Cooper

Traveling abroad is always full of surprises, but never so much as when you're traveling with a 2 year old!  My friends Mikey and Cindy came back to Lebanon with me this year, and they brought their 2-year-old son Cooper.  This isn't Cooper's first time overseas.  He was actually born in Slovakia, so this is his 6th country.  He's going to have quite the wanderlust when he gets older, but he won't remember why.

Cooper with his toy plane. 
He likes to make houses for everything so that box is his plane's house.


When going to a new culture with kids, it's hard to guess what the social norms are going to be.  Will it be difficult to travel with them?  Can you find food for them?  Diapers?  Well Cooper fits right in here.  Not only is hummus his favorite food, but he also likes the milk and yogurt, and baby stuff is really easy to come by.  Cooper travels like a pro, and will even nap in his stroller if he needs to. 

Sometimes Cooper hitches a ride. 

Mikey and Cooper at the ruins in Tyre. 
Cooper was really excited because he got to play with
sticks the whole time we were there.

The absolutely most fun thing about having a baby in Lebanon though is how much the men love babies.  Random men off the street come up and hug him.  Taxi drivers give him kisses.  Waiters in restaurants pick him up and walk around with him and play with him with the other servers.  People give him oreos. 

One day we were on the campus of the Lebanese American University and Mikey and Cooper were at the bottom of a hill.   I was at the top and all the guy students were standing up and peering over the hedges to see the baby. Another day a guard stopped us and we were a little confused.  He turned back around with a tissue and wiped Cooper's nose and then told us we could keep going.  Can't let that baby walk around with a runny nose!

This server from a restaurant on the other side
of the street crossed over just to give him a cookie.

Cooper fits right in here and I'm so glad he came.  Of course, my favorite thing about having him here is all the quality time I get with him.  We've bonded over my ability to swing him upside down by his feet, and he doesn't mind when I (very) poorly sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  This trip would truly not be the same without him.  Too bad he's too young to remember all the adventure and love he got in Lebanon.  I guess he'll just have to come back again when he's older.


Cooper will jump into my arms and fling himself upside down saying, "Again. again."
He loves it when I spin him around by his feet.