California Christmas - 2008

I am starting to figure out how Christmas works…. It’s similar to my birthday except that it’s not, it’s someone elses, everyone gets gifts (not just me), it involves putting up a tree, there’s no Happy cake and then after opening presents you play, eat, watch movies and sleep all day long. This was my first Christmas in California and my first not celebrating it with Aunt Eileen, Uncle Alan, Nonnie and my cousins Olivia, Taylor, Nathan, Hamilton, Fletcher and Barrett as we have for my previous 2 Christmases BUT i was able to video chat with them and also my Mimi and Poppi via Skype. I showed them the gifts I got including my new drum set (video below). Uncle Colin, Aunt Kristin and Java spent Christmas with us and Uncle Colin helped me open some of my presents and Daddy set up my new drum set. Mommy and Aunt Kristin made the best breakfast (and dinner) ever. Today we are heading down to the beach and taking a stroll down the Strand. I’ll post more pics and video later — but here’s a quick video of me drumming Christmas morning.

Rider playing the drums from brian cooley on Vimeo.

Caught on video: Breakdancing to Bad Girls

You’ve seen me dancing to LL Cool J, then I cut a jig in Ireland (no video) and most recently rocked out to Old Macdonald ….. Now caught on video and sharing directly with you before TMZ.com gets a hold of the footage is video of me breakdancing to Donna Summer’s Bad Girls song while at an indie art exhibit in Venice Beach a couple weeks ago.

Rider breakdancing at Art Gallery from brian cooley on Vimeo.

Riding my motorcycle

Ok… something else I love doing at my new home is riding my motorcycle in our private driveway. Check out my video.

Rider riding his motorcycle from brian cooley on Vimeo.

Sunday afternoon batting practice

At day care I’ve been taking a class once a week called Play Ball where they teach us various sports and how to cheer like - Play Ball. Play Ball. Rah Rah Rah. So, this past Sunday, I showed Daddy how I can hit the baseball off the tee - over and over and over and over. Watch the video below and few pics posted below too.

Rider batting practice - I did it! from brian cooley on Vimeo.

Halloween Photo Dump

Finally got my pics from Halloween. It’s a busy day, so short post — but let’s just say I had FUN trick or treating with Sylvia and Lock and the rumors are true — i didn’t want to use a bag to carry my candy — I wanted to hold it ALL in my hands… until i fell when running down hill and dropped it all and mommie helped me pick it up and put in my Halloween Lighting McQueen bucket. Thank you mommie.

New Wheels: ATW Radio Flyer w/ Air Tires

Belated thank you! to Uncle Colin and Aunt Kristin for the sweet ride you got me for my 2nd birthday. It’s my favorite. I took it for a long ride around the Highlands today and dad snapped some pics on his iPhone. See below.

Rider.Cooley.2.0 de.vel.op.ing

Stay tuned… for Rider 2.0

Happy Mother’s Day Mommy

And, Happy Mother’s Day to

Mimi

Nonnie,

GiGi and

Aunt Eileen

Lil’ Rider is going back to Cali

Ever since vacationing in Santa Barbara and Hermosa Beach, CA this past December - I can’t stop thinking about going back to Cali. To make matters worse - The other day I was listening to my mom’s iTunes playlist on the kitchen iMac and heard a song by LL Cool J called “Going back to Cali” and now I am totally obsessed with going back to Cali. Below is a video of me rapping to the LL Cool J tune. Enjoy!

EASY RIDER 2: The American Midwest

3 bikers travel the American Midwest and experience its land and people. The movie stars Rider Cooley, Brian Cooley and James Shelton and is produced by Shelton and directed by Cooley + Cooley.

Okay, so maybe there isn’t really an Easy Rider 2 BUT my Poppi does have a custom chopper and we rode it sat on it this weekend when Mom, Dad and me traveled to St. Louis for GiGi’s 90th birthday party.

Also, rumor has it I was named Rider because Easy Rider is Poppi’s favorite movie