Train Show

Yesterday morning, Andy and I went to the "World's Greatest Hobby on Tour" train show in downtown KC, MO, or as Andy might describe it, "Heaven." There were many intricate model trains running throughout the exhibition hall, which lead to a lot of pointing....

Our favorite exhibit was an extremely long freight train, that slowly chugged along the track (thus it was continually referred to as the "Slow Train" for the rest of the day). The track was only a foot or so off the ground, which allowed for a close look...

In addition to the model trains, there was a play area set up with 100+ Thomas the Train toys and tents. Andy, as usual, enjoyed the toy trains. He emphatically wanted to make sure I saw the "milk" tanker car...

We topped off the outing with a quick bite to eat at McDonald's - Andy loves those chicken McNuggets (but not as much as trains)!

All in all, it was a great time!

Please and a Baby Dump Truck

Video #1: We have been working very hard at our house to instill some politeness in our son, starting with please. Apparently, actually saying the word is too much of a strain for him. Instead, he has chosen to sign the word and if he really wants something, then he will vigorously sign using both hands. When asked to use his words, he performs the sign on his face. He does finally say please tonight, but it comes out "cheese". It all counts in my book. Our next task....Thank you! (translation: toto=pillow)



Video #2: Our son has remained consistent in his request for a baby dump truck when given the sister or brother option.



He continues to amaze and humor us daily. Tonight he told us he wanted to go "to the truck". When we asked why, he replied (to) "see baby Abby". Apparently, his 5 month old cousin has made quite the impact. I just hope his own sibling will do the same!

A Cooper Update (it's about time)

So much for meeting our goal of frequent postings to keep everyone up to date on the little man. I do have an excuse....Pregnancy! I'm still waiting for that day when you are suppose to feel better. As far as Scott's excuse, all I have to say is that K-State Basketball is pretty time consuming.

Moving on...We would like to think that Andy is excited about the prospects of a little sister or little brother. But, his consistent answer when asked his preference on the matter is "a baby dump truck". I hope he isn't too disappointed in August.

Andy has had a busy winter. The days just aren't long enough to play with all of the toys he received for Christmas and his birthday!

Besides the demanding play schedule, he is enrolled in Kindermusik with mom and Tumbling with dad. (We have to find some way to expend all of that energy!) He also made a road trip (with mom) to Columbia to hang out with his cousin Abby, his Uncle Dan and Aunt Michelle. He hasn't stopped talking about baby Abby since we got home!

Currently, Andy's favorite activity is following Wildcat Basketball, he makes his daddy very proud!

The Birthday Party

Spoiled? Not our Andy! Well...maybe just a little.

There was no shortage of gifts at Andy's second birthday party. The party started by putting together the table and chairs from Grandpa Neil and Grandma Sherry. His friend, Clancy, helped him break it in.

Next we moved on to Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mex's gifts. This took awhile since there were so many great toys and we had to play with each one before we could move on to the next gift!

Grandma Faye and Ron's gifts were also a big hit! You can't go wrong with a big dump truck and Andy. Next to trains, trucks are his favorite.

To cap off our "choo choo" day, we gave Andy a small Thomas the Tank Engine set. He was so excited, he couldn't put the train down long enough to open his other gifts! He now starts everyday saying "see choo choo" and ends each day crying for his "choo choo" with hours of "choo choo" playing with mom and dad in between.

The grand finale was a "choo choo" cake. I can't tell which he enjoyed more, the cake or the toy train on top!

As you can imagine, he was pretty tuckered out by the end of the day. However, a full day and getting to bed late did not stop him from waking up at 7am the next morning asking for his "choo choo". We could barely tear him away to eat breakfast!

Andy's Second Birthday

December 14th will go down as the best day in Andy's life (up to this point). The day was a "choo choo" extravaganza! We started the day with a trip to Union Station to see the huge model train display. Andy spent approximately two hours watching the trains (for a two year old, that's a long time to do anything).

He even got to ride a train around the Christmas tree. He was pretty excited to ride the train until it actually started, then he just cried for mommy and daddy. Oh well, he wasn't the only little boy crying.

Next, we headed over to Crown Center to eat at Fritz's. The inside of the restaurant looks like the inside of a train car. After ordering your food by phone, the food is delivered by a train that passes overhead. Andy got pretty excited every time the whistle blew and the trains chugged around the restaurant.

All of this excitement was enough to put him to sleep before we left the parking lot on the way home. Stay tuned for more birthday fun!

The Christmas Bell

Last week, Linda brought us this silver bell ornament from Scott's first Christmas. Andy has become quite fascinated with ringing the bell. He would also like to show you our Christmas stockings.

The Christmas Tree

We finally put up the Christmas tree yesterday. Now, we spend our day trying to keep Andy from pulling off ornaments and knocking the tree over. We will be lucky if we make it through the season without a concussion from the falling stocking hangers. Needless to say, he is pretty excited by all of the Christmas decorations and lights that have popped up around our house over the weekend.