Talking back

Cash has gotten a little brave lately with his talking back. Every time I ask him something he turns it back on me.
"Cash, please go put your shoes on." "You go put your shoes on."
"Do it again and you'll get a time-out." "You'll get a time-out."
and sometimes it really doesn't make any sense.
"Cash, we need to make a list of what you want Santa to bring." "You make a list of what you want Santa to bring."

So, he was in need of serious redirecting. Over the weekend we brought out the big guns. A nightly letter from Mommy to Santa, recounting the days good and bad points. It has actually made Cash go out of his way to do nice things. Like yesterday he was really nice and helpful to Cooper (sharing and helping) and then immediately asked me if I would put that in my letter. Let's hope we can keep this up for the next month!

Cooper Poops

Cooper has become very aware of the goings on in his diaper. And he isn't amused. He hates to have pee in his diaper and gets the saddest look on his face when he realizes what's happening. Always just a little too late to get to the potty but we'll get there. Yesterday I had to change his pee diaper 6 times and every time he wanted me to sit him on the potty. Then later in the day he started saying poooop! So we went and sat on the potty but he'd get bored and would get up right away. I asked Cash to come in with us and entertain Cooper. And he did. Cash was dancing and singing and acting silly and tickling Cooper (which resulted in him actually tumbling off the potty) but eventually Cooper's eyes got really big and he made a poop come out. A real poop! We all did the potty dance and everyone got a candy for a job well done.

sickies

The boys have been pretty sick for the past 2 weeks. coughs, sniffles, sore throats, stuffed noses - the works. Cash seemed to be having the worst of it with his coughing so we took them both to urgent care the other night. It was crowded and everyone in there was sicker than the last person. The doctor was very nice and looked at the boys. He diagnosed Cash with bronchitis and pink eye and Cooper with pink eye and a cold. He loaded us up with very expensive prescriptions and sent us on our way. The next couple nights were the worst. Cash was up all night long and his coughing was constant. He wasn't getting any better and Cooper started coughing more so we made an appointment to go see their regular doctor. She took one look at Cash - and Chandler (who is apparently the sickest of all of us) - and said, "you guys are sick and you look like you have the flu." We told her about our urgent care experience and she told us that it was all wrong. The diagnosis was wrong and the medicine and dosing was wrong (too little).
Cash had a low oxygen level so he had to get a breathing treatment to break up the croup. He didn't like it at first but after we convinced him that it was just like Darth Vader (dark vader) he was ok with it. Then he had to get a shot in the leg - the medicine was the same as what was in the breathing treatment but was a little longer lasting. He also had a raging ear infection (which the urgent care doctor said he didn't have) so he got antibiotics for that. And he doesn't have pink eye - the gunk and swelling is just from the sinus pressure so no more eye drops for the boys (they are very pleased). Cash was getting some relief immediately as evidenced by the nap he took in the car on the way home - he hasn't slept more than a few hours in a row since he started coughing.
We set both boys up with Vaporizors at home and while there was still a lot of coughing going on last night it sounded different and we had a "full" night's sleep.

Cash 3 3/4 years old: serious case of bronchitis