Cooper Strong!

Sunday: June 29, 2014

With the exception of Cooper not eating very well, he's had a great week. He has been in a very good mood and learning new things every day.  Due to spending so much time with Mommy now that I'm out of school, Cooper has been enjoying using the vacuum, mopping, washing dishes, and cleaning out the attic. He has also been helping me weed the flower beds and garden. Now every time we walk by a flower bed Copper says "weed!" with great excitement.  

Cooper and Mommy has started "Rock and Read" time each day. This is time I set aside each morning to let Copper pick out 3 or 4 books for me to read to him while rocking in the recliner. Today we got a little therapy in during this time. Cooper picked out 2 "touch and feel" books, so we used Lefty to feel the pages. One thing I've noticed about these books: Cooper thinks all books are touch and feel and gets disappointed when one isn't!  

Meal times have been a little difficult. Cooper isn't eating much at all. I think this is just a toddler thing this time because he is on a chemo break. Thank goodness for Carnation and Ensure! We will start his chemo pill this week. We are praying he feels well while taking it. 

I took Cooper to the doctor on Thursday. He determined that Cooper does not have peripheral vision in his strong eye. He wanted us to start patching his stronger eye to see if we notice how well he can see out of his weak eye. We were so nervous about this because when we were still in Norfolk and his eye was closed we had to tape it open and patch his strong eye. He struggled so much and we were pretty sure he didn't have sight. This time has been different. Cooper has been such a trooper. He hasn't cried or tried to mess with the patch at all. He has really surprised us. He does stumble at times, prefers to be carried while wearing the patch, and sometimes "feels" for objects. However, he has shown us that he has some vision. He has pointed out things when asked, he has found his favorite toys, and has reached for his Popsicles. The doctor told us if he does has vision, patching the other eye will strengthen his weak eye. He suggested 3 1/2 of patching a day and so far Cooper has done great! 

Cooper is amazing. He takes every new obstacle so well. My new favorite saying is a comment a co-worker recently said: I want to be COOPER STRONG!

      Cooper feeding himself

      Wearing his patch and showing us his ball

     Helping Dad clean out the garage

      

     So sleepy

      New Therapy: a vibrating toothbrush to help stimulate the nerves in Lefty

 

     When we walked by the trampoline Cooper said "JUMP," this told us he can see something! 

     Double Therapy

      Helping Mommy make labels for the storage containers in the attic

     Coloring 4th of July pictures