So Cooper is at it again, putting his excellent cullinary skills to use to make us happy(: Thanks Mommy Theresa, he has a great talent thanks to you! He made dinner last night, and then he pulled out a suprise from the oven afterwards, it was this really cool apple pie he had made, kind of like a big hot pocket. I had been doing homework while he discreately put this together, and it was so sweet. Literally!! He boiled some chopped up apple, added cinnimon, nutmeg, and maybe sugar too, and put this into a laid out pre-made pie crust dough that he folded over. He also put sugar and the spices on top. Then he baked it(: It was so creative, and then it cut into 4 perfect triangles. It was wonderfully creative and quick to make. Oh, and it was delicious, thank you baby(: I love it too, because he is such a great improv cook and knows just what will taste good together. Then he always critiques himself so professionally when he is trying his masterpiece, and figures out just what he will do differently to improve it next time(: Yummy yummy!
Christmas 2009 for our new-ish little family was so nice, probably the best part was the fact that Cooper was not across the whole world from us. Florida was perfect weather that day, like Christmas in July, but I guess this is not an unexpected thing when you are living in beautiful warm Florida(:
I know this may upset some (aka most) people, but we are not telling Isaac that Santa is real. I am really going to try and instill the true meaning of Christmas, which is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Santa is definitely a fun and good character to be around because he is positive and good, but he is not real. Christmas is still really fun! I hope everybody had a great one this year, and if not, there are many more to come! People do not have to wait until a time of year that is deemed nice and jolly, you can bring this wonderful spirit into your everyday lives throughout the year. This is one of my resolutions, because I do not spread the selflessness and cheer throughout the year as much as I could, or should. Anyways, here is cutie Isaac with his nativity toy set from Auntie Patti, and a video of him singing Christmas songs(: Enjoy!
What is new on the NAVY journey for the Sepulveda family? I will tell you. In 12 days Cooper will come home. Will they let him off of the ship? I am not sure, but we will hopefully see him then. In the mean time, catch-up on homework will be my main priority. We will be celebrating Isaac’s birthday a few days late, which is alright because Isaac will have no clue. I miss Cooper, but soon this chapter of our lives will end, and we will be on to another one, which will be completely a jump into the unknown! New territory definitely has me on edge, but knowing that I have such a wonderful family to go there with me really helps. Anyways, enough of that, I guess I will post up a few good family pictures to reminisce on. Enjoy!
I definitely think it is the best time when you have a toddler to let them help you do things. Even if “helping” actually means just the opposite. For instance, the other day I swept a perfect pile and went to go and grab the dust pan and mini broom. When I came back into the room, Isaac had been ‘helping’ me finish up the job. He said, “Mommy, I’m helping!” so proudly, as he was spreading the dirt back under the bed and around the room until you could barely see it anymore. My heart kind of sank, but I just tried to say enthusiastically, “Wow, great job Isaac, thanks!!” The he put the broom against the wall, and I waited until he was distracted with Cooper before I completely started over. It took probably 20 seconds to clean up the mess, but I know it made Isaac feel really good and instilled the willingness to help out more. And oh, he does, haha.
Just last night, I was cleaning up the dishes when he brought his little chair over and set it right under the sink. He started helping me with the dishes and would rinse out each cup like 10 times before handing them to me, so in the mean time I tried to rinse the rest as quickly as possible. He was so focused on each cup he did not even notice. He also did not notice all of the water he poured out each time he handed me one, lol. Finally, we were all done! Or so I thought. Then he grabbed a sponge (the older one I use to rinse the dishes first) and he would soak it with water and wipe around the sink. He soaked it multiple times, and he wiped off the counter around the sink about 15 times. It was the cutest nicest thing and he was so proud to have helped, and then I discretely wiped up the 3 gallons of water he left on the counter and floor below the sink. He is such a cutie!
I just wanted to encourage this because it does seem kind of irritating or maybe you might not even think about it, but they LOOVE helping, and it really has such a great impact on them.
Okay, we have officially reached success in potty training. He completed his Potty Chart about 2 weeks ago and he received his grand finale toy. We splurged a little because it was his last one and we got him a cool Monster Tent from Target. I could not find any pics from their online store|: It was so cool, we brought it home and once he put on the last sticker, we pulled out the present bag, he pulled out all of the paper, and Cooper assembled it for him in his room. We tried to get him things that would help him to be creative or imaginative or would help him learn in some way, and I thought this was perfect. He usually sleeps in it now, and he is closer with our dog too. I know that sounds weird, but she will cuddle up to him now (she loves him like crazy) and he really likes it.
That was our home success.
Next came overcoming the school obstacle, all credit goes to Daddy on this one.
I had been wondering when he would go at school, try and have him go before I left, the teachers said he was not doing it. I knew he could, he just wasn’t. I figured he was embarrassed about going in such a public place so I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. Cooper had been saying lately to let him go to school in underwear because he was ready and we were still buying diapers. I was too wussy, but luckily last week Cooper was going to work later than usual, so we all went to work and daycare at the same time. Cooper got Isaac dressed ad put underwear on him, and I forgot when I dropped him off so I didn’t tell his teachers!! They asked me in a funny confrontational way when I got there because he did wet his pants, but they said he was good going the rest of the day. I filled out an official school potty training form, and so now he is in underwear. The rest of the week he had a few accidents with great success otherwise, and this week he has not gone in his clothes once!! I am so proud of him, and he knows we are too(:
Thanks Cooper, and I can’t wait to see him today!!
Oooh, they have had duty every three days now, working Monday through Saturday, and they work 11 to 15 hour days!! My poor baby, I miss him so much. I can’t wait until their inspection is done and over with!
I know this post is ADD, but I just wanted to throw in there that I am so excited about HALLOWEEN!!!!!! Okay, Bye!
This 20-month-old Cory Elliot of New Zealand is so funny as he reenacts Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” His parents say they just happened to have a video camera handy while flipping through the tube:
“We were just flipping the channels and he saw it, stopped, went over and just started dancing,” the proud dad told TODAY. “That [song] was his favorite. He just started to dance with that one. It struck a chord. We just happened to have a camera with us.”
Okay maybe not really cook, but they can throw together food on their own and make something they really like, like a Banjellegg Sandwich. Isaac proved this this morning with his own Banjellegg sandwich. I made cheesy eggs, toast, sliced bananas, and some orange jello for breakfast. I love to put eggs on toast, and Isaac does too, but this morning he decided to outdo me with his impressive stack, which started with the jellow. I almost told him to stop just out of grossness, but then I got curious. Following the Jellow on the buttered toast came the cheesy eggs, and then some sliced bananas. I was waiting for the first disgusted bite and reaction, when he actually liked it so much he ate it all in like 5 seconds. I was very suprised, and when I asked im if it was good he said, “Yup!” It was cute, I love my little garbage disposal.. haha.
MMmmm..??
This morning I saw some my husbands continuous efforts of teaching Isaac left from his right come to life. Without me even asking him, as he put his foot into his underwear he said, “Right foot!” and he was correct!! It was really exciting, and a little bit later I played a game with him about left and right to help with Cooper. It is exciting how much and quick he is learning.
Today he went down for naptime so easily. I think it took him a while to fall asleep, but he stayed in his bed so it is okay(:
Isaac and I went to the Mayport Naval Station beach today. It was perfectly warm, which I was especially happy about because it was pretty chilly this morning. A police officer stopped us while we were walking up to cross the bridge to the beach and told us that section was closed off because of the washed up shrimp boat. Luckily we could still go to another part of the beach further down, which I found as a perfect opportunity to get a little extra discreat exercise(:
We could still see this boat, it was probably like 150 meters away, it looked amazing. It did send chills down my spine, but it was totally piraty and awesome. I really wish I could have gone and seen it up close, and the police knew about this common interest, because about every 5 minutes there would be another little buggy car thing zooming and chasing away the new beachgoers who wanted to check it out.
Aside from the awesome boat, we met this really sweet old lady who was called Nana Morrison, she was so cute!! She was there watching her three grandkids, the two older boys probably like 9 and 112, and then a little girl who was 5. They seemed like good kids, but she said a lot of her family was visiting because her son was having a huge ceremony for his retirement and for all of these awards. He was very high ranking, but what exactly I am not sure.
It was just a really nice day, and to top it all off there was barely a struggle to get my little sleepy-peepy into bed and actually asleep today.
I know while Cooper is gone I will be able to regain myself, try and sleep more and bring myself down to earth so he does not have to come home to the stressed out woman he left. We have so many decisions to make, and we both have a lot on our plates right now, but so many great things that will be so beneficial to us once they are completed.
