COOPER'S STARTING TO EAT...KIND OF.....

Cooper is doing great. He is drinking about 2oz every hour. I have whey protein and Carnation Instant Breakfast in Vit D milk and he seems to still be drinking it. We have been offering food when he is the most hungry and it seems to be working. He took 9 bites for Lisa today! His little belly is starting to bubble again so I think he is putting on some weight, I hope. Both he and Raelynn have colds right now but it doesn't seem to be affecting his eating.

Raelynn had swimming lessons again tonight. She is a maniac! She is doing a great job and loves it so much. Her instructor, Claudine, is amazing. I can't wait for Cooper to get in the water.

I'M A LITTLE APPLE....

I love preschool......Raelynn is coming home with these cute little songs. Last night she and Cooper played in Cooper's room for a solid hour. They were playing drums (bowls and spoons from the kitchen) and Raelynn sang songs while Cooper danced. It was so darn cute I had to share.

I got out this little push toy that Raelynn had tonight and Cooper pushed it around. It is so great to see him so active. Molly and Staci from Tiny K were by tonight and we are going to try extending the length of time between Cooper's drinks in hopes that he will drink more when we do give it to him. This will hopefully start to teach his stomach when it is hungry and how to fill it up. We are also going to present more "foods" when Cooper is his hungriest for instance when he first wakes up in the mornings. We will continue to try to convince Cooper that eating can be just as fun as drinking :)!

SO MANY THINGS ANSWERED....

We have always wondered why Cooper's little ears stick out. I always blamed the hospital but I guess I can't do that anymore!!! Check out Daddy's ears!!!

Isn't that soooooo cute!!!

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN.....

Wow! There is so much going on and I don't think I have ever been this busy in my whole life! The last few weeks have been insane! On top of the things happening in our lives, work has been nuts!!! Tom is on vacation and Jill had to return to Wisconsin because her Aunt passed away. Therefore, I have been at work since Wednesday by myself. I have had to remind myself to take a deep breath several times. I am glad we are busy but there is just so much that can be accomplished in a day. I think Jill returns tomorrow though. Friday, Terry had to take Cooper to see Dr. Kelley by himself because I could not go. I actually typed out a list of what he was to go over with Dr. Kelley. I am sure this gave Dr. Kelley a good laugh for the day. Terry walked in and just handed him the list. Dr. Kelley appeasing wrote on my piece of paper comments and answers to each item. You have to know he was laughing inside. The good news is Cooper gained 2 oz. He is back up to 15lbs 15oz and is 27 inches long. Dr. Kelley was please but not overly excited. He considers Cooper's eating still borderline. However this weekend his eating/drinking really took off. He drank 30oz each day and today I think we ended with 27 or 28oz. In the mornings he drinks so much though he has been throwing it up. This has happened the last two mornings so we will start to give him a little less when he first wakes up. He is also going from lying to sitting by himself now. This morning at 4am I was awaken by his chatter and when I went in to check on him, there he sat in his crib. It was so cute. Last night he also walked along the couch as he held on to it. I can't wait until he starts walking. He is just so cute.

This past weekend the kids and I went back to Scott City with Steph. I am pretty sure Steph will never travel with us again. Cooper cried the entire way there and back. He despises his car seat! Other than the driving, we had a good time. I got to see Sherri's new house and we saw Chandler and Cassidy's Volleyball games. Raelynn and Chandler played and played and played. She really misses the girls. Terry spent the weekend tiling our bathroom floor, Yeah! Although, it is a project he is still working on, Boo! No worries though as long as it is done by this weekend! Ha Ha Ha

I received a call today from CMH that Cooper's MRI scheduled for the 17th had to be rescheduled. I could not do it any sooner so we scheduled it for the 28th. It does not bother me at all to put it off. I am not looking forward to it. I guess the anesthesiologists were not available that day. Anyway, this way I have a couple more weeks think and worry about it.

DOCTOR UPDATES.....

Today we took Cooper to CMH to visit his cardiologist, Dr. Kaine. Cooper's SAT Level was 86 which was pretty good for him and his blood pressure was 86/58, again good for Cooper. Dr. Kaine was very pleased with the way he looked and gave us permission to push the feeding issue as needed because his heart was stable. He also told us that they would hold off doing the Cardiac Catheter until next spring at which time the would do the cath and schedule for his next surgery. I am thrilled we will not be having surgery until next spring!!! Dr. Kaine was ok with what was going on feeding wise but felt we would probably start needing to give him vitamin supplements such as Iron. Cooper needs iron to make his red blood cells which he is low on to begin with. Overall the appointment was very good and reassuring.



After work Raelynn and I had eye doctor appointments. Raelynn's eyes were perfect of course. Nothing is never wrong with that girl....thank goodness!!! However, I cannot say the same for Cooper and I. She was very concerned with my eyes. My contacts were horrible coated with stuff and I had only had them for a month. She expected to find an infection in my eyes but didn't. She was very bothered by the amount of irritation and said that it may be severe allergies and lack of sleep. In which case she recommended I try getting more sleep. Yeah right!!! I have no additional hours in my day to tack on for sleep. I had to go to Walmart at 4am this morning just because of no other time to go and here I set updating the blog at midnight. Nothing would get done if I slept!!! Anyway, she gave me some allergy eye drops and I am not allowed to were my contacts until Monday. I despise wearing glasses! So if you want a good laugh find me between now and Monday! Then I have to go see her on the 10th to see if they are any better. Cooper was with us of course so she looked at him too. Big surprise, he has issues. For any of you who don't know, I have severe eye issues when I was born; lazy eye, crossed eye, severe nearsighted in one and far sighted in another. I had surgery on my eyes when I was three. The condition I had is very hereditary so I have been concerned with both of the kids. So Dr. Green examined him and feels he has a wandering left eye and may have some serious problems. So we have to follow up with her in December. Poor Coop, if it isn't one thing it is another! By the way, please note that it is not wise to take a 3 yr old and 10 month old to a doctor's appointment. Cooper pooped, Raelynn spilt her bowl of chex mix, they both got bored a d were all over the place and I was stressing out about my eye issues and Cooper's and thinking I would never be allowed back in there. The good news is they did let me schedule our follow up appoints, this time without both kids!!!