work in the residency and we're off. At least we can make this move in a day.

And we'll be near family and friends.
Built-in playmates - cousins O and Cal.
Key Lime Water Ice.
I'm excited to be there when the Philly temple is finished and ready for the open house and dedication.
Delaware Beaches. Maybe Cooper won't cry the first time (Guy did).
NYC and DC, I will take better advantage. Cherry blossoms and Broadway, here I come. And as for The Mall (as in the Smithsonian), we'll be seeing more of you, too.

We've got a few friends in Southern Delaware already, and I'm excited for that. And for others that are semi-close, the draw will be the Delaware beaches.

I just realized I never posted this news. Oops. Things have been tremendously busy around here. Rob just got back from a 10 day TDY in DC this past Wednesday. It was "fun" to take the boys to all my YW stuff for a couple of weeks as I flew solo. Tomorrow he gets his wisdom teeth out. One of my YW counselors is gone for the month of May - the other is gone for the month of June. In July, I've got my big YW event - Girl's Camp. The week after that Rob has a 10 day TDY in San Antonio (toying with the idea of going).  We move just one or two weeks after that.

In August Rob and I will celebrate our fifth anniversary. We will be moving for the fifth time, too. For that reason alone you would think I'd have less clutter . . . :)

Balance Bike Testimonial

We've got pedals! . . . and no training wheels!

Last spring we got Guy a balance bike. My brother's family introduced them to my family of origin a couple of years ago (at least). Guy has been cruising around on that for a while now. Rob wanted to get him a petal bike this spring. I was a little skeptical, I'll admit (he turned 3 in February!). Even though Guy's been zooming around it still seemed a little early to me. I haven't made any effort to help him acquire this skill. Apparently it only took a few hours broken up in three or four afternoons/evenings for Guy to be able get the hang of it (mostly while I was away at YW stuff). He can now ride around a little island in the middle of our cul-de-sac all by himself. I was so impressed when he surprised me with this accomplishment. Way to go Guy and Dad!

It seems that all of our large purchases have been centered around bikes lately. Guy got his new one, and we invested in a new bike for me and a trailer for the boys. Guess what our plans are this summer? There are some great paved trails around here and we're going to venture out for some family rides.

Sales aren't my thing - but there are a few things in the world that I love enough that I could sell. The top of my short list is limited to Garmin GPS and balance bikes. And by the way, they are becoming more mainstream now (not limited to bike shops). I saw a metal one on Wal-Mart.com for $40.