Oh my… a year flew by. I know we moms always say it, but it really is remarkable how fast it all goes.

Bell just brings so much light to our home. She is beautiful, sweet, funny and oh-so-sunny. Even though the boys occasionally say, “I don’t want a sister anymore” when she cries in the car, they are so happy to be big brothers… and I think she’s beginning to realize how lucky she is to be born into this crazy household. It used to be that the squeals they made when I got home from work would frighten her. No more. She now just looks at them and giggles.

She’s not quite walking yet, but SO CLOSE. She’s standing alone and walking holding the wall… any day now. Her first word(s) was “Hi Baby.” She said it for the first time on Christmas when I was reading her a book with a baby. I said, “Hi Baby” and she repeated it perfectly. Chris’ mom and I just about flipped. Since then, she says it to everyone… including grown men. It’s adorable.

She’s still a giant. Over 100% in height and 85% in weight. It’s just been so nice to have a big, healthy baby… so much less to worry about than when we had the boys! Sometimes I worry that I’m TOO laid back about her eating. I remember nearly measuring every meal the boys had (not to mention all the medication), and with her, I rarely pay attention!

More later on her birthday, but here’s a video of our little lady at 1 year old.

Again… a lot of buildup, but it was worth it! We had a great Christmas Eve complete with Grammy, Deanna (our fabu nanny), Emma (the best thing out of South Africa), Tia, Uncle Chancey and Baby Stella. Our tradition on Christmas Eve is that we all exchange presents and Christmas day is all about Santa. Mom and dad got us way cool slippers and jimmies – also a tradition.

In addition to a few really fun toys Santa brought (remote controlled robots, batman building, dragon dungeons and star wars transformers), we also got big kid booster seats for the car – which honestly, we were super stoked about. Mom did it as kinda a joke to make the presents under the tree look full, but it ended up being a big hit. Note taken for Santa!

Overall, it was a great Christmas and we feel all our good behavior paid off!

Merry Christmas to all!
Cooper (and family)

P.S. (No mailed Christmas card this year, but here’s our electronic one!)

P.P.S. You gotta check out our response from Quinn on opening a present from Mimi

Upon getting out all our Christmas decorations, we came across these great shirts that Jasmine got us last year (She was one of our favorite nurses when we were in the NICU for 3 months after being born). They say, “He’s the naughty one!” :) We had a good discussion about who was naughty and who was nice…

Also had a great time decorating the tree this year – especially the star on top.

Not only did we have our first sleepover, but it was with GIRLS. We don’t mess around, folks.

Our favorite girls, Pier and Piper, moved to Washington State a few months back, and we miss them so. Their mom and dad was at a wedding this weekend, so they got to stay over with us Saturday night. It was nonstop fun from the second they arrived to the second they left. All four of us crashed bigtime upon separation.

We had movie night at home, so we all got to go to BlockBuster and pick out a movie. Then mom and dad invited us to the “candy bar” where we got to pick out our favorite candy to accompany our popcorn and milk. WHAT A TREAT!

After movie night, we all went into our bedroom and made beds on the floor like we were camping out. Four four-year-olds in one room. Needless to say, there was some chaperoning going on.

The next morning, it was all about the plasma cars. For hours and hours and hours. Video below gives you a snapshot of the fun had by all.

But alas, they are now back home. Long distance relationships are tough, but we are committed!

Missing our ladies,
Cooper

So, it’s been a while since we’ve been on vacation as a family, so we took the plunger – I mean plunge.

For years we’ve been hearing about Club Med at Ixtapa, Mexico. Many families in the Bay Area go there because it’s relatively easy to get there and parents actually get a vacation. You see, they have something called Kids Club that is basically a fun daycare for children so everyone can have a little fun and relaxing time (Quinn and I were registered, but the ‘rents thought Bell was a little too young). The only problem is that Quinn and I are strange birds and would rather hang out with mom and dad than do crazy cool stuff with other kids our age. Yes, we’re weird. And mom and dad felt bad because after all, it’s our vacation too, so we probably spent about 10 hours total in the Kids Club for the full week.

It was also a real treat because Deanna (our nanny) came with us, so we had tons of fun and lots of attention from the people who love us most. And it turns out, it was crucial that she was there because EVERYONE GOT SICK except for her and Bell, who we kept far, far away from our sick rooms. It started with dad, then the boys were sick sick sick for 2.5 days. And then mom. Poor mom – on the last two days of the trip she was out of commission. So basically, every day, someone was sick.

That didn’t stop us from having a great time, though. When we weren’t sick, we swam in the “kiddie poll” that was ginormous and 3 feet deep (perfect for us!), got thrown in the air by dad in the pool, swung on the trapeze (not us – just mom and Deanna), took walks on the beach, made loads of sand castles, and on and on and on. For some strange reason, I kept telling mom and dad that I wanted to go home. They’ve still not figured that one out yet, but I think I missed my routine and my toys.

All in all, we swam like fish, ate like kings (though mom and dad were surprisingly disappointed with the food at the resort), and slept like bears in hibernation. Oh, and learned what “virgin drink” means. ☺ We’ve now learned that that is what vacation is all about!

Standing firm on having ONLY drinks with umbrellas,
Cooper

So… we’ve spoken before about my favorite thing to do – create. Whether it’s creating a costume, creating a drawing or creating a play, I’m all over it. I led my class in an effort to not only write the script for our own play, but also do the costume design and put the show on for our parents. I’m a bad knight who refuses to protect the princess because she dances, and I don’t dance because I’m just too busy. I lock her in the dungeon and the lions help her get out. Then they all teach me how to dance, and we live happily ever after.

Mom and I recently took a trip to Ohio. My mom’s uncle Dusty died unexpectedly at the age of 49, so even though it was a sad trip, we enjoyed the 1:1 time that we so rarely get. Mom was even looking forward to the flights because it meant we would be together – just she and I. We both missed my brothers (a lot!), and called them all the time, but they had a great time with daddy. It was also super fun to get to know some of my mom’s side of the family – especially my cousin Lyla! She’s 6 months older than me, so even my brothers haven’t met her yet. She’s so fun – and she’s got the best exersaucer in the world!

RIP (Great) Uncle Dusty.
Bellie

Oh, what fun I’m having. I’m still a blob that only knows how to move my arms and legs and laugh… but damn I’m cute! And I’m a big girl – Doctors say I’m 97% in length and 80% in weight.

I think I’ve started to irritate my brothers though. My crying makes Quinn, in particular, a little crazy. When I’m not crying, he’s pretty into me, but the second I start, he puts his hands over his ears. And Cooper still doesn’t really want to hold me. He’ll kiss me and be cute, but when asked if he wants to hold me, he almost runs out of the room. I think he’s scared of hurting me. We’re just going through a rough patch – I’m sure they’ll come around to me. Otherwise, we’re in some deep trouble.

Oh… what a life I lead. I hang out: eat, sleep, poop and be adored by my cool big brothers. I could get used to this. And I’ve really got the “I’m so cute” giggle down pat.

But, it’s not all great. There are times I FREAK out… which then makes my brothers freak out – especially when we are all in the car together. They don’t seem to like me crying in the car for some reason. And I refuse to be set down. I’m still sleeping in mom and dad’s room in a bassinet and I keep dad up most of the night because I will only sleep being held in movement. No, mom and dad can’t even lay down with me – i’m very particular. Dad’s got the hold down pat, but I let him know if he’s 1/4 of an inch off or something. They are PRAYING that this is just a needy phase. I hate to break it to them, but they should settle right in…

Each year just keeps getting better and better. We become better friends with each, our parents seem to chill out more and life is good. Four is good. We’re pretty happy with it. Yes, we still fight, but we really love each other. Best friends, we are. Always confused and even a little lost when the other isn’t around. And becoming big brothers has been great for us. Gives us a job. And we take it very seriously.

The party this year was at a park in San Francisco, since that’s where most of our friends still live. We had a pirate (Quinn) and racing car (Cooper) themed birthday. People brought loads and loads of gifts, and we couldn’t stay away from the gift area. Mom and dad said it was a little rude to just linger around the gifts, but we were light magnets to them – just kept getting sucked back in to them.

Here’s a little about us at four:

Quinn is ALL about creativity. It’s truly amazing how inspired he is – and FOCUSED he is – when he’s doing any form of creative art. When he’s not obsessing and being a perfectionist, he’s such a joy to watch. The creativity he shows is truly incredible for his age. And not necessarily in drawing, but more so in making things. He knows exactly what he wants to make, and often has great ideas on how to make it. Emma has been an enormous help in exercising this creative side for him.

Cooper is really turning into an incredibly outgoing little guy. For the longest time, he would hide behind mom or dad’s leg when seeing people he doesn’t know well. Well, he’s done a 180. He goes up to anyone and says, “My name is Cooper and ‘dis is my bruder Quinn.” He loves making sure all the kids are included at the playground and really pays a lot of attention to emotions. In books, he’s always asking, “why is he making this face.” And he’s very sensitive – in a wonderful way… wants to make sure everyone is happy.

When we look back at one year ago (one of mom’s favorite videos of our birthday party recap), we can’t believe how much we’ve grown. We’ll surely say the same thing next year, as our brains are soaking in a ridiculous amount of data every moment.

Happy birthday to us!

What is that you say? Oh… it’s hard keeping track of all of our ladies? Oh yeah… tell me about it!

Had another great day with our girls, Pier and Piper. Their mom and dad are pretty cool too. And our dad drug us all over on this blanket. Man, his cool factor went way up. He usually embarrasses us in front of our girlfriends, but we gotta give him props today. Well done, Dad.

Well, now mom and dad don’t need to hear about Halloween in April anymore! “Hallelujah” they say. Who knew there was this guy called the Easter Bunny who brings us candy and toys (though only if we are good boys)?! This is the first Easter that we remember, and boy was it filled with fun activities! First we died eggs with mama… then we went to a crazy fun easter egg hunt. Though, if you watch the video, you’ll see that we had no idea what to do. Dude, there were 2 year olds running circles around us! It was a bit embarrassing. Not to mention the ghetto Easter bags we carried that double as grocery bags (nice prep, Mom!). After a little tough love and cheering from mom, we got a move on and acquired some serious eggs. THEN, the Easter Bunny brought us baskets and we went to a park with a jumpy. I’m overwhelmed. All this fabulousness in one weekend?! It’s almost too much for this 4 year old to take!

Yummmm!
Cooper

In fact, we were so inspired with our new jammies and laying in our thomas couch/bed, that we laid a big kiss on each other… (see video below – we’re pretty darn cute!).

Santa came!

Since we flew home from Ohio yesterday, mom and dad wrote a letter to Santa asking for a late delivery, but we still weren’t sure if he would honor their request… so as you can imagine, we were quite pleased to wake up to a room of toys this morning!

As you will see, we had an eventful, fun and entertaining Christmas day. Santa certainly was good to us – as were our friends and family. We must have been VERY good boys! Quinn spent Christmas bossing me around on which instrument I should play in the band while we enjoyed the day with mom, dad, grandma-ma and Sanja. Presents, loads of food and many of my favorite people… now this is what I call a good day!

P.S. Don’t miss my incredible doll crib. I’m gonna get a lot of cute babes with this house!

(please excuse mom’s amateur video editing… this is all new to her.)

what can i say? i’m a budding musician! (mom says i’m not allowed to use that excuse my whole life)

P.S. Thank you, Mia for knowing JUST what we I wanted.

well… we don’t hate him… we actually love him. we just don’t like sitting on his lap. When is mom and dad going to get that throught their thick skulls? we didn’t like it the first time, second time, and now the third time. maybe next year will be our big year to get a pass from sitting on santa’s lap… (don’t hold your breath).

Quinn

why must we be tortured in this way?

P.S. mom and dad got their punishment by being nauseous for 30 minutes following this little adventure.

Ok… let me explain… On our way to Sacramento today, the boys were watching a LeapFrog video where there was a daddy frog. Cooper got SO excited when the daddy came on the screen that he belted out “Daddy Frog,” but it just has a little more of a foul tone to it.

There. How’s THAT for an excuse?

Is there anything cooler than this?

All good things must come to an end though (at least for today!)

Who knew that a dirty pole on Van Ness could be so much fun?!

Cooper: What, pray tell, is so darn funny?

Quinn: blahr bla gar tee ta

Cooper (in hysterics laying next to him)

It doesn’t take much for us to fall down laughing together… (which usually ends with someone crying – out of pain, not laughter).

As demonstrated by the double chin and wrist roll, I too have joined the 4 lb club. Quinn continues to show me the way – he has reached 4 lbs, 5 oz and we’re both eating really, really well.

Porkin’ up,

Cooper

P.S. Not to embarrass Quinn again, but you are seeing correctly – he is trying to get milk from my wrist (as noted in previous post).