Cooper at 2 1/2 years

Around the time that Cooper was diagnosed with his hearing loss, many of his ‘behaviors’ came on strong. I would like to add that we didn’t know any different. Meaning, we knew that Cooper was A LOT of work but we didn’t know how much work he was compared to other kids. All of my friends have little girls. Fast talking, sweet, sociable, easy little girls. Their kids do art projects and activities and my son was so different. But I held onto the fact that they were girls and I had a boy.

But as we started to do more activities and get to know more people, I really started to notice just how different Cooper was.

Cooper at 2 1/2:

• Cooper didn’t say any words. He also didn’t mimic or attempt to repeat any language. When he did communicate vocally it was always a high-pitched vowel sound. No ‘m’s or n’s. No Mama or dada or puppy or cookie.
• Cooper couldn’t wave with just one hand. He would flap both arms in a wave.
• He couldn’t jump or walk down stairs.
• He had extremely weak hands. He would try to use a spoon or fork but couldn’t. He would point at things but would usually use the whole hand instead of one finger.
• He became obsessed with throwing. Rocks, balls, sticks, sand, dirt.
• He couldn’t use a straw. He can’t blow or pucker his lips.
• He sits in the “w”.
• Cooper’s understanding was very delayed. He could follow basic directions but struggle with new things.
• He would get very stressed out if we tried to get him to do something…it could be anything.
• At times Cooper would hit himself in the head or hit his head on a wall.

I started noticing other things as well. Odd things. Like Cooper showed no ownership over objects. Which is so strange as a toddler. Or he refused to sit next to his brother for pictures. He would freak out.

Cooper would demand things from us constantly. If he wanted to read he would shove the books at us. Or if he wanted to watch a movie he would bring the remotes constantly and not let it go. We got to the point where we had to bring the DVD player downstairs.

Age 2 1/2 was a really hard time in Cooper life. All these behaviors, constipation, horrible sleeper, horrible eater. You name it. We felt it.