Who will he be????

I love trying to figure out what kind of older child, teenager, and adult Cooper will grow to be.

Today, I told him firmly "NO!" (just for chasing Scout and hitting her with a toy) and he ran over to give me a kiss.

What am I in for?????

The Mini DoDoDooo

Growing up a strangely favorite play-thing in our house was a do-do-dooooo, which was our word for an empty paper towel roll, or if you were really lucky, an empty wrapping paper roll. These card board tubes were instantly fun musical instrument; simply go "do-do-dooo" in the end of the tube and that's it! Easy fun!!! Erik and I have taught Cooper about this, and he loves it too.

Yesterday morning while I was washing my face I could hear Cooper downstairs saying "do-doooo" (he doesn't quite have the 3 syllables down yet). Here is what my ingenious boy was doing.

What do you have Cooper?


Play Cooper, play!!!!!


Looking so proud of himself surrounded by tampons.

What Kind of World Do You Want

I came across the inspiring and moving site What Kind of World Do You Want today, from an email forwarded by my sister-in-law. This is an amazing idea put together by John Ondrasik from Five for Fighting and inspired by their video "World". Anyone can upload a video to the site and every time someone watches the video, just under $1.00 is donating to a charity.

The videos for Autism Speaks are especially poignant, bringing the beautiful faces of real children to the statistics and research breakthroughs everyone hears about. Autism Spectrum Disorders have changed the lives of so many families and I have seen first hand how good therapy can make a difference and how much more we need to learn about these disorders. It is devastating to think that so many children do not have the services they need, and Autism Speaks is working to make high quality therapy for all children a reality.

Please take a few minutes to watch a video or two, but be warned that you may need a tissue while you do.

Happy Birthday

to Erik!!! Last week we celebrated Erik's 32nd birthday.
Cooper was very into the cake and singing, but wanted the cake in front of him. Erik was sure to explain to Cooper that it was his birthday, so the cake was for him.
I think that Cooper was relieved that he got his own piece of cake, a good sign for Cooper enjoying every bit of his birthday in just a couple weeks!

First Video Attempt

This is my first attempt to upload video. Enjoy Cooper taking Scouty for the only walks she gets these days. Poor Scout!

Christmas Morning 2007

Cooper was so much fun Christmas morning having enthusiastically grasped the concept of presents. He was in awe of his new Polar Express train from Santa and the new cars to round out his ridiculous collection of the movie toys. While Cooper could not anticipate what was coming, he tried very hard to make the excitement last for days, trying to open everyone's gifts, and even trying to re-open gifts.

Cooper's First Real Haircut

I am admittedly a bit behind on blogging after a long visit to Michigan. In any event, here some attempts to catch up.

Cooper had his first real haircut at a place that specializes in children's haircuts called Little Snips. Up until now, Erik and I have been completing all haircuts, for a couple reasons: we are cheap and fear the miniature business man haircut on our son. But, Cooper's behavior during haircuts was resulting in haircuts in stages and sometimes frightening results. So, we took him for a good cut, and it proved successful. Much to our amazement, Cooper sat pretty still and quietly while the girl snipped away. The car shaped seat and Elmo on TV helped, but I'm encouraged that Cooper is already showing signs of behaving better for strangers than for his parents.

Happy 2008

The new year is here, and I couldn't be happier. The end of 2007 was less than smooth in the Dahl house and I've been anxiously counting the days to 2008. I have high hopes for this year, but haven't completely solidified my aspirations yet....perhaps in a future post. Nonetheless, I want to wish everyone a big HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!