Adventures At Seay

We had our first trip to the ER last night! Yay milestones..... So here's the story (because I don't want to forget the details.) I was Skyping with my mom when Ryan got home from school. Cooper was so excited and ran to the kitchen door to greet him with arms open wide (doesn't happen to often, he's usually too busy playing to notice any arrivals.) So Cooper decided that he wanted to play ball with dad right away. He got his ball and ran to Ryan to throw it. While Cooper hurled (yes, hurled) the ball toward Ryan, he twisted himself around and his feet slipped out from under him...sending his sweet little chin straight down into the floor. I am still on Skype with my mom at this point and we both hear the crash. Ryan says something about looking at it and says "Whoa, that's a good one." Then he brings my bleeding baby around the corner to let me inspect the damage. I end my call and take a look at the carnage. He had a pretty good sized gash right under his chin, about 1/2 an inch to an inch long, and every time he moved his mouth it would spread open and blood would gush out. Awesome. We managed to calm him down and slow/stop the bleeding. Had I been equipped with anything more than Scooby Doo band-aids, we probably could have handled the situation at home with a good butterfly shaped bandage. However, this was my baby's first serious cut and I felt better making sure he didn't need stitches.
            Cooper did awesome at the ER and the whole time he was being checked out. He kept asking us to rock him like a baby and was concerned about the gum in our mouths. The nurses were so nice and since they knew it would only take 5 minutes to glue his cut shut they made sure we got it taken care of quickly. He held so still while the Dr. glued him shut and told us repeatedly that he expected a treat when he was "all better."
          We took him to Wendy's for chicken and a frosty, and while we were waiting he told us , "Thank you for taking me to the doctor." It was so pitiful and almost made me cry. He was fine the rest of thing evening and went to sleep just fine. All together, not the worst first ER visit we could have had...and if he turns out to be a hockey player like he keeps telling me he will...we will have way more to look forward to. ugh.

After Christmas we made sure to get some fun activities in while with family. We went to a Predators hockey game with Grampy, Grammy, and Aunt Linda. Cooper has developed an obsession with hockey and was in his element. He loves the lights, sounds and especially Knash the predator mascot. He asks everyday to go to a hockey game and there's not a day that goes by when we don't play hockey at home. We don't know if this obsession will last (maybe only until baseball season) but if it does we will have to invest in the ice skates he also asks for everyday (such a funny boy!)

We also took him down to the old Cookeville train depot to hang out with the trains (another current favorite thing.) He had a blast and we will have to go visit every time we visit grammy and grampy!

I have been putting off a Christmas post for the longest..but it's time to just bite the bullet and catch up! So here goes:
We went to Bass pro in Nashville to meet Santa. Not as great a set-up/experience as last year, but it was free...so I guess it'll work

In our whirlwind week before Christmas we made it to Nashville to take Cooper to see ICE! at Opryland and Santa at BassPro. Grampy, Grammy, and Emi met us there for our day of fun! I wasn't sure if Coop could appreciate the ice sculptures or if he would be too cold...but he loved it (at least he loved the slide part.) He walked around in his big blue parka and stared at all the animals with wide eyes. When we got to the slide he could hardly wait. I didn't know if they would let him do it because he couldn't sit up with his parka on, but they didn't say anything and let him slide down on his back and let me catch him at the bottom. He was nothing but smiles!! He did it a second time and would have kept going, but we made him keep moving through the exhibit. He was sad to go, but we will definitely go again next year (and wear warmer clothes)!

There was a week before we left for our Christmas trip that Ryan was out of school, but Cooper was still going. We got alot done in the Christmas shopping/packing/baking area. We also had alot of fun things to do! Cooper had his first school Christmas party! His class all wore matching shirts (a gift from his amazing teachers) and they munched on cookies and juice. I think it threw him off that both Ryan and I were there, but he had fun.

The week of the Christmas parade was a cold and wet one for sure! The parade was cancelled the first go round and moved to the next night but it was still cold and the ground was still wet. Cooper and I made the trip to the square to watch the festivities though and Miss Sarah met us there and sat with us helping Coop wave to the floats. If there is one thing I know about my child, it is that he loves parades. The bands, the lights, the animals...he loves every minute. He couldn't wait for the each float to make to us and waved and said "Merry Christmas!" He was so mad when we told him it was over and demanded we sit back down!

We are so blessed. Our families are constantly a source of happiness and strength for us these days. They help us in so may ways and we are so thankful for them. We are even more thankful that both my family and Ryan's parents are only 30 minutes away from each other. We used to have to choose who we'd spend time with during certain holidays. We couldn't do Thanksgiving with both families and Christmas was spent driving 4 hours across the state of Tennessee. This year we spent Thanksgiving with both of our families and we all had a blast. The week started with Cooper's school's Thanksgiving feast (chaos) and then to Nashville for a Preds hockey game with friends. Cooper has more fun than I could ever express, but I was going for mother of the year and forgot my camera. We spent a few days in Crossville and then a few more in Cookeville. We got to see every family member we could and also help Grampy and Grammy put up the Christmas decorations. Cooper constantly talks about going back to see everyone, so we are so looking forward to Christmas break!