This Season's Even Greater with a Child!

So lately I've caught the holiday bug. I'm sitting here listening to Pandora, Christmas Style.  I've always enjoyed the holidays, but man, it is so much better with a special someone to share them with. It's a way to relive my childhood. I get to be a child vicariously through Cooper. This is all new to him. A clean slate if you will. I can't explain what an awesome feeling it is to know that I hold the keys to my child's imagination of future Christmas'. I can instill that wholesome Christmas spirit for him to look forward to each year; Dreaming  of Santa on the rooftop, and half-eaten cookies and milk sitting by the fireplace. The sky's the limit really.

Thanksgiving Decor

Just some of the yummy appetizers

Grandpa Mike and Cousin Aaron

Attempt to get a family pic before saying grace...I think we're missing a few...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not only focusing on the imaginary side of Christmas, I want him to know the whole story of our Lord. I want him to know how our Savior was born, and would one day save us for our sins. I grew up kinda knowing the story...but really, it was just a story at that time. Coop will know better, and hopefully have a much greater respect than I did.

Grandpa Derek

I  tend to get really mushy around the holidays, maybe it's all the sappy Christmas movies or family gatherings.   Christmas wasn't always the happiest time for me in the past, but in the last few years it's kind of grown on me. Not only is it new for my son, it's also kind of new for me. I have my own family to create new traditions and that somehow seems to heal all the wounds. So, Thank You Cooper James.

Oh boy, little man is sure learning how to obey with the Christmas tree set up. There's a whole new meaning to, "No honey, don't touch Momma's pretties."

This is one of the first ornaments Joel and I had together. We received it as a present from our apartment manager so many years ago. Thanks Jessica.

Yay, all the citrus is ready to eat! Coop and I have been feasting on mandarins and oranges freshly picked from our backyard :) So awesome!

Christmas books from my childhood. Coop now enjoys The Snowman Postman.

The greatest gift I've ever received! My handsome little man.

Seriously, I have to thank God for everything in my life. I now have that relationship that I've always dreamed of with Him. He's made all the happiness in my life and I couldn't be more grateful. Think about it, He gives the best presents ever.

Enjoying a beautiful Fall day at the park by our house. So glad cousin was able to make it. 

 

There are many action shots I have of these two throwing leaves up in the air. Seriously, it fills my heart with joy. Blurriness and all...

This was Kristen throwing a tantrum...she just needed a break from all the fun!

Happy Holidays Y'all!

18 Month Speech Evaluation

I may be a few days late, but here is our little Halloween "chicken-duck." Coop had a blast at the downtown  Scarysville going from vendor to vendor with his pumpkin pail in tow.

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Today we had Cooper's 18 month speech evaluation and a visit with Coop's surgeon. The time change has not been to kind to my kid. Sunday he didn't seem to mind the time difference, he woke up an hour early and went to bed an hour early. Today though, that's another story. For some reason Cooper decided to skip both naps so he would be such a delight for the hour car ride and the doctor's appointment. Yeah right. Poor little guy was miserable all day. Not to mention the appointment was at 3 in the afternoon. 

Luckily, Joel was able to make it home in time to share the company of our grumpy child. For me though, he was a life saver. I've had to go to these kind of appointments alone, and by the time I get home I'm usually exhausted!

Dr. Senders did a quick check-up of Coop's ears, palate, and nose-unfortunately Coop's lip isn't healing as well as he'd like. Apparently Coop has a lot of scar tissue, and it is still really firm and red. So basically, this will only delay any revision in the future. The doctor stated that most cleft children will have a revision before they are preschool or school age. Personally, it's really not any bad news for me. I was hoping there wasn't another surgery in the near future. They do the revision more for cosmetic reasons anyway so he said to visit back in another 4-6 months. 

We also met with the speech pathologist Dr. Goodrich. She evaluated Coop on how many words he can speak, and the sounds he was making. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to get a good evaluation when you've got a fatigued 18 month old who really doesn't want to cooperate. She is concerned that he is backing a lot (not making sounds in the front of the mouth) and isn't sure if he's nasal sounding or not. She suggested we see a local worker to see if they can get a better evaluation and start early intervention if needed. As for quantity of words, Coop is doing great. She implied that his word recognition and ability to communicate through his own language is fantastic. After all, my kid is a genius...he just can't speak very clearly.

Overall we received a clean bill of health and my little guy has gained two pounds in the past month! That's amazing for all the trouble we've had with his weight gain. Cooper James is now 24lbs at 18 months of age. What a chubbers I have! 

Coop's Clefty Pumpkin/October's Catch-up

This past week I've really been feeling the Halloween spirit. In my house growing up, there were always special traditions we celebrated each year come Halloween time. We had the house dressed in spooky pumpkins, skeletons, bats, and ghosts. Of course we'd make a point to watch every Halloween tv special-maybe  even more than once. When I was really young, back in the VHS days my mom recorded Disney's Halloween Treat (the one with the talking mirror, not the talking pumpkin) and Garfield's Halloween Adventure. For almost 15 years I watched this dusty old VHS before it became nearly impossible to even find a player to watch it.

After days of searching  I finally found what I was looking for. I now have the same videos to share with my little guy. Let the traditions begin!

Trip #1 to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm:

You'd think he's screaming bloody murder here, but surprisingly he was cracking up over the sheep. When he's nervous or a little scared, he leashes out this crazy laugh. Just like this.

Apparently being fed nonstop in a petting zoo isn't enough. Rope is pretty tasty too.

Someone got a little impatient waiting in line for the hayride. Really, when this 18 month old runs out of snacks this is usually the outcome.

Last year's hayride pic:

The beautiful girls in Coop's life-Auntie Rachel and Cousin Kristen or "Kitten" as Coop would say.

Seriously, this is the sunset we had that night. Unbelievable right?!

Since Coop was only 6 months last year, he wasn't really able to actually soak in and enjoy anything Halloween-ie, so this year I had the overwhelming urge to intoxicate him with everything Spooky. Surprisingly enough, he still hasn't learned fear which I guess is a good thing. Just walk through the doors of Spirit Halloween and you'll know what I mean.

Trip #2 to Bishop's:

Where'd my baby go? All of a sudden I'm a mother to a boy. Like a rough-n-tumble, skinned knees, " I wanna play in the mud"  kind of boy.

I think we made Coop's dreams come true this day. Not only did he play in a real train, he also had the chance to ride on the running train through the pumpkin patch. All day he was whistling, Hoo hoo.

Hay covered trampoline. The first night he stepped foot on this he was terrified, second time around he was a pro, jumping and cannon balling away..

Cute little petting zoo. The City of Wheeland. They even have a Goatel 6, where They'll leave the light on for ewe!

Our first of many pumpkin carvings. Following tradition, we were rockin' out to the classic Halloween party songs.

Of course he tries to eat it. He's Cooper James, he'll eat anything.

A few of these may have been consumed prior to baking.....

Final product: Clefty Pumpkin!

Giving Mr. Pumpkin kisses goodnight.

Halloween tradition checklist, 

1. Decorate the house-check
2. Go to the pumpkin patch-check
3. Get awesome Chicken Costume-check
4. Carve a pumpkin-check
5. Have a marathon of Halloween Specials-FINALLY check

Monday we will go to the Historic Downtown to do all the trick-or-treating. I will have many pics of Coop dawning his chicken suit. The boy loves anything with a beak and thinks they're all ducks so really, he's a "duck" for Halloween.

Have a Happy Safe Halloween Everyone!