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Here's how part of the night went...
Cooper would very diligently place an ornament on the Christmas tree.
Beckett would then promptly remove it. Not to be mean. He just doesn't quite grasp the whole decorating thing yet. Try explaining that to his 3-year-old brother.
Beckett was eventually given his own side of the tree to decorate. And the chaos was resolved :)
My sweet little Beckett.
Obsessed with his blanket. Snacks. Linus. And relaxing in his Mommy's bed.
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving served him well tonight.
Cooper, of course, fixated on the popcorn and the parts with Snoopy and Woodstock.
Without a doubt, these two turkeys give me a lot to be thankful for.
Some big milestones this month.
Sayonara baby swings. Cooper has graduated to the big boy version.
Cooper got his very first responsibility. He proudly feeds his fish and frogs twice a day. It's a job he takes very seriously.
Beckett is done with his high chair! Hooray! He's a big fan of his new booster seat and I'm a big fan of more space in the dining room!
Beckett also developed a love for corn on the cob. It's tough to explain to an 18-month-old that corn on the cob is 'out of season' but we try our best to find the tiny organic kind in the produce aisle this time of year. It's stupidly expensive, but whatever. He's happy and he's eating vegetables. Score!
Of course, all these new developments don't compare to my most favorite new trend...the age gap is closing, a little. The boys play together more and more. They like the same shows and movies. They play trains, cars, hide and seek, and blocks. And one of my most peaceful moments - letting them color at the table together while I make dinner.
My friend Heather loved the rain. She never let it stop her from playing outside with her kids. I loved hearing her stories about puddle jumping. So today, I did the same thing with my own kiddos and we planted a few flowers in her honor too. They are the flowers Heather loved and asked us to nurture in her memory.
It's taken me a few days to write this post. Writing about a friends death is never easy. And writing about an amazing person like Heather is even harder, because nothing I write can truly describe the beautiful person she was.
I'm a big "google blog" searcher. And this week, I spent a few hours reading what other people had to say about Heather and her brave battle with breast cancer. This is an excerpt from one blog that made me smile...
" Once upon a time there were a team of anchors with Chuck and Heather at the top, one Chuck Gurney covering weather and one Lisa Kick providing traffic and cultural commentary. We casually referred to them with broad smiles as "Chuck-Chuck, Pick and Kick." They were a team that started our day with not just news, but also with the hearty chuckles of comedic camaraderie."
Heather's warmth radiated into homes every morning. That same happiness and glow was in our newsroom every morning too. In our homes at birthday parties. At our weddings and holding our new babies.
I remember back during the crazy March primary. She knew how disappointed I was when I couldn't get a babysitter the day the national CBS anchors came to WBNS. I missed out on seeing Katie Couric and meeting Harry Smith. Heather made sure I didn't miss out totally though when she cornered CBS morning anchor Harry Smith and asked him to say hello to me at home.
What a friend. A wonderful friend. A fabulous mother. A talented anchor. A beautiful soul.
Heather ended each newscast by saying "Enjoy Your Day." Words to live by for sure. She packed a lot of life into her 38 years. And that's what she wanted us all to remember. Her life.
Beautiful, wonderful, joyous RELIEF.
I know most moms probably aren't overjoyed when they hear that their child's tonsils are so swollen that they nearly collide in the back of their throat.
I'm sure most mom's are terrified when they hear that their kid's adenoids are so large that there is barely any room for air in their nasal cavity. But for us, it was simply a huge sigh of RELIEF.
Why this reaction? Certainly not because we wish pain or surgery or sickness upon our Cooper-Bear. No, the tears of joy came when the ENT said - "this type of swelling and infection is rare in a three-year-old and there is no doubt that it is affecting his speech."
There was more sweet relief when the nurse came in to schedule us for surgery and told us "I imagine you'll see immediate improvement in his speech after he recovers. I've seen it many times in kids this young." Talk about getting my hopes up.
So there it is. Cooper has some seriously large and infected tonsils and adenoids. And they've been that way for a long time.
It's likely the reason many of his words and sounds are distorted. I have to think that learning to talk without the full cooperation of your throat and nose must be ridiculously difficult.
Example - Cooper's favorite book is Bad Dog Marley. But when he says it, it sound more like "Add Dog Are-ee." If you plugged your nose completely, added swelling in your throat, it would probably sound more like Cooper's version. Like you have a head cold.
I frankly, at the moment, have no idea what this does for his Apraxia diagnosis. Does he even have Apraxia? I am suspicious that there are several symptoms that have been misdiagnosed...
For instance, kids with Apraxia often sit with their mouths open. I catch Cooper doing that all the time. I always chalked it up to Apraxia, but now I think maybe he just can't breath.
Kids with Apraxia also have trouble with M's, B's, P's. Could Cooper's difficulty with these letters be tied to what's going on in his nose and throat? Is he substituting B's for M's and leaving out L's and J's because he simply can't get enough air through his nose?
I also have a sneaking suspicion that our recent realm of speech therapy has been wonderfully successful because we are simply showing Cooper how to make sounds without the use of his nose.
I honestly have no idea but I intend to find out.
In the meantime, I can't help but think back to the dozens speech evaluations, checkups, and specialist appointments we've had over the past year and a half. And it took one AMAZING speech therapist named Elizabeth to get us pointed in the right direction. I totally wanted to stop at her office today and tell her that her suspicions about Cooper's adenoids were right, but Chris said that was a little stalker-like. So I called her instead. Man do I owe her for being the one professional out of probably 20 who suspected this. And the truly alarming part - she's the only one without M.D. after her name.
Surgery is scheduled for January.
Buzz Lightyear's Wings fit on the school bus....but barely.
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