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.