Baby Girl

Getting ready for Baby Girl. She's getting antsy waiting and wants to get out to meet her brother. I truly think that anytime Cooper is giving me hugs and kisses Baby Girl goes nuts. He still loves to kiss his sister and gives my belly hugs. It is the ultimate heart melt moment. The other day he laid a book on my belly and said baby. He loves to lay his head on my belly to snuggle his sister. Please tell me this will all last the rest of their lives...how naive am I???

First Surgery

And hopefully his last. Friday Cooper had surgery for his ears. A standard procedure of having tubes in his ears, a CAT Scan to check to see where the hearing loss damage is, and then a hearing test. He was a trooper. We were up by 4:30 on the road by 5ish to get to the hospital by 6:00. No food or drink, but once we get to the hospital and the toys are discovered we've got a happy kid!! The surgery itself took a few hours along with the recovery time. It was all very reminiscint of my own surgeries....except this was my baby!! Steve was the one to go with Cooper as he was put under anesthesia which of course happened in 5 seconds.
The nurses wheeled the little ones in from recovery and each time the doors opened we hoped it was Cooper...finally it was and the nurses were laughing because when he woke up he kept saying "uh oh" because of the IV, things on his foot and finger for heart rate. It was as if he was telling on the nurses because they hadn't taken them off. Steve says Cooper was asking for Daddy and I thought that the nurses said he was asking for Mommma....either way, he was wanting to see us.
Coop proceeded to chug a cup of apple juice then ate 2 popsicles. He wasn't able to eat solid food until we got home, but didn't seem to mind much especially since he keeps a stash of cheerios in his car seat.
I think Steve and I were hoping for a day of snuggling and just relaxing with our little guy, but within an hour or so he was up and running! It was as if nothing even happened. We like it that way. If Coop has to have surgery, then let it be when he's little and doesn't remember what has happened.

Who in the world gave us this kid????

Everyday when we get home Cooper goes to the coat area and takes off his coat. If he could reach he'd hang it up (he actually does at daycare). Then he points to his shoes and pulls his foot up so we can take off his shoe. THEN he takes the shoes and puts them in the closet in the shoe rack!! Now, we should teach him to sit on the floor and take off his own shoes, but it is so darn cute when he holds on to our shoulders to take his shoes off.

Today he was saying 'face' and I saw him rubbing it in the rear mirror. Well, he'd finished his Cheerios and was rubbing the dust from the cereal all over his face. He was pretending to wash his face!!

So cute and so much that I wish I could remember to tell!

Found the magical song

Cooper has moments where he does not want to sit still and have a diaper changed or get dressed. There is just too much to do for him to be tied down for 2 minutes! We've tried tactics to get him to cooperate-stuffed animal, toy, funny faces....turns out the ABC song works like magic! I started it about 2 days ago and he would just smile. Steve and I sing together and he just goes back and forth watching us with a huge grin. Well tonight he really wanted to go play with his train, but it was way past his bed time and that train could keep him busy for a long time. I had to wrestle with the little guy for a few and then remembered the song. Instantly he melted and just smiled at my musical voice (hahaha). THEN I paused a second (probably because I couldn't do 2 things at once) and he filled in a letter for me. We then proceeded to sing the song at least 10 more times where I'd pause and Cooper would fill in letters as I stopped! He's a genius. We've only been singing the song for a few days and already he knows the order!!

LOVE????

Cooper can say almost any word these days which is causing us to really pay attention to our words.
butt is our new fav especially when he points to his butt!, broccoli, poop, buddy...

The one word this boy won't say and it amazes us because that and his name are the 2 words he's been hearing at least 10 times a day since he was born. He will not say LOVE. He just plain out ignores us when we say "say love, Cooper".
We don't think he has ever said his name. He will call himself Buddy which is what Steve calls him.

Even tonight he said spaghetti. Not perfectly, of course, but he tries. LOVE, no way. He won't even attempt it. We know he loves us because he'll just come up and give a hug and kiss. Just like any girl, I want to hear it from him to know he means it!!

Love having company

Grandma Judy came to visit this past week. We were still on snowday vacation, so we got to spend more time together where usually it's just Grammy and Cooper. The weather made it hard to get out and do things, but the train kept everyone busy. Grammy made sure she got Coop a train as soon as she got here! He's really good at putting the tracks together and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to say Chuga Chuga! I am always amazed at how well he focuses on working on things that seem frustrating. He's got a great amount of patience!

alphabet

Have you ever really noticed how many letters you see in a day? Well, get a 20 month old who is learning his alphabet and you'll learn just how many letters you see!
Driving in the car hearing this sweet little voice "o, a, b, i, m" and I'm looking around to find the letters. The other day he saw them on a truck!
At Lowe's and he starts pointing at boxes with brand names on them saying the letters he sees. It's great!!
He learned F the other day. Want to know where he learned it? Word World!! It's Cooper's favorite show thanks to his cousin Zion telling him about it. Now he sees a T and calls it an F. Well, they really do look alike, don't they?
The best is when he says K. He says the sound the K makes (think the sound of K in keep). We don't always correct him because it's so cute when he says it!

The brain is working so much each day, it's no wonder he zonks out at night! Can you imagine what it must be like to have all this new information each day and how much your brain has to process at such a young age? It's great!