It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, last year on my birthday I sat with Cooper in the ICU and the highlight of that day was getting transfered to the cardiac floor. Pretty crummy. BUT THIS YEAR was awesome!! Friday night Zac and I went home to celebrate my birthday with my family, and they surprised me with a new Nikon digital SLR camera that I have been asking for forever. I was ecstatic. Then the next morning mom and Cyndi took me and Cooper to the Inn at Christmas Village in Pigeon Forge. I loved it, it was beautiful and everything was Christmas. It was one of the neatest hotels I have ever stayed in. We shopped a lot and ate and Cooper was probably the best he has ever been on a trip which made it that much better. However we almost had to cancel the trip because the morning we were to leave, Cooper had not eaten in about 24 hours. He had an xray that showed a lot of stool in him and the Dr said to do a total flush and get it all out. So we have been giving him miralax every 6 hours for a few days now. He started to eat a little on the ride up to Knoxville and then as time went by he got a lot better. It was a little stressful. We drove around town and looked at the Christmas lights and then we went back to the hotel and i took Cooper swimming. He did not like it because it was a little cold and there were a lot of children being loud. We had the cosiest beds and the hotel brought Cooper in a little white crib, which he loved playing in. Then this morning as we were getting ready, Cooper started playing with Nana's makeup and looking at the flowers on her PJ's. He would put his face right up to her back and stick his tongue way out and just examine the flowers.hahah. And on the road trip home today, I had Cooper in my lap in Sparta and he had just eaten two jars of baby food. Well about 15 minutes later he threw up both jars all over me and him and everything!!! It was disgusting. We pulled the car over and we both had to change clothes...so there I am on the side of the road in Sparta with just my bra on. Lovely. And Cooper was in just a diaper. I luckily had a tshirt to put on, but Coop had already dirtied up all of his clothes. (I have warned you all though....there is truly NEVER a dull moment in the Cox family). Leaving the hotel though was like Christmas ending all over again. I wanted to stay longer. I had a wonderful birthday...and my birthday isn't even until Wednesday!!

Cooper loves himself

We decided tonight to put a mirror in Cooper's playroom, since he loooves looking at himself. So Zac hung the mirror and Cooper was able to talk to a baby in his loud yelling way and that baby didn't cry like most other babies do. I put these little sucker balls on the mirror to have him pull off. Today we went to Vanderbilt for Cooper's UGI. I got there and realized during Cooper's melt down that I didn't bring a chewie. How in the world could I forget?? So while he threw the worlds worst tantrum, I ran into the gift shop and got him a little Vandy fleece blanket and ripped the tag off and shoved it in his face. He immediately started sucking on it and life was good again. Cooper had an Upper GI when he was an infant, and it was very stressful because he was in heart failure and had to drink barium. Cooper wouldn't eat at all before heart surgery, much less drink barium. So I was prepared for a disaster. We layed him on the table and I asked them to use a syringe, because if he thinks it's medicine he is more likely to take it. They put the syringe in his mouth and he just sucked on it like a bottle and just kept taking it like a pro. I was so relieved. With all of this said, everything was perfectly normal and it turns out that Coop is probably just lactose intolerent. Never a dull moment in the Cox household. Cooper is always full of surprises.

Fun in the tub

Tonight Cooper discovered that he can really splash in the tub. First of all, the second we put him in the tub he gets on all fours and yells at the metal drain in the tub. But tonight when he lost interest in that, he started splashing and realized he can soak mommy and the entire bathroom. And on the reflux homefront...Cooper gets an upper GI tomorrow, but I switched him to lactose free milk the other day and we haven't seen a spit up yet. So I guess we will see if that was it or not.

Slow Day

Today was pretty boring, but I'm sure mom is dying for a blog and some photos, so I am going to ramble. Cooper is whining right now...as he has all day long. Bath time is a blast for him, so I gave him a bath and let him play. Then I fed him, and now he is back to whining. Tomorrow we are going to see a GI specialist about his reflux. It will be nice to finally know what that is all about.

Sox and Cooper

Cooper has taken a huge interest in Sox here lately. Anytime Sox is in Coop's eyesight, Cooper makes a b-line for him. He doesn't pet gently. Instead, he either lunges his entire body onto Sox or he just grabs a handful of hair. Tonight, we were sitting in Cooper's room petting Sox, and Cooper kept lunging at him and then coming back to sit. After a few times of this, Cooper's reflux decided it was a great time to let up a little something....so..Coop vomited right into Sox's hair!!! And it smelled soooo bad. Sox jumped up, started shaking puke out of his paws, and then licking himself..hahaha. It was disgusting. Zac and I were laughing so hard that Cooper started crying, bless him. Ooohhh how I hate the reflux. Sox actually does not mind Cooper that much, but Cooper gets right in Sox's face and lets out one of his raspy smoker voice yells that terrifies both babies and animals. But that is just Coop's greeting to everyone.

Where were we last year on the 10th?

Oh I found some old pictures today. The other day mom said, "just think this is the day last year that we were taking Cooper to the emergency room". It is weird to think that it has been an entire year since those months when he was so sick. I remember each time he would turn blue or get so upset that he wouldn't breathe, and everytime I would take him to the emergency room ( he was like royalty their, they would always rush out to meet me and take him from me immediately). What is really weird is even though I remember it all, it almost feels like it never even happened. Maybe it was because I was so tired, but who knows. I was cutting Cooper's nails the other day, and I could see all the little iv stick scars. He has like 10 on each little hand. I think that was the worst thing out of our entire hospital stay, the constant needles that were being poked into my baby and that awful little cry of his. Well, that's about it. Today had to be a memory blog, because I have nothing else to blog about.

Cousins

Today Coop, mama, and I went to have lunch with Erin and to hang her new curtains. We also discovered that Finn has some pretty awesome toys. Cooper had a blast. We also discovered that Cooper absolutely loves Finn, and Finn does not know what to think of Cooper yet. Cooper would get directly into Finn's face and just yell (which is the way Cooper talks to people), and Finn would pucker up and cry everytime. haha. It was precious. Finn has almost reached Cooper's height, so it looks like Finn will tower over Coop soon. It is super fun playing with the two of them together.

Jesus is awesome

Well, Cooper has once again beat the odds. He went for his initial evaluation with physical therapy today and they basically said, why were you guys sent here?? Coop showed off his crawling skills, his pulling to stand skills, and as always, his cuteness skills. So, I was very thankful for a great report on his physical strength. And on a medical note.. we have upped the nexium dose for Cooper's reflux to twice a day. Even with that, he is still throwing up. The doctor said that maybe this is something that he will just grow out of. I don't know how much more my sniffer can handle though.