Some mornings I wake up and find this kid in my baby's crib. At first I'm taken aback. Then I realize he is no stranger, in fact it is proof that my baby has been replaced with a 23 month old toddler. In one month our little Cooper will hit the glorious 2 year mark.
Pause for a moment, and take in all the innocence seeping from his little body..
We've been living like there's no tomorrow in the best way possible. Not a single moment is being taken for granted. There's just too much to miss if we do.
Late evening walk to see the neighbors horse=building memories for our son.
At 23 months, Cooper is Mr. Independent as usual. He loves to show everyone he's a big boy who can do so much without any help. Call him a strong willed child, but I don't see that as a bad quality. Our son shows us that he is motivated to accomplish things on his own.
He is almost fully potty trained, cleans up ALL his toys whenever he's done playing, throws trash away without being asked, and loves to help when he sees something wrong. Voluntarily, he decided to be my little helper in the yard by pulling weeds making piles of brush and throwing out fallen fruit. Start 'em young and they'll keep good habits I guess.
I'm filled with joy seeing something that was once growing inside me become a mini person. One who is entitled to his own thoughts and emotions. I am proud of the little man he's showing me he can grow up to be.
At this point I know Cooper will need some sort of speech therapy due to his cleft. He uses the back of his throat to make most of his sounds which is preventing him to make most consonant sounds. Dog is gog, car is cah, bye is guy, and help is hepp. He has a great vocabulary but it is very difficult for others to understand. Sometime in the next few months we'll get him evaluated to see what we might be able to do to help correct his impediment. For now, we'll just soak in all his cute little made up words.
This next picture reminds me of an outdoorsy car ad.
The first of many fishing trips with Dad. Here Coop is helping with the bait..little did he know at that point he was holding live worms. Once he saw what was in the bag he threw it down and said, "uh ugh!"
There's beauty in the dullest of places. You just have to open your eyes. Of course I had to figure this out since we fished at the nastiest mosquito infested water hole in town.
Story in just 4 photos:
The fish must have been full that evening. Not even a bite. Like the Trace Adkins song says,
"She ain’t even thinkin’ ‘bout What’s really goin’ on right now
But I guarantee this memory’s a big’in
And she thinks we’re just fishin"
Unfortunately, this is probably as close as I'm gonna get to a momma/son portrait.
I hope he grows up to conquer all his goals.
What brings a glimmer of happy happy joy shine into your life?
Watching Coop try to raise his eyebrows back at momma makes my heart bounce up and down.
There's so much to learn on our journey ahead. This statement is proven by how much Joel and I have grown in the past 23 months. It's been a long road traveled, but there's so much still ahead.
Have a blessed day everyone!
