Cooper's 4 year check up...

Since I had dental work done on the day we had scheduled Cooper's four year check up, Chris took him.  I hated to miss out on his yearly check up, but I didn't hate having to miss him getting 3 shots.  :(  Chris said he didn't cry a bit, only said, "Ooh, ooh, ooh," and breathed really deep.

Dr. H. said we have nothing to worry about, that Cooper is very bright.  He said his teachers will be excited to have him in school.  He asked him several questions like, are you a boy or a girl? is your sister a boy or a girl? is my sister a boy or a girl?  is your daddy's uncle a boy or a girl? and he got all of those right without having to think about them at all.  He asked him several colors, to count to 10, to spell his name, to draw shapes and lines and letters, and say his ABC's.  Cooper was able to do all of that stuff too.  Dr. H. went on to say that Cooper is a well rounded young man, good looking, talks exceptionally well, has no problem with social skills, not shy, sits still, has a good attention span, not like most four year olds.  Chris said, "What do you mean, not like most four year olds?"  And Dr. H. said, "Most fourt year olds don't just sit and talk to you like an adult."  Cooper was 39.5 inches tall and weighed 37 pounds 6 ounces.  That puts him in the 30% for height, and 63% for weight.

Chris was so proud to take him and get to show him off a little.  Dr. H. has always been complimentary to both Cooper and Ella, and it's nice to know that our belief that Cooper and Ella are pretty near perfect is not altogether unfounded.  ;)

Ella's 15 month check up...

I took Ella to the doctor today for her 15 month check up.  He said she is growing perfectly.  She is 29 1/2 inches and 20 pounds.  That would put her in the 20th percentile for height and 10th for weight.  She has grown 2 inches since her 12 month appointment!  I kept saying that she seemed so much taller to me. 

He asked if she was talking, and I said she has a handful of words that she uses consistently.  Then he said, well I can see that she is babbling (this is because while he was trying to put the stethoscope on her chest, she was giving him what for in what sounded like Chinese).  I realized later that I wasn't really accurate about her talking.  She has a good 15 words now that I know she understands the meaning of, and others that she will say occasionally but that I'm not sure if she really knows the word herself, or if she's just repeating something she heard one of us say.  Dr. H. said he thinks she is doing very well with talking for her age (and that was based on me saying she only had a few words), that she is clearly trying to communicate with you, very expressive, and can understand simple commands.  She showed him her nose, mouth, hair, belly, and toes when asked.  (I didn't even know she knew toes!)

In typical Ella fashion she was fighting mad while Dr. H. was trying to examine her, and during her shots, but then she was telling everyone bye bye, waving and blowing kisses on the way out the door.  :)

Just for comparison's sake...

Here are some shots of Ella at 15 months...

and Cooper at 15 months...

 

White Lake

We just got back from our annual trip to White Lake, and we had so much fun!  Mom, Dad, Will and his girlfriend Caroline all came this year too.  Cooper fell IN LOVE with Caroline.  His other girlfriends all moved one spot down the list because Caroline is surely #1!  He told me not to worry, that I would always be #0, but that doesn't sound all that great to me.  :P 

Cooper had the best time!  He learned to ski behind the boat.  (He skied last year, but it was with Chris holding the rope at the back of the boat.  This time he came up behind the boat all on his own.  Well - with a little help from Uncle Will and Papaw who each got in the water with him.)  The first day he tried, he had a hard time hanging onto the rope.  He told us that he was going to take a nap, drink a lot of milk so his muscles would get stronger, and try to ski again after that.  He went to play putt-putt every day, astounding us with his putt-putt skills, getting 3 hole in ones the first day.  We went to the pavilion, rode rides and played games.  Cooper played this ball drop game and got the ball in the jack pot slot, so he won 224 tickets.  The lights and alarm went off, and he was pretty pleased with himself.  We played in the water and sand every day until our fingers were wrinkled up like raisins.  He was so excited about every single thing, so sweet and appreciative.  He is such a joy!

Ella loved the water and the sand!  Last year she was not at all excited about being put in the water.  This year she was thrilled to head outside every day.  She does not like her float, preferring to be held, or to stay in the foot high water where she can stand and play on her own.  Miss Independent she is for sure.  She would wake up from her morning nap reaching out of the pack and play saying, "Bubba, Bubba, Bubba," and pointing to the door.  She knew he would be out in the water, and she was ready to go find him!  Such a sweetie!

Ella Kate at 15 Months!

My baby girl is 15 months old!  She has been changing so much lately.  She is just the most fun!  Sweet, loving, mischievous, stubborn, hilarious.  We are all entertained with the personality she has developed!  She loves to give kisses and hugs, loves attention, and adores her brother.  She is also sooooo strong willed, and has the quickest temper (she gets that from her daddy of course).  :)  She will pitch a fit in an instant, but be smiling and happy the next.  She loves to run across the room and hide in the corner when you tell her no or take something away that she's not supposed to have.  If Cooper has to sit in time out, she will run as fast as she can to sit next to him on the time out rug - even if he is in time out for being unkind to her.  Speaking of running, she has the cutest bow legged, wobbly run.  She is so interested in the world around her, loves to pretend play, and read books.  She is talking a lot, mostly in her Chinese sounding gibberish, but with more and more real words too.  So far she can say (with meaning) Mama, Dada, Bubba (for Cooper - she says that 800 times a day at least), Papaw, Nana, Pop, duck, dog, ball, bubbles, bye bye, night night, uh-oh, and no (definitely her favorite, if she says Bubba 800 times a day, she says no 900).  By far the cutest thing she says is her own name.  I will ask, "What's your name?"  or "Who are you?" and she'll respond with, "Eh-yah".  So precious!  She will also say her name when she wants you to look at her.  Like if we're playing in the floor but she wants me to watch her, or let her have a turn she'll say (yell) "Eh-yah, Eh-yah, Eh-yah," until I look at her.  I've been surprised by how little she's been talking at this age compared to Cooper, but she has really taken off lately.  She understands so much of what we say, follows one step commands easily, and seems to grasp the meaning of a lot of words we use.  She can show you where her nose, mouth, tongue, hair, bow, belly, and feet are.  She can oink if you ask what sound a pig makes, but says that a cow says roar.  :)  She is just the most fun, most precious little girl in the world!  Here she is on the 21st, the day she turned 15 months old...

Oh this kills me...

This is when Cooper broke his arm, and had his cast put on.  He was 21 months old.  I miss hearing his little voice sound like that!

Cooper's 4th birthday continued...

On Cooper's real birthday - July 6 - we went to the splash pad with a group of our friends, and their children who are Cooper's friends.  The kids played in the water, we grilled out, and then they played on the playground equipment.  Cooper had a great time playing with his buds, and making some new friends at the park.

We went to the splash pad with the same group of people to celebrate Cooper's actual birthday last year.  Looking back at the photos from last year's trip has been very interesting.  I can't believe how much all of the kids have changed!  Cooper looks so much more grown up.  And looking at Kennedy and Emma makes me realize that Ella will have changed as much by this time next year, as they did from last year until this year.

Cooper's birthday party was Sunday at Monkey Joe's.  We had the party there last year, and Cooper loved it so much, we did the same thing this year!  We had the party after hours so that the only people there were our family and friends.  He had the best time running all around and playing with all of his buddies! 

Where did the time go?

1 year

2 years

3 years

4 years

It doesn't seem possible that Cooper is already four years old.  He is such a blessing to our family.  I could not have asked for a sweeter, funnier, kinder, smarter, cuter, little boy.  He is changing every day, becoming more and more a little boy and less and less my baby.  :(  It's such a contradiction that as parents we are so excited for our children to grow and learn, and then we are so sad that it happens so fast!

Cooper at four years old...

You like to play with your Cars cars, Toy Story stuff, big barn and farm animals.  You still enjoy to play with play-do, paint, play with your kitchen and food stuff, and do anything outside!  You are trying to teach Ella to pretend play with you, and she is catching on pretty quickly!  She has already mastered, stirring with a spoon in a bowl, pretending to take bites, pour tea and pretend to drink it, and make cars go "vroom, vroom".  She absolutely adores you and would do anything to get your attention.  She lights up when you talk to her, and gives you the best smiles.  :)  Even if you are sent to time out for being ugly to her, she will go to the time out mat to join you - giving me mean looks to let me know she doesn't think you belong to be there.

You are becoming less snuggly and it breaks my heart, but you still love to sit on my lap and snuggle up to read a book, or when you first get up from nap, and first thing in the morning.  When I asked the other day if you would snuggle with me a minute, you said, "Okay Mom, I will, because when I'm four years old I will have other things to do."  Knife to my heart.  ;) 

You and your daddy have developed your own special relationship.  You are buddies, and as you say - you do "boy stuff" together.  Your daddy loves to have any time to spend with just you.  He is thrilled that you are able to do so many things with him now, from fishing, to running errands, to throwing a football, to playing baseball, to helping with yard work.  

You are a delight to our whole family.  You say the funniest things, and we all think you are pretty clever.  Some of us (like your grandparents) think you are a genius, but Daddy and I will stick with pretty clever.  ;)  You know all of your letters, most of your letter sounds, and are beginning to sound out words for reading and spelling.  You know your numbers to 20, can count to 30 (finally not skipping 15!), all of your shapes and colors, and pretty much any information you have ever heard about animals, places, events, etc.  I am constantly amazed at how great your memory is, how you remember everything you hear.  You get that from your daddy by the way.  :)

You are so sweet and loving.  You notice and appreciate everything.  You have good manners, usually remembering to say please and thank you.  You say, "I love you" often, and give lots of hugs and kisses.  We love you more than words!

My baby boy is 4 years old!

Tomorrow I'll write more about Cooper at four years old, but tonight I feel like looking back, plus I want to have his birth story recorded here on the blog, so here goes... the story of Cooper's birth.

I had a doctor's appointment on the 5th, for an ultrasound to check Cooper's fluid levels since I as overdue.  That morning I had contractions exactly 10 minutes apart while I was getting ready and on the way to the doctor's office.  His fluid levels were fine, and I was fine, so the doctor said I really have no reason to induce you - you will probably go into labor on your own tonight or tomorrow.  Chris's Aunt Nelta had passed away the day before, and we knew that her funeral would be in the next day or two.  I really did not want him or his family to be put in the position where I was in labor during Nelta's funeral, receiving of friends, etc.  So I told Dr. R about all of that, and he said, well let's just head to the hospital now.  Chris and I both thought he was kidding, but he wasn't.  So we went to the hospital, and they started cervadil about 12:00.

By 2:00 PM I was having contractions several minutes apart.  At 5:00 my water broke and my contractions felt like they were constant, but they were about 2 or 3 minutes apart.  I had a lot of back labor and it felt like there was never any relief between contractions.  At 7:00 I got my epidural - at only 3 cm - and less than two hours later I was at 9.  30 more minutes and I was 10.  The nurse suggested I wait another hour or so for the baby to drop because I was feeling no pain with the epidural and that would be less pushing for me. 

So we waited a while and then I started pushing.  My mom, Glenda (Chris's mom) and Chris were with me.  It was the neatest feeling to be in the process of delivering our baby.  Chris was a rock during the pushing and I remember just staring into his eyes the whole time.  I pushed for 2 1/2 hours and Cooper's head would not come past my pelvic bone.  They could see his head when I pushed, but he would not descend any farther.  Dr. R used the vacuum twice, but it didn't work.  The last hour or so of pushing my epidural had worn off and I was in a lot of pain and exhausted.  Dr. R said he believed I could push all night and the baby would not come out.  He thought my pelvic bone was narrow and Cooper's head was big.  So we decided on a c-section.

When we got to the OR they gave me more medicine in my epidural and started.  I was fine, could hear everything and was talking to the doctors and Chris.  Right when they said, you'll feel a lot of pressure - just breathe through it, my epidural wore off.  I thought it was just the pressure and everyone else felt that too, and I just needed to deal with it.  I must have looked paniced because Chris said, "Just breathe through it."  I said, "I can't breathe at all," and started to cry.  Then I felt someone touch my foot and I said, "Somebody touched my foot, and I felt it."  Everybody looked at me, then I don't remember much after that.  I had two anesthesiologists there, and they told Chris they could not give me any more medicine until after Cooper was out because the medicine would go to him until they cut the cord.  I screamed several times (not that I remember, that's according to Chris) and passed out from the pain.  It took a long time for the doctor to get Cooper out because he was wedged against my pelvic bone from all the pushing I did.  He had to push him up and then pull him out.  As soon as he was delivered the anesthesiologists put something in each IV line and also in my epidural so I passed out again.  Cooper was not breathing when he was born and his first apgar score was 3.  I cannot imagine how terrified  poor Chris was for me to be passed out and Cooper to be in distress.  Soon though, at the 5 minute apgar score, Cooper was doing fine and scored a 9.  Chris took him to the nursery while they sewed me up.  After he got back I sort of came to and was asking the same questions over and over like, what time was he born, how much did he weigh?  Dr. R later told Chris he won the husband of the year award for answering the same few questions 300 times.  

When I woke up in recovery my labor nurse was there with me.  I started crying and saying how I wish I had done better pushing.  I really felt like I had not done something right.  She said I had done all that I could, was doing a great job pushing, that sometimes babies just won't come out the way they're supposed to.  Cooper did have a big head and still does, plus he was transverse and 23 inches long, so I think all of those things made it more difficult to deliver him.  Anyway, I was bawling and told the delivery nurse that I didn't even get to see him so she went running and found me a picture the nurses had taken of him.  When Chris and Mom and Daddy came in, I was holding the picture and crying.  My mom had been told by Chris about how awful everything was, so she was crying too.  The nurse told us that in the OR when I felt someone touch my foot, it was her trying to help the Dr. R get Cooper out.  She said that when I said that, they all looked at each other and she freaked out because they knew I was no longer numb.  Dr. R worked as hard as he could to get Cooper out fast, but it took a long time because he was so stuck. 

Later that night when my mom was leaving, she rode down the elevator with a nurse who happened to be in the OR when Cooper was born.  Mom said, "Was it as awful as I'm imagining it was?"  The nurse said, "Worse."  She told my mom it was the worst thing she had ever seen.  Dr. R said if every delivery he did was like that, he would never deliver another baby.  He said my delivery was the worst he had ever been through and he would quit tomorrow if they were all that way. 

So the c-section itself was definitely not a good experience, but I healed quickly and bonded right away with Cooper.  When the nurse brought him to me, I couldn't even put my thoughts into words.  I was amazed at the fact that all of sudden, I was a mother.  I had loved Cooper while he was in my belly and done my best to take care of him, but holding him in my arms and seeing his sweet face made me realize what a precious gift God had given me, and just how powerful the love between a mother and child is.

Happy 4th of July!

Every year for the 4th of July, we go to my grandmother's lake house with our family and friends.  This year we went up Sunday to spend the day, and the night.  It was so nice to be able to spend time with Chris and the kids, and my brother Will, who spent the night too.  Then on Monday my mom and dad, and lots of good friends came up to celebrate.  Right after nap time when we were getting ready to go to the water, a big storm came up.  So... we had to entertain at first 3 small kids, and then pretty soon 4 after Hunter arrived, inside a fairly small lake house for a couple of hours until supper time.  It was a little crazy, a little rowdy, and a lot loud, but so much fun!  Cooper and Ella love to have their friends to play with.  All of the kids were really well behaved, especially considering that they were stuck inside.  The men grilled hot dogs, we all ate supper, and then Chris, Will and Brandon put on their annual try not to kill ourselves very professional fireworks show!  Such a fun day!

Wow am I behind on posts...

We have been so busy lately!  Lots of fun stuff going on!  Right after teacher workdays were over, we headed to the beach with our good friends Jami, Brandon and their son Hunter, and Brooke, Reid and their daughter Kennedy.  We had such a good time!  Cooper and Ella loved having other kids to play with all of the time, and we enjoyed being able to talk and laugh with our friends!  This was Ella's first time going to the beach now that she was old enough to walk around, and she loved it.  She sat in the sand and let the water wash over her feet and legs forever.  She wanted to do everything the big kids were doing!  Cooper has always loved the beach, and had a great time playing in the sand and the waves.  He also had his first experience catching sand fiddlers.  This was one of the grossest, weirdest things I've ever done.  Not my favorite part of the trip at all!  They look like big bugs, and when the waves are going back out, you could feel them crawling under your legs back out to sea.  So creepy!  But Cooper loved it, even if his mom did not.  :P  We also went to an aquarium while we were there, took a boat ride out into the channel to see the wild horses on one of the islands there, and took Cooper fishing where he caught a (little bitty) fish.  We are so thankful to our friends Jami and Brandon for inviting us, and so glad that our children are lucky to have lots of buddies to play with!  Here are a few pictures from the beach trip...