Special Overalls

Cooper's grandma, Ruby Jo, got him these overalls, and they have his name on the leg. If I'm not mistaken, she said that her late husband (Greg's dad, and my great grandad) worked for or on a train station. Not sure if that story is correct, because I can't remember exactly, but I think the overalls are extra special for that reason. I know Coop and I will one day get to meet him.

Learning

Cooper finally realised that when he sees a toy, he can reach for it and grab it. He is starting to learn..slowly but surely. It's exciting. Cooper and I are going on a road trip to Memphis tomorrow to see our friends. This is our first long trip, and it is just the two of us. Yikes. Hopefully he will be good. We are going to Kimberly's baby shower, and we are having lunch with some Lebonheur girls that I use to work with. Saturday, we are having breakfast with Laura. I am curious to see what her dog Rivers thinks about Coop. That should be fun! So I am very excited!!!

Fatherhood

Here is what Zac does to Cooper when I am busy washing bottles, doing laundry, and endlessly cleaning. He has turned into more of the player than the helper.

Cooper's incision

I wanted to show you all how good Cooper looks 4 weeks after surgery. The incision scar is barely visible. He is also starting to hold his head up!! We are working with him everyday. We went today to watch the draft at Erin's house, and Coop just smiled at her and played. He must know cousin Finn is only a few months away!!!

photo overload

Gosh.. I think Cooper gets cuter everytime I look at him. He is just sooo sweet. He is now talking to his toys in his own little baby language, and it is so funny. Now that he has found his hands..(photo to left) it's hard to get him to notice his toys. We layed out at the pool today, and he just slept. Then when he woke up, he just stared at his giraffe...such a good baby. But I do have a photo problem, I have more pictures than I know what to do with. Every time I turn around, he is doing something that I just have to take a picture of!!!

Cooper and Cayden meet

Well, we had a fun day. Kristin brought Cayden over to see Cooper, and at first he just kind of looked at him and waved. Then, as the day went on, he was more interested in pushing him in the swing and playing in his toy basket. He got used to Cooper pretty fast. Sox loved Cayden because he fed him his gold fish. hahah. Gives me hope that Sox will also eventually like Coop too. Right now Cooper is pushed all the way up to the t.v watching baby mozart. He is liking it too. He is now very interested in colors and things that move. And now, for a medical update, he went to see the surgeon the other day and is doing terrific. He weighs 9lb 12oz and is eating like a pig. He also had his 2 month shots, which made him run a very high fever. Needless to say, Cooper and I were up all night monday. (Wow baby mozart is kind of annoying) But Coop likes it, so I guess...welcome to parenthood and the shows that come with it.

Tuesday

My little man just ate 80 mls!!!The most he has ever taken. But of course, I took him to the mall and he was an hour late on eating, but still.. We also went and had lunch with all the girls from my old work, and had so much fun!! Cooper cried all the way through the mall and all the way home in the car. I started singing to him about 10 minutes before we hit the house and that did it... a solid hour of crying and all I had to do was sing to him to make him stop. Huh?? I guess he likes mama's singing. Now he is sound asleep on his belly, and I am going to get a few things done.

Bad parents??

So, if you'll look at the picture to the side...this is what we do to Cooper when he is fussy and he can't keep his pacifier in. We lay a monkey on top of him, put him in his swing, and go about our business. I'm starting to think that Cooper is actually bored. He must have his dad's over active brain that requires constant entertainment, because if you don't talk to him or dangle something in front of his face, he screams!! Another person as active as Zac, good gosh, I may kill myself. I LIKE to be lazy and they don't let me. Anyway, Cooper's glue all came off of his incision today and it looks really good. It's amazing how babies heal. There was tiny ball of glue, and I thought it was just laying on his chest, so I gave it a yank and oops, there comes a stitch worming its way out of his chest. So, I left that alone. Cooper has also been sucking his thumb again. I love that he does that. That is the only thing about me I can see in him, so it makes me happy.

We are HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cooper was discharged today, and all I can say is yay!! A whole new Coop with no tubes, iv's or anything. Whohoo

Puke

Well, Zac and I just had our first experience being sick and trying to take care of a baby. I started throwing up yesterday around 4, and Zac took me home. Then at 2:30 in the morning, I was done throwing up. I got a phone call at 5:00 in the morning, and it was Zac saying he was throwing up and I needed to come back to the hospital. So, now he is home and I got some sleep here, but ugghh, when you don't feel good, it is so hard to take care of someone else. Cooper threw up all day yesterday, so we assume he gave it to us in the first place. Little booger. At least now we know what was wrong with Cooper, so maybe we can go home soon. hahah rough night.

Yuck

Chest tubes and the central line is out!!! Now all he has is an iv, and we are that much closer to going home. Those chest tubes are nasty though. I thought it would make me sick watching, but it didn't. It made a gross slurpy sound as all that blood, and the tubes came out. He had morphine, but I don't think it helped because he absolutely wailed as she pulled those out and then he broke out in a rash on his head. He calmed down though.

Kirby Woods

Well, we received an extremely nice gift card today from our Sunday School class back in Memphis. They have always been such generous givers and such faithful prayers. Just wanted to acknowledge you guys publically and again say thank you to you all. We miss you guys and even though we are in Nashville now, you continue to be so good to us. We appreciate you and thank you so much. We'll be seeing you very soon though.

And by the way, Cooper is doing well today. They may take his chest tubes out tomorrow. His platelet count is very low, so they are not sure yet, but hopefully he'll get those out and he'll be much more comfortable. During surgery, they nicked a lymphnode in his stomach and now his stomach is leaking this fatty substance from his formula. So, they changed him over to monogen formula which tastes terrible. He hates it and so they had to put a tube back down to feed him, since he hates the new stuff. He has to be on this formula for 3 months, and then the lymphnode should have healed. But, we are trying to flavor the formula a little so that he will eat it and finally get that tube out of his nose. I think the tube has been more of a discomfort than the heart surgery. He pulled it out this morning and we had to put it back in and then he went straight back for it..so he has on "no no"s now.