Building a House

For Christmas, Cooper's big gift from my parents was a playhouse for the backyard. Because of its size, the house really couldn't be a Christmas morning surprise, but check out Cooper's face when he realized it would be a kid-sized house just for him...

It looked like an enormous building project (judging from the size of the box and the photo of te completed project with all the working shutters and doors) but we hoped for the best and started building. After all, the outside of the box said "2 people, 2 hours" - couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong! Inside the box, the 68 page direction handbook did not carry the same "2 people, 2 hours" logo. In fact, the cover clearly stated that it would take 2 "moderately skilled people" between 6 and 8 hours to build. Yikes. After much debate about what classified one as a moderately skiller worker, my dad and I decided that one wanna-be handy man, one good for nothing assistant (me) and one mess-every-thing-up toddler would have to do.

Cooper loved every minute of the building experience. He diligently worked with his own screwdriver and followed my dad around, trying to help in any way possible.

It was so much fun to watch Cooper in his element. He is interested in how things work and is quite dedicated to tasks that most toddlers would avoid. The idea of screwing and unscrewing a bolt was thrilling to him. By the end of the day, he knew the name of every tool we used and could hand my dad each tiny screw or nail that he needed. I learned a lot while watching Cooper build. I think he is wired to work with his hands and use tools - it has helped me to understand what kinds of things to help him pursue as he grows up. He is a worker-man!

Here is the house without the roof, almost done. I'll have to take a picture of it all finished and in its place in the yard. It has been Cooper's hidaway and the place that he retreats to when he wants to work or play alone. It's also his own little fort for playing with his dog, driving trucks, and making mud pies. I'm sure many more adventures are to come in this little house.

We've got to give a little shout out to my dad, who did (literally) every ounce of the work on this house. I did nothing more than hand him stuff and crowd-control the Coop... Thanks Dad! Cooper loved spending the day with his Pop and he loves his little house. : )