summer time fun

here we are at the end of august - well actually beginning of september. We've had a wonderful summer together as a family. This is such a fun time to be cooper's parents. He is learning more and more everyday. We have really gotten into gardening and have turned a bunch of boxes into beautiful gardens. Last summer kevin built above ground boxes for our veggies. Cooper has had a ton of fun gardening with us. He really loves to dig in the dirt. He also likes to help pick weeds. Well more so I pick the weeds and put some in his bucket and then he gives it back to me so proud of himself for picking what he did! :) He is getting good at picking the cherry tomatoes and eating them. however his favorite thing to pick is our neighbors raspberries!

He is becoming so much more active. We bought him a little tikes orange/yellow coop car that he could live in if we let him! he now gets in it dukes of hazard style by jumping over the side that the door doesn't open! :) He can go up and down stairs without a problem. we have tried to teach him to go down on his 'bootie'. he is learning to push his luck and is trying to walk up and down them now. ofcourse we have a few bumps and bruises to prove it. He can stack his blocks super high in the air and loves to knock them down.

He is becoming so much more vocal. he started out w/ a few words - ma,da, cat, dog, ball, cup and now will stay 'get in here now'. he also loves loves loves to sing songs and dance. we are always turning on the music to jam together. His fav songs to sing are twinkle twinkle little star and old mcdonald. he knows how to say 'up above' right along with the song... even when i am rocking him to sleep. he also sings 'e-i-e-i-o' and will walk around singing that all day! :) he still jabbers alot and we dont know a lot of what he says but is fun to be able to communicate with him more.

probably one of his biggest accomplishments this summer is that he can swim... pretty much on his own. we started off the summer in his floaty boat where he sat. at first he was afraid and cried a lot but we got him used to the water. soon enough he was kicking around the water all on his own. we thought we'd try his 'turtle' jacket (as see above) to see how he would do. we had to hold him a lot to get used to that but soon enough he was done w/ us holding him and away he went. swimming and kicking all over the place - he was doing this by 16 months! its amazing to see the fear this boy doesn't have (sometimes dangerous lack of fear too!!!) he is a true fish - maybe the next michael phelps?

there really are no words to describe how much we love cooper - he really is the best addition to our lives. together we learn to love him more and more daily. being his parent is a true blessing and we are so honored God choose us to be his mommy and daddy.

more pictures soon of our summer travel adventures...

what a spring!!!

so we are a little late in posting - sorry it has just been such a great spring. cooper has really enjoyed the sunshine and all the new adventures of the world. we love to get outside and go for walks, play at the park, hang out down at the neighbors and try all sorts of new things. He is becoming quite the gardener too!! he even will pull out the pretty flowers mommy has just planted. lucky us huh? he is always our little helper. he even helped papa and uncle and our nieghbor build a fence! ofcourse when he realized it would keep him inside the yard and take away his freedom he didn't quite like that so much! he also loves to sweep and vaccum and is always helping us out with it. between the broom and the plunger he doesn't need toys! :)

we took our first long vacation in early may and it was hard to be away from him. we will admit it. we were so glad for cellphones and picture messages so we could get a picture of him every day. he had a wonderful time at grandma cheri, grandma tamy, grandpa john and auntie ashley c. he also got to spend time with auntie ashley, auntie melissa, auntie courtney, cousins madison, ella and griffen and mary during his drive up and down. (we are so lucky for a great family to help out with him!!!) He was so spoiled and don't even know if he missed us. however he was soooo excited and had lots of hugs and kisses for us. we were a little worried he wouldn't take us back...

cooper has many new tasks and bruises to prove it. he walks great now and is even starting to 'run' a little bit. he is so adventurous and really has no fears to the world. He will climb up chairs, stairs and anything else - just sometimes doesn't realize he can't do it and down he goes. he has a few good bruises on the head to prove it - really it was an accident we promise!! He is learning more words - ball, baba (cup), kitty, dog, sit to name a few. he also knows how to give us hugs and kisses!! it really is the best feeling ever when he comes up to you and will give you a huge hug and big open mouth kiss (yes its always open mouth!) just today he started to be able to ride his push car all by himself. he still is a great eater and is willing to try just about anything! we are so lucky. he sleeps through the night and takes great naps. really he is the just easiest layed back kid - so flexible and willing to just go w/ the flow. yet like i said always have to keep your eye on him - he has no fear and tackles everything like he can do it (even when he can't!) he will go down the slide by himself - yes the tall ones that the big kids don't like... i tell you!

He got his first big boy hair cut the end of april. he did pretty well with it - just cried w/ the hair dryer and the clippers. that loud noise wasn't for him!!!

We have a walker!

This past weekend we were up north at Breezy point resort with my family and Cooper decided to take his first steps. We were convinced that he was never going to walk because he really is such an expert crawler. He can crawl faster then we walk! Well thursday he decided to take a step here or there but nothing major. Friday AM while we were all there he just got up took 5 steps and fell down and then got up to walk again! and again and again! Now he isn't stopping. EVERYTIME he does it he has the biggest smile on his face it is so cute! He is so proud of himself and giggles the whole time. We wonder if he'll always do this when we walks. We do credit some of his walking to being in the kiddy pool where we put his float on him and let him go. I really thing the bouncy of the water helped make a difference in him figuring out what walking is really like. He still has plenty of falls but we officially have a walker - even if his walking is like a drunken sailor!!! :) He is loving to show off for everyone and got to show his auntie, uncle, cousins and all his grandparents over the weekend.

This past weekend he also got his 11 tooth! WE now have 3 molars and 8 primary teeth. This poor kid still takes teething like a champ! We are also very proud to say he has offically master drinking from a sippy cup. He was for quite a while not ONE BIT interested in drinking whole milk (and also was pretty much not interested in nursing anymore either.) I came up with an idea to try mixing his milk with a flavor milk. We got some banana flavored milk (which for the record not many stores sell - we are soooo lucky i saw it at a little supervalu near our house! thanks bergens!) We have been diluting it and now he takes it like a champ as well as water and juice/water mix. Ofcourse he still only takes one type of sippy cups - Advent style - which they only sell at Babies R Us. That is our boy - always doing things in his own way! There is no telling coop what to do or how to do it... he wasn't the best nurser when he was born but he figured it out and got mama's milk for 1 year! He still eats all food - literally all food - chinesse, indian, ethopian, veggies, fruits (GRAPES AND BANANA ARE THE FAV!), crackers, cheese... anything. He is going to eat us out of house and home! :)

Happy 1st Birthday Cooper!

Well our little man is now one. where did the last year go? He had a wonderful birthday - well actually three of them!!! We started out his birthday having pancakes as a family and then joined dad for lunch at his work. We celebrated on his birthday here at our house with family and friends. He enjoyed his birthday soup of italian cheese tortelli but ofcourse he didn't even know what was yet to come. He absolutely loved being sung too. When everyone was singing to him he just sat there with a big smile on his face clapping for them! What a ham he is! We gave him the candle - which he didn't care at all about nor did he blow out - and then let him have at it with the cupcake. He was timid at first but as you can see he didn't hold back for too long! :) He had a great birthday outfit - complete with a 'fun to be one tshirt' a 'birthday boy bib' and 2 hats (i am tempted to make the prince hat his yearly birthday picture hat!) He got wonderful presents all of which he loved - some great clothes, books, jack in the box, shoes, puzzle and his first doll from his Gg (greatgrandma) He (we) are sooo blessed by all the love!

Friday night we traveled up to brainerd to have a birthday party celebratation with our family and friends up there. Ofcouse as you can see from the picture below he was a total ham this night and didn't hold back at all from all of the attention! Nor did he withhold himself from making a mess. He dove right in this time and went for the hair and all!!! Everytime he made a mess people would laugh and clap for him and he'd do it even more. Really this boy doesn't like attention or the camera at all...

We also had a fun neighborhood celebratation with our great neighbor friends. He ofcourse got mad this time because we took away the cake from him after we sang and he had to wait for a piece to be cut. (the 2 other parties he got a cupcake that he could dive right into) such patience he has! :)

When we look over the last year we can't be happier or more blessed. Being parents has taught us a lot about ourselves, each other and our relationship. We have had to learn to depend on each other even more making us an even stronger family. Cooper is so amazing - we love everything he does and as you can tell try to capture every thing we can on camera. The boy isn't camera shy either (sad thing to admit our computer has over 5000 pics of cooper - i know i know but w. digital why not right?)

Coop is learning mroe by the day. He isn't walking on his own but is w/everything he can push or walk along. He really is an expert and fast crawler i don't think he sees the point of walking cause it's slower! He loves to read and will 'read' to himself. He is so curious - opens everything (including lotion and spice containers!), pushes things to stand on what he can to reach what he wants, can take off his pants (and throw them at you) he has lots of words - ball, mama, dada, baba, sit to name a few. He ofcourse is stubborn when it comes to drinking... he had a heck of a time figuring out breastfeeding (and we made it work and happen for a year!) didn't like the sippy cup forever and now only drinks from one kind. Won't take straight water so we had to transition from mix juice/water to water and now won't take whole milk! Even w/ mommy's milk mixed in (this boy i tell you!) tonight we tried banana milk and he drank 3oz! YEA! so this last sippy i mixed w/ 4oz banana milk and 1 oz whole milk... we'll wean from here... but he eats EVERYTHING in site!

Well Happy Birthday to Cooper - we love you sooo much!!!

where did the last year go?

It's so hard to believe that in two days Cooper will be one. I have been thinking alot of what life was like 367 days ago... all that we wonder about and all that was yet to be. now here we are a year later with the most amazing little boy ever!!!

Great news to share: Cooper had his follow up ultrasound with the urologist last week and everything was perfect!!! meaning his left kidney was back to normal size and we don't ever have to go back there again. let me tell you coop hated that Ultrasound. From my line of work i also realize that if this is the worst medical problem we encounter that will be just fine with us.

We have been outside enjoying the beautiful early spring weather. Coop has enjoyed being back in the great outdoor. this has always calmed him. we have went on walks and sledding. Even took a trip to the park the other day and went swing on the swings in the snow ofcourse!!!

Cooper got his first haircut in middle January. It was long overdue. we just did it here and home and maybe it didn't turn out the best but opps!!! the back kinda looks like the bowl cuts of the '80s!!! :)

Cooper is beginning to explore his world more and more everyday. it is amazing what he figure out to do. you can see here in this picture that he knocked a box over pushed it to the gate with hopes to climb over it. He also takes his winnie the pooh car and pushes it into the gate until he knocks it over. He has also figure out how to take his pants off and throw them at us. He loves to play catch and is really good at it. He still isn't up for walking but i think that is totally because he is an expert crawler. He will cruise behind his walker though. I know one day he will just run and totally skip out on the walking all together!!!

We have birthday plans here in minneapolis with family and friends and also up in brainerd. We'll be sure to post lots of pictures! Coop will experience his first cake soon!!! Coop loves his food too!!! Really he will eat anything put in front of him - chinese, indian, greek - fruits, veggies, meat and anything else. it is amazing. he can also suck in his spaghetti noodles!!! quite the talent we tell you! :)

The best Christmas present...

We had an amazing first christmas together as a family. We were able to celebrate with both of our families and really enjoyed our time together. Cooper had a great time. I think his favorite thing was all of the paper. He got a little overwhelmed with the presents - mainly because i think they got in his way of crawling all over the room. He has mastered his crawl and can really get moving. He got a 'walker' for christmas and really enjoys crusing around it. He also got his first truck and pushed that thing around and around grandma/grandpa's house - for at least a half hour. He also got his first sled and had a wonderful time sledding w/ his cousin Madison. He really enjoyed sledding - except when the snow got in his face. (Yes we did tape his pants to his shoes to help prevent the snow from getting in there - kinda ghetto i know!)

Coop is turning into quite the eater too - he will eat anything he can get his hands on. And he loves it too - you can tell from his pictures that he is getting a budda belly on him! :) We just wish he could drink from his sippy cup a little better...

Coop has mastered the words 'mama' and 'dada' he has many other sounds but nothing we can make out quite yet. He LOVES to scream with delight!!! For such a little man he can make quite the noise! It is amazing.

He is working on 4 more teeth - poor little man! He has also mastered throwing his block, crawling to them and then throwing again, crawling... he can amuse himself for a long time with this! It is quite the scene to watch. Just today he figured out how to clap his hands so he loves to do something - look at us for approval - and then clap for himself! He is sooo cute!

Coop's favorite gift... WRAPPING PAPER!!!

Drake Family - 2008 - First Family Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you each are having a wonderful holiday season full of lots of family, friends, food and maybe even a few good deals. As we look at 2009 right around the corner we sometimes wonder where 2008 went – maybe to sleepless nights? ;)
We spent the month of January getting ready for our baby and enjoy the last of our ‘baby free’ days (if one can call it that being 9 months pregnant!) We took in lots of dinners and movies and just enjoyed getting the nursery ready.
On February 12, 2008 @ 1:15pm our world forever changed for the better. After 17 hours of labor and 2.5 hours of pushing (and literally Kevin saying at one point during the delivery ‘wow this is really tiring!’ I could have hit him if I wasn’t so exhausted!) Cooper Cristion Drake entered the world perfectly and has remained that way since. He was 8lbs 14oz 21.5in. And has been growing everyday since!!! He is an amazing baby – full of such delight, smiles, giggles and curiosity. Everything he does is perfect. Each day we realized how blessed we are to have him in our lives. We often wonder what we did in our lives before he came into it (except maybe sleep a little more!) But even sleep he is good at – sleeping through the night by 7 weeks. Overall he has been healthy. When we were pregnant they saw on Ultrasound that he had fluid within one of his kidneys. When he was 5 weeks old and also again at 6 months old he underwent a series of test to access his kidneys. Overall the kidneys still have extra fluid on the left side but they are healthy and functioning great. We now continue to monitor the kidneys yearly.
At 10 months now he is already crawling and pulling himself up on everything. We caught him today trying to climb his dresser! He has 8 teeth and loves to eat!!! Especially bananas and his favorite MumMum Crackers. He babbles a lot but only real close to works are mama and dada. He loves his two kitties, Lucy and Gracie, and giggles everything they come near. They on the other hand just prefer to watch him from afar. We have been on lots of adventures together including his first airplane ride at 11 weeks to Orlando with Uncle Riley, Grandma Tamy and Grandpa John. We met my Godparents and their children there and enjoyed the beautiful Florida sunshine together! Coop is an angel in the car and he gets lots of experience as we make a lot of trips up to Brainerd to see both of our families and also ventured to WI to meet the Cullinane’s. Being the 1st boy grand/greatgrandchild he is definitely spoiled!!! J He loves the park, being outdoors, reading, swimming and bath time and exploring any and everything he can get himself close to! We really are so blessed and we love him even more then we ever thought was humanly possible. We didn’t even know the heart was able to love this much. There is a saying that we have found to be so true “A baby fills a void in your heart that you didn’t even know was missing…”
We still live in South Minneapolis and enjoy the area and people we live by.
I am still working as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the University of MN Children’s Hospital in Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT). I have the opportunity to work daily beside children and their families as they literally fight to live. No one decides to have a BMT for the heck of it but you’d never know by looking in the faces of the children I take care of daily. I am so blessed to be able to work beside such amazing families. I never really understood what it maybe like to be a parent in that situation until I am a parent myself. I am humbled daily by my job and also realize how blessed we are to Cooper. The little bumps in the road with his kidneys and an ear infection are nothing compared to the families I work beside each day.
Kevin took a new position in a Chiropractic Personal Injury clinic right outside of downtown Minneapolis. He has really enjoyed the position and the opportunity to work with a wide range of patients from all economic and cultural background. He is also close to home so that makes his commute great! He was able to spend a few weeks this summer being ‘Mr. Mom’ before this job started. Both he and Cooper loved it! He is also able to spend many mornings having ‘papa/Coopie’ time before work. He also has become quite the hunter with my dad and brother. Kevin did get his 1st 8 point buck this season (and the antlers are hanging from our back porch to prove it!)
Kevin and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this December (12 years together counting dating!) Being with your best friend makes these last five years of life fly right past and we look forward to fifty-five more! Besides being parents we have also been able to enjoy time together with our friends and families. We continue to have fun making our house into a home. We worked hard and had a lot of on our perennial and vegetable gardens this summer. Ofcourse the not so fun parts of homeownership we have also experience like our sink and oven breaking. . We hope to do a little traveling and do plan to take our first baby-less trip in May out east for a wedding. Coop probably won’t even realize we are gone because he’ll get so much grandma/grandpa/auntie/uncle/cousin time and attention! J
We pray that 2009 will bring you love, peace and happiness. Take the time to step back and remember all of the Reasons for the Seasons. We thank you for your love and friendship in our family’s life!

Happy Holidays!
Kevin, Erica and Cooper