Happy Halloween.

Rawr.

If I had a million dollars

We caved.

But let me explain some important factors that affected our decision.

First, Cooper loves to sit in anything that he can drive.



Which can be unfun for Alan and I, depending on the weather, which as you may have noticed is getting progressively worse.

He even treks out to the barn to sit on the lawnmower:

Second, he loved the little red and yellow car in the hospital. LOVED. It. And seriously, if I had an unlimited supply of money to buy things that make him that happy, I'd be darn tempted.

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Third, the day before we went to the hospital, we bought a new truck-like thing at Toys R Us for Coopie. So we decided to return it, and buy the magic red and yellow car instead.

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And boy is it magic.

Parked by the table during dinner:

And with a new bumper sticker (that Alan made me remove):

Now, we have to be strategic about when we leave the car out. I have to hide it before he wakes up in the morning, or we'll never get out of the house!

Behold. We have discovered the wonder that is ketchup.

We picked up this swing for $3 at a garage sale, and hooked it onto our current swingset, which has a set of rings (so he can work on his Iron Cross in preparation for the Olympics). Coop likes swinging and holding on to the rings.

Coop has his own set of keys (blanks from Walmart with a bunch of random keyrings). He helps by unlocking the doors.

And driving Daddy's truck.

Baby's First Fat Lip. (Which, like the skinned knee in the last post, would be a way bigger deal if we didn't just check out of the hospital a week ago.)

Coopie was running in circles around the kitchen and tripped so his little face hit the floor. Poor kiddo.

Just random photos...

Walking to get Grandma's mail.

His first slightly-skinned knee (which I realize would be a way bigger deal if we didn't just spend two days in the hospital trying to breathe...)

Well we've had an interesting few days.

Good news: Thursday and Friday, Alan and I both had fall break.

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Bad news: We spend it at the hospital.

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Wednesday, Coopie had a runny nose, and that evening, he started coughing a bit. Thursday morning, he woke up breathing pretty hard and was very lethargic. He spent the first several hours of the morning clinging to me and alternately crying and sleeping. So we went to the doctor around 11am.

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The doctor agreed that his breathing was labored, so Coopie had a breathing treatment (albuterol in a nebulizer) there in the office. And then the doctor thought we needed to sit someplace and be observed, maybe have another breathing treatment or two, get some oral steroids to open up Coop's lungs. So he sent us up to the emergency room to hang out.

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The breathing treatments helped--he was breathing easier and his lungs sounded better. But the er doc was still concerned that he was breathing fairly rapidly and his heart rate was elevated.

He thought we should go ahead and spend the night, so we checked into the Pediatric ward. The major bright spot of the entire two days was this Little Tykes coupe on the Pediatric ward (and the fact that there weren't other kids there, so we didn't have to share):
Cooper loved it like I have never seen him love another toy. We have a teeny version of that car, so his eyes just lit up when the nurse brought out the life-size version:

We spent hours walking up and down the hallway either pushing Cooper in the car, or chasing him as he pushed it himself. We had dinner in the car. We got breathing treatments in the car. It was actually a really good way to entertain him and keep him semi-calm and relaxed.

The kid-sized hospital gown, complete with backside opening:

(He didn't really have to wear this. It was too cute, though, so I made him put it on so I could take a picture.)

Family photo. One of us doesn't look too happy...

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We stayed in the hospital Thursday night, saw our doctor again Friday morning, and stayed all day Friday for more observation and breathing treatments. We sprung free Friday night.

And Cooper sobbed when we left the car.

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The final verdict is an asthma-like reaction to a cold. So we're continuing the breathing treatments here at home, along with an oral steriod to keep his chest opened up. (So much for his Major Toddler League baseball career.) And we're to "restrict his activities, as much as he'll allow." Ha.
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Cooper did enjoy playing with a stethoscope, which is good because many, many people listened to his heartrate and lung sounds. Here, Cooper shows how it's done.

Notes:

* At one point, he says that "Dr. Hughes listened to heart," just in case you can't understand him around the pacifier.

* His toe is glowing orange because there's a pulse-ox monitor on it.

* Cooper's sad to be home because the unlimited-access pacifier is now once again restricted to sleep-time.

Just like the adults

Getting an early start on household maintenance:

And outside with a wheelbarrow:

On the potty, mostly just as a place for him to be when I'm in there so he's not... well... too close to me and my business.

Mowing the driveway:

Eating steak off the grill:

On the treadmill (and I know you can't tell from the photo, but it was moving!):

With a morning pot of coffee (and no pants):

Mud

Sometimes, I just don't know what to say.

Slip sliding away.

Alan's folks brought us this plastic slide. Apparently, it's been in the family for 20 years or so. Cooper's happy to carry on the family sliding tradition:

At the park:

A twisty slide:

An inflatable slide at the Lyons craft fair: