Campbell Family Happenings

A Risk Worth Taking - When You're 5

2011-12-16T09:53:00.000+08:00

The other day we were waiting for a bus where there was a patch of grass nearby for the kids to play on while we waited. Soon, Andy came running up to show us the $5 coin he found in the grass, very happy. Then he let us know how he found it.

"I saw something on the ground and maybe it was chocolate and maybe it was poop. So I picked it up to check it out. It was money!"

Lesson: When you're five years old, it's clearly worth the risk of touching poop if the potential payoff might be free, abandoned-and-left-on-the-ground-and-to-the-elements-for-who-knows-how-long, chocolate.

I actually shudder to think what would have happened if either of his original theories had been correct. I'm just really, really glad it turned out to be a grungy coin.

Buzz Joke

2011-06-10T15:25:00.001+08:00

Our kids are starting to come up with their own jokes; and while they are not quite roll on the floor knee slappers, they recently came up with one that was pretty good.

Our kids asked Sarah, "What's infinity plus infinity?"

Sarah, "I don't know, what?"

Kids, "2 infinity . . . and beyond!"

What Andy Wanted, A Lot

2011-04-04T09:49:00.001+08:00

I should have put this up weeks ago.

On Cooper's birthday Sarah allowed him a special privilege by letting him crack the eggs for his birthday brownies all by himself (anyone with small children will know this runs a high shell risk). Andy wanted to try to crack an egg all by himself, too, but Sarah informed him that this was a special thing just for Cooper on his special day. Andy tried to understand and, as it has now become apparent, solidly locked the desire away into his heart to crack an egg someday.

A few weeks later I was making cookies. Andy saw me get an egg out as part of the process and, recalling that firm desire, said with much enthusiasm, "I want to crap an egg! Can I?"

It is quite unfortunate for Andy that the amount of laughter traced back to that question has locked that memory in our minds for YEARS to come.

But truly, God help us all if he ever really does crap an egg.

Double-O Cooper

2011-04-04T09:34:00.001+08:00

One day last week, shortly after walking in the door from work, Cooper comes up to me and says, "Dad, I'm a secret agent."

I said, "Cool."

He followed up with, "You know why? It's 'cause I'm very secrety"

On the way to church pt.2

2011-02-20T20:23:00.000+08:00

One more, with a fun color effect.

On the way to church

2011-02-20T20:22:00.000+08:00

I took some shots of the boys. Enjoy!

I could be invisible, wouldn't matter

2011-02-12T09:04:00.000+08:00

It's Saturday and Cooper's happy today, which is a big step up from the grumpiness of the past couple of days.

Perhaps digging for a little love, I said, "Cooper, are happy today because daddy's home?"

"No."

Lion Dancing

2011-02-10T14:36:00.004+08:00

Our kids decided they wanted to put on a traditional Chinese New Year lion dance for Sarah and I. They were SOOOOO excited to do it, and so I wanted to record the experience to share with everyone.

Just for some reference, the lion dance is done every year all over Asia by different troupes to celebrate Chinese New Year. Here's what it typically looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=964pG9YDe2w

And here is our kids version:
(please note: the white kid is Kale, Cooper's very good friend and classmate in kindergarten)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwn0dc5YaP4

A Classic Andy Face

2011-01-18T07:20:00.000+08:00

It doesn't get any more Andy than this.

Wisdom from Andy

2011-01-14T14:55:00.001+08:00

Andy gave Sarah some 4 (almost 5) year old wisdom today. He said that you shouldn't eat your friends, because then they will be all gone.

I think it's a great tip, and worth remembering.

Corn on the cob

2010-02-20T17:46:00.001+08:00

I love the things my kids say. Cooper wants "cob with the corn" and
Andy wants "corn in a cup." Awesome.

Andy's Marriage Meltdown

2009-10-12T07:06:00.001+08:00

The other day Andy was having a huge meltdown. It was the usual,
screaming, kicking, beyond irrational. Most of the time we can discern
what triggered the meltdown, but Sarah had no idea what the source of
this one was, so when Andy had finally calmed down enough to talk
Sarah asked him why he was throwing such a huge fit.

His reply, "I just want to be married!"

Cooper is a sweetheart

2009-09-28T16:53:00.003+08:00

We've been sick for the past few days, except Andy. On Saturday, I
went to the shopping plaza to run a few errands and took Cooper with me. On our way, Cooper says to me, "Daddy, can we get mommy some flowers? I think it will make her happy."

I told him it was a good idea. So we went to pick up dinner. "After this we will go get the flowers for mommy, right?" Cooper says.

"Nope, next is the grocery store."

We get the groceries and go to the flower shop. Cooper strolls right in, glances around for a few seconds, and points to a bundle of bright yellow flowers and says, "That's a good one."

He paid for the flowers and we headed home. Cooper kept a careful hold of the flowers the whole time. He kept saying, "Do you think momma will like them?" and "Will this make her happy?"

When we got home and I told Sarah that the flowers were, in fact, completely Cooper's initiative, she was quite touched.

At 4 years old Cooper is a sweetheart.

Phrases never before said

2009-02-08T14:32:00.002+08:00

As a parent you sometimes find yourself saying things you never thought you'd say to another human being. For example, today my wife actually admonished my son with the following words: "Don't put Thomas up your butt." As in Thomas the Train. Don't quite know how to follow that.

Cooper's Preference

2008-11-06T17:55:00.001+08:00

We have just returned from a two and a half week trip to the US to visit our closest friends and family. It was busy, intense, enjoyable, and full of memory moments. One of the funniest occurred during our 7 hour delay at JFK airport:

After the 4th announcement that our flight would again be delayed Sarah and I decided it would be worth it to rent a car and simply drive down to our destination (Maryland) instead of facing longer indefinite delays. At about 11pm we took an airport train to the terminal where the car rental places were. We were tired, our kids were tired, and we were all struggling with rolling grumpiness.

When we got to the car rental area we found that we were not the only ones with the idea of renting a car in the face of everlasting delays. Without an existing reservation there were no cars available to be rented anywhere.

Defeated, resigned, and with simmering frustration we got back on the airport train to go back to our gate and wait for the delays to finally be over.

Up to that moment neither of our children had been doing things that I would say bring me joy as a parent. But then, in that dark hour (literally) Cooper chirped up and announced, “I like this train. It smells like french fries!”

He was absolutely right. Somewhere on that train was someone with a fresh, piping bag of McDonalds food.

Sarah and I experienced our first smile in a few hours, and agreed, “Yes, Cooper, this train does smell like french fries.”

Bribery

2008-05-02T16:59:00.002+08:00

The other day I was putting Cooper in bed. I don't remember if it was because it was nap time, or because he had done something wrong. In any case, though, it was daytime and I was putting him in his bed.

He did the usual pleading to not put him in bed, to let him out and play, etc, etc.

When it became obvious to him that I wasn't going to budge and that he WAS going to bed he stopped and, suddenly reaching for his pocket says, "Wait, I have money!" (a coin he had picked up during the morning)

I was already on my way out the door at that point, but I had the disctinct impression that my 3 year old was trying to bribe me.

Don't quite hardly know what to think about that.

Prayers

2008-04-30T11:56:00.000+08:00

I just wanted to make a record here of a nice milestone.

We have always had family prayers with out 2 boys. We encourage them to kneel properly, fold their arms, remain quiet, and say 'amen' at the end.

For quite a few months now, Andy has been following Cooper's example and saying his own prayers (with help). Sarah or I will whisper into his ear and he will repeat what we tell him. He is getting better and better at it.

Cooper, on the other hand, is saying his own prayers, but by himself. It usually starts with him being thankful for his family, then our Heavenly Father gets a grand rundown of the day's events. Super important stuff.

Third and Fourth Genders

2008-04-30T11:46:00.000+08:00

Sarah and I have been trying to help Cooper recognize the difference between boy and girl lately. In doing so, Cooper has now identified additional genders. Yes, that's right, there is more than just 'boy' and 'girl.' The other day we had a conversation that proceeded as follows:

Mom: "Cooper, are you a boy or a girl?"

Cooper: "um, girl"

Mom: "Nope, you are a boy. Mommy is a girl"

Dad: "Cooper, am I a boy?"

Cooper: "No"

Dad: "Hmm. Am I a girl?"

Cooper: "No. You're old"

Yes, I have transmorphed into that gender that gets us all over time, old.

Not content with just one extra gender, however, yesterday Cooper identified yet another. The conversation went like this:

Mom: "Cooper, are you a boy or a girl?"

Cooper: "A girl"

Mom: "No Cooper, you're a boy. Mommy is a girl"

Cooper: "No, you're a friend"

I think that's how we should introduce each other from now on.

"Hi, nice to meet you. This is my wife, Sarah. Since we've had kids we aren't male and female any more. Sarah's a friend, and I'm old."

Hong Kong scots

2007-12-28T13:34:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago I saw something that goes up there on the list of things I never thought I’d ever see.

I was walking toward an escalator on my way to work, and just as I rounded a corner I saw four chinese men playing the bagpipes. Yes, that’s scottish bagpipes. They were actually playing quite well, but to complete the ambiance of the thing they were also wearing full scottish regalia.

Let me attempt to paint the picture for you, since most of it is a sight you have no doubt seen before, at the very least on television.

Imagine the unique and unmistakeable sound of bagpipe music whistling oddly through the Hong Kong air. Turn a corner, and there are the bagpipes in question held by four men in full, thick kilts in bold scottish reds, greens, and browns, knee-high bleach white socks, and scottish hats. Peer at the faces looking for the peach-white freckled faces and blonde hair of scottish highlanders, and, nope, there are the brown almond eyes, black hair and tannish skin of four smaller-stature chinese men struggling with bagpipes almost as large as they are.

I don’t know how they managed to do it, but they did play pretty well.

Definitely something I’ve never seen before in my life. And a good chance it will stay in my memory for quite awhile.

Hash browns stare down

2007-12-19T13:48:00.000+08:00

Anyone who knows our two little boys knows that they are little food beggars.

The other day, we were on the bus with the boys, and something caught Andy's attention. He was absolutely transfixed on the man nearby who was enjoying his McDonalds meal. Andy stared and stared at the man eating, never easing his intense gaze for any other distraction. He was completely fixed on the food this man was eating.

I guess the man must have picked up on his mealtime spectator, because after some time of having a 1 year old staring his food down he finally reaching into his bag and handed his hash brown pattie to Andy. Andy took it without hesitation and munched away happily.

We thanked the mysterious hash brown benefactor, and he seemed pleased. Though I'm not sure he was pleased to have made our little Andy happy, or if he was instead pleased to be able to continue eating without an intense audience.

Missing my boys

2007-10-25T10:07:00.000+08:00

Last week I returned late Tuesday night from a trip to the States for my Masters Degree. The boys had been missing me while I was away, periodically searching the house for their absent dad.

In a jet-lagged grog, I woke up early Wednesday morning to, "Hello! Hello! Hello!" from Andy; and from Cooper, because he's Cooper, "Miss me daddy?"

Yes, Cooper, I missed you; I missed both of you.

Baptizing Italians

2007-05-15T10:14:00.000+08:00

We will be having a baptism in our little branch here in Discovery Bay this Sunday. The thing that makes it very unique for me is that it is an Italian family that will be getting baptized. In fact, they have asked that I perform the baptism. I'm honored to do it; but the most touching aspect of the coming event for me is that, 10 years after I was a missionary in Italy, I am still baptizing Italians.

Frantic for kisses

2007-05-10T20:36:00.000+08:00

The other day, I was in our bedroom, working. Suddenly, Cooper started to just scream outside the door, pounding his fists again and again. He was shouting, "Daddy!!! Daddy!!! Daddy!!!" It was unsettling. I'm sure the neighbors could hear, and were probably wondering how I could be so merciless to my own son.

The truth was, I had a lot of work I needed to do, and I didn't want to let Cooper in and have to deal with whatever problem he was having. So, I tried to ignore him.

Useless.

When Cooper wants to be heard, he will be heard. He continued to scream and pound on the door for 1 . . . . 2 . . . . 3 . . . . 4 . . . . 5 minutes straight, and I just couldn't take anymore.

I walked to the door, ready to be a mean daddy. I jerked the door open, looked down, and tried to say in the nicest voice possible, "Yes, Cooper?"

He looked up at me, and ever so casually said, "Kiss?"

So I bent down and gave him a little kiss. Immediately, he turned around and hopped off to go play in the living room.

That kind of thing just couldn't have ever been scripted any better :)

New photos

2007-04-17T22:08:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone

Having two kids has put an increased demand on my time, thereby reducing the time I have for posting here. In any case, I have just uploaded the pictures taken of Andy before we got him. You can access them here

Enjoy!

New Photos

2007-02-23T21:30:00.000+08:00

Due to an EXTREMELY high level of requests, I have finally uploaded more pictures of Andy. Please do not miss out on the photos of Cooper's second birthday as well. Enjoy!

OUR BRAND NEW SON!!!

2007-02-16T20:32:00.000+08:00

In the afternoon of February 15, 2007, we got the call from our social worker that we have been waiting for. Cooper is finally a big brother, and Eric and I are parents once again!

Our son, Anderson Sparks Campbell, was born on January 19, 2006. He and Cooper are only 11 months apart in age.

Eric and I went to meet him for the first time today. As you can see from the pictures Andy is beautiful. He’s a bit shy, but loves to cuddle.

We are looking forward to bringing him home on February 26. It will take longer than usual to process the paperwork because of Chinese New Year. Eric and I would like to thank you for all of your love and support, and especially for your prayers. Miracles do happen; Cooper and Andy are living proof.

We love you all!
Eric, Sarah, Cooper and Andy Campbell

Why it's good to be Dad

2007-02-14T17:30:00.000+08:00

Wow, 3 months since I last posted. Sorry 'bout that. Life has been pretty busy lately, and I've been mostly playing catch up. That said, let me get on with this little blurb:

Cooper is getting to the age when he knows when someone is coming home and will sometimes come to the door to welcome said person. Usually, on a regular daily basis it's me who comes home around 6pm.

On one day a few days ago, just after I walked in the door, Cooper ran over, stopped a few feet from me, looked up, made a little fist, and dropped his elbow to his side in the same way a bowler does when he gets a strike, and said, "YES!" with a huge grin on his face.

Being the good dad that I am, what did I do? I picked him right up and wrestled him into the sofa where I tickled him silly for the next 20 minutes. :)

It's good to be Dad.

Being a Dad

2006-11-10T20:13:00.000+08:00

Before you get yourself geared up for a cute, funny, quirky story about Cooper, let me tell you that today I'm breaking from my norm in order to share a few of the feelings I had tonight.

Tonight, for the first time, I rocked Cooper to sleep while softly singing hymns to him. I've never done that before, because in the past he would ALWAYS take another presence in the room to mean that play time was not yet over, and he would stay up indefinitely.

Tonight, however, I wanted to try holding him and rocking him to sleep. Mind you, we don't own a rocking chair, but I have a natural tendency to rock or sway in my seat; and so just sitting and holding him easily changed into a slow sway back and forth.

At first I hoped that just being held in a dark room would clue Cooper in to the idea that it was time to go to sleep (we were in his room with the lights off); but, Cooper being himself, he kept himself bolt upright looking around in the dark. Every time I moved his head to my shoulder it would spring back up like a squirrel hearing a noise. So, I decided to try and calm the savage, little beast with some music.

I started by singing 'I am a child of God,' since that is pretty much the only hymn I know start to finish from memory. I moved on to other hymns, first verses only, and within minutes Cooper was winding down. His head was popping up less and less; and more and more he was trying to snuggle himself into a comfortable position. He kept rolling his head from side to side, and trying alternating shoulders looking for the one that afforded maximum comfort (daddy doesn't have built in pillows like mommy does). A couple of times, though, he lifted his little head to look square at me in the dark. I don't know what was going through his mind, but I sincerely hope it was something along the lines of, 'My daddy loves me so much, and I love him too.' Finally, he settled on the more comfortable right shoulder, and shortly after that I felt his little body go completely limp as he floated toward dreamland, in my arms.

It was such a unique, singular, and fulfilling experience to have. I thank God with all my heart for the blessing my little boy is to my life. Loving him, and spending time with him affords me blessings and experiences I never knew existed. My heart swelled as I held my sleeping Cooper, and thought about just how good of a little boy he is. He is one in a zillion. He is a happy, obedient, loving, fun little boy. I could go on and on, but it feels like here is the appropriate place to end.

Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf. You helped bring Cooper to us, and my gratitude is beyond measure.

New Photos

2006-11-04T09:52:00.000+08:00

Long time no post. Well, hopefully I can ease 'what's-happening-with-Cooper' tension with some brand new pictures. Pictures that include Cooper in his Super halloween costume. Then new pictures are
here
here
here
here
and here

Here is a sample of Cooper's costume:

Little Casanova

2006-10-09T08:00:00.000+08:00

Cooper is becoming quite the little loverboy. Our live-in maid takes Cooper out to play at least once a day to the neighborhood playgrounds. Apparently, Cooper has shunned playing with other little boys and prefers playing with the neighborhood girls. Additionally, when it's time to go home he tries to be sure to kiss and hug the girls goodbye before he goes; except, he goes straight for the lips! I'm bordering between humor and concern with this new antic. At least we know he likes girls!

Building character

2006-10-06T10:51:00.000+08:00

Cooper has been having a character spurt during the past couple of days. Now, when I say character, I really do mean character. For one, he has started to sing his own super Cooper theme song. He chants, 'da da daaaaaaaa!,' claps his hands, and ends with a fist in the air like a superhero. Then, in case your hearing may have been impaired in some way, he continues by happily repeating his personal anthem a significant number of times for the enjoyment of all.

Cooper has also learned 'nose,' and can point to his own and say 'doze.'

Additionally, he has become incredibly confident in using the word 'no.' He is not shy about saying it or using it at any time or for any reason he feels it is appropriate. Nor is he reluctant to solidify his position on a matter by repeating it in rapid succession, 'no, No, NO!' ::sigh:: Where on earth did we get such a strong willed kid? Sarah and I certainly never deserved this.

On a completely separate note, I have uploaded more pictures to our online photo gallery. You can find the link on the right and look for the most recent album.

beach time

2006-09-20T11:30:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the long silence, life and stuff you know.

The other day we took Cooper to the beach for some family time. We swung, we played, we took a walk down by the water. I got into the water ankle deep to show Cooper that it was safe and fun. However, He seemed unsure about the water moving up and down the sand with the ripple size waves, so he backed up a few feet and plopped himself down on the sand thinking he was safe from the water. Well, just as he was settled on the sand a bigger than normal size ripple washed up the shore, and raced over Coopers legs, making him freak out with the shock of cold water first pushing and then pulling at him. Mommy rescued him as fast as she could, but it was too late. Cooper was wet waist-high and whimpering. Poor kid, mom and I could only laugh at the hilarity of the situation. Cooper spent the next half hour playing at the beach playground on the slide. But, every time he came off the slide he would fall into the sand and add another layer of sand to his wet pants. The sand acted like a dry lubicant, and every subsequent time Cooper would fly down the slide faster and just launch off of the end. It was highly entertaining.

After that we went to McDonalds to treat Cooper to his first ever ice cream cone he could have all to himself. It was a hoot. By the end he had a full ice cream beard and an ice cream icecicle hanging off his nose. We highly regret that we didn't have our camera to capture the beauty.

A Post from Sarah

2006-09-06T18:35:00.000+08:00

On Saturday night I put Cooper to bed as usual. About
half an hour later things were very quiet and I
decided that I should check on him. (As most parents
can attest being really quiet is either a really good
or really bad thing.) Cooper wasn’t asleep yet, and
so I told him, “Cooper, go to sleep.” He looked at me
as innocent as can be and said, “K. Bye-bye.” Before
I closed the door to leave I told him, “Love you.”
Too which he replied, “Love you.”
This is the first time he has ever told me that he
loves me and nothing could be sweeter. It’s moments
like these that make being a parent all worthwhile.

Bridging the species gap

2006-08-28T19:00:00.000+08:00

Cooper does his very best to communicate. Even though he can't yet form sentences, he still points, says 'peez,' and cries to get his basic points across. He is now at the stage when, quite often, he will mimic what we do as he tries to master our (at times lacking) communication skills. Cute as it is, he is also carrying this technique to try and communicate with other . . . um, species. For the past couple of weeks, whenever he hears one of our cats, he will invariably try to 'meow' in reply. One of our cats hides under the sofa for 15 of the 16 hours of the day; and when Cooper hears her, he gets on his belly, looks under the sofa, and meows at the cat for the next minute or so. I don't get the sense that the cats are as enthusiastic about the mimicking thing as we are, though.

What a treasure

2006-08-21T17:30:00.000+08:00

Sarah and I have just discovered a little treasure we didn't know we had. The day Cooper was declared officially ours by the Hong Kong courts we also moved house from South Horizons to Discovery Bay. At the courtroom, our social worker gave us some mementos that he couldn't give us until everything was final, and since we were moving we just shoved them in a box and never considered what was inside. Well, just last week we stumbled upon the contents of what our social worker gave us, and lo and behold it contained photos. The 'orphanage' had kept a photographic record of his life before we got him. We were overjoyed to have a visual record of that time period. We rushed out and got them printed right away for a special scrap book. Anyway, those photos have now been posted online. The link is here. We hope you enjoy these special pictures as much as we do.

With Cooper you cannot sneak out

2006-08-20T19:23:00.000+08:00

Today we needed to leave church a little early. We thought, 'well, we're sitting near the back, so it should be easy to sneak out without disturbing the meeting.' We got ourselves together, and when the moment was right we stood up to duck out quickly. Only one problem. As soon as Cooper understood what was happening, he did what he usually does in that situation. He put his right hand into the air, flapped it back and forth, and said as loudly as he could, 'bye, bye. bye, bye,' and was blowing kisses to everyone he could see. Ah, what a cute little boy, and what embarassed parents! I looked up and, sure enough, several people were waving back at Cooper as we made our exit. Note to self, sneaking out is no longer easy to do.

Cooper the virtuoso

2006-08-14T18:02:00.000+08:00

Quick chuckle time. The other night Cooper woke up in the middle of the night, hummed a little tune of his own making for a few minutes, and fell back asleep. Now, every once in awhile he will wake up and cry (if his teeth are hurting him), or play, or just kick the wall with his feet. Never, though, has he woken up to serenade the night. That's our funny little boy!

Ramble on

2006-07-27T17:35:00.000+08:00

I have a few minutes, so I thought I'd sit down and just do some rambling. First, the Cooper news. He's starting to form real words. Once in awhile you'll hear a 'shooss' for shoes, or 'ba bye' instead of 'ba ba' to say bye bye. He says 'heez' as his form of please, and we hear it loud and clear when we're eating and he wants a bite. He is even saying some things in Cantonese, but neither you nor I would understand them, only Sarah does. He's in the stage where using his tongue to do the spitting 'pbpbpbpbpb' sound is just the funnest thing to do. And he is just turning all shades of brown. Sarah takes him to swim every other day; and, despite the generous coating of sunblock he receives, is getting more and more cinnamon colored.

Ok, now on to my news. Things are working out tremendously for our family in terms of my work situation. I finished working for the company I was working for last year, and have been looking for another job that would allow me flexibility and time to study. I got hooked up with a company called Science Adventures. Working 'full time' for this company means working 5-7 hours a week and receiving about half of the pay we need to survive. Unfortunately, they couldn't get enough work hours together for me to offer me the 'full time' position. Bummer. I had to look for some other full time job. I was offered a few, but they all involved long hours and working on Saturday. Sarah and I prayed about it, and we decided that a long hours job would not be condusive to our goals. We decided to exercise faith that Heavenly Father would open a way despite the risk of not going with a standard full time job. Well, not 2 days after we made that decision with Heavenly Father I got a call from Science Adventures. One of their teachers that was going to come from the States changed his mind, and would I like to take his hours and work full time. Yes, absolutely! So now I'm going to have that wonderfully flexible job this year. Now, I need to add to that. Just a few days ago I met with the person who I've been working with sporadically in setting up his new business of personal organizers. He asked me to be the 'managing director' of sorts for his company, and I could work the hours I'd like. WOW! What a blessing. Now I'll be working not one, but two jobs with wonderfully flexible hours (great for my studies). Sarah and I never imagined that when we felt impressed to make the more risky decision of not going with a standard, full time job here in Hong Kong that we would be blessed so quickly with just exactly the thing we needed. Actually, this situation is even better than what we hoped. We are being blessed even beyong our needs. We are so very grateful for Heavenly Father's abundance.

Photos through the cracks

2006-07-20T12:10:00.000+08:00

Hi. I just saw that some photos on the old hard drive had slipped through the cracks and I hadn't uploaded them yet. Well, here they are. Just click here and enjoy the Cooperness.

One year today

2006-07-13T06:46:00.000+08:00

Although Eric usually is the one to post on our blog,
I felt the need to make some comments.  Today is our
one year anniversary of bringing Cooper home from the
orphanage, Mother’s Choice.  Today we returned to
Mother’s Choice with Cooper.  I felt overwhelmed by
how much our family has changed this past year.  We
left Mother’s Choice one year ago with hopes of
becoming the family we always wanted to be.  Today we
returned as that family.  I’m so grateful for Eric and
Cooper.  Eric and I have never been happier than this
past year, and feel like the luckiest people in the
world.

I’m appreciative of Cooper’s birth mother, for giving
our son life and for her choice to give him up for
adoption.  Her loving act made it possible for us to
become parents.  Finally, I’m thankful for Mother’s
Choice and the work they do.  Each volunteer took
loving care of our son until we could. 

We are truly blessed.  Thank you for all your prayers.
Heavenly Father has truly answered them, as evidenced
by our Super Cooper.

The Pick-Up Artist

2006-07-05T18:18:00.000+08:00

Today I got to see Cooper try to pick up on girl for the first time. Yep, my little boy is already playing the field.

Today I took Cooper to the club play room for him to be able to run around and play with all the other kids. About 3o minutes into his playing, screeching, and running he stopped dead in front of a cute little 2 year old girl who was sitting on a foam rectangle. He stared at her for a few seconds, then proceeded to point at the play gym and jabber away. I imagine he was trying to communicate that they should go play together, and how well Cooper can climb up and down the big steps (no doubt trying to impress the little lass). She just stared at him. Cooper then jabbered more and pointed again. Still no response. I think Cooper could tell that the little girl was not going to be moved by his mastery of 'goo goo gaa gaa' parlance alone, and so he approached. He was not shy in the least, Cooper was a boy with a goal. He was going to sit down beside her. However, as soon as Cooper was part way up the foam rectangle, and it was obvious to the little girl what he was trying to do, she got up and ran away to go sit someplace else. Cooper was a little devestated. He tried to hide it; play it off like it was no big deal, but I could tell. He just sat on his little foam rectangle, alone, staring at the little girl now across the room, with a look of distraught disappointment on his face. I felt bad for the tyke. He had just experienced his first (to my knowledge) R E J E C T I O N. Oooh, ouch. But, true to Cooper form, after about 2 minutes the entire experience was forgotten and he was again trooping around the play room with his silly little pleased grin beaming brightly.

Switching

2006-07-03T20:32:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the few days of silence. I have been working to install and use linux on my computer due to some unresolvable issues with WindowsXP. This change to linux will hopefully save us some moolah in that we won't need to buy a new PC. It's taken some time to change over, since linux operates differently from windows, but it also hasn't been as painful as I thought it might.

As for news about Cooper, for the past few days he has been cutting 4 . . . yes FOUR molars all at once. Please direct all prayers to mommy and daddy during this trying time. Thank you.

All photos online

2006-06-28T10:07:00.000+08:00

Big news! All of Coopers photos have now been uploaded. I'm all caught up. There are no new pictures that we have taken that you have not yet seen. They are all there. Please proceed to the photo albums here to see them. Enjoy!

::Sigh::

2006-06-27T15:58:00.000+08:00

I may have said it before, but I'm going to say it again, Cooper is much too smart for his own good. He is figuring out how to get into absolutely EVERYTHING. Here's the shining example for the week. We are currently trying to train Cooper to go down for a nap and stay in bed. This is a challenge because if Cooper decides he's not ready to sleep he will slide himself out of bed and play with his toys. Well, a couple of days ago Sarah put Cooper in bed. After a few minutes it was just too quiet, so she went in to check on him. Sarah found him in the following state:

What you may not be able to tell from the picture is that he is standing in his second drawer up. He had pulled out his two drawers and was using them as steps to get into the cabinet above. Oh my goodness.

On a side note, he also likes to get behind the curtains on his window ledge and talk to himself while looking out the window as an alternative to sleeping. Do his smarts and quirks know no bounds?

The Fearless Swimmer

2006-06-21T21:02:00.000+08:00

We just got back from swimming together as a family. Let me say that . . . Cooper is fearless. We were in the jacuzzi area. Cooper could stand on the sitting level with his head comfortably above water. However, at one point he decided that exploration was in order. He took one step, two steps, then disappeared under the water. Of course daddy reached in and pulled him back up right away, but was Cooper plussed or spooked that the floor had just vanished under his feet and he had dunked under water? No, he wasn't bothered at all. In fact, seconds after he was safely on the sitting ledge he walked right over the edge again, and again went under the water. Daddy scooped the little guy back up, and he did it AGAIN! The little boy has no fear at all. Fortunately, our friend who is a children's swimming teacher says that Cooper has good form in the water.

Much happenings, short time span

2006-06-17T18:47:00.000+08:00

Holy cow!! Let me summarize - Hospital trip, cuteness, smartness, and duh-ness.

Cooper keeps us busy, that is easy to discern. What started as a fever a few days ago started to worry us when it lasted 24 hours, and climbed up to 103-104 degrees. Naturally, we took him to the hospital; DON'T WORRY, though, he is just fine. At the hospital it was determined that he has a combined bacterial AND viral infection, so they started him on antibiotics and observed him for the day. We were concerned that the hospital would likely want to keep him overnight for observation, too, but the attending doctor said, and I paraphrase, "It'll be better if he goes home for the night. For one he'll sleep better in a familiar environment. Two, he's such an active little boy we'd either have to restrain him or sedate him to keep him in bed." Well, duh!! That's our Cooper. That was 2 days ago, and Cooper has been discharged from the hospital and has not had a high fever for the past 24 hours.

Next, the cuteness. Last night Sarah put Cooper to bed. In usual form, after about 20 minutes she could hear him playing gleefully. Sarah opened the door, poked in her head, and with her stern mommy voice said, "Cooper, you go to sleep." To which Cooper replied, "K, bye-bye." and waved his hand.

Now the smartness. I got up with Cooper this morning, fed him, changed him, and plopped him right down for some morning Sesame Street. He loves it. While he was watching TV I checked email, picked up some, got some breakfast, etc. Sarah soon woke up, too, and did her morning routine. Approximately one and a half hours after Cooper had gotten up, he climbed down off the chair, toddled toward his room, waved, and said, "Bye-bye." Next thing we knew he had closed himself into his room, got in bed, and curled up with his teddy bear and blanket for a nap. I ask you, do normal 16-month-olds do this? or is Cooper just the smartest, cleverest boy in the world?

The Haircut

2006-06-14T21:59:00.000+08:00

A few days ago we gave Cooper a summer buzz haircut. Like his dad he gets hot very easily, and for the summer this haircut will help him stay cool. Let me say, though, that giving him that haircut ranks as one of the most demanding 20 minute tasks I have ever participated in. We did it at home with our own pair of clippers, and anyone who knows Cooper well knows that he WILL NOT be restrained for any reason without putting up a tremendous struggle.

Here's how it went down:

First we tried it with him standing in his high chair so he had nowhere to go, and so that his hair wouldn't get all over us. The immediate flaw in this approach was that, even though we (I) could keep his head stationary while mommy cut his hair; his feet were free to perform jumps, stamps, and other tantrumish movements. Needless to say, the high chair approach was quickly abandoned despite the bonus of us remaining hair-free. The next strategy was the bear hug hold with one handed shearing. This involved me holding Cooper's arms and legs (legs too because his feet were exactly at my groin level) in the tightest, most loving bear hug, while Sarah held his head as still as possible and at the same time practically sheep shearing him as fast as she could. Meanwhile, Cooper was screaming and creating a glue of snot and tears for his copious amount of cut hairs to stick to. I'm certain any outside spectator would have sworn we were doing our best to torture some kind of information out of him. "Where did you hide the sippy cup? We know you have it somewhere! We're going to keep squeezing you and rubbing your head with this buzzy-thingy until you talk!" After about 10 minutes of this (felt like 40) he, and we, were done. We were all completely covered in Cooper hair, and Cooper was sobbing. Sarah looked us all over and said, "We're all getting in the shower."

If there are any volunteers willing to do Cooper's next haircut please, please contact me. Below are a couple of pics of a happy, haircutted Cooper.

Sick Little Boy

2006-06-14T21:57:00.000+08:00

Sad times! Cooper is sick. This morning he was very fussy, whiny, and couldn't decide what he wanted or needed, rotating between mommy hugs and getting frustrated at some toy. His head was a hot, and we could tell he was generally uncomfortable, probably just aching all over. Mommy's at home taking care of him, but we welcome your prayers for a quick return to his normal, ornery self.

New Pics Again!!!

2006-06-13T21:30:00.000+08:00

So maybe I'm a little enthusiastic about this new website, but I've just posted ANOTHER photo album titled 2006-02-18. I hope you enjoy them. They were taken the day Cooper was sealed to us. Cooper's photos can be found here.

Quick Change

2006-06-13T20:34:00.000+08:00

OK, so, Sarah said something that made me realize that it won't be practical to have a website dedicated just to Cooper once we get another, um, Cooper. So I've changed a few things about the website to make it more family centered than Cooper only-centered. It's our family site now, though most of the posts will still undoubtedly be about Cooper. Thanks for bearing with me as I get these fine tunings in the beginning here. Loves to all.

New pics!!!

2006-06-13T13:14:00.000+08:00

I have just uploaded new pictures to Cooper's online photo albums. The most recent is titled: 2006-02-10. From now on I'm just going to be labeling the photo albums according to the date (approximate) that the photos were taken. I think there are 84 pics in this new album, so enjoy! You can get to Cooper's online photos by clicking here.

First posting

2006-06-12T22:20:00.000+08:00

Hello to all Cooper fans. This is the inaugural post on Cooper's exclusive news site. This will serve to be a check-in point for all those who would like to keep up on what's happening in Cooper's world on a day-to-day, or week-to-week basis. I admit that I (Eric) have been sparse in keeping everyone afloat with Cooper happenings, and that many of you are starved for news. Well, this here website will give me a chance to redeem myself and keep everyone who's interested up to date on what's going on with our unique little boy. As this is the first of many posts to come let me kick it off with a nice little photo of our Cooper shortly after we met him for the first time. This happens to be Grandpa Campbell's favorite as well.

And also, if you can figure out how, please by all means leave your own comments on the site. I would love to hear them. Stay tuned!