Caring for Cooper King

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom ❤️

This is my favorite place to be.
Safe, warm, loved, and right on your chest.

I may not say the words out loud, but you feel them every day in my hugs, my smiles, and the way I always find my way back to you. Thank you for loving me so patiently, comforting me when I need you, and making me feel safe no matter what.

You are my home, Mom.
I love you. 💚

03/05/2026

Today we want to give a special shoutout to someone who has been such a blessing to Cooper and our family — Abby. 💙✂️

Haircuts can be a little more complicated for Cooper because of his Leigh Syndrome and the spastic movements that come with it. Over the years we’ve been lucky to have some wonderful friends who have helped cut his hair in salon settings, and we’re so grateful for their patience and kindness.

Recently, Abby has been helping with Cooper’s haircuts, and she has been amazing. She specializes in working with children with special needs and has been kind enough to come to our home for Cooper’s appointments. Being in a familiar environment allows him to move freely, take breaks when he needs them, and stay as comfortable as possible throughout the process.

Her patience, flexibility, and genuine care for Cooper mean more to our family than we can say. It takes special people to meet kids exactly where they are, and Abby does just that.

We’re incredibly grateful for the people who help make everyday things like a haircut a little easier for Cooper. Thank you, Abby, for taking such great care of our boy. 💙

01/01/2026

Happy birthday to the lady who cares for Cooper everyday, his mama Zoey!

Mitochondrial mutations dont stop either of you from getting to see another year!

We love you so much and the world should know it’s your birthday!! Woot woot!

11/28/2025

Cooper last night on Thanksgving🥰

Happy late Turkey Day from The Kings🦃🍁 we hope everyone had a great day yesterday, our family is so grateful for all the love and support🧡

11/13/2025

Here are some SMILEY pics from the last couple months!

Coop got new glasses! Got new billy shoes! Snuck into mommy’s spot in bed! Took over pop-pop’s recliner! Started to actually rest his head down on cushions and pillows while watching tv! Visited the CHKD team and saw the OnieTonie wall near the ED.

Thanks for always showing Coopy the love!

10/14/2025

Back in September, Cooper got to attend the 2025 NEX OCEANA AIR SHOW 🌤️🛫🛩️🛬🇺🇸

Even though he wouldn’t keep his glasses on, he sure kept those ear muffs on! 🎧 Now he wont keep the stuffed U.S. Navy Blue Angels toy out of his mouth! ✈️

He got to visit our friends at the Virginia Beach Police Department! 👮🏻‍♂️👮🏼‍♂️🚁 MPO Meador and his fellow helicopter pilot even got a VBPD badge sticker onto Coop’s new wheelchair tray 👨🏻‍🦽‍➡️🧑🏻‍🦼‍➡️

Yall know we had to stop by the OnieTonie Foundation site to show our never-ending support of their mission! They were pivotal in making us feel like we had community that cared and a reason to smile! 🦀🐟🐋🐳🦈🐬

Leigh Syndrome makes doing a lot of things harder than typical households but we’ll take being able to get out of the house, into an open-air environment where it is not too hot, cold or humid any day! The elements of nature do a number on the mitochondria cells in our bodies so exposing Cooper sometimes isnt worth the risk! 💚🟩🧬🔋🪫

08/23/2025

Look! It’s Cooper!

OnieTonie Foundation provided Cooper his own mural wall in our old condo! Cooper loved interacting with all the smiling characters on the design. Unfortunately, we only had it up for several months before the condo flooded but we’re still forever grateful to the OTF family!

Glad to see big things are happening for an organization who puts nothing but smiles on faces and warmth in the heart!

04/26/2025

Little update🥰 forever blessed for this life🤞🏻🥲

04/04/2025

This organization provided our family much more than art.

Read, share, and enter to win!

If you win and require out of state shipping, tell the foundation you found their post from our page and the King’s will pay the shipping cost! It’s the least we can do for helping us help others!

😃 Win a Hand-Painted OnieTonie Mailbox!
The OnieTonie mailboxes that have been loved and sought after are now exclusively available through the OnieTonie Foundation, with 100% of proceeds supporting our outreach efforts.
To kick things off, we’re raffling off two original XL hand-painted designs:
• “Fish & Flowers”
• “Waves All Day”
Each $25 entry (not tax-deductible) gets you one chance to win.
The raffle closes Sunday, April 13 at 11:59 PM, and winners will be randomly selected on Monday, April 14.
All proceeds from this raffle will help fund our next round of Smiley Packs—spreading joy, one delivery at a time.
Winners can pick up their mailbox in Virginia Beach or choose shipping (shipping charges will apply).
To enter or learn more, visit the link in our bio.

02/01/2025

Cooper is FOUR🥳 As his mom, I feel like I could get into the nitty-gritty and make this a sappy post but luckily I got that out with his Auntie Gabby’s happy birthday FaceTime🥲 I love Cooper being 4, he’s recently mastered crawling and occasionally shows us how to climb onto the couch!!🙌🏻 His personality shows when he doesn’t care about what your saying and ignores or pushes you away😭😂 Don’t let me forget his facial expressions and eyebrow raises if you interrupt his show or try to get him to do something you want🥴🥹 We are so blessed to see another birthday and I can’t thank God enough.

-Z💖