The O'Dell Observer: Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper!

Dear Cooper,

I am blessed every day to be your mom. You are full of life and energy. To you, every moment is full of fun and discovery. You are curious and love to explore anything and everything. You love people and do not know a stranger. Even at 9 or 10 months old, your face would light up when someone approached you. Tonight, we were eating dinner at McCallisters and you approached several families and said hello, did a few dance moves for them and then moved to the next table. I just watched and smiled because you were busy making people feel special. It's a gift you have. Especially at church, you're well known for the greetings you give everyone.

You are such a funny, little guy. You make goofy faces and do silly things just to make us laugh. You are busy every minute you are awake. You explore, climb, touch, run, jump,and pound things. You have no fear and are rough and tough. You fall down all the time and don't react to things that seem like they really hurt. You jump up and move on to the next thing. You LOVE to play ball...any kind of ball. You like cars, books and would stay outside all day if you could.

You are a big boy...99th% for height and weight. Your daddy cheers after every well baby checkup when he hears how big you are. You love to play with your daddy. You jump on him and wrestle around, but you also like to sit on his lap and watch an episode of Elmo or Barney. But Coop...you are the sweetest to your momma. I treasure my snuggle time with you every night before bed.

One of my favorite things about you is that in the morning when you wake up, you will not get out of bed unless you have your blanket, favorite bear, and stuffed penguin in your arms. They are your loveys and go every where with you for at least 30 minutes. Then, you are awake and too busy to hold them, but at nap time, mommy better know where they are or I am in trouble. You won't sleep without them.

You think your big sis is about the coolest thing around. You follow her and mimic how she plays (which sometimes results in you dressing up in princess dresses.) For your birthday she gave you a cowboy dress up outfit and a cape and mask so that Daddy can relax about you playing dress up : ) Lainey likes to sing a lot and for some reason, this gets on your nerves. You love to tell her "no no sissy" when you want her to stop. At this point she thinks it's funny...we'll see how long that lasts. You guys are sweet friends. I love watching that bond develop.

Cooper, you are pure joy and bring sunshine to my life every day. God gave me such a blessing when he placed you in our family. I love you dearly little man. Happy 2nd Birthday!

We had Cooper's birthday party a couple of weeks ago in Excelsior Springs so that all of our family could be there. It was a great day and we had such a good time celebrating with everyone.