Cooper is getting all four of his 1st molars. and he isn't happy about it. his teeth hurt him so badly he's actually been crying big tears. which for Coop is rare.

Operation Dummy Drop: Night #1

Cooper went straight to bed. We've dropped his bottle too (meanies). He's got a really stuffy nose so its probably a relief to not have a dummy. He's sleeping.

Cash didn't cry or make a big deal about no dummy but he hasn't fallen asleep yet. he's called out for us about 6 times and faked one bathroom trip. He's currently talking to himself but i think he'll fall asleep. He seemed very into the fact that i was so proud of him for giving his dummies to the babies at the hospital. he kept asking me if i was happy and proud.

yes i am.

Dummy Boot Camp

dummy boot camp starts this weekend for all 3 boys. i feel Chandler is going to suffer most. he hates to hear the boys cry or fuss so he goes straight for the dummy.
Cooper has a head cold so its not easy for him to keep a dummy in his mouth right now anyway. Cash is going to be a little harder to convince. i think we're going to pack up all the dummies and send them to the babies at the hospital. he seems interested in that idea.

pro tip

if you are having a hard time brushing your youngster's teeth try this. lay his head on your lap so when you look down the two of you are looking in different directions. this is easiest to achieve when the child is sitting on, and with legs wrapped around, another adult. lay the child's head back and brush the teeth as you would your own. the other adult can hold the child's hands if necessary. since the brushing movement would be similar to that of brushing your own teeth you are less likely to brush too hard, poke the child's gums or push the brush too far back in the mouth.

Cash sees the Dentist

This morning Cash went to see Dr. Amy. She's a pediatric dentist. I didn't have very high hopes for this visit since Cash hates to brush his teeth and the last time we went to the dentist he pretty much just cowered in my arms the whole time. Dr. Amy is a pediatric dentist so that was the first step in the right direction. There are lots of toys in the waiting room and friendly office staff and hygienists to make the kiddos feel comfortable. They do not pressure the kids to do anything they don't want to and focus on making the experience enjoyable and stress-free (mother, take note! i am sure these pediatric dentists existed when i was younger).

Cash didn't want to have his x-rays taken, so he didn't but he did sit in the chair with the big heavy jacket on and got to look at the camera - when it came time to put the bite guards in his mouth he was done. so we moved on. He sat in the dental chair for a few minutes and played with the stuffed animals - who all had dentures. Cash brushed their teeth for a while and showed Dr. Amy how he brushed but when it came time to laying back he got freaked. so he sat in my lap as Dr. Amy told us all about how pacifiers could do irreversible damage to a pallet! and how children really should only be drinking juice/milk twice a day with meals. so right there i thought i was going to be in big trouble when the exam started! But i held Cash in my lap and he laid his head on Dr. Amy's lap and she examined his teeth with her little mirror. She said he had no cavities that she could see (and only x-rays could show cavities between teeth) and there was no decay that she could see either. She did say that he has a pretty good cross bite - he does have a cute little crooked mouth doesn't he? And she said that he'll need an appliance at some point to correct that. She said that he has some crowding too.

None of these things came as a surprise to me - have you seen my oral history? and i am sure that Cash and I will be spending a lot of time in dentist's and orthodontist's offices over the years. but i promise him that i'll make it as painless as possible. He got a little stuffed animal as a parting gift and on the way home in the car he was showing the bear how to floss his teeth!

Cash's 3 year measurements

38 lbs
38 1/2 inches tall (he grew 8 inches over the last 12 months)
18% BMI (i didn't know that they measured this)

he did so well at the doctor and we love our pediatrician so much. she and Cash looked at pictures of pirates on her computer and he told her about Braid Beard the pirate and what pirates looks like. and somewhere in between all that talk of pirates she did his complete physical!
he got one shot and screamed "owwwchiiii" and then asked if he could go get a lollipop. i was so proud of him for being so good.

Happy Birthday Cash

Happy Birthday Cash, originally uploaded by carolyn_martin.

we broke our baby

Cooper has his first ear infection. Actually, this is the first ear infection our family has experienced. we thought something was up but figured that if he actually had an ear infection that he'd be a lot crankier. When Chandler took him to get his flu shot he asked if they'd look in his ears and sure enough he has a little infection. nothing too serious but he's on 10 days of the bubble gum stuff.

Over Christmas he also got really sick - well, sick for us considering our boys thankfully have never been too ill. he threw up a couple times and had a really high fever. a few doses of motrin and a few snuggles with mom and he was back to normal.

3 years old is looking pretty good

Today we had Rylie over for a playdate and we set up the tent and tunnel that the boys got for Christmas. they loved it and played in it for a long time.
After Rylie left we kept the tent part up and Cash just popped his head out of it and said, "I love my tent." "Thank you for getting this tent for me." "I love you daddy and mommy."

wow - right now i don't want to ring his neck.

a few minutes ago - well that was a different story. he pooped his pants and squished it on purpose so it was a huge mess.

Cooper at 1 year

sorry i've been slacking on the blog...
Cooper turned 1 during my digital hiatus. The weekend he turned one we took the boys to Ely, NV to ride the Polar Express train. It was fun and Cash enjoyed it. The boys really liked the change of scenery and couldn't get enough of the hotel room. Cooper just walked back and forth in the hotel room and pulled out every plug he could get his hands on, knocked things off the counters, climbed into drawers and up on ledges. We spend one night and hit the road early in the morning to get home to Cooper's presents.
Cooper turned one without a lot of fanfair. Sylvia had a party at her house for him to which i sent cupcakes and party favors. He got a few new toys (that his brother has stolen and since given back). His one year check up went very well and he was given a "good boy" and "average" status - although he's anything but average in our book. He got all the answers right and is developing perfectly. He weighs 22lbs.
At one year Cooper:

• eats a lot, anything and everything really
• loves to feed the dog and thinks its pretty funny to be sly about it
• likes to feed other people and will force nubs of chewed up cookies or crackers into my mouth - yummm
• dances to music - whether it be a tv commercial or if mommy is singing a song Cooper will bop up and down to the beat.
• clicks his tongue
• finally got more teeth. he sat with 2 top and 2 bottom for the longest time and now he has 4 on top and 4 on bottom
• sleeps very well 7-7 most nights and will take an nap very easily. lately i've noticed that he's starting to drop his 2nd nap and combining the 2 into one mid-day snooze.
• is always happy. he doesn't fuss and is so tough.
• walking all over but wants to run so badly. he'll start going very fast but can't keep up with himself and topple right over.
• loves to put things into other things. one of his favorite toys is a new peek-a-boo puzzle with little magnetic items underneath that he can put in and out
• smiles so much
• loves peek a boo and hide and seek. in a couple more months will be really good at hide and seek and already can find Cash hiding under blankest and behind doors.
• mostly, Cooper loves his brother - he'll follow Cash everywhere and wants to play with him all the time.
• Cooper is starting to be able to communicate a lot more. will shake his head "no" or "yes" and says Dada all the time. he even said hi dada the other day. he likes to say "uh oh" too.

We just love our not-so-little Cooper. he's a perfect boy!