Coop's First Snow Play

It has snowed a few times this winter, but not enough to validate play. I knew that once I took Cooper in the snow, he would want to go all the time, so I was holding out until a big enough snow came.Well, Thursday night it started snowing.And on Friday we were left with enough to go play in. I was really excited about it. I was greatly disappointed. Cooper's first time playing in the snow was a nightmare.

After he woke up from his nap, I pumped him up about it, and proceeded to put on all his snow gear. By the time I got it all on, he was not happy. He had trouble walking in his boots and hated layer after layer. There were tears before we even made it outside.

Once outside, he cheered up for about 30 seconds.

But then he fell.

...And it all fell apart...

Just imagine this face with cries of bloody murder.

I was determined to make it an enjoyable experience. So, I tried to cheer him up.

We got the sled out.

Didn't work.

We rolled around in his buggy.

Didn't work.

I finally gave up and we came back in. He cried for a good 5-10 minutes after we came in. He sat cuddled under a blanket in my arms, without moving, for about 15 minutes. He was happy to be inside. I was sad that my child's first snow play was a disaster.

I pondered our event and came to the conclusion that there were several things that went wrong.

1) It was still snowing which brought about very strong winds. It was a bitter cold wind, and he had a hard time catching his breath when the wind was blowing on his face. He screamed hardest when we were facing the wind.

2) Because we had such troubles getting ready, I ditched his gloves. They were the last item I had to put on him. The only ones I could find were the ones that are waterproof, and had no finger slots. He hates this kind because he can't grab anything. As I was putting them on, he kept crying, I was sweating from my 20 layers of clothing, and I decided the gloves weren't worth it. I was wrong. Gloves are worth it. When he fell, his hands were in the snow, and then cold, and then they just hurt.

Bad mom award goes to......me.

SOOOO

Saturday we tried again.

This time I had Andrew with me. Cooper was actually agreeing to it. The snow was no longer falling. The wind was no longer howling. I had more things working with me this time.

We geared up, with gloves! He was excited to go out.

This time the snow was a hit! He loved it! Success!

We walked, played, threw snow, tried to make snow angels, and played on the sleigh.

We had a great family time together.

Love the memories this cold weather is creating for us.

PS...Please ignore my ugly green pants that don't match.

I only have a snow coat. No cute snow pants.