Cohen was a parrot for Halloween.. He surprised us by going around quietly, collecting his candy. He seemed to figure out what to do. He sure was cute!
Christmas was a struggle because we were all sick. It all started around Thanksgiving and really hasn't ended, yet. Cohen got a cold and had bouts of the stomach flu off and on in December until his cold turned into bronchitis/pneumonia at the beginning of January. Poor guy! Chris and I have had it all and it seems like one of the three of us is sick all the time. It is absolutely unbelievable and so wearing. I am exhausted and hope for a reprieve soon. A few weeks ago Cohen had a double ear infection and I simultaneously had some sort of nasty bug that I still haven't shaken. Cohen is done with his medicine but still wakes up coughing at night. Unfortunately, I think we are taking another trip the the doctor's office this week. Anyway, we worked really hard this year to get Cohen gifts that he would really enjoy and he was feeling so under the weather that we tried not to take his lack of enthusiasm personally.
Cohen has grown in leaps and bounds in many ways. He is 37 inches tall and 32 pounds. He says several words and has developed many favorites and hobbies. We bought him a kids' microphone recently and he "sings" into it by screaming or wailing and puts on a performance with hand motions and head tilting and hand raised like a real performer! It is one of the cutest things I have ever seen, although a little loud. Chris took him to a WSU basketball game this season and ever since, Cohen loves basketball and anything with the WSU mascot, Wu Shock. He plays for hours with his small basketball hoop and ball, but he always needs to have a game on for inspiration. March Madness is perfect for him! Unfortunately, the only game we have recorded is the one against Creighton in the championship Missouri Valley Tournament where they lose. But, don't tell Cohen that! He was so excited to watch some of the recent WSU vs. Gonzaga game that he could hardly stand it. He was cheering and screaming and wore himself out. So, for now, basketball is the hobby of choice, which may work out since he is pretty tall right now.
As you can see from the previous picture, Cohen has a new friend. He has never been one to become attached to anything. But, we started hiding the elf from "Elf on a Shelf" in early December each morning, Cohen became attached. He was enamored with Christmas overall and is so disappointed that the Christmas section in Wal-Mart morphed into the Lawn and Garden section. I guess this is his way of holding onto Christmas all year long. We never thought the elf would be so popular, so we never gave the name much thought. We are stuck with "Elfie". I even had Chris wage an eBay war to buy a new one for back up. There have been a few scary moments where Cohen has been aware of both of them and the look on his face was was priceless. We recovered quickly, though. Anyway, any time you see Cohen, you see Elfie. Kids everywhere exclaim, " He has an elf!"
Cohen seems excited to be a big brother in July, but we are sure he doesn't realize all it will entail. For now, he loves to talk about it and point out my ever-expanding belly to everyone and say "brother". We are trying to have his summer go on as normally as possible and have signed him up for swimming and gymnastics.
Oh, yes. There also was a big second birthday! Actually, we just had a small party with just my family this year but we made a big deal out of the day. First, I took Cohen to the bookstore on the WSU campus to get him a stuffed Wu. He was beyond excited to be on campus and see all the black and gold and Wu everywhere. He loved being there. His excitement made it all worth it, even though we had to park really far away with a limited time parking space and find our way to the student center which was under renovations, re-direct his idea of a good gift for himself (a $40 leather basketball) and hoof it back before my time was up for the parking spot. We must have seemed really out of place on a Friday morning out there! A huge pregnant woman hauling an over-energetic, two-year old that kept shouting, "Shock, shock, shock!". Oh, well. I survived. We then met Chris for lunch at one of Cohen's favorites, Chik-fil-a. I then dropped him off at my mom's to get a nap while I ran around and picked up the last of his "Thomas the Train" decorations. My sister had put hours into making a very elaborate "Thomas" cake, as well. He was so excited about all of it! For dinner we had pizza and then he opened presents and had cake. He received many pieces to complete the train table he got for Christmas. He also got a big Thomas tent that he wanted everyone to sit in with him. Overall, it was a great success!
Well, there is much more to talk about, but if I go on, I will never post this. So, I will retire for now.
