15 Months! Cooper tricks and trips...

Wow. Cooper is 15 months old today!!

This kid amazes me every day. I realized today that I haven't been blogging about him as much as usual (bad mommy!) and that I've probably failed to mention the many things he's doing now which thrill, excite, and terrify us all at once ;).

Let's see...off the top of my head...in the world of baby sign language, Cooper signs "all done", "more", "drink", "eat", and we're currently working on "tired". He's learning body parts and can identify his nose, eye, mouth, and we're currently working on his ear. He's been "high-five"ing for quite a while now. He throws his arms up when you say "so big!", he makes the funniest face and noise when you ask him "what does a monkey do?" (after my dad taught him while at the zoo). He blows kisses and gives real kisses on demand - it's so precious! He says several words including: truck, duck, dog, mom (mostly "mum"), dad (mostly "dada"), bottle (sounds like baa-til). He understands what "no" means and thinks it's hilarious that we think he should comply with it when we say it. ;/ He knows to point to something that hurts and says "owwww" - something we discovered as his molars were emerging. He claps when you say "clap" or when someone else claps (either in person or on TV), he dances when you say "dance dance" or when any music comes on - anywhere we are. He LOVES music. He dances to commercials, music played in stores, on TV shows, on the stereo, in the car, at church, tunes from his music toys, etc. I just bought him a little play electric guitar which he drags around the house and bangs against the floor when he's done playing the music on it. What a rocker! LOL

Cooper thinks his mom's bald head is fab - he likes to rub and pat it and giggles every time. Today, during a brief stop at our local branch of the American Cancer Society so I could take a look at their wig selection (they give patients a free wig if you'd like one), I tried several on and most times Cooper would just smile and give me a funny look and for one he gave a resounding "no" by shaking his head no and giving the "all done" sign. Bob and I just cracked up because that wig did look ridiculous on me. Then, just as I was finishing up there, Cooper looked up, pointed at the "bald" wig head stand and yelled"mum!"

On Sunday, Cooper had his first injury with blood involved. He fell and cut his inner upper lip and the little tiny piece of connective tissue between the lip and the gums, giving him a puffy upper lip with a tiny bruise in the middle of it - the poor kid! Thankfully it only bled for a couple of minutes and then stopped so we were able to see what was going on and decided not to rush to the ER considering my compromised immune system - even if just Bob took Cooper it would create exposure for me that wouldn't be good so we decided to wait a few hours and see how he was. Within 15 minutes he was smiling and playing again and by last night he was still doing fine so we decided to call the doc Monday to see if they thought he should be seen or not. They left it up to us so we took him in today and they said he was totally fine - that the little piece of tissue was torn but that it isn't harmful and most kids tear it as toddlers (phew!) and it should heal and be fine within a week. Just need to avoid citrus and acidic foods/beverages and give him Tylenol if he is complaining of pain. Well, Tylenol is already happening this week, courtesy of "Operation Molars are keeping us awake". ;/

He's walking and running now too. He doesn't want to be confined to a seat anywhere - not in the highchair at home or in a restaurant - now that he knows he can wander around showing off his walking skills. This has made for some rather frustrating evenings and shortened the two recent times we tried to have a meal out as a family (ending with bringing the food home and the adults eating in shifts). Between the molars and the walking, Cooper is boycotting solid food meals these days but then when he's hungry he wanders around demanding to eat (using the "eat" sign and yelling "Ba!", which is the 'word' he uses to refer to food. But the minute we put him in his highchair to feed him he throws an absolute fit. Fun times! (not) The only solid food he'll consume this week is little crunchy things like his organic crackers and animal cookies and cereal puffs. We've had to resort to putting vitamin drops in his milk and giving him PediaSure in his bottle before bed time to ensure he's getting enough nutrients during this phase of his. It's frustrating because he had finally become such a good little eater AND we finally had him sleeping through the night and then those pesky molars ruined our fun.

This week Cooper is traveling to Connecticut to visit his grandma and papa. He doesn't know it yet but he's going to finally have a first birthday party (nearly 4 months late due to my health crisis this summer). He'll get to meet my extended family who have all been anxious to meet him. We're excited and nervous about the trip. I want and need to be with family right now and want and need for Cooper to have a proper birthday celebration. I will start on a new chemo regimen when we get back and it may be harder than the first several rounds so I want to get out there and see everyone just in case it isn't possible to travel for a while later on. But I'm nervous about flying in a germ filled tube with strangers and wrangling Cooper in an airport and plane while I'm so exhausted. We decided I couldn't do it alone so Bob is going to fly with us and then go to work so that I won't be stressed and physically strained managing Cooper. As for the germ exposure part - I got a flu shot which probably won't protect me on the way there but will for the way back, and my doctor said it's OK for me to travel as long as I keep using hand sanitizer after touching things and bring a surgical mask in case anyone within 10 feet of our seat is coughing/sneezing. We have a box of them for when I have to take Cooper to the pediatrician.

So those are the latest Cooper tricks and trips to report. We have been taking pictures of him and are behind in uploading them to the computer and the blog because I am just so tired these days but we'll work on that soon.

Hugs and kisses from Cooper, Julie, and Bob :)