Well, this two week experiment with the “Daily Cooper iPhone Photo” has left me with two observations:

1) Coming up with an interesting photo, and a story about Cooper to go with it, every day is not an easy thing; and,
2) I am finding myself starting to cringe at the bad image quality of the photos i am posting

Now, for a phone, the quality of the images taken with my iPhone, especially in good daylight, is actually not bad. But, it’s actually not great, either. And, since this does happen to be a photography blog, i am realizing that the quality of the photos is far more important than posting a not-so-great quality iPhone photo catching Cooper in an action i might not have otherwise captured with my “real” camera. And so, with today’s iPhone photo, the “Daily Cooper iPhone Photo” experiment is coming to an end.

I’ve always been a firm believer of “quality over quantity,” and thus it follows that there probably will not be a daily update of the blog anymore. But, i promise that the less frequent posts will be even better than getting a daily post. Better quality pictures, more polished stories. See how that works out?

Anyway…as i said, the iPhone is handy for on-the-spot captures when there’s no camera within reach, including this shot, where Cooper is checking beneath the bed for monsters dust bunnies his tennis ball. I can only guess how many of his tennis balls are beneath the bed at this minute. Once a week, when we (actually do) vacuum beneath the bed, Cooper suddenly becomes the proud owner again of a trove of tennis balls, and other assorted toys, rawhide bits and plush animals he has managed to lose under there over the course of the week.

Maybe that’s why he has such a hate for the vacuum cleaner…he must be afraid it will steal all his treasures from beneath the bed.

He thinks i have no idea he has that “popper” in his mouth. My adorable Mr. Innocent.

(If you have no idea what a “popper” is, you might want to refer to yesterday’s entry. You can do that here.)

Cooper has a somewhat crazy obsession with the little purple half-round located in the right compartment of the pen organizer.

It’s this little “toy” i got as a prize for playing some arcade games with my nieces years ago. This “toy” is actually just a half-round piece of rubber that is hollow on the concave side. The fun in it is that when you bend it inside out, and set it flush on a hard, flat surface, it then “pops” about 5 or 6 feet high in the air. It’s pretty amazing, actually.

But, as i said, Cooper has developed somewhat of an obsession with it (and with the pink one peeking out beneath the purple one.) Usually i keep the “poppers,” as we call them, up on my desk, but, in a moment of madness in trying to de-clutter my office (good luck with keeping that up!) i put the poppers in my little pen organizer. Well, as you can see, it wasn’t long before Cooper had discovered them.

Here he has actually been “fishing” in the organizer, managing only to pull out the folded-up piece of paper cluttering up my office!!! laying next to the organizer.

Note the “Mr. Innocent” look he has perfected over the years…

Several times a day, while i am working at the computer, Cooper will come into the office and try to convince me to play “soccer” with him in the hallway. Which just now reminds me, i used to do the same thing to my dad when i was young—we also played soccer in our small hallway with tennis balls.

Anyway…even though sometimes i am really getting into something, i almost always give in to playing with him, since he deserves some attention, and, my legs can use a stretch too. Often to buy myself a little more time in order to finish what i’m busy with, i’ll tell him to first go get “rattle” (the green plush ball in the photo) and “baseball” (the white ball behind rattle), and, if i’m really desperate for some more time, i’ll tell him we need more tennis balls…from downstairs. He then trots off with a purpose downstairs, and returns shortly later with at least one, usually more, tennis balls, which he then spits out on the floor, making sure i am completely aware that he is totally ready to play.

When i finally get around to starting on my taxes, i’m sure i’ll actually be looking forward to him coming around with his “wanna play?” face…

This weekend i was all set to mow the grass weeds, but the yard was still so soggy from last week’s rains that i had to leave it for another day (which won’t be soon, i am guessing, since it is raining again right now.)

Instead, i moved the (to be reinstalled after the house-painting the next two weeks) rain gutters off the grass weeds and to the side of the house while Cooper ran circles around me like a madman with his tennis ball in his mouth, trying to goad me into playing with him in the mud. Every circle he made around me he kicked up more mud-gooey goodness, and made him even more excited that he was finally allowed to get back into his backyard.

So, there he is, resting in a shady corner of the yard after his shenanigans, and completely happy, while i am watching him and slowly coming to the realization that since the grass weeds can’t be mowed, there’s finally no excuse left for me not to get started on doing my taxes.

Maybe i should call the dentist to set up that root canal…

I was just now walking down the hall toward my office and happened to look over to see Cooper sitting on the bed in the front guest bedroom, intently looking at something outside. Those are his buddies from next door he is watching—they are 3-year-old fraternal twins who love playing “hide-and-seek” and “tag” with Cooper in our backyard. (Occasionally they even let their older sister join in the fun.)

Last week, the boys rang the doorbell to see if Cooper could come out and play. When we told them “sorry, not today, maybe tomorrow,” the darker-haired one replied in a sweet voice, “well, that’s not right.”

I’m sure Cooper agreed with him.

This is one of Cooper’s favorite spots when i am working. I’ve left a space between my desk and the window so he can sit and look outside to make sure the birds and squirrels in his yard are behaving. When he’s tired he will rest his head on the sill and almost fall asleep.

I took this photo yesterday, and, the grass is finally getting greener (though most of what you see in the picture is weeds, to be sure). Today it’s a veritable monsoon outside, and the yard is under at least an inch of water, if not more. I guess that’s the bonus we get for living at sea level on the marsh.

I just noticed in the photo that the palm tree branch behind Cooper’s head almost makes it look like he has fabulously long eyelashes on his hidden side. My movie star…

Another yawn picture…is there a theme developing here? For some reason Cooper’s expression here reminds me of Jack Nicholson as the Joker in “Batman.” Deliciously laughing at all the devious April Fool’s jokes happening everywhere today no doubt. No jokes here yet today…but, the day is long…mwah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa

Today’s daily iPhone photo of Cooper honors the release of Marley and Me on DVD today. I read the book when it came out, but still haven’t seen the movie yet. I’m up for all the crazy dog antics in the movie, but i’m not really eagerly anticipating that sad ending….

I took this photo about a month ago to send to friends in Holland (hi Joop en Vera!). Cooper had just woken up and was yawning; thanks to the button-lag on the iPhone, instead of capturing the actual yawn, i captured this expression instead. Fortunately, Cooper is never a real “Snarly”