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.