The Gussenhoven Family: Happy Birthday Cooper!

It's hard for me to believe that my baby was born 3 years ago. I mean he looks 3 (or maybe even 4 since he's so tall!) and he acts 3, but to me he's still my baby. I can barely carry him around anymore because he's so heavy and he doesn't fit in my lap like his used to (that's partly because of my huge pregnant belly), but he's still my baby.

At his 3 year check-up, Dr. Sean told us that according to his steady growth rate, he will most likely be 6 feet tall, minimum. He's going to outgrow both of us before we know it!

Here's what Cooper is like lately:

He loves to be the center of attention and has 2 volumes - loud and louder.
He's such a busy-body and has 2 speeds - running and sprinting.
He has quite the imagination and loves to pretend that we are all movie characters and then he makes us all stay in these roles for days. This week he's been Woody, David is Buzz, I'm Jessie, and Rocky is Bullseye (from Toy Story). Last week David was Lion, I was Tiger, and Cooper was Dragon. I think these ones were made up and not from a movie though.
He loves to go swimming at the gym, even though the pool is freezing and he shakes and shivers. He also loves showers and bubble baths.
He loves strawberry milk! And chocolate milk too, but he really prefers strawberry.
Potty training was super easy for him. The trick was to wait until he was ready and then to put big boy underwear on him. He's not the kind of kid that can be forced into anything.
He would much rather eat like a bird and snack on things throughout the day than sit down and eat a meal. He's very picky and will rarely try anything new. We are very patient and not pushy about his eating habits because he gets all of this from me, so I totally understand. As long as he's healthy, we aren't worried about what he eats and when. Some of the foods that he will eat are hot dogs, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, quesadillas, salads, corn, green beans, mac n cheese, spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, fish sticks, teddy grahams, animal crackers, ritz crackers and cheese, apples, chips, cereal, french toast, french fries, fruit snacks, breadsticks, BBQ sauce and ketchup, and of course there's ice cream, chocolate, and candy.
He loves to read books and we think it is the cutest thing ever when he memorizes them and then reads them to us.
He absolutely loves dinosaurs and dragons (and he still loves cars and planes).
Rocky is his best buddy. They play so well together and Rocky sure does put up with a lot. He's a good dog and Cooper loves him.
Bedtime is usually sometime between 8:30 and 9:30 and he'll usually wake up around 7 on days that I have to work, and 8 on days that he gets to sleep in (unless David is the only one home and then he wakes up at 6:30). He takes a good 2 hour nap everyday and doesn't function well without his nap.
He still carries his duck with him wherever he goes. It's no longer a dire emergency that we go back and get it if we forget it at home, but he has a really hard time going to sleep without it.
He's super stubborn!
He absolutely hates putting on clothes in the morning. It's been a phase that has been going on for about 6 months. He wants to wear his jammies everywhere (which I won't let him do) so every morning is a battle to get his clothes on.
He wants to be wherever we are and is quite the eager helper. He loves to help do laundry, vacuum, cook, and do anything outside in the yard. I think he's going to be a great helper with baby Carter when he arrives in a couple weeks.

For Cooper's birthday party, we rented out a local gymnastics center and let the kiddos go wild. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids did.

Cooper started soccer this month and is the youngest player on his co-ed team of 3/4 year olds. When the coach says to line up on the line, Cooper runs in the opposite direction like a wild man. He's fast and he's crazy and he just doesn't think it's possible to just stand still and kick a ball. He has to be running all the time. It's exhausting! When they attempt to do drills where the kids are supposed to slowly dribble the ball in a line or between some cones, he is sprinting full speed with the ball at his feet. Like I said above, he has 2 speeds, running or sprinting. The poor coaches, they have wild Cooper and then a couple kids that are the opposite and don't want to do anything. They sure do have their work cut out for them.