Cooper's first jet ski ride

We took Cooper out this afternoon for his first jet ski ride. He threw an absolute fit when we put him in a life jacket. As soon as I took it off, he was fine. He was much happier playing in the water in the shallow end. Dad got to see Coop's true colors in the water. That kid is such a water dog.
Here he is..happier that the life jacket is off.

He wanted to do the driving

Coop and Grandad...off to the water!! I have been house sitting and babysitting Dixie and Rebel while mom and Greg are hiking. Cooper discovered several things... he stood in front of the fan and laughed as it would blow his hair
He stood for probably 40 solid minutes and watched cartoons. He is fascinated by the tv being on his level.
He also followed the cats around, pulled the phone cord out of the wall, tried to climb the stairs and yelled at poor Booboo and scared her. Ahhh toddler hood.

Taking Daddy swimming

This morning we loaded up and went out to Erin's pool for the day. Zac was not at work and we were in town, so Zac actually got to come with us!!!He got to see how much Cooper loves the pool.
After a lot of playing, they cozied up for a nap.
Aunt Erin and Finn joined us for a little while before they went off to a sunday school party!!

Cooper did a lot of walking. He took 1 step by himself last night...yay

Redneck Pool party..It's a Vaughn thing

2 years ago, the family started having Redneck Swim Party. This is for the girls in the family and now of course our babies. These next few pictures are from 2 years ago.


Here I am, in redneck attire...4 months pregnant.
We all had lunch out on the deck. I remember this meal vividly because I made everyone cry. This was all during the time that I was waiting on a miscarriage. I can only look back and say that God gave me amazing strength.

Here is aunt Laura in her redneck float!! Isn't she precious?

And here we are making a whirlpool...in a square pool. Did it work? Not really
And here is that pregnant belly again...complete with belly button ring..which is long gone (that was redneck). Yes... I can make fun of myself.

Here is me and Megan floating together. The water was too cold.

Are you ready for Redneck Pool party 2010? Here is a preview!! Stay tuned for more!!

Down Syndrome Clinic 18 mos.

This morning we got to Vanderbilt at 9:00 for Coopers 18 month Down Syndrome appt. We went straight back to get a weight (24 lb 2 oz) and blood pressure. The blood pressure was a disaster because Coop would not sit still. We finally got it and went back to our room. A physical therapist came in to check Coop out. She set us up to have him fitted for braces to help him walk. She also got us into physical therapy twice a month. She doesn't think he really needs much more therapy than that. We just have to get him walking!! Next, the Dr came in and listened to Coop's lungs, which she said were awesome, and she was also very impressed with how that repaired heart sounded!! After this, another lady came in to have me sign some papers to say they could research Coop's Down Syndrome. While I was doing that Cooper crawled out of the room and was chasing a nurse down the hallway. She brought him back to the room, he escaped again and found another lady. Soon there was a crew of people watching Cooper show off in the hallway.
We also are getting Cooper's original copy of his genetic pool or his chromosomes. It shows all the chromosomes and shows the three chromosomes on the 21st which indicates Down Syndrome. I am going to frame it in a shadow box and hang it in his nursery. (Tiffany, I stole all these ideas from you...I even got the necklace, which I love. Where would I be without your creativity!!?)

Isn't he listening so intently??

Then the phlebotomist came in to draw labs because Cooper's thyroid was elevated last time. Cooper sat in my lap and screamed the whole time. (In his defense though..they did DIG a little, and that really hurts)

Today we ended up parking in MY SPOT. During Cooper's 2 month hospital stay, this was always the spot I parked in because there was never another spot available. This one was always open because of how small it was. See those black marks?? Yep, I hit the wall every time I parked in that spot. But I was tired and I'd be darned if I was going to park far away and walk.

So, in honor of that, I sat Super Coop on that disgusting pavement and took a picture. And of course, he yelled so that everyone would look at us and think what a bad mom I am for taking my kids picture on the nasty ground.

Thyroid update...Zac just logged on and looked and Coop's thyroid was back in the normal range. Good news!!

Sad day

Today was Cooper's last session with his Early Intervention teacher. TEIS has made some changes and it caused us to lose our teacher. Cooper hugged her the entire hour. She would try to work with him and he would just want to hug and kiss her. It was very odd..like he knew something was happening. It made me sad. She was his first therapy teacher and taught us how to work with him. All of his accomplishments have been made with her guidance.

Here she is teaching Cooper the correct way to play baseball (by using a bat and not his hands). (Cayden...the next time you come play with Cooper, maybe he wont mess the game up so bad!!) The last time Cooper and Cayden played baseball..Cayden told Cooper he wasn't doing it right..haha.

After therapy we went to the Nissan dealership to get an oil change. Cooper would not sit still, he crawled all over that place. Every time someone would walk by, he would laugh and crawl after their feet. Then the cleaning lady came out with a swiffer sweeper and I thought Cooper would attack her. He made a b line for that sweeper. I had to run pick him up. He loves the swiffer.

Father's day extravaganza

Ahhhh, we are finally home from a long weekend. Friday, Erin and I and the babies went to spend the night with Dad. We grilled out and Cooper and Finn finally started getting along. They got to see their aunt Lauren since she was home too and they played with Buddy (the dog). The next day we went on back to moms house and then Zac and John drove up to Manchester to pick me up so that we could head to Chattanooga for Chris and Faith's reception. Then we got up this morning and had Father's day with Greg and Zac. And then after church we went to Brenton and Cyndi's for lunch. Cooper had his first bowl of homemade chocolate ice cream. He loved it!!Cyndi was feeding him from her bowl and he opened his mouth for another bite before she could even spoon it out. Cooper was the energizer bunny today. He did not nap at all, was an angel during church, played for the longest time and then did not fall asleep until we got in the car. Now that we are home..he is awake and at it again. Whew.

Pool Day

HAPPY YEAR AND A HALF BIRTHDAY COOPER!!!!! Time has passed way to fast.

Low humidity and lots of sunshine!! Cooper and I had a beautiful day at the pool. That water baby is definitely my child....loves the pool. By the way...blowing up that crazy frog float was harder than child birth. I thought I might die....on pool day!!!