Happy Birthday Cooper!!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!! Cooper is 4!! We just can't believe our little Coop is getting so old!! He is a joy and a delight in our family and brings so much fun and smiles to our lives! Here are some wonderful things about Cooper at four years old!

1. Cooper's favorite breakfast of all time is "waffles and sausage." He got this idea when he stayed at Grandma & Grandpa Routsong's house in December for a few days. Grandpa made him waffles and sausage the special "Grandpa way" warmed up in the microwave and drenched with syrup. Now, Cooper wants to eat this special breakfast every day! But of course they couldn't be the homemade waffle iron kind. He likes eggo toaster waffles the best!! Another of his absolute favorite foods is chocolate. Anything chocolate. He thrives on chocolate!!

2. Cooper loves to pretend. He loves to "fight the bad guys" in our house and will run around with Jaxton pretending to fight them. He will get really into it with facial expressions and everything! Sometimes he will dress up from head to toe in a superhero costume with a mask and cape. Since we don't have swords or guns in our house, he will pretend with an imaginary sword, which is just as good, if not better than a real toy one!! Its a pretty fun game! He is very physical and very strong. Nate enjoys the "bad guys" game too and most of the time he pretends to be the bad guys while the boys try to beat him up, tie him up, or stop him and bring him down. Nate's a great actor, and the boys, Cooper especially, loves it! He could wrestle all day long if he could.

3. Cooper is very independent. He thrives on doing things by himself without help. It's a trait unique to him. If he needs something, he will figure out a way to get it, whether its getting a tall bar stool that spins and pulling it up the the fridge to reach the ketchup or the peanut butter. Or to reach something that we've put on top of the fridge out of reach! He has no fear of heights! He insists on going to the bathroom, number 1 and number 2, with no help, which often can be worrisome for me! He just graduated from his 5 point harness carseat to a high back booster chair that uses the the shoulder strap buckle. And of course he insists that he do this by himself too. It takes a lot longer to get places as I wait for him to struggle with his seatbelt, but it gives him satisfaction and pride to do things like this for himself!

4. Cooper does not snore anymore! And he can hear a pin drop! Cooper was having trouble hearing, which brought great alarm to us. We took him in to see what might be wrong and our pediatrician thought it was allergies. So we did some trial and error for a month or so, finding that allergies could not be all. We went to a specialist, and upon his questioning, we listed his symptoms of hearing problems, snoring badly, labored breathing at night, and waking up in the night often he told us right out what our problem was. He said even Cooper's face with dark circles under his eyes resembled a person with an enlarged adenoid. He said he could look at Cooper and he already had an idea of what the problem was, just from seeing his face. Wow!! Adenoid? What is that? He insisted we do surgery and that it would cure it all! So of course my mind started reeling and working to figure out if he was right, how it could be, and whether surgery was the right choice. Indeed as I did some research, every symptom for an enlarged adenoid pointed directly to Cooper. Apparently, the adenoid, the tonsil behind the nose, can block the tube going up to the ear. So fluid gets trapped in there and reduces the ability to hear well. Similarly, the adenoid blocks the throat, causing him to snore loudly and labor to get air through the tiny airway when he sleeps. This labored breathing causes his face to have dark circles under it as he labors so much to get oxygen at night. So surgery it was. It was a rough week. I took no pictures because it was not exciting. But Cooper did well and we are so glad he is feeling better and can hear and sleep so much better! He has always come down to sneak into bed with us at night, but it has always been annoying since he was such a loud sleeper, I'd have to leave and sleep somewhere else! And now, I enjoy it when he sneaks in with us. He is such a sweet boy, the only one that likes to snuggle so much, and I'm glad he can sleep peacefully now!

5. Cooper is a Daddy's boy! He just adores his daddy. He always has, even when he was a baby. He loves to "go to work" with dad and ride in daddy's truck. Nate is so good with him and makes him feel like a million dollars, giving him jobs to do and praising his hard work. They cleaned our car out the other day, and Nate said that Cooper was working sooo hard. He was vacuuming the inside of the car, straining that vacume head to reach the tiny crevices where he found crumbs. Nate said he did such a thorough job, he couldn't believe it. And he wouldn't quit till he couldn't see any crumbs left. I called Cooper in because it was his night to set the table, but Nate told me he was working so hard, that he preferred Cooper to help him finish the job! That boy has inherited Nate's determination, motivation, and hard work ethic. It's a trait I admire in my husband, and I have no doubt that Cooper will be successful in whatever he does because he has that trait!

6. Cooper's best friends these days are Gabe Gregory and Cameron Stump. He used to be pretty shy when it came to friends, but he is outgrowing that and loves to go to friends' houses to play without mom. He enjoys going to the gym when he knows that his friend Cam will be there. He plays so well with other kids too. He doesn't get bothered if someone wants to do something their way, since Cooper has grown up kind of following Jaxton's lead. He cooperates well. Sometimes he still struggles with sharing, but thats to be expected. But he just loves to run, fight bad guys, play chasing games. He certainly is a fun kid to be around!

7. Cooper loves his "basketball shorts." Some days he insists on wearing a pair of basketball shorts underneath his long pants, whether they are squishy long basketball pants or jeans. Sometimes I wonder what the teachers at school thinks if he ever needs help in the bathroom, why he is wearing layers of pants! Sometimes I have even caught him wearing more than one pair of basketball pants and then long pants on top! One day, he went to the gym wearing 3 pairs of basketball pants one over the other, and then long squishy basketball pants on top! How can that possibly be comfortable!? Its a funny thing he does that will be fun to remember about him!

8. Cooper is very spiritual. He is very close to the spirit and is always asking me spiritual questions that are so deep that I have a hard time answering them myself! One day, he told me that he heard someone say "I love you" to him out loud and he couldn't figure out who said it. He knew it wasn't me or dad or Jaxton because he must have been alone. He said it kind of scared him a little since no one was around. I asked him if it was a kind voice or a scary voice, and he assured me that it was a kind voice, but there wasn't anyone there. I suggested that it could have been the Holy Ghost speaking to him, just letting him know that his Father in Heaven and Jesus love him very much. He brings it up often, reminding me that there was no one around when he heard it, and asks me how the Holy Ghost could say it out loud. I started to wonder if he was hearing it more often since he asked me and told me about it so much. He assured me that it only happened the one time, but it certainly left a huge impression on him because it is something he has not forgotten. Cooper will ask me questions about our spirit bodies, what happens when we die, where we go, what it looks like. One day he asked me if Heavenly Father had a body. I helped him understand that he did, just like ours. His spiritual questions are well beyond his years and it amazes me how much he understands. He knows prayer works had has used it when he has had rough times and it makes me happy to know that he understands that he can go to his Heavenly Father in prayer.

9. Cooper is a sunbeam! The first few weeks of primary were a little bit rough. He was sitting for long periods of time. He greatly disliked his little primary class when they would separate from every one else into a little classroom. He would tell me "I don't want them to sing I Am A Child of God" because when they would sing that (or another primary song) that was when they would dismiss the classes to their small classrooms. At that point he would start to cry and cling to his teacher. I'm not sure why he disliked that so much, possibly because he didn't have Jaxton nearby anymore. The first week, he was a mess, and ended up staying with me. The second week too. I bribed him, though, that he could have a chocolate candy if he went to his "little class" happily and stayed. Well, if anything at all, chocolate he understands. So this worked! He went, and happily asked for his chocolate after church was done! The next 2 Sundays he expected his chocolate after church, but when I stopped bringing up his treat, he forgot about it. Now he goes to class, loves it! I peek in the window and he is the life of the party in that little room, being silly, laughing, probably disrupting a little bit with his funny expressions and silly personality. Now, he loves primary!

10. We are taking a "Positive Discipline" class and are learning more about ourselves and our kids. We are challenged to get into our child's world and discover how they view themselves and what they react to, positively or negatively. We have been able to get into Cooper's world a little bit and have discovered what brings him joy, and what he struggles with. Cooper is the second child, sometimes probably overshadowed by his big brother since they are so close in age. He thrives on feeling needed, working hard to show he can, proving to the world that he is capable and hard working, even if he is the younger brother. He thrives also on praise and encouraging words. He thrives on laughing and roughhousing. Using a technique we learned in our class, one night Cooper wouldn't go to bed. He was whining, complaining, working the system, wanted to sleep downstairs or on the couch and wouldn't give it up. As Nate gave him some friendly punches, told him thank you for helping him at "work" today and reminded him what a hard worker he was for daddy, Cooper smiled. When I gave him some ideas where he could sleep (in a sleeping bag, on the futon couch in his room, or on the floor), he stood up and said, "I'll just sleep in my bed." That blew me away! He does not respond to being told what to do, where to sleep, with a stern angry voice. He responds to love, encouragement, praise, and feeling that he is needed and appreciated. Once he feels those things, he does not need to push buttons or complain or try to have a power struggle. It was pretty amazing as we were able to figure out what he needs, and why. And it will help us in the future as well I'm sure.

We love Cooper so very much and are so grateful for him! He loves to talk and share his thoughts and ideas with us, and I hope that he always will feel comfortable doing so. I pray that he will continue to feel the spirit and stay close to the spiritual feelings he has experienced this far in his little life. He is a wonderful boy, with amazing potential, and we love him so very much!