A Little Late but too Cute to Pass Up

On Christmas Eve it was getting late and so Scott took Cooper back to his room to watch a video. The rest of us were trying to get things cleaned up and Steve & cousin were finishing up opening each others gifts. I went back to check on Cooper and found this.

Slacker

I know I have been a blog slacker this month, I can't help it.... January is boring. Not to mention all the sickness, minus what I think is an ear infection we are all healthy again. This makes eye drops, breathing treatments, and ear drops all in the month of January. I'm so ready for this month to be over. I promise I will shape up and try and get more blog worthy material next month.

New Pastime

Cooper has a new pastime in the house. He LOVES to get the DVD's down and look at them. He's been doing fairly good at not opening them and trying to get one out. He did that a few months back and pulled so hard the DVD broke in half. Luckily for us, it was one of his and not one of ours. It does help when I need to get things done. Like yesterday when I was dusting, I heard a bunch of crashes and this is what I found. They must have all fallen one at a time, I didn't think the crashes would ever stop.

Chuck E Cheese

Last Saturday we headed out to Chuck E Cheese for some family fun. We had plans to go a few weeks ago to treat Cooper for being such a good trooper with his eye drops, then I heard our play group from church was going so I was just going to wait for that, then he got rsv. Now that we are all healthy, off we went. First stop was Chuck E of course, even though he was too scared to go stand by him. Keep in mind this is fake Chuck E. Next stop was Clifford

followed by school bus.

He looks so serious, Eric Reid would be proud.He loves to play skee ball, it's hard to help him since Cooper is left and Steve & I are both right handed. We did get lucky, somehow during our game when we literally were not getting any points, we hit the random jackpot and got 120 tickets. This picture is so classic, he got a sucker on the way home.... look at that mouth.

Date Night

Steve & I got to have an improptu date night on Wednesday. His brother Scott had gotten two tickets to Actors Theatre to see Crime & Punishment. He wasn't interested in going and his parents weren't interested to they offered the tickets to us and also to watch Cooper. Of course we couldn't refuse that offer. We had season tickets back around the time we got engaged and I forgot how much I love seeing plays there, I don't think we have ever seen a bad production. Now it's something we can't really spend our money on so we don't go. This was no exception, the plot was a little dark, it is about murder, but the actors were fantastic. First, if you have been there and have had the opportunity to see something in their Bingham Theatre, it's awesome! It's round, so everyone sits around the stage and it's very intimate. There were only three actors, 2 men & 1 woman, the woman was amazing!!! I think she had 4 parts, it blows my mind to see how these people can turn one character off and go into another. Stage actors don't get nearly the credit they deserve. One of the men was in every single scene..... that had to take a lot of work. Sorry I didn't get any pictures, you just get my review. It was a fun night and thanks to our family for the tickets and for watching our little man.

Two more things, we got home and Steve's parents told us how after his mom laid him down for bed they kept hearing him calling out for me. He rarely does that, usually he goes straight to sleep. Then it dawned on her she hadn't given him his pacifier (don't judge it's only for night time and I am drawing the line at 3). So his had goes in there to give it to him but he needs to turn on the light because he didn't know where it was. Cooper looks up at him with George in his hand, takes the pacifier and immediately lays down and goes straight to sleep. How cute!!!

Second, I got the opportunity to wear my new shoes. I never thought I would fall into the trend of wearing flats, hello I'm only 5'2. But I found some at Dillard's, 70% off, so I took the plunge. They worked! It's a good thing my husband is only 5'10. It also helped wearing flats while walking in the parking garage stairwell... I didn't have to hold on to the nasty rail.

Last Week

I'm going to try and be brief here but it was a wild and crazy week in our house.

Monday & Tuesday started off good, we were done with eye drops and Cooper's eyes looked great. He did have a cough but it sounded dry so I didn't think it was a big deal. Later in day Tuesday it started sounding bad again and he coughed in his sleep some at night. Woke up Wednesday to the same cough and runny nose. My breaking point was the moment he was coughing so hard he got choked and couldn't breathe and looked up at me the most petrified look on his face. I called the doctor and got us in an hour later. They checked him out and decided to test for both strep and rsv and while waiting on the results they had me give him a breathing treatment since he did sound wheezy. Poor thing, he was scared to death of it, the only way I could calm him was to cradle him and sing Jesus Loves Me... how pitiful is that? Doctor comes back, strep is negative but rsv is positive. She sends us home with prescription to do breathing treatments and to call back next week if it doesn't get better.

Wednesday night isn't too bad, he does cough in his sleep and must have had a bad one because Thursday morning I found some spit up in his bed, other than that he seems fine. Doesn't have much of an appetite, just trying to get him to drink plenty of fluids. His cough is on and off but he nose is like a faucet, I'm having to wipe literally every 2 minutes. That night, about a half hour before bed he seems like he wants to eat. I get out some Rice Krispie cereal and we share some. What comes next is totally mine and Steve's fault.... we are watching tv and giving Cooper bites of cereal at the same time, I think the tv is a distraction because he just keeps eating when normally he was refusing to eat all day. Then starts the coughing which leads to choking which leads to him spitting out some of the cereal. I pick him up and stand up to help him catch his breath, next thing I know he projectile vomits (sorry people, I know it's disgusting) soaking himself, me, our couch and carpet. I run him to the bathroom and get him in the tub, he is screaming, Steve is frantically trying to get the living room cleaned up.... it's full blown chaos. Luckily after the bath, Cooper is calm and seems okay, we go ahead and put him to bed and turn up the monitor so we can keep a close ear on him. He doesn't cough much but does cry out in sleep for a few hours, it's around 2 am before he falls asleep for good.

Friday, things are a little better. Nose is better, cough is okay, still doesn't want to eat but I am not about to force that. He also takes a great nap and only coughs once Friday night. Finally, it is Sunday night and I think the tables have turned. He ate great today, had a banana tonight and cried for more afterwards. Has only been coughing first thing after he wakes up and his nose only ran today when he got upset and cried...which he was a little cranky. I'm hoping after tomorrow we will be okay with just one breathing treatment a day, I will probably continue for at least a week. I'm also hoping we can get back out this week, I think by Tues or Wed we should be in the all clear. I'm ready for normal!

Wednesday night he did get a popsicle treat, really only because I love how he says it. We have been getting extra cuddle time in during breathing treatments, I hate that he has to do them but he has calmed down and even holds it himself.

Finally he has found his own little chair. We took the cushion off to lay out in the garage to air out, our house smelled horrible on Friday. He has been sitting here making himself right at home.

Girl's Night

Last night was the much anticipated girl's night out. We try to do this every other month, skipping December, and due to other commitments I hadn't been since the summer.... ouch! It was a much needed night out. Tracey had never been to the Melting Pot so off we went, I don't think she was disappointed. After dinner we headed back over to the Indiana to watch the Colts game.... GO COLTS! I did come home early, wanted to make sure Cooper was doing okay, read the next post for more info if you haven't already. It was a fun night with good friends and good food.

Melanie & Gretchen, I love how the new camera catches the smoke from our food. Me and Tracey

Isn't Melanie cute? Our pot of food reminded me of the game pick up sticks. I couldn't leave out the best part... dessert!

It's Mommy's turn

It was my turn this week to bundle up and take Cooper outside. I don't think it snowed quite as much at our house then it did in other parts. As you can see we can still see our grass. It was still fun and yes the snow on my jacket is from a snow angel.

He kept trying to eat the snow, poor guy's little nose was so red. It took a lot of effort to get outside and it lasted for maybe 5 minutes.

Deal of the Week

I love a good deal and this is one I am so proud of. I was browsing around on the computer this week and went to verabradley.com. For that day only they were running a special on their Super Tote. In select colors you could get this $85 dollar bag for.... drum roll please....$34!!!! Look at it, it's huge. Not even their smallest purses are that price. I'm in love!

Cartoons

We try not to let Cooper watch too much television, usually it's only when we (I) need to get something done. Sometimes I can't help it though cause because that is usually when we get our cuddle time. He never sits still long enough so who can resist this?

Hat Hair

Cooper's hair can be a bit uncontrollable at times, especially after taking off his hat. We were coming home from Steve's parents house this morning and this is what we saw in the back seat.

Resolution

So I finally have a New Years Resolution.... I'm going to run a 5k this year. If you know me, I DO NOT run. I know I can if I put my mind to it so that is what I'm going to do. Since I'm not a runner and don't have the proper running attire I am going to wait until it gets warmer before I can start. I'm not that crazy. Steve said he will run one with me but we obviously can't train together, so we will see how that works out.

Another resolution is to work on my relationships more. I feel like since Cooper, I have let some relationships slide and even when I do get together with friends it's usually in a group setting or play dates. Don't get my wrong, I love the play dates and Cooper is always my first priority, but I do need to make time for my friends for adult time. I feel those times alone, either with friends or just Steve & I make me a better mother. Also in this I am going to make the time I have with Cooper more valuable. I do take our time for granted since we are home together every day.

So there you have it... my 2010 resolutions!

My Two Favorites!!!!

As some of you know, Steve is now a member of Facebook, he has officially made it to the dark side. He has been going through pictures so he can upload them to his profile. Tonight he went through all of Cooper's birth through one year and picked out some of his favorites. This was one, I just couldn't resist posting it..... it melts my heart.

I almost forgot

Cooper reached a VERY important milestone yesterday: He had his very first Flintstones vitamin.

Our Start to 2010

Our new year started out with a bang. Saturday evening we noticed Cooper's right eye was leaking. No big deal at the time, I thought maybe he scratched it our got something in it. We got him up for church on Sunday morning and it was all but swollen shut and had crusted (I know, it's gross) over. We get him cleaned up and call our 24 hour line through the pediatrician's office. They recommend getting him seen within 24 hours. I should have went with my gut and just waited until Monday but we went ahead and headed to the immediate care center. I say went with my gut because when Cooper was 3 1/2 months old they failed to diagnose a double ear infection. The only reason we were even there in the first place was because it was a Saturday, we had 6-8 inches of snow on the ground and he had spiked a 104 temp. Needless to say I don't like the place. This time it wasn't as bad they check him over and give us two prescriptions; an eye drop and oral antibiotic. Of course the doctor struggles to even write the prescription because he can't figure out how much to give with his weight. Steve & I get in the car and both agree that we will not fill them and give Dr. Howell a call in the morning.

Monday morning we wake and up and it's not quite as bad as the day before but still bad enough to call and make an appointment. So after another co-pay and wait in a dr's office we get to see Dr. Howell. She thinks it's a viral infection and just wants to treat it first with a drop before we go with another oral antibiotic, which he was just on less than a month ago for a sinus infection. She did say the original prescriptions weren't awful, but the eye drop would have burned. Like toddlers don't already just love eye drops

This is him after he woke up from a nap today. Not quite as bad as Sunday morning but worse than this morning. If you enlarge it you can see how it dried up around the eye. It's amazing how it doesn't seem to bother him at all, he was still running around like always.

This is what he looked like after we cleaned it out, still swollen and red.Once Steve got home we had our first round of eye drops. We have to do it three times a day. First we practiced on George

Then we had to practice on Mr. Potato Head

Finally we practiced on Mommy Then came the real deal. Don't worry, we didn't video tape to show the world our son screaming and crying... it wasn't pretty.
This was taken after the drops, poor kid can't even open his eye.

But don't feel too sorry, he got chocolate and watched Curious George.

*** A side note- round 2 went MUCH BETTER!!!!!