A Visit to the Dentist with an "Unhappy" Ending

This past week Cooper had his first visit to the dentist. He sat on daddy's lap while we waited for the dentist to come. He liked to look at the dentist table but did not want to lie on it. He thought the TV on the ceiling was pretty cool.





He even tried on the cool glasses the hygienist gave him to use. But they didn't stay on too long.


The dentist was really nice. Cooper was such a good boy. He even let him looked in his mouth with a little mirror. The dentist said Cooper had nice teeth but his front teeth were not lining up as good as the back and that he had a slight overbite. He said this could be caused by a pacifier. And of course we were embarrassed and had to admit that he still uses a pacifier. He stated the obvious (to a speech pathologist) that the continued use of the pacifier could cause a tongue trust and other speech problems. As I may have mentioned before, we have tried to get rid of Cooper's happys with little success. I guess it's because I really wasn't ready for the challenge I knew it was going to be. Now there was no turning back.

So after Cooper's dentist visit we decided to go spend the rest of the morning at Hill Aerospace Museum.

He loved to sit in the jet and push all the buttons and pretend he was driving.


Cooper loved helping daddy test out the gyroscope. Spinning in circles was fun.

Soon it was time to go home and face the challenge of putting Cooper down for a nap without his "happy" Of course this was the first thing he asked for when Paul started to rock him. We tried to explain to Cooper that the dentist said it was time to get ride of his "happy". He didn't seem to understand and began to cry. Eventually, Cooper calmed down and let daddy read him a book. Almost an hour later, Paul was still rocking Cooper and decided it was time to try to put him in his crib. This was a disaster! Cooper cried and asked for his "happy". At this point Paul had had enough of Cooper. Grammy Rachel stepped in and ended up rocking him to sleep. It had taken over 2 hours to get him to go to sleep. And unfortunately he only slept for 45 minutes or so.

When Cooper woke up, he was not happy. I don't blame him. If someone took away my happiness I'd be pretty upset too. Cooper's bed time came fast. Grammy Rachel decided she would try to put Cooper to bed since she was not his usual routine. After rocking him for over an hour, she came down stairs and said he was finally asleep. Alas, this was not true. Cooper started crying again and would not stop. I volunteered to try and settle him down. After another half hour of rocking him, I was finally able to get him to settle down and go in his crib. I still had to rub his back and continue singing. I think it was almost 10 pm by the time I left his room. What a process. And the night was only beginning. My thoughts were worrying what was going to happen if he woke up during the middle of the night. Paul would usually go in and give Cooper his "happy" and he would go right back to sleep. Now what would we do? Five A.M. rolls around and Cooper begins to make some noise. I was so very thankful that I was able to put him back to sleep with a back rub and a song in only 10 minutes! Go mommy! Day 1 without a happy was over.

I'm hoping that Cooper will soon forget about his "happy". I feel so guilty not giving it to him every time he asks. So what if he has dental problems, or speech problems. I had braces and turned out just fine. And his mommy is a speech pathologist that knows many tricks to help with speech problems. I feel like I am taking away his safety net and comfort that he has known since he was born. I feel like a bad parent, although I know I'm not. Many parents go through this with their children. I knew this was going to be hard, but I didn't realize that we would have to sleep train Cooper all over again. Well, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Is it spring yet?

Cooper is a very active boy. Since December it has been getting more difficult to entertain him inside. He LOVES to play outside any chance mom and dad will let him. Here are a few attempts to entertain him inside.


Playing inside his tent is fun. But he enjoys running in and out of it the most.


Being wrapped up in the pack and play bed bottom is always fun. Especially when daddy carries him like a suitcase.


Going to the park on the days it wasn't snowing and sliding down the slide was fun. Although, Cooper would not go down by himself.


In February, Uncle Craig, Aunt Olga and their friend Brian came to visit. During the day they went snowboarding and one evening we made sushi for dinner. cooper was so excited to help.


He even enjoyed eating sushi, much more than mommy did.


Cooper has decided he doesn't like to sit at the big table any more so we got him his own little table and chair set. Now this is how we eat dinner most nights. Apparently mommy and daddy don't get a say in the matter.


One day when it was sunny out we spend the morning at the park swinging with Benecio and his daddy. Even though there was snow it was still fun.


Cooper was invited to a birthday party at McDonalds. All the slides were so much fun. Maybe someday he will be big enough to do the taller slides.


When it is cold outside this is Cooper's favorite place to play, in the back of daddy's car. At least it's a little warmer than outside.


One weekend the train show came to Ogden. It's been over 3 weeks and Cooper is STILL talking about the train show. I think his favorite part was climbing on all the big trains.


But riding on the train was also fun.


One day Cooper decided he wanted to play outside. He kept falling down in the snow so he decided to put on mommy's mittens. Now Cooper can touch the snow without getting cold hands.


In March I danced in the spring belly dance show in SLC. What a blast! I love these ladies!


A few weekends ago our microwave died and we needed to buy a new one. I never realized how much we relied on one until it's gone. This was the box it came in and Cooper was creative enough to use it as a garage for his car. One of his favorite things to do is open and close garages. This was perfect.


Cooper was playing outside one sunny day and accidentally tripped over his chair and got a big scrape on his cheek. He absolutely needed a band-aid to make it all better. Its magic how it works.


We went to the Beus pond weekend to feed the ducks. They have now posted many do not feed the duck signs :( Apparently, we never noticed them before, if they really were there.

A little mouth music for your listening pleasure.




Cooper loves to ride his bike. He's getting good about putting his feet on the pedals while mommy or daddy pushes him.





We are looking forward to spring so we can spend more time outside. Hurry up and get here spring!

Christmas # 2

Well, before February is almost over I figured I better do my last post about Christmas. In January we went to Nampa, ID to celebrate Christmas with the Burnett family. We had a wonderful time with the whole family.


This is Cooper's new favorite thing to do when we visit Grammy and Grampy Burnett.
I have a feeling he's going to be a musician some day.


Just in case you didn't know what song he's playing and singing, it's Twinkle Twinkle.


What a cute little Charlie Brown tree.


I'm very excited to try recipes in my new book.


Cooper loved helping Grammy open her lotion.


What a fun tent and tunnel Grampy picked out for Cooper. It's great physical therapy too.


Grammy loved playing in it too. Cooper thought this was funny.


The tent was fun in so many different ways.


Grammy was nice enough to give Cooper a haircut while we were there. Thankfully Cooper sat still for most of it thanks to daddy's great help.


Grandparents are so much fun!


The Burnett Family

Christmas 2010

My parents came for 10 days to celebrate Christmas. We were able to do so many fun thing.


We went to the Hill AFB Aerospace Museum. Cooper loved pretending to fly a jet. He mostly loved pushing all the buttons.


Mom and I made chocolate covered pretzels.


We went to the Treehouse museum and had a tea party.


And fed the babies.


And loved playing with the drums!


Grammy Rachel brought some fun wooden masks for us to color.


Playing guitars with Poppy was fun. e-i-e-i-o!


We went to eat at the Prairie Schooner. I can't believe we've lived her 7 years and never been there. Cooper loved eating under a covered wagon. I wished it blocked out his screaming a little more.


Paul and I went on a date to see the Nutcracker in SL. So much fun.


When my brother Craig and sister-in- law Olga came to visit we went to see the Ogden Christmas village. Cooper loved the big ball best.


For Christmas Eve we made sushi. Cooper even got to help.


Even though I didn't eat any it was still fun to watch them make it.
Paul wouldn't mind if this became a yearly tradition.


Left overs are the best. Cooper even ate some sushi.


Santa brought so many presents to our house! As I was putting Cooper to bed on Christmas Eve, Cooper said, "Santa Claus rock you." I think he understood when I told him Santa was busy delivering toys because then he said, "Santa Claus Cooper toys".


Christmas morning was fun opening presents. Cooper seemed more excited about daddy's oil pan than his own toys.


The oil pan makes a great place to sit and watch the train.


What a fun monster truck.


Cooper kept calling his backhoe a trash truck because it made the same noises.


Trying out his new bath toys in the tub. Boats make great cups for drinking water.


What a wonderful Christmas!