Cash is definitely two

Cash has had some major ups and downs lately. it started at Grammy's house when he was a real handful but i wrote it off as him being out of his element, out of his routine and tired/jet lagged. but now that we've been home for almost a week he is still experiencing some major mood swings. When he's sweet, he is sweet and loving and likes to share and "pet" cooper and mommy and daddy but when he's bad, he's bad. He will get so frustrated and kick and scream and cry. I encourage him to use his words and tell us what is wrong but sometimes i'm not sure he actually understands what is wrong.
we're hanging in there with him, trying to be understanding but today he had to get in trouble when he was being a royal terror.

the awesomeness that is the Chan-man

while we were gone Chandler spent a good part of his weekend alone installing (or having a plumber install) a water softener. this was something we had talked about for years but never done anything about. we would mention it when the dishes would have spots or when the shower door would get caked in scum but it wasn't until we started having serious skin issues with Cooper that we really started talking about it. Cash has really dry skin too but never rashes, just more of the purpley eczema type skin but the scary, hot rashes on Cooper really made us take some action. this wasn't a cheap or easy installation because our house didn't come "wired" for a soft water loop and the device itself is a hefty investment. we decided that we would take the majority of our tax refund and put it toward this. and I LOVE IT. only a couple days in and already the boys' skin is softer and lotions seem to soak in better. the dishes are spotless and the towels are fluffier. we are really onto something here.

thanks honey for putting this in motion!

glow worm

i don't know why i didn't think of it when Cash was a baby but when i have Coop all swaddled up he totally looks like a glow worm.
i tried to unswaddle him for the night but that didn't work and he ended up waking up a couple times. so back to the baby burrito and we're all sleeping soundly again.
my guys totally are night pee-ers. Cash has "hhuuuuge" morning diapers and sometimes will soak completely through an 'extra-strength night time diaper'. Cooper is the same way, he wakes up with hhuuuuge diapers too. granted i don't do any night time changing and he eats 8oz before bed. i think his favorite time is when i take off his diaper and let him "air it out" in the mornings.

speaking of: i love the mornings since i've gotten them figured out. (before now they were just a chaotic mess). i get, pretty early, and get all ready for work, packed up, bottles made, pump parts cleaned, clothes laid out, etc. and then at about 7am we'll hear "knock, knock" (the actual words, not knocking) coming from Cash's room so Chandler (the only person he will allow to open his door in the a.m.) will go in and get him and i'll go into Cooper's room to get him. Cooper is usually awake and smiling at his baseball bears hanging from his mobile. This morning was no exception and i was greeted with a big huge gummy smile. Cash then came in and climbed up his stool and said, "good morning Cooper - aren't you cute."

Cash is really excited to go to Grammy's house - although he seems to be very excited to see Sophie and Pop (and he probably wont see a whole lot of either of them - but he'll be too distracted to notice). I talked to him for a long time on Saturday afternoon as we had our lunch in the grass. we talked about how Daddy wasn't going because he had to stay home to take care of Slider and go to work. we talked about how we were going to go on an airplane and watch Elmo videos. we talked about taking Cooper with us and we talked about who we would see. I asked him, who is at Grammy's house. He answered with a huge "aaaarrrcherrrr!" and then listed wiley, sarah and bobby.
(side note: Cash has a bit of a thing for Archer right now and wants to watch his flikr videos a lot. he also points out pictures around the house and when you ask him who the picture is he will tell you its Archer - even if its not.)
Last night as i was reading Cash his stories he said, "we're going to Grammy's house...in the car". so we have a little work to do getting him to understand we'll be flying - not driving. but maybe i can get away with it since we'll "drive" to the airport.
i'm not worried about flying with 2 of them but i'm terrified of Cash missing his daddy about a day into the trip and having nothing to do about it. i really, really hope that we can keep him busy enough to not worry about it but the boy is so attached to Chandler that it is a huge concern. we'll just have to call and skype a lot!

Cooper 4 months

DSC04924, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

Cooper is 4 months old!

Cooper did a great job today at his 4 month check up. He's a big (but not too big), healthy and happy boy. Sylvia and I devised a plan to sneak him out without Cash noticing so I met her in the garage at 11:15 - it worked like a charm. We didn't wait long and as I was getting Coop undressed to be weighed and measured i noticed that the dreaded rash was back. We talked about all the possible reasons and I always have the right answers so it remains a mystery:
Q: what soap are we using?
A: I rarely use soap on his skin, when i do it is Dove.
Q: what laundry detergent?
A: All free & clear.
Q: Do you double rinse?
A: Yes.
Q: What lotion do you use on him?
A: Almond oil, California Baby (gave him a rash), Aveeno (gave him a rash), Olive Oil, Aquaphor (gave him a rash).
Q: Do you keep him wrapped up?
A: not any more since he can get out of the swaddle.

so, we had a good laugh about how he's just a pasty white kid with sensitive skin who will probably always have some level of skin irritation - welcome to the club Son! and we got a prescription for an ointment that will help calm his rash. And we are going to try Eucerin cream.

He got 4 shots and a drink and is all vaccinated and ready to roll around in the dirt with the kids at daycare. He isn't exactly rolling all the way from front to back yet but rolls and shimmies and shakes his way around and cannot be trusted.

The biggest news is that he's got a little tooth poking through! I can't believe it. I'll have to check the tapes but I think Cash was 6 months when his little teeth started to sprout.

4 month stats:
weight: 15lb 11oz
height: 25 1/4"
head circumference: 41.9cm
(just barely bigger than Cash except Cash has a big ol' noggin and Coop's is a smaller by >1cm)

We can start him on some starter foods if we want but to me he still seems too young and i'm not in any hurry. he's doing great and we'll see Dr. Gobel in 2 months.

I sneaked him back into Sylvia's and raced back to work.

Cleaning

DSC05009, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

Today i decided to wash the carseats. Wow, good thing i did. it was one of those situations where you think its not that bad and then you peel back a layer and realize how bad it actually is. in those crevices was a years worth of snacks and crumbs and muck. they came out wonderfully and i actually got them put back together and back in the cars. I think its probably good to take your car seats out and put them back in every now and again to make sure they are strapped in correctly.

DSC05018

DSC05018, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

practicing for the airplane. he talks really, really loud when he has his headphones on.

weekend review

Our weather has been so terrible lately - windy and not so warm - that when we got up into the high 70s on Friday we needed to get out. not that we weren't spending time outside, Cash drags us outside no matter what the weather. Friday I left work a little early and picked up the boys. We got home and changed our clothes and decided to go out to dinner. As soon as Chandler got home we packed up the boys and headed out to The District (an outdoor shopping and dining place in Henderson). We strolled up and down the central paseo, which Cash just loves because he can run wild, and then we ate a little greek restaurant.

After dinner we stopped into REI to see what goodies they had and to visit the bicycles. Cash got into the display tent and we talked for a while about how he can go see Grandma and Poppy and go camping soon. He laid down in the tent and didn't want to leave. He told me a tent was sort of like a boat - so we had to talk about that...He then made a big poop and we had to go get his diaper changed.

We then went across the street to the merry-go-round and Cash took 2 trips around, once on an Elephant and once on a Tiger. He was being such a good little boy even though it was well past his bedtime.

Since at the end of this week we are traveling to NC i knew i needed to get a few things done so we did the usual Saturday errands for most of the morning out and after lunch the boys both went down for a good long nap and Chandler went for a run. I can't really remember what I did during the quiet time but it probably had to do with laundry or bottle washing. 

Saturday night was an absolute nightmare. it has been so long since we've had sleep problems with Cash that they just throw us into a tailspin. Luckily Cooper was sleeping like a log the whole time. But basically Cash wanted no part of going to bed and was crying/screaming for a very long time and we had to go in to check on him. Eventually I invited him to come into mommy's bed and watch a movie - what a big mistake! he wanted to get up and go into the play room which wasn't an option so it made him cry even harder. i got him calmed down enough to lay in the bed and watch a movie (we started with Toy Story and then moved onto Ratatouille). He was bouncing around and after a very long time he calmed down. I think that's when i fell asleep and woke up an hour later with Cash in a weird half-sleep state sprawled across my bed. Chandler moved him into his own room where he whined for a little while and then fell asleep. He slept in a little bit but not much.

Sunday was nice because after we spent a good long morning running around the park, sliding on slides, climbing towers, see-sawing and playing horsey, Chandler and I traded off some "me" time. I went and had my toenails done and went to the grocery store and Chandler went to Best Buy and school. Cash got to paint and play baseball in the back yard and then we went for a bike ride around the block. 

Dinner was nothing special, just some salmon and bacon in whole wheat pasta, green beans and fruit. 

the dimple

DSC04938, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

finally caught his dimple on camera.

Cash wakes up in the morning and races downstairs to the back door, looks out and says, "its so nice outside!"

wild man

last night Cash was a total wild man and i don't think he fell asleep until close to 9pm. He was running up and down the hall screaming - "I'm gonna be tired". He also dropped something twice and said, "oh come on!" - sounds just like his daddy when he does that.
We were laying in bed talking and he told me that there were SOOO many animals at Sylvia's house - there were lions ("rawwwrrr"), doggies ("woof"), cats ("meowwww"), snakes ("I no like snakes, they crawl to me") and on and on.
He also was rubbing my arm and said, "I'm petting you mommy."
I wish i had the whole night recorded because he was absolutely adorable and talking a mile a minute.

Cooper continues to do well - although Sylvia said he's been a little fussy the past two days. He is probably just getting used to being at daycare where he doesn't sit in his mommy's arms all day.

dummy-free*

Cash is doing a great job and has been dummy-free for 2 weeks. We had one day where he asked for it quite a bit and was sucking on his fingers but after that he has been fine. We still have a dummy for nap and bedtime (but he doesn't really need it for nap). It is very obvious when my boy becomes tired because he starts whining for his dummy. I'm really glad that he doesn't have his dummy sticking out of his face in every picture.

I WASN'T ON VACATION PEOPLE. i wasn't on vacation people at work - please stop asking me how my vacation was.
I worked the whole time i was on leave. I worked more on leave than I do at work because i was doing laundry and dishes and raising a very small baby.
UGGGGG. YUCKKKKK.