Cooper's One Year Old Stats

22lb 12oz
30 inches
head 46.5 cm

and today i realized that he can recognize and say Doggie (in his own language).

Happy Birthday Cooper

DSC09440, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

Cooper teething and teething some more

Cooper got another tooth to break through on the bottom. so now he has 3 on the bottom and 2 on the top. there is another one on the bottom that hasn't broken through the gums yet. and he's got about 4 on the top that are in there just working their way to the surface. He's got really sensitive spots where those teeth are - all red and raw looking.
we are about to have an eventful month. but knowing Coop it wont really be eventful at all.

Cash told me tonight that he loves scary movies. which is true because he can't get enough of scary things like the monsters in "Scooby Dooby" or the Abominable Snow Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He says that he likes movies to be scary just like daddy does.
He also told me that he likes his life. so that's nice.

Good Mom

Last night Cash told me i was a bad mommy. He stayed up way too late and finally went to 9pm i wouldn't let him read a story. He argued, i stayed firm. and he said that i was talking too loud and that was what bad mommies do. needless to say, that wasn't exactly how i wanted him to go to sleep but i didn't want to keep him awake any longer to talk about this...
So, today, i talked to him about it. He said that today i was a good mommy because i take care of babies and i play with guys. I asked him what bad mommies do and he said they make babies cry.

It's Christmas Time

we put up the tree this morning and when we plugged in the lights Cash's eyes got as big as saucers. He said, "wow! Santa is really gonna love this."

a long winter

Cash is getting to be very headstrong. he now refuses to wear a jacket or hat outside. its actually starting to get cold here. last night and tonight we'll be in the 30's. He hates to get dressed and says everything is wrong. when i put a pair of pants on him he says, "these pants are not right." Same with his shirts, shoes and socks.
I thought letting him pick his own clothes would help but it just makes it worse and we have the entire wardrobe all over the room.

Magical Forest

Cash is so into Christmas this year. He has been talking about it every day since Halloween. We read the Polar Express, he pretends to be Santa Claus in the bathtub with a bubble beard, the dog is now a reindeer, he wears holiday socks and pajamas and rides in a pretend sleigh (an old ride on toy) with a bag of gifts handing them out to Cooper, Daddy and I.
We've put together some activities for the Christmas season including the Magical Forest, Polar Express train ride, visiting Santa Claus, Grandma & Poppy's visit and finally going to see Grammy and Pop at their house.
Last night we started the process with a trip to the Magical Forest. Its the Opportunity Village property transformed into a winter wonderland complete with a train that rides around the property. it was so, so cold that we didn't stay long but Cash got in 4 train rides and walked through the forest and met an elf, sparky the fire dog, gave Santa a high five and ate some popcorn. Cooper and Daddy had to go wait in the car since it was almost freezing out and Cooper has had a snotty nose.
of course i had taken the card out of my camera earlier in the day and forgot to put it back on so i don't have anything to show for it...Chandler and Cash might go back next week for CCSchool District night when you get a free ticket.

close enough

we switched Cooper around in the carseat last night just shy of his first birthday. And he is so happy. he was kicking his feet and smiling the whole way. now we have to figure out what to do about only having one car with carseats when we share the pick-up/drop-off duties some days.

Cooper had a rough day. First, he was a little out of sorts because he has a little runny nose and probably some teething. He's got a major rash on his butt and inside of his legs.
Next, he bashed his lip, gum, teeth area on the coffee table and started to bleed up where your lips meet your gums. ouch!
Then, he was playing with Cash and they were chasing each other. Cash ran through the door and Cooper followed but wasn't fast enough and the door slammed on his finger and cut the skin pretty badly - but not deeply. he actually got a band-aid for his troubles.

i bet he was happy to get in his bed.

The Riddler

Tonight, Cash was asking daddy riddles:
Cash: Daddy, which one of these things rolls? A kangaroo, a ball or a fishing pole.
Daddy: a ball
Cash: (excitedly) You're right daddy.

Cash has an awesome imagination. He is always using it and giving everyone in the family "roles" to play. usually they revolve around some sort of monster. but that's ok.

its hard to be taken seriously when you're laughing. last night Cash had a rough time going to bed. actually, he had a hard time staying in bed. after a few times of getting out we told him that if he got out of bed we'd have to close his door. knowing that he really wants to have his door open when he falls asleep this is usually enough of a deterrent. he go out of bed. we shut the door. he cried and got back in bed. once we opened the door, a few minutes later he got out of bed. when we closed the door for the second time he howled "Oh no! Not again!" and the sobbed. we were both cracking up. it was such a funny thing to hear come out of the little guy. he eventually fell asleep with his door open.

it is exhausting

keeping Cooper fed. he eats and eats and eats. we will all be done with his dinner and he's still looking around for what we can give him.
he also now crawls away from me so fast when he knows i am after him to "correct his behavior" ie: take him away from eating rocks in the backyard.

you've really got to watch him

Cooper's favorite things: crawling up 4 or 5 stair and then free falling backwards, going out the doggy door, loading up the doggy door with rocks, pulling himself up on chairs (anything really) that he can't get back off of and communicating with a series of grunts and growls. in the time it took me to write this sentence he has done all of these things.

How I Became a Pirate

Grandma and Poppy sent Cash a really great book called, How I Became a Pirate. He loves it and its really one of his first story books. Before now his books were for little kids with just a few words on each page but this is definitely a story book. And now Cash does the most remarkable thing - he can recite the story himself.
I read the first few words of each page and he can tell me the rest. Its so great! and a nice break for me. Each night he "reads" more and more of the story to me.

i'm mommy

last night Cash disappeared for a minute and then came back with a pair of my shoes on. he said, in a high pitched voice, "i'm mommy and you're going in time out". and then he cracked up. he thought it was pretty funny. i thought it wasn't.

Is it still Halloween?

Cash has asked me every night since Monday if it is still Halloween! poor guy gets a little sad when i tell him that it isn't Halloween and he has to wait a long time until next Halloween. It seems to make him a little happier when i distract him with something like Christmas or his birthday.

Cash & Rylie

Cash and Rylie were playing this weekend and they did a great job - for the most part. However, at one point they were playing with a fishing pole, taking turns. one person was the fisherman and one person was the fish. they would cast out, reel in the "fish" and then switch. Well, at some point they forgot who's turn it was and started fighting over the fishing pole and snapped it in half. they both got very upset and both got in trouble. time out everyone! I talked to Cash about taking turns and sharing and being a good boy. Rylie got a lesson from her mommy about being a bigger kid and letting little kids have things sometimes.
And in a flash they were back to being friends and running for the swing set. at one point they were on the teeter totter and i overheard their conversation. Cash said to Rylie, "Rylie, we have to share and be friends or I have to go home." Rylie said, "yeah!" and then Cash said, "and i don't want to go home right now."
and like that they didn't have a single problem for the rest of the night.

stages

i feel sometimes like i am a broken record on here but that is because the stages that these kiddos go through come and go like the wind. one day we are having a hard time getting Cash to go to bed and the next he puts himself to sleep and the very next day he wants us to lay with him. i have to remember to be consistent even when the stages change.

Cooper is walking

Cooper is taking one or two steps at a time. He can stand up by himself without holding onto anything. i think he is well on his way to being a toddler!

He's so amazing. We are moving him to all milk and no formula. He doesn't seem to care as long as you feed him. I have also started to distance the association between his bottle and bedtime. i just give him his bottle earlier - like when we are getting ready for bed and then read a book and put him in his crib. its important to us that he doesn't need his bottle to go to bed. as you might expect, he didn't care. 

he's so darn cute. he loves his people so much and is getting to play more with his big brother. 

I have also noticed that Cooper is starting to mimic my talking. I said, "thank you" the other day when he handed me something and he made a sing-song that had the same sound. 

Halloween 2010

we had a rather successful halloween. i thought i was going to be in for a battle seeing as how the week prior to halloween Cash had been changing his mind on his costume. he requested to be everything from a cowboy to a giraffe witch-doctor. come 4pm Cash was asking if it was finally time to get in his costume. we talked it up all day so i think he was finally read and once i laid it out for him to see he just couldn't resist any longer. he was a pirate and a perfect little pirate at that. he had a totally home made costume (except for his sword). I got an old pair of black sweatpants and cut them up at the bottom, a white shirt and red sash (which i cut from an old red t-shirt). he rejected the two pirate hats that we have at the house so after reading our new book "How I Became a Pirate" i was inspired and remembered that i had an old pair of witch stockings. i cut the foot off one and that became a pirate stocking cap! Cash was responsible for the finishing touch - his boots. I was just going to put his tennis shoes on him but he stopped me and said that Pirates wear boots. I thought i was in trouble but remembered that we actually have a great pair of boots that he rejected when we first got them but now they are officially in the rotation.  

Cooper was the pirate's parrot. He didn't put up a fight at all - in true Cooper fashion. He didn't actually go trick or treating so he didn't wear his costume long but long enough to get the Halloween spirit. 

We went over to Addison's house and had dinner and then the big kids and daddies went out trick or treating. They lasted just a little under an hour and came back with bags full of candy. Cash was a little too shy to actually say trick or treat but he didn't get scared. 

We got rid of all the candy the following day - knowing Cash he would eat candy for every meal for the rest of his life if he could. 

cooper: teeth

Cooper still only has 4 teeth. two top. two bottom. he does ok eating though.

cooper: walking

Cooper has started to take a step or two at a time.

Halloween

DSC08439, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

Cash said he wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. Cool, i can do a pirate. we got him a pair of black pants - jaggedly cut at the cuffs - white shirt, red sash, patch and hat. except he hates the two pirate hats that i got for him. he says, they are not right. whatever that means.
So now starts a long tradition of brother-combo halloween costumes.
Cooper is going to be Cash's parrot. Red, hooded sweatshirt and some craftiness with a hot glue gun and colored felt & feathers and you have yourself a cute little parrot.
I can't believe i made halloween costumes since that was NEVER something i was into growing up and i am not exactly "crafty".

Catching up

i can't possibly go back and remember all the things that have happened over the past 3 weeks so i am going to give you a quick update and move on.
we went to Oregon to see Grandma and Poppy. The boys had a great time! we played with all daddy's old toys and played in the tent. Cash watched the squirrels and fed them corn and peanuts. we went to a fun little house with lots of toys and interesting things to play with. Cash's favorite part was the trains (of course). Cooper enjoyed the little kids' room where he could crawl around and play. After, we walked on a huge bridge and threw leaves and sticks off the side. Grandma and mommy freaked themselves out talking about what we would do if Cooper fell over so we turned around and went back to the car! (From what i remember) everyone traveled and slept very well. We got home on a Sunday night.
--brief intermission...mommy has become a bit of a nervous flyer in the past few years so the few days between trips were filled with belly aches, head aches and nervous thoughts. Roll that together with laundry and packing for 3 people and the nights we were at home went by very quickly. Not to mention that mommy was trying to get a team of people at work ready to go on a big business trip and preparing many reports and one huge presentation. Mommy left for North Carolina a bit exhausted!
On Thursday mommy, Cash and Cooper got on an airplane to go to North Carolina. Cash is an amazing traveler. he sat in his seat, buckled his seat belt, watched out the window and then watched a movie the whole way there. Cooper on the other hand is like wrestling with a 23 lb sack of potatoes. He is so wiggly and just wanted to get out of my arms and crawl around. he slept for about 15 minutes on the plane but as soon as the peanut bags came out he popped up and started waving to everyone that walked by him. we finally got to NC though. it was a fun trip for the boys but mommy had to work a lot so she didn't get to play very much. Bobby didn't love that people were playing with his toys but Wiley and Archer came and had a sleep over so all the boys got to see each other. While mommy went to work Grammy and Auntie Sarah (and Uncle Rick) entertained the boys all day. They played outside and went to "touch a truck" where Cash honked the loud horn on the truck.
Going home from NC was hard. we were all tired to start out with but the flights were packed so full and the last leg home was delayed. i am still trying to catch up on sleep. each morning i wake up and think to myself - i am still tired!

i wish i had more to say about Cooper but its hard to find anything to say about this perfect little boy. he eats everything. only time he ever complains is when he sees food and doesn't get any. he'll throw an outright fit if you make yourself lunch and don't plan on sharing. he only has the 4 little teeth but eats everything we do. tonight he had a full pasta dinner with asparagus and pears. he sleeps like an angel and loves his naps (2, 2 hours a day). he lights up every time he sees his brother or daddy. he laughs at everything Cash does.
Cash on the other hand is so sensitive these days. i don't think he is getting enough sleep and that really effects him. he is also testing boundaries a lot. he is saying "no" a lot and screams, "nothing!" when you ask him what happened or what he did. some days are better some days are worse. hopefully we hit our stride again because i hate giving him everything he wants (cookies for breakfast) just because i don't want to deal with him crying/whining/screaming.

lately Cash has thinks everything is scary but not in a terrifying way, more in mischievious way. Like monsters and things eating/chasing/squishing you! Today he called a stuffed teddy bear a polar bear monster that will get you and stomp you.

Cash has become quite the wiz-kid at operating the personal DVD player. we have a Disney DVD with a bunch of different movies on it. lately he LOVEs Cinderella. The dvds come with English subtitles, translated by someone in Vietnamese. that's the funniest part because its a lot of vietglish.
Anyway, the other day Cash stumbled upon Fantasia. Now, i wasn't around him when this happened or i would have snatched the dvd player around him. i have a very rational fear of Fantasia. it is scary. scary, scary, scary. and stupid. in fact i have been concerned that that movie was even on this disk because i didn't want it to start playing after the previous movie finished. so Fantasia starts and Cash tells Chandler, "its beautiful daddy." a few minutes later he is screaming and throws the dvd player across the room. "that's too scary."
my thoughts exactly.

business as usual

its business as usual around here. nothing exciting is going on right now. the boys are great. Cooper is adorable. he is so happy. he eats really well (anything really). sleeps 12 hours at night. laughs at everything Cash does. will push away from you (in a very dangerous way so hold on tight) if he wants you to put him down so he can get into something. don't even try to change his diaper or get him dressed if Cash is in the other room. you might as well just put cooper in a spot where he can keep an eye on Cash. crawls around everywhere and gets into everything!
Cash is doing well too. he is totally potty trained and hasn't even looked back. he had to poop in the desert the other night when he was with his daddy taking the dog for a walk. he has quite the sense of humor. today he asked chandler if he thought he was cool. he understands humor too and when he does something funny he tells us to laugh! he likes to play hide and seek. and he is now counting things out on his fingers and showing me how many [of something] on his hands. his bedtime routine is really pleasant. he loves to watch aladdin and cinderella.

Cooper is 9 months old

Weight: 21lbs Height: 28.75" Head Circumference 45cm

Dear Cooper,

Its hard for me to articulate my mamma-gush and tell you how great you are. but here goes...

You are a tremendous baby and are so loved by all 3 of us. Every single day of your life you are happy. You happily babble and talk all day long. I can count on my hand the number of times you have actually cried. I think back to the earliest days when we brought you home from the hospital and we were banished to the guest bedroom so daddy could sleep. We considered returning you because you were fussy but soon you turned the corner and adjusted to life on the outside and have been an absolute joy ever since.

You had your first "off" day last weekend. You had a high temperature and just wanted to lay around and snuggle with your mommy and daddy. you slept most of the day and the next morning you were happy again. you didn't even cry. you just whimpered and sighed. you're amazing.

You are sleeping really well and, like your bro, you love to take your naps and sleep in your own crib. you're not one for snuggling too long and would rather be in your bed so you can get comfortable on your own. Like the rest of your family, you love a routine - i could set my watch by you. You eat a lot and have definite favorites. You really like yogurt and blue berries. You do not like your veggies but mommy is determined to get these into your belly one way or another. You have given up on baby food. you like to feed your self and will slug down a sippy cup full of milk faster than i can say refill.

A couple months ago, right after you started to crawl, you started pulling yourself up onto the future and standing. i think you were really eager to do this so you could see what your big brother is up to. Now you will stand in between the coffee table and the sofa and i can see your wheels spinning in your head. Thinking, "should i go this way? or that way?" Now you are standing up against the walls or mommy's legs. I was a little concerned because you stand on the outside of your foot. Dr. Gobel says that its probably just that your feet aren't ready to be flat yet and by 12 months we should know what we're dealing with. Nothing slows you down though. Last night we were outside playing in the back yard and you were putting rocks in your mouth. i came over to try to stop you and you crawled away so fast i couldn't keep up. You're getting the drill.

I can see the difference between your personality and the personality of your brother. I can already tell you are going to be my "goes with anything" kid (while Cash will be more sensitive and a little stubborn). You do love to watch your brother playing and have started joining in. one of your favorite things to do is to crawl into the sandbox with Cash. He covers up your toes with sand and you give him a good belly laugh. When you are done patiently waiting for someone to pay attention to you and start to make a little noise, your brother is the first one to come to your rescue. i hope this is always the case. stick with each other and make good choices.

I love you little Cooper. I worry that you've spoiled daddy and I. Daddy mentioned to me the other night that nothing could ever be better than what we've got right now. i'm so glad you are part of our family.

Love,

Your mommy

Captain Underpants

well, i guess i totally underestimated Cash and his enormous bladder. he has no problem wearing underpants to bed and staying dry the entire night. he doesn't even have to go right away in the morning. he will lay in our bed for almost an hour before he has to pee.
what a champ

Cash slept in underpants last night and didn't have an accident. I debated for a long time on whether or not i should wake him up to let him go to the potty but i didn't. he has a huge bladder and i wanted to see how long he could go. he crawled in our bed at 6am dry. i asked if he wanted to go potty and he said, "no, i don't have to". he eventually pee'd a river.
Cooper is feeling better today but not perfect. he is a lot cooler but still warm. i am keeping him on medicine.

The Great Boondini Predicts...

this is gonna be a long day. Cash woke up with some extra sass and Cooper's temperature is still high and nothing seems to be making him happy...
here's to some serious Sunday teamwork. I hope Chandler wasn't planning on watching football and baseball today.

totally boring update

everyone is doing really well. Cash is perfectly potty trained during the day. we still put him in a diaper at night but i think we only have a few more diapers left in the small pack i bought when we started potty training so we'll be starting night time potty training soon. i have some anxiety about this because i am not sure how to do it. pee before bedtime and hope he makes it through the night - this feels what i want to do but Cash loves his night time milk and that is not going to allow him to make it through the night dry. or i could wake him up before i go to bed and let him pee but i'm so afraid that if i wake him up he wont go back to sleep. i guess we'll find out soon enough.
Cooper is totally going through some teething pain right now and had a fever all day long. he wasn't terrible but he was definitely not our Cooper. Cooper is the happiest baby alive and today we felt like we won the lottery when we got him to smile in the late afternoon. almost the whole day had gone by before our happy little baby smiled. we kept him pretty well medicated to keep his fever down and his pain under control. he wasn't into eating so he took a couple bottles and not much else.
we have had a couple of really boring weekends in a row. time for some fun.

i'm so over baby food

if i were a different kind of person i would make my own baby food. but i am not that kind of person so i feed Cooper regular, store bought baby food. when i am feeling really bad about stuff i buy only the organic baby food. anyway, i am really sick of buying it and Cooper doesn't need it! tonight he ate for dinner: black beans, macaroni and chicken with a sippy cup of milk. and he absolutely loved it. he ate every last bite and downed the milk.

update on the scary man

Cash just said, "'member that man scared me." "where'd that scary man go?"

i used the opportunity to ask Cash about it. he answered all the questions right, "mommy told him to stop scaring Cash", "mommy told him to go away," "he went back to his house, far away."

i can't see this being a problem at bed time. damn it.

That scary man

my usually stoic son, Cash was totally and utterly freaked out today. its no secret that he is a shy boy and it takes him more than a minute to warm up to people. but if you give him enough time he'll charm your socks right off. i know i can't expect complete strangers to know this but most people either realize he's a shy kid and move on or are sensitive enough to give him a little time.

today we encountered a very scary man. we were at Costco, i was sitting with the boys while Chandler was getting us some lunch. Cash and i were sitting on the opposite sides of a picnic bench and the man behind Cash seemed harmless enough (an older, white haired man) but it all changed when he opened his mouth. he was so creepy. its better if you can here my impression but imagine a very scary Halloween witch voice. he said, "eat your pizza little boy". Cash turned around and looked at me like he just saw a ghost. i just smiled because i didn't want to freak Cash out. the man continued in his witchy voice, "eat it before i get it". Cash got even more freaked at which time i said to him, "ok, that's enough". He didn't stop "i'm gonna get your pizza" at which point Cash screamed and started a complete melt down. he ran over to my side of the table and clung to me like a baby gorilla to its mamma. Chandler came back from getting napkins and Cash just started crying harder so i removed him from the situation. i thought when Chandler sat down Cash would calm down and we would be able to go back to the table and eat our lunch. no way. if i even thought about walking back to the table Cash would grip me harder and beg not to go. Chandler gathered everything up and met us by the door. i went back over to the man and said, "i'm not sure what you were trying to do, or if you were trying to frighten him but he is very scared of you. you are a very scary man." the man looked at me like i was crazy and said in a very dismissive tone, "of course not." and i said, "well you did and i would have appreciated it if you had stopped teasing him when i asked." i then turned and walked away. i was happy i said something.

poor baby. he kept asking in the car where the scary man went and he told Chandler that "that man scared me". we had to tell him that mommy yelled at him to "stop being scary" and "go away from Cash" and that he went far, far away. we haven't heard about him since we have been home. i kind of want to talk to Cash about it but don't want to bring it up. i think i'll just let it go because i told him on our way home that Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let that man get him and that we were around to keep him safe. i know he heard me.

its the kind of moment that you wish your husband was there to yell at the guy - but that isn't Chandler's style so i'm glad i gave the guy the stink eye.

pain in the ass

the other day the bank called and said that someone had gotten a hold of our account number and tried to cash a check (a check they had generated - not one from our checkbook). unfortunately the guy (we know your name) grabbed the check before the bank could do anything about it so he still had it and was still out there. so we went through the whole process of locking down and flagging the account and changing everything over to a new account. they locked everyone and everything out of our account for 24 hours. very bad timing to have this happen since it was at the very end of the month and all the direct deposits/withdrawls happen on the 1st of the month - and we were locked out for 24 hours. so we finally got back in to the account today and have some cleaning up to do with all the stuff that went through at midnight BUT the bank just called and the dumbass just tried to go back and cash the check. they stalled him, called the police and arrested him on the spot! yes! justice!

nice little rhythm

we've fallen into a nice little rhythm. Cash is sleeping well in his own bed from 8pm-6am without shedding a tear. Cooper is still fine. Chandler is enjoying his new job. but Labor Day weekend is coming up and i have such an urge to get out of dodge. i wish we were going somewhere. i know we are going to be so bored all weekend. womp, womp.

Quadruplets laughing

he can be so sweet

we've been having a great time playing outside in the evenings. i put a new rule into place. No TV after school (except you can have on a baseball game). i figure there is enough tv watching at sylvia's and it is so nice outside that we must get out and play. so the past week or so we've spent all afternoon playing baseball and crawling around outside. Cooper is really enjoying the outdoors but has a bit of a hard time in the grass. we just set him up with a big quilt and he's fine after that. Last night was no exception. the boys were outside and i was cooking dinner with the door open. we've decided to "eat down the pantry" so last night was pasta shells with meat sauce and some canned veg on the side (mmmmm). the boys came in and started to eat while i finished up in the kitchen. Cash looked up from his meal and said, "mommy, this is a really good dinner you cooked for me. thank you." - he can be so sweet.
last night was another good sleeping night. Cooper went to bed after a dose of tylenol for his teeth. Cash went to bed without any crying or sneaking out. Although, i realize now that he is getting so independent. I had his noise maker on last night and when i went up to bed i realized it was off. he had gotten up, turned it off and got back into bed. good boy!

the mystery poo

Cash finally pooped yesterday. he hadn't pooped since he started wearing underpants on Friday. I think he was holding it because he didn't want to poop outside of his diaper. last night he couldn't hold it any more. he had just returned from peeing in the potty - cash feels the need to take his pants all the way off when he goes pee - and was naked. he looked up at Chandler with fear in his eyes and said, "uh oh, i'm pooping". Chandler scooped him up and rushed him to the bathroom. HOWEVER, on the way the poop came out. Plop. Splat. right on my floor! I was cooking dinner so imagine my confusion when Chandler is yelling at me from the bathroom, "there's poop on the floor, get it before Cooper does." We get the poop picked up and go on as normal. Cash continues to do amazingly well at potty training and this is his first real accident (except for yesterday on the way home when there was a big car wreck and we had to sit in traffic for an extra 20 minutes he leaked a little pee).
On to the mystery part (oh, you thought that was all the poop stories for today - wrong!) This morning i threw a load of laundry in the washer. i just dumped both boys' laundry baskets in there without much review. the spin cycle finished up right before we headed out the door so i went up to put the clothes in the dryer. i opened the dryer and it was FULL OF TURDS!!! the cleanest turds you ever did see. smashed up against our clothes and the washing machine. this is the mystery part. from what i can tell Cash pooped somewhere, either in his undies or in his laundry basket (most likely the former) and i didn't know about it. this explains how the most "regular" boy in the world could not poop for 3 days. it must have been in his undies and i just threw them in the washer. mothering fail! so i cleaned out the washing machine and started the clothes over. good thing the cleaning lady comes today. i left her a note to clean the washing machine. and scrub the floors extra!

Getting big!

Cooper is standing everywhere, on everything. he even pulls up on my legs. he stands up and lets go (and immediately falls down). I've even seen him trying to pass back and forth between the couch and the coffee table. we dropped his mattress to the lowest level because he was just leaning a little too far over the edge. which makes me a little sad because that really, really means he isn't a little baby anymore.
Cooper crawls so fast that i literally have to run after him. he makes a b-line for the dog's water and food - so gross. He can play for such a long time by himself. yesterday we sat up in the playroom while Cash was out with Daddy and he just explored all around.
but i really like this stage and the next few stages to come. i can tell that the boys will start playing together more soon and that is exciting for me. they sat in the sandbox for a little while yesterday evening (until Cash threw sand and Cooper was eating handfuls of sand).

i wish i could bottle yesterday

our weather was perfect and our kids were perfect! Cash isn't wearing diapers anymore. i am not buying another pack so he's in underpants and totally gets it. he didn't have a single accident all weekend. we even went pee in a restaurant and store bathroom. this morning when he woke up his diaper was completely dry. the morning pee is usually the hardest to catch because Cash wakes up in a bit of a fog and it takes him a few minutes before he wants to engage. this is usually when he does his morning pee. this morning though he woke up and daddy got him to pee on the potty!
Cash also did an amazing job sleeping last night. he did not have a nap and went straight to bed (after watching a little bit of Dora) and didn't make a peep. he stayed in his bed all night with the door open. he slept from 8pm to 7am. just how we like it.

minor set back

we've had a lot of crying tonight. lots of whimpering. and more crying. begging. pleading. hopefully he'll wear himself out. before he wears us out.
he had a good day though. wore underpants all day without an accident. although i think he holds it when he's not wearing a diaper. he really only pee'd three times.

i think we have a winner

tonight we did the routine with Cash. asked him if he wants the door open or closed [open]. asked him what would happen if he got out of bed [close the door]. so what should he do [stay in bed]. he didn't get out of bed one time. he did cry and whine for a little while (20 minutes) but he didn't get out of bed, not at all. he even dropped his dummy off the side of the bed and called out to daddy to come and get it!
next we have to get rid of the dummy.

happy campers

so far so good. we have been working on a new sleep solution for Cash and it seems to be working. he has chosen to have his door open when he sleeps. that's just fine with us. but the rule is, if you get out of bed we close your door for 5 minutes. he gets out of bed and we close the door. he is very unhappy about this and usually cries for the whole 5 minutes. we go back, open the door and ask him to get back in bed. repeat "do you want the door open or closed? [open, ok]. if you get out of bed we have to close the door and it will be longer next time. please stay in your bed so you can keep the door open."
the first night he got out of bed 3 times and came into our bed at 4am. the second night he got out of bed 1 time, whimpered for a while and then fell asleep. he woke up at 3:30am and turned on his light (?). I explained the process and he got out of bed, door closed (for a shorter period since it was the middle of the night), he didn't like it. got back in bed and slept until 7am.
the best part. the best part of all...he was such a happy camper this morning. he was pleasant, no whining, no complaining, no bossing. just the picture of perfection - sweet, kind, funny, loving. it is really obvious now how a good night (plenty of rest and no fighting/crying) really effects him in a positive way.
i'm on cloud nine right now! we can do this. we can get our good sleeper back.

Carlos Santana Concert

Carlos Santana, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

We (Dana, myself and some girls from work) went to the Carlos Santana and Friends concert last night. it was spur of the moment when a contact of Dana's called her and offered the VIP suite.
it was a fun night and a really good concert.
I think after all this time away from the boys i owe chandler big time.

Please help Forbuss win $500,000. click the vote button and give them your votes. do it before Sept 3 please, please, please. it isn't hard.

on his way to a pixie

we all remember the pixie i gave myself as a little girl (if only i were brave enough to rock that hairstyle today). well, it looks like Cash is following in his mommy's footsteps.

The Cashmonster

Cash is a challenge. he is a totally different boy than from a year ago - obviously. but if you has asked me a year ago i would have told you that he was perfect and that he'll always be perfect. no so. he is a great kid and lots and lots of fun. he is so funny and witty and has amazing comedic timing (whether he knows it or not). Chandler and I often remark that we love him so much during the day we just wish the sun would never set. He is an actual werewolf or vampire or gremlin. Choose whatever analogy you like, something happens to the kid when the sun goes down. He turns into a sassy, misbehaving, opinionated, rude little stinker who will fight us until midnight to not go to bed. we've tried everything (which i believe to be the root of the problem) and nothing seems to work to get the kid to sleep. you all know that we used to be able to put him in bed, turn around and walk away and it would be 7am before we would hear from him again. now he's up until midnight, waking in the night and up at 5am. something ain't right. we can't seem to get him to stay in bed or not cry for hours. door closed, door open - doesn't matter. rewards charts - puuhh-leeeeze. incentives - nope. discipline - ha! staying with him seems to be the only thing that works but still that takes hours. Chandler and i have really come to our whit's end with this problem. last night i was wishing that the Supper Nanny would come flying down our chimney.
i know we have to figure out a plan and stick with it. we thought that was locking him in his room and letting him cry it out but this kid can cry it out for hours. and that's a lot easier said than done when you have a baby sleeping in the next room. And then he threw a wrench in that plan when he said that he wanted the door open (another tactic on his part but it hit me right in the mommy-heart). so now we were trying the "trust" plan. "we'll leave the door open if you can stay in your bed" - didn't happen.
anyway, Martinville is the new City that doesn't Sleep

Cooper 8 months

Cooper continues to be a model citizen. He is crawling everywhere and he is starting to work his way up the stairs. he pulls up and stands on everything. no matter what it is (the drawers make me so crazy because he pulls them out, pulls up and then they slide in). He thinks his brother is hysterical. He has 4 teeth and more on the way. Sylvia continues to be amazed at how well he is teething. virtually no complaining but lots of poop and rash. (that's the same as Cash) He really doesn't have much drool though and i remember that Cash was always covered in slobber. He eats everything you put in front of him. breakfast he eats yogurt, cheerios and a bottle. during the day he has 2 big bottles and 2 big jars of baby food and snacks (animal crackers, mandarin oranges, fruit of any kind, anything really) and then at dinner he usually has a jar of stage 3 baby food and something else like a yogurt or fruit based baby food. he snacks on whatever Cash doesn't finish or whatever is on our plates that we can give him. at bedtime he has another bottle. He's 20lbs by my bathroom scale - probably more. He sleeps like a champ. he was sleeping through the night but that changed during vacation and he hasn't gotten back into his routine yet since i've been gone but we can get him back to a full night's sleep in no time. He wears 12 month clothes and they fit perfectly so in another month or two they might be getting snug. He talks and babbles all the time. mamama and dadaada and growls like a monster.
he is so sweet and smiley and perfect. laid back and chill. he is such an observer but also likes to get in there and play and be involved in what's going on. he's a pleasure.

Home Alone

I went to a conference in NC for a week and left the boys at home! its the longest i have been without them but i wasn't terribly sad or concerned. i guess i knew they were in good hands and i could use a break. I left on the redeye on Sunday night and returned on Friday afternoon. so i was gone for the week which was better than over a weekend because Chandler could still take the guys to Sylvia's and get a little break. His parents also came down to spend some time with the guys and provide an extra set of hands in the mornings and evenings. They even kept Cash home from school one day to play. they had a great time at the park and went toy shopping.
I stocked the pantry before i left because i just had visions of them eating macaroni and cheese for a week. when i got home all the groceries were still there...i don't want to know.
anyway, everyone survived and no one missed me too terribly much. in fact it was days before anyone even thought to ask about me. but when i did get home Cash followed me around like he was my shaddow. it was sweet.
the conference was pretty boring but i did get to spend some nice QT with Grammy. we went shopping and to the movies!

Lake Tahoe

we had an awesome vacation - although at some points a little overwhelming with 3 under 3 in the house. but its all good. i can't seem to find the strength to go back in time and recap everything so please enjoy our pictures instead.

last night Cash wanted a 2nd cookie. i said no. Cash then said,

"Cookies make me happy. You make me sad."

haircut

i don't think i've had my hair cut since Cooper was born so i went and had 8 inches chopped. i miss my long hair but i can still get in a pony tail. and hair was meant for cutting.

Cooper teeth update

no new teeth but i noticed something tonight that i'm going to keep an eye on...Cooper's upper gum where one of his top front teeth would be, is purple - like its bruised. i can either think that he actually did bruise it by chewing on something which is probably most likely since he is always putting something in his mouth and gumming it. Or i can believe one of the many scenarios going through my head where he was born without that tooth or it is rotting from the inside since i gave him a gold fish cracker the other day...

he is not nearly as slobbery as Cash but if even a drop of slobber leaves his lips Cash freaks out and uses an entire box of wipes to wipe it up or he comes to me saying, "cooper almost slobbered on me". maybe i should remind him that for 6 months straight he slobbered all over everything in our house!

Cash seems to be struggling a little bit with Cooper. Now that Cooper is on the move and getting into ALL of Cash's stuff. He crawls over and grabs onto Cash and whatever he is doing or eating. Cash is getting really frustrated with him. He's acting out a bit at daycare and having lots of trouble going to sleep again. 

Although today i caught him being good! and made a big deal about it. He was frustrated that Cooper stole his blankie and he was going to bop him on the head but he stopped himself and just petted him on the head instead. that was a pretty cool moment to see. 

Kitty the bear

Kitty the bear, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

its 113 degrees today. no one in their right mind is outside. we decided to get out of the house and go to the mall. we stopped into Build A Bear and picked up "kitty" the firefighting bear.

what do you do when its 113 degrees outside

go to the mall and hang out all day.

big night out

tumblr_l5qfffRjaL1qbajbyo1_500, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

chandler and i had a great time last night. we were lucky enough to get some free tickets to this amazing reunion concert.

post edit: my children have a way of knowing when i sit down at the computer and need something that most at that very minute. here's the rest of the story.

Amy Loop came over to babysit. Cash was a little disappointed that Thomas didn't come with her. So C and I left thinking that we'd have time to grab dinner before the concert. well the MGM and the Strip in general was a mad house on Saturday night - something you don't realize if you spend most of your time avoiding the Strip - so it took us almost 45 minutes to get through the traffic light, into the parking garage and into the Casino to even think about dinner. when we finally got in everywhere had an hour long wait so we ended up getting take out from one of the mexican places that has a "to go" window out onto the Casino so our big night out consisted of eating taquitos while sitting on the floor in the corner of the convention center. we sure know how to do it right! so then we went into the concert and had awesome seats. right up front, about 7 rows back. great seats. James Taylor and Carole King are amazing. their voices are still as great as they've always been, however Carole King has gotten old looking. and Chandler and I giggled that James Taylor was dressed like he just got home from work. They played all the great songs: carolina in my mind, you've got a friend, fire and rain, sweet baby james, so far away, i feel the earth move, natural woman, and some others i have never heard. I'm not sure Chandler enjoyed the actual concert so much as this type of music isn't his thing but he was a trooper and we had a fun time people watching and laughing at all the middle-aged women re-living their 70's.

we got home and found out the boys had a hard time getting to bed. Cash was actually still awake and Cooper hadn't been asleep for all that long. finally everyone settled down and all was quiet again at the Martin household.

of course i forgot the camera so i only got shots on my phone which are terrible. geesh, we aren't very good at getting out of the house...

On becoming my mother...

Sylvia just called. She said that Cash was shoving and pushing Emma. Emma shoved back (Emma's not a slight little girl) and Cash went flying across the room. Cash bumped his eye on the corner of the table and got a purple egg. She called to see if i wanted to come get him. hmmmm, let me think about this....is he bleeding? No? He's fine.

today in Martin land

Cash went to timeout today. I know this because Sylvia told Chandler when he picked up the boys. however, if i hadn't talked to Chandler on my way home i would have thought that Cash was a perfect little boy today. Why? Because i was met at the door tonight by Cash. when i asked him how his day was he immediately overshared (dead giveaway). He said, "it was good and i was a really good boy." right there i knew something was up so i asked him a little more. finally he gave up the goods and told me that he had to go to timeout for hitting Gabby. Right now he is into being really descriptive - everything is followed with a "like this". he told me he hit gabby with a toy, "like this -bang, bang, bang". whoops. time out for you my love.

Also, i realized tonight that Cooper is just about totally weaned. He did it himself. Cash did the same thing at about 9 months so i'm not shocked just a little surprised it was so soon. We started him on a little formula during the days because i was running out of stored milk in the freezer - no big deal, i would just nurse him in the morning and at night. well i guess he got a little used to the immediate satisfaction of formula or the bottle or something because he totally wont nurse now and turns his head away from me when i go to feed him. ok, no big deal - its his choice. he's practically eating cheeseburgers now anyway so i feel ok. i have a few more frozen milks that i'll give him and then we'll just go to the formula for a couple months until he can have real cow's milk. since my guys had bottle from so young i think they wean pretty easily. just my theory.

Cooper 7 months

Cooper can go from laying down to sitting up. its pretty fascinating to watch him do it. he is also not crawling yet but he definitely gets from point a to point b effectively by rolling and stretching and wiggling.

He eats like a linebacker. we feed him 3 meals of baby food a day, he snacks on cheerios and puffs and has 2-3 six ounce bottles. he loves the nasty, mesh sucker thing filled up with bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc. he'll put anything in his mouth.

He's as happy as a baby can be. laughs constantly. laughs more when Cash is around. Elizabeth's blog the other day about Wiley and Archer laughing after W hit A - i am sure that will happen at our house too. Cash fell down the other day and Cooper erupted into giggles, then Cash did it over and over until the two were hysterical.

Cooper sleeps through the night for the most part. he goes down at 7:30pm and wakes at 5:30am but i usually leave him in his crib until 6 or 6:30. he will just coo and talk and roll around and practice crawling in that hour. he doesn't need anything during that time and its a great way for me to wake up, listening to him sing his song. occasionally he will wake up one time - the other night i think his teeth were bothering him. the thing about not nursing anymore is that night time waking really sucks because i don't have a good way to comfort him and put him back to sleep unless i want to make a bottle.

Cooper likes his dummy but isn't attached to it like Cash was (is). Cooper's top teeth are coming in and we can just see the tippy tops of them starting to come through.

bottom line: we like him a lot.

Our Saturday night

how you cool off in the desert on a summer night, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

We had a nice, early dinner at PF Changs on Saturday and then walked over to the carousel, which Cash kept calling the circus. it was so hot but the misters were running at full blast and if you sat right under them in the grass it was somewhat cooler. so we walked to the Whole Foods across the parking lot and picked up some desserts to share and sat in the grass to eat them. Cash enjoyed the grass because he could run around and do flips and summersaults all around.

Love & Logic

Some teachers use this thing called Love & Logic when working with their students. A fellow-teacher at Chandler's school uses it with her students and children (3 toddler/school aged children she adopted) and loaned chandler a disk. we are listening to it and downloaded a few podcasts from itunes. its pretty interesting.

Cooper seems to prefer the 7:30 pm-5:30 am sleep shift.

even though i believe kiddos should be sleeping 12 hours at night, i'm not going to mess with this.

tonight the boys and i were without Chandler because he was off playing softball. we had such a good night. Cash was so well behaved. he didn't have to be told not to do something - not even one time. he played nicely, shared with cooper, ate his dinner well. he was a dream. i made sure to tell him how happy he was making mommy and how proud i was. hopefully he likes this positive reinforcement.
the boys also both slept really well last night. Cash didn't balk at the idea of going to bed and slept until almost 7am. Cooper slept from 7:30-5:30 and then dozed off and on for another hour. they went to bed smoothly tonight. i even put cooper down completely awake.

Happy Birthday Mimi

i realized this morning that each generation of our family has a birthday with a matching month and day:
8-8 dad
7-7 emily
12-12 cooper

what have i been waiting for?

I pulled out the rubber duck bathtub last night and cooper loved it. he splashed around for so long i hated to pull him out of there. i couldn't believe how small it was though. in my memory i had the idea that the tub was huge and that Cooper would just drown in it. instead, he will probably grow out of this in just a few weeks. i don't know what i've been waiting for to put him in this - for him to get bigger? he is bigger! well, enough dwelling on that, its blown up and he will enjoy his own bath tub now, instead of having to get dipped in Cash's dirty bathwater.

i pulled up the old pictures of Cash in the duckie - maybe i should get them some bath toys so they have something else to play with!!!

four times

DSC06498, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

4 times last night Cooper woke up. i think he knows i've been thinking about cutting off his night time snacking. but each time i went in his room he was up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth. i think he's going to crawl really soon. no more teeth yet but lots of drool.

Cash update

cash continues to show interest in potty training. he is really good at going both #1 and #2 in the potty and can tell us when he needs to go. we have discontinued sending him to daycare in underpants though because he still doesn't like to use Sylvia's toilet so he comes home with dirty clothes every day. when he is home on weekends we can get him to go but if we go out he wont go to the potty anywhere else so we still have to wear diapers. we aren't rushing it and since we know that he can do it i think he'll do it when he's ready.
he absolutely LOVES his matchbox cars. he especially loves to have tow trucks or dump trucks - basically anything that lets him use two cars at once!
he's still testing boundaries but bedtime and drop off at school are no big deal and i would say he even enjoys both now. he has started doing this thing where he screams to get attention whenever i am trying to talk to someone else - its awful and ear piercing.
overall he is a great kid and we'll keep him for another 6 months at least.

Things Cooper does at 6+ months

Cooper is doing a lot of new things:
sitting up for periods of time unassisted
getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth
eats a lot: besides baby food he eats cheerios, bananas, peaches, yogurt
takes a really good 3 hour nap in the afternoon. in the mornings he usually naps in his carseat while we are out running errands.
he has started taking a bottle of formula at daycare (what can i say)
loves his blankie. i don't know what it is about the Martin Jrs but we all love our blankies. coop is no different. if he's sleepy and i hand him his blankie he'll snuggle down into it and loves to bury his head in it while he's sleeping (just like his brother).
of course he loves his brother but now he's becoming a bit more of a menace. he steals Cash's cars and trains often and they go immediately to his mouth.
his skin is so much better. no rashes since we've started using Dove soap for baths and hair and Eucerine original for moisturizing.

first comes rocking...

4740685945_dacc89480f_b, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

so we do this now. get up on our hands and knees and rock back and forth. he can pretty much get anywhere he wants now. he even got himself to the tattoo parlor!

DSC06342

DSC06342, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

we went swimming with Rylie this afternoon. Cash and Rylie did really well and shared and got along swimmingly! they both behave really well together now. they used to fight over toys and get their feelings hurt but we were really proud of them for how they acted today. an no naps. we all went out to dinner with Grandma Vegas and got home just in time for bed. everyone was exhausted.

babysitter

Tonight we left the boys with a real live babysitter. a lovely girl who was recommended by someone i work with. she is a nanny M-F for 3 kids. She fed the guys dinner, played and put them to bed. we got home and all the house was quiet! she said the guys were so good and easy. Cash was his charming self and the baby was happy. she's hired. anytime she wants to come back she is welcome!! we didn't do anything exciting. and actually were looking for things to do until 8:45 when we decided we had stayed out long enough to go home.

this morning i asked Cash, "where are your manners?" to which he replied, "in my mouth."
geesh.

since i've seen my fair share of both i would have to agree:
Why having a toddler is like being at a frat party

cash made it through a 3 hour nap without a diaper and he stayed dry.

made "no-kneed bread" today

made "no-kneed bread" today, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

so easy and so good. and Chandler thinks that i made it for him for Father's day!
try it here.

enjoying Cash

Cash is doing really well on the potty. he is such a funny boy. he must totally strip down naked to go to the potty. tonight he wanted to eat his dinner on the potty - i wouldn't let him so he reamined naked to eat at the table. he tooted and looked up and said, "i just did a big, big toot" and laughed.
he's totally over Elmo and wants a little Buzz and Woody instead.
Sometimes he gets really hyper and goes into over drive being a total goof-ball.

Cooper on the move

Cooper is starting to get up on his knees and rock back and forth. just a little but he's definitely getting the idea.

we have made a couple trips out of the house with underpants on Cash.
Friday night we went and had a picnic dinner in the Towne Square Shopping Center park. On the way out we decided to stop for yogurt. well, we almost made it out dry. Chandler and Cash were waiting outside while i went in to get the yogurt. as i was walking out Cash squatted down and pee'd. whoops. we went straight home and cleaned up.
Saturday we went to take the car in for service, went to Sam's Club, went to lunch all without incident. Before we left we spent a good amount of time on the toilet getting it all out. I also took Cash into the bathroom at lunch but he refused to get on the pot because he can "only go in Pop's Toilet". oh, brother!

lessons from potty training

it takes a parent with undivided attention to effectively potty train a toddler. there is about an hour time period between when Chandler picks up the boys and when I get home. this is usually chaos at its best. Chandler just does his best to control what he can and keep everyone alive. yesterday was particularly hectic because Cooper is just a very cranky baby since his teeth have finally started to break through the skin (we're almost there). Usually the drill would be to take Cash's shorts off - maybe even his underpants - and ask him multiple times over if he wants to sit on the toilet until he does. Yesterday Chandler didn't get the chance. While daddy was tending to the screaming baby the big brother was bent over the side of the couch.
"What are you doing Cash?"
"Nothing."
a minute later Cash runs up to Chandler, "I POOPED!"
uh oh. in his pants, he pooped. so now there is Chandler trying to keep Cooper from shattering glass and Cash is standing in front of him with underpants full of poop. Potty training is new to us so no one has had to deal with poop in the underpants before. I have a pretty good idea but i don't think Chandler knew quite what to do with himself, Cooper or most of all Cash. There was a plastic bag containing the offending clothing sitting in the laundry room. I'm just glad he didn't throw them away (which i admit, went through my head).
yesterday Cash also pee'd in his pants while he was taking a nap. Sylvia is going to diaper him for naps now. and of course he wears a night time diaper still.
We started out today in underpants - we'll see how it goes.

Big Boy Underpants

Cash wore big boy underpants all day today and had no accidents. Sylvia put him on the potty every few hours and he pee'd and pooped. he almost had an accident this afternoon but he quickly ran to the toilet, stripped down and pee'd. he likes to sit but the pee comes shooting out between the bowl and the seat so that's a bit of a problem.

Cooper is 6 months old

cooper eating, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

Dear Cooper,
today you made mommy and daddy even more proud than we usually are of you. we visited the doctor today for your 6 month check up and Dr. Gobel was so happy with your progress she could only smile and play with you.

you are:
18lb, 4oz
27 1/4" long
43.5" head circumference

we did something different and only gave you half of your 6 months shots this time. we'll make up the rest at another appointment. usually i give you all your shots at one time but something just felt like i needed to space these out and i listened to my mommy voice.

You smiled and coo'd at the doctor the entire time. you kicked your feet and played with her stethoscope. she checked out your teeth and said, "whoa" when she looked in your mouth and saw an entire mouth full of teeth just ready to pop through the gums. You got an A+ and a gold star today. you are healthy, happy and developing perfectly.
at six months you can do a lot of things. you can roll all over the place, you can scoot your body around to get what you want. you have started to sit up with the help of your mommy, you make all sorts of noises and love to growl and squeal.
you eat very well. you eat 2 meals a day of veggies or fruit - although you like the fruit much better. we try to mix your veggies in the fruit so you at least get it. dr. Gobel said today that you can have whatever food you want, even table food! wow. maybe we will try that soon but i can't believe it because you seem too young.

you are sleeping well. i put you to bed at the same time as your older brother (7:30pm) and you sleep until about 3am when i get up to feed you and then you'll sleep until everyone wakes up around 6am. Some days you wake up at 5am and i have a hard time getting you back to sleep but that's ok because some of the nicest times are when everyone else is sleeping and we can get some quality time together. you wake up with a smile on your face every day.

you are such a happy, happy boy. you love to watch your brother play and i just know that you think he is so funny because you laugh and squeal when he comes around. you are really patient and will just watch everyone buzzing around your while you wait for your turn. you giggle and laugh all the time. you are sweet and love to cuddle - although when you want to see something you can wiggle right out of my arms.

i love you so much and i hope you stay as happy and healthy as you are right now.

Teething bites

DSC06024, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

poor cooper. he is having such a long process with these teeth. i can see the 4 front teeth on top and bottom through the thinest layer of skin you've ever seen but they just can't bust through. he is not very happy and likes to be held a lot when he isn't feeling happy. he's also getting a bit of a rash from a teething fever. he'll be ok though.
he is sleeping really well. goes to bed at 7:30, will wake up one time between 11:30-2am and then sleep on through to morning when everyone wakes up.
i owe everyone a 6 month blog and i'll get that done this week.

i haven't written much in a while. i guess we are just moving at light-speed as usual. Pop is here to visit right now and Cash is really enjoying having him here. Pop is getting to experience first-hand the delicate nature of Cash's third year. Chandler and I are really trying hard to keep everything very consistent. Turns out that Chandler is a bigger push over than me and he gives way too many chances before a consequence. but its a learning process for him too. Cooper has hit a rough patch. his teeth are visibly bothering him. he is also having some trouble pooping so he's been getting some extra prunes - that's probably going to backfire.

"not gonna cry"

Cash is doing really well at his new routine. its a no frills operation around here at the Martins. we go to bed without tears and we get dropped off without fuss. i am really proud of Cash for turning this corner. he's really well adjusted in just a couple short weeks.

Chandler went on his annual Disneyland trip with the 5th graders so we were on our own today so we went swimming at Marilyn's house for most of the day. Once Cash warmed up to Rylie they had  a great time. Rylie is a little scared of the pool but Cash got her to swim and jump off the side and splash around with him. He seems pretty fearless of the water, he even floated around in a raft for a long time by himself. 

On the way to Rylie's house we saw a fire truck parked in the grocery store parking lot so we pulled over to look at it. Cash described all the parts, the hoses, the engine, the bell and the ladder. Cash told me that "the ladder goes way, way up to save the kitties." that made me chuckle.

it was a bit challenging to juggle both kids, especially when i needed to be in the pool with Cash most of the time but luckily between Lindsey, Marilyn and I we got everyone taken care of. 

it took about 5 seconds for both boys to fall asleep on the way home. 

a couple funny Cash-isms: 

he calls sunscreen "sun scream"

he calls a guinea pig a "skinny pig" 

Funny Faces

Funny Faces, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

Oregon - A Tale of Two Guys

So I have been asked to submit a “guest blog” about Cash’s trip to Oregon. So here we go.

Saturday
Saturday morning we pack up and head to the airport. I nearly start sweating just thinking about the idea of flying alone with a 2 year old, but here goes…I had planned ahead and made sure to plug in the DVD player and put ELMO in the player the night before so I would be sure to have my one secret weapon just in case Cash began to break me early in the flight. Mommy dropped us off at the airport, we got through security (although of course we were “randomly” selected for extra screening…which is great when the carrier of the child is somewhat out of shape and pretty tired of holding a huge child already!), we found our gate, made it to our own open row of seats, and prepared to take off. We departed on time and just as our wheels left the ground, Cash announced “We flying!”. Then about 10 min’s into the flight Cash was looking really sleepy and I asked him if he’d like to a watch a little Elmo and take a nap. To which he whispered yes, so I put down the food tray, got out the DVD player, took out my own book (which I would read while he was sleeping), and gave Cash his blanket to further promote the idea of sleep. Just as I flip the switch on the DVD player and begin to thank myself for being such a great traveling parent, I realize that for some reason the DVD player had NOT started working. I casually check the switches and other options as I’m sure it was fully charged when I left this morning! Well apparently the DVD player was in the ON position all night and therefore not actually charging at all! This of course was not ok with Cash and he made me very aware of how much he wanted to “watch a little Elmo”. He was still a very good boy the rest of the flight, but not to the point of me ever being able to consider reading even a page of my book. So instead we read books, colored on paper (and other random things), watched the people around us, and ate LOTS and LOTS of snacks!!! Nevertheless, we made it to Oregon safe and sound and it was a relief to have some reinforcements in the form of grandma and papi waiting for us at the gate.

That night we unveiled the first of my old toys for Cash to play with and that was the Hot Wheels car collection. He drove them around and made all kinds of fun car noises for the rest of the night and quickly announced that his favorites were the “truck and broken car” which were a Tow truck and some random car you could attach the tow trucks line to and pull around. Which he did for hours.

My biggest fear beyond the actual flights back and forth, was that of how bed time would work and how much sleep would actually take place during this trip. So I attempted to recreate our home routine as much as possible and it actually worked pretty well the first night. He watched Elmo, had his bottle, I put him into “Grandma’s special bed” (since it’s really just a crib and big guys like Cash would never knowingly sleep in a crib again), read books, and said goodnight to family. Within 10 min’s he was asleep and I didn’t hear from him again until 7:30 the next morning.

Sunday
Cash woke up yelling and when I went into his room he told me he was “scared of that birdie”. There were a lot of birds chirping outside his window, so I guess one of was a little too persistent.

After a quick breakfast, we took Cash to the beach to walk in the never ending sandbox and grab some lunch. Who knew the beach was built for running on. Cash sprinted everywhere. He would just take off running and laughing and seemed to have a great time. That was until he was jumping in a puddle and managed to splash his pants too much and all of a sudden was paralyzed and unable to take another step from fear that his legs would feel the cold pants rub on them. So needless to say, it was my job to carry him the rest of the way. We had clam chowder for lunch and went back for round 2 on the beach. It was during round 2 that he saw some live crabs and learned from the nice crab catching man that you can apparently rub a crabs belly and make it go to sleep! Who knew? Sure enough this man rubbed the crabs belly and eventually the crab relaxed and put down his pinchers and the man offered to let Cash touch them, but he politely declined. (I’m sure the turn away and hide in grandma’s arms was polite). He slept most of the way home and finished off his day back in the tent village playing with cars and other random toys from daddies past.

He wasn’t quite as ready for bed tonight…when I asked him about going to bed, he said “get the birdie outta my room daddy”, so I had to go in and “remove” the birdie so it was all clear in his head. I let him stay up until my bedtime around 9:30 pm or so because he was being good and just playing while he watched Elmo on TV. He went down pretty well, but then come 2:30am I heard some screaming. To make a long story short, I ended up sleeping on the floor next to his bed the rest of the night and HE seemed to get a pretty good night’s sleep after that.

Monday
This morning we went a place called the AC Gilbert House which has all kinds of fun stuff for kids to play with. He played with the trains, dinosaurs, cars, and even some crazy psychadelic video room. He had a great time! Later that afternoon a couple of my friends came down to visit and one brought his 4 year old daughter Brooklyn along. She’s just as shy as Cash so as they each played with toys in their own areas. About the only phrase I heard Cash say was “that’s my toy”. But overall I think they had fun. Cash seemed to wear himself out though because about 20 min’s after Brooklyn left, he laid down on the floor. So I put him into his “special bed” and he took about a 2 ½ hour nap. When he woke up he got to help grandma make some spaghetti for dinner and played with toys in the tent village until it was bedtime. Being his final night in Oregon, Cash didn’t go to bed until about 10pm just to be sure he got his money’s worth out of the trip. Once he was down he slept well and woke up around 6am the next morning.

Tuesday
Tuesday morning Cash got up and helped papi make some biscuits for breakfast before it was time to head to the airport. After breakfast we each packed up our “pack packs” and rode with papi and grandma to the airport. We said our goodbyes and promised to come back and see the squirrels again as soon as possible. Cash requested to walk through the airport instead of sit in his stroller, so we SLOWLY and distractedly made our way through security and all the way to our gate. We spent our time at the gate enthralled by all the planes, trucks, trailers, bags, men and ladies as well as the chocolate covered pretzels we bought once in the airport. Once we boarded the plane we got our own row and Cash took his seat by the window. About 10 minutes after takeoff Cash started to look really tired, just like on the initial flight out. This time I was prepared and I quickly unbuckled his belt and gave him his blanket and dummy. He laid his head down on my lap and promptly fell asleep (with his hand in the pretzel bag). He didn’t wake up until after we landed in Vegas.

Cash was a great traveler and we had a great time! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if mommy and Cooper were there too. Next time!

on his way home

tumblr_l3cmgwstqG1qbajbyo1_500, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

he could probably sit at that window for hours. he has chocolate covered pretzels, juice, a tractor pulling the bags and an airplane. good luck to daddy getting him on the plane.

since i'm the one who buys the groceries and cooks the meals i have decided that it is increasingly important to provide natural and heathful food for the boys and myself. so i've done a lot of research and homework on which foods are important to eat natural or organic and what are some of the things that we could save on. i don't want to increase my grocery bill so its going to take a little work and dedication on my part to buy the right things and use everything that i buy. i went and checked out Costco today - haven't been in a long time - and they have a new "all natural" and USDA organic certified line of chicken and beef. its really not that much more expensive than buying regular protein but i'll have to freeze and plan meals so none of it goes to waste. watching something like Food Inc will definitely make you think twice about what you eat...

long weekend

Chandler has promised me a guest blog about his and Cash's visit to Oregon so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, Coop and I have just been enjoying our time together. its actually been really nice to just bond with him. after thinking about it i realized it was in the hospital when we had our last one-on-one time and i wasn't in much of a mood then. so we haven't been terribly motivated to tackle the "to do" list but rather spent a lot of time just playing and giggling and snuggling. i've let him take 2 naps in my arms which isn't something that we can do when big brother is around. right now he is just snoozing on my chest and i think i'll just let the dirty dishes just sit in the sink a little longer (no one is here to be bothered by them anyway).

Separation Anxiety

Anxiety is right. we've been going through some major stuff over here at the Martin household lately. Now, I really try not to self diagnose or armchair doctor but it is safe to say that Cash is struggling with serious separation anxiety. it started pretty innocently with not wanting to be dropped off at daycare which turned into not wanting to let mommy or daddy leave the room or get in the shower or do anything away from him to a full on night time explosion when going to bed. We do our normal night time routine and as we are finishing our last book and saying our "night-nights" Cash will beg and plead for you not to leave. "Lay with me a little longer," or "sleep in my bed tonight" or "no mommy, don't go" are his usual. When you tell him no and leave the room he goes hysterical and screams and cries and kicks the door in a panic. i've tried to do my research and make sure that this is "normal" and that he isn't bordering on a disorder and it seems that this is pretty typical for 2.5 year old kids but that doesn't make it any easier to hear.
The other night he woke up at 1am screaming for me and we couldn't get him back to sleep until 4:30am (when Cooper promptly woke up!). He was trying anything and everything he could to stay awake and to keep me in his sights.
The past 2 nights have been better. we put him to bed and he screamed for about 30 minutes, i went in and laid with him and he fell asleep. i probably shouldn't have gone in but he was totally hysterical and just getting more and more worked up. he was asleep by 8:30 though and slept through the night. Last night he wasn't asleep when Chandler left the room (he was singing "Sunny days, taking the clouds away, Elmo's world" - the mash-up!) but he fell asleep on his own. He gave us two good screams in the middle of the night (1:30am) but never really woke up. He got up at 5:30am which i will take as a victory. I asked him about screaming in the night, he said he woke up because he was sad and wanted mommy but i don't know if he actually remembers.
Anyway, Chandler and Cash go to Oregon tonight so we'll see how this screws everyone's sleep up - except Cooper and I, we are going to sleep for 3 days straight!!

when cooper is complaining Cash will run to him and say, "its ok baby, your brother is here." We were upstairs today and he heard Cooper starting to fuss. He looked at me and said, "cooper needs me" and rushed downstairs, the whole time yelling out, "its ok Cooper, i'm coming. Mommy is upstairs, daddy is right there, Chachi is here." He really takes care of his little bro.

this about sums it up

DSC05609, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

we did not sleep well last night. Cash was up all night. Cooper was up more than usual. making this a painful Sunday. its also cold and windy today so we're all off our game today.

DSC05590

DSC05590, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

these things are hillarious and ridiculous. i just had to get a pack. silly jiapers.

take 2: potty training

tonight, on a whim, Cash saw some pee pee coming and ran to sit on the toilet. nothing was happening and he got up to wash his hands but turned around and said, "there's another toot in there." he sat back down and pee'd and then - without warning a big old, stinky poop fell out! we all got really excited and did the dance and then ate candy. he was really excited and proud, he's got some work to do in the wiping department but i can officially say that he pee'd and pooped on the toilet. such a proud momma am I.

nice to meet you

Cash must have learned how to meet people because this morning he stuck out his hand and said, "shake hands mommy, its nice to meet you." then we shook hands. it was funny. probably funny because it was so random and out of the blue. he's a sponge.

Cooper only woke up once last night. i actually put him in a sleep sack. don't know why, i never put Cash in one, but it was there and well, why not. he seemed to do well and it didn't prohibit his rolling like i thought. and he woke up all warm and cozy.

Mid-May

Cooper is eating everything in sight. he loves food and eats at Sylvia's and at dinner time with us. I really like these new foods i found that are a fruit and veg combo and cooper seems to like them too. i still mix it with a little cereal.

Cooper made a semi-solid turd this morning. and when i went to show Cash (because he insists on seeing the "yucky poop") he said - and i quote - "oh my goodness Cooper." That's a new one.

Cash continues to be spirited. He really doesn't like to go to Sylvias these days and throws a big fit when we drop them off. I don't really know what to do about this. i hate to say that he'll just grow out of it because that seems a little cold. i'm comforted by the fact that most "experts" say that separation anxiety is normal at this age but no one really tells you how to overcome it. i try to tell Cash that he doesn't have to worry because we'll come back to get him and he says ok but then he gets all worked up anyway.

thought you all should know

Cooper and Cash look nothing alike anymore. its like all of a sudden cooper's face got really long and his hair got really light. their eye shape is even different now.
wow.

its tomorrow

Cash slept from 3pm on Saturday to 7am on Sunday. i guess he was tired. i went to wake him from his nap at 6pm but he just turned over and kept sleeping. we were sure we were going to hear from him in the middle of the night but nothing. i even went in to check on him around 2am but he was sleeping. he's awake now and very hungry.