A Day With Dad

Sunday, December 17, 2007 was officially the longest day Elanor & Wilken were apart in their 19-month life together. Certain parties were a little leary of how the day might unfold, but rest assured to everyone, it was an easy and funfilled day of bonding between Father and son!

Elanor left the house for a "day of holiday shopping" after a Wilken chowed down on a bowl oatmeal around 9:00am. The Man Den was the center of entertainment for the first several hours until Dad danced Wilken to sleep on his should and transitioned him onto the bed for an hour and a half nap. Ryan was busy at work while Wilken slept.

Upon waking and calling out "Dada" (which caught Dad by surprise), Ryan attended to Wilken and brought him downstairs for some more lunch and an exciting "daytime activity session" of making Rice Krispy Treats after spoken directions from Elanor the night prior.

After a messy kitchen clean-up, Ryan and Wilken proceeded upstairs for a shower which Wilken was very excited about as he's usually restricted to baths. They showered together for about 15 minutes and once Ryan got out, dried off, and put his clothes on, Wilken remained in the shower waving the detachable shower head around at full blast for another 15 minutes. (Hint, hint, Daddy discovered a new make-shift babysitter Mom!)

Once clothed the boys did some housework together and then went out for some holiday errands of their own finishing up with a little take-out before Elanor returned at approximately 6:00pm to Wilken's delight. He was as hyper as ever as Dad was able to relax on the couch for the Charger's Sunday Night Football game.

What a great day!

The Wilken Cooper Show

We just wanted to give a glimpse of "Wilken the performer" to our family and friends. Our little showboat loves to perform all of his newly acquired skills to anyone and everyone. Some of our favorites are the "Heismann" (as in the college football trophy) and the "Joker" (his crazy little laugh). He loves to demonstrate his knowledge of his body parts (he has most all mastered) and animal noises (he knows most any animal for which we can come up with a sound). He continues to develop new signs (his latest are "help," "sorry," "please" and "thank you"). He also is learning new words all of the time, however, a mommy or daddy is usually required to translate. He is very proficient with words ending or starting with the letter "p," which makes many of the bodily functions incredible fun for him to name.

Wilken's energy level continues to know no bounds. He springs awake in the morning ready for action until he crashes for his one nap per day or bedtime. His climbing skills are amazing and he often needs to be redirected from climbing to the top of the dining room table or his changing table. One his his new favorite pastimes is climbing up and down a step ladder (on a carpeted area) to turn the lights on and off. He loves all vehicles, especially construction trucks. His mommy had no idea that they would spend so much time hanging around construction sites watching the big machines at work. He has quite an arm, and at this point, is pretty receptive to the notion of "we only throw balls."

Wilken loves to socialize with people, initiating all contacts with his persistent wave until he gets a response. This wave, of course, has been endlessly reinforced by his parents to curb his tendency to give gigantic hugs to other kids his size. In some cases, these bear hugs have been known to topple the other child. He will walk up to any stranger, wave hello, and point to their shoes and say "woosies" to initiate conversation. He is incredibly affectionate, and will give massive hugs and sweet (finally closed mouth) kisses to his parents and other relatives. He enjoys some quiet time, much to his mommy's delight, to color (scribble) on paper with pens or crayons and loves to play with cornstarch and water. He also will look at books for long periods of time. This is just a glimpse of some of the incredible development which has occurred in the last 19 months.

My Buddy Bryce

I've gotten together with my friend Bryce a few times recently. We were a convenient stop on their way back from a Palm Springs vacation, another time our dad's got together to "talk business" while our mom's chatted about "mommy stuff" and took us to the beach (followed by a bath), and most recently we went to a little holiday party that they hosted down in South County. Bryce about 3 months younger but is growing and growing and soon will be close to my size. He's already gotten 2 haircuts to my half of one!